Early Classroom Observation

For my second practice observation, I watched an 18-month old boy, who I will be referring to as B. The setting takes place in a classroom where two other children are present, two teachers are there as well, and plus the observers. The room had a dramatic play center because it had a dress-up center and kitchen center. It also had a block center. I observed by watching a 5-minute video from 5:40-5:45 p.m. on January 27th, 2018. B played with a ramp, blocks, bottles, balls, etc. He played with a lot of toys in this short video.

For my observation hour, I chose to observe a resource room with Ms. Krista Niederklein class at Watson Elementary School. When I walked into the classroom Ms. Niederklien has the room set into different sections for the students. She tends to work with the younger age levels such as K-2, which is a grade level's that I’m considering teaching. I asked her why she made her classroom into different sections, she explained to me that it makes it easier for the students to focus. She said that when you make the classroom into a traditional setting, the non-traditional learners get easily distracted. Also by having them in different sections, I noticed that you as a teacher can provide more one on one time with your students.

The adults in the room talk to children on their level, meaning that when an adult must say what a child did wrong, they make sure that they get down on their level, and talk to them in a calm yet firm manner. They promoted the well-being of the children by engaging in play that was challenging for them, but with the help of the teachers, it became possible. This is supported by Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal development, which is the concept of seeing what a child can do with help, and what a child cannot yet do (Berk, 2013). A specific example of this is when a child was trying to complete a puzzle, and the teacher showed them how to complete the difficult puzzle, and then the child, with some occasional help from the teacher, was able to complete this puzzle. This will help support the child’s development because it helps the child overcome challenges.

Ms. Nicole Ince's classroom welcomed me for an observation on Wednesday, July 29th, 2015. Ms. Nicole has recently had a few drops with children preparing for kindergarten so her numbers have changed. There were 21 children when I began my observations but the class roster has dropped down to 18 with the class split nine boys and nine girls. Her classroom is located in the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Child Care Center which is located in rural Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The school is also a private school that maintains a waitlist. It contains four classrooms; Ms. Nicoles preschool class, two toddler rooms consisting of children 18 to 36 months and an infant room with children birth to 18 months.

There were three children I observe from the preschool classroom. Ms. Neeland is the preschool teacher at Project Hope Early learning center. I observe two five-year-old and one four-year-old child. Ms. Neeland pull the three children aside and read a story to them she asks them questions about what happen in the story and told them to write down something that happen in the book. M.J was the child that was talking asking most of the questions. When I observe M.J. She was giving single word answers and asking questions. To help a child with spoken language you should use pictures, familiar objects, body language, and physical cues. As educators, there are plenty of ways we can expand the child vocabulary by talking to them, develop background,

There are many different types of learning disorders in the world today. The two most common are ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Today’s classrooms have changed drastically since the 1950’s. Some of the differences would be class sizes, technology, and learning disabilities. One of the biggest changes in today’s education world is the abundance of students with some sort of learning disability. Studies have showed that there are more and more ways to help deal with kids that can’t seem stay focused. There are many different ways that teachers can handle students with a learning condition. The three newest types are allowing kids to work around the classroom for work/sitting in different styles

I observed the preschool classroom of Ms. K. Today was a smaller group, as several children are on vacation. This is a new facility and just the host teacher was in there at this time. I came into the classroom at 8:00 and left at 9:00. I spoke with the host teacher before and after the observation for feedback, which I felt was beneficial to both her and me. I observed the children during inside for 20 minutes. I observed the children during outside play for 40 minutes.

On November 18 at 10:30 AM I had agreed with Alicia’s teacher to let me in the classroom for just about 20 minutes so I could observe her for my early childhood education class. I told her that I wouldn’t be using the real child’s name and that I was just going to observe her movements and what she did while in school. As soon as I came in the classroom I saw the classroom full of colors like pink, green, red, orange, yellow and much more. The classroom was also full of bulletin boards about the season and about the latest holiday witch in that time was Thanksgiving. and pictures of the children and their families that were places in front of their cubbies. I also saw different types of books like "The very hungry caterpillar" and "The five

Prior to this activity during inside time I introduced the children to the words and objects. For instance, the day prior we talked about weather, snow, and we made ice cubes together. As we made them we talked about what we observe. My co-teacher took picture as we conducted this activity. I asked the children open-ended questions and helped them connect what they already know about ice and snow. I modeled language for young children and used every moment as a teachable moment. For instance, if a child pointed to the cup after he poured food coloring it. I replied, “Yes, the water is turning red.” “Why do you think that happened?” As the children replied I modeled language, expanded, extended, and used repetition. For instance, T.A. held the ice cube in her hand and said,

When I was observing the preschool lab there were many different activities that we kids were involved in. There was one table for snack time, two tables for the kids who wanted to play with play-do, and then there were several other kids who were playing outside. In the room there were about 12 preschoolers and 4 teachers. I noticed that each teacher stayed with a group of about 3-4 kids. This is important because each teacher can focus on the three or four kids they are with at that time. If the kids need any help or assistance a teacher was always close by and paying attention to that individual child’s needs. The room was very well organized and the kids were spread out so that not all of the kids were doing one activity at a time.

Conducting classroom observations are very important to the prospective teacher. Observing helps show how experienced teachers manage their classroom. For this observation it was important to notice how the classroom was arranged, how the teacher interacted with the students, the teacher’s management style, and interview the teacher.

In the following report we will examine all of the elements of a Kindergarten classroom that I observed in Miss. Phillips classroom. I will cover over the school, the student’s participation, and the teacher’s overall. I will also include a Building report card. I will discuss how much the experience had an impact on me.

During my observation time in a kindergarten classroom, I have noticed that the students have a wide variety of abilities, attention spans, interests, and love for learning. When it comes to the teacher’s instructional strategies, she intentionally takes into consideration all of the above characteristics to make sure each student gets what they need to be most successful. During lessons students are engaged because of the teacher’s ability to implement interests of the student’s into things and giving them options. If an error occurs during a lesson, the teacher normally, allows for the student who got something wrong to try again, or to call on a friend to help them out. This way the students are still giving the answers and not the teacher just telling them the information. The teacher chooses a lot of small group instruction and centers where she can work with a small group, but then, easily monitor all the other groups to make sure they are on task and doing their work.

Creating and maintaining an environment for students to work in is a very important part to the success of classroom management. According to Guthrie, “maintaining a learning environment requires teachers to actively monitor their students” (Guthrie, 2003, pg. 301). This means that an elementary school teacher must keep a close eye on what students are learning and ethical behavior being presented by the students. Jeff South said, “The goal of my class is to awaken conscience- that inner voice that tells students right from wrong” (South, 2004). When creating a learning environment, teachers should be concerned with the room arrangement, how inviting the room appears

Some of the issues that I noted, was a number of potential distractions because of all the space in the classroom. I thought the teacher did a great job in keeping her students in line, but it felt a little exotic at times. I never realized how much space a kindergarten class had and it’s a little frightening to see how much space they have to run around. I’m interested in learning how do you develop a classroom setting that