Preschool Classroom Observation

In a good classroom, students should feel safe and comfortable. The classroom was staffed with Ms. Caitlin the kindergarten teacher and Mrs. Doherty the teacher's assistant. The class size consisted of twenty children. The classroom held five round tables with four students per table. Having tables rather than individual desks, Ms. Caitlin encouraged a sense of community rather than allowing a child to be alone at a desk. The furniture was at an appropriate level and size for 5 and 6-year-old children. Also, there was space for children to store their work and personal belongings in cubbies. The class had four different learning center stations these included: writing/reading center, block center, math center, and the kitchen center. Bulletin boards were displayed and decorated with colorful pictures which reinforced concepts learned in the classroom. For example, the alphabet, numbers and days of the week. Student work was also visible in the classroom. In the front of the classroom, a smartboard and rug was arranged for the students to gather for lessons and play. This area was kept free from all forms of distraction. In the back of the room, extra materials were available such as pencils, erasers, crayons, glue sticks, and scissors. Overall, I believe that Ms. Caitlin provided her students with a positive, cheerful, and organized learning environment. She instilled in her students that the classroom is a

1. Describe the organization and physical setting of the classrooms you observed. Pay particular attention to safety and accessibility, the physical arrangement of the room, the classroom environment and appearance (Danielson 2e):

I got an appointment for observation on July 13 at De-Anza Child Development Center. I chose room No. 26 for observation. I observed one child from 3:26 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. There are total 10 children present in room no.26 at the time of my observation. Out of 10 there are 4 girls and 6 boys. They range from 3 to 5 years of age. There are three adults in the room, all are female. One adult for every 3 children- 1:3. When I entered kids are doing free play. I settled myself and started to observe a kid named Aaron. He is around 3 and half years of age.

Toddlers and preschoolers are at different developmental stages, and therefore require their teachers to use different approaches and techniques to further learning. I completed my observations at the Bright and Early Children’s Learning Center where I observed a toddler classroom and a preschool classroom. My observations took place from 8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on the 21st and 28th of September. The first day that I observed I was placed in the toddler classroom which had two teachers, Miss Ashlynn and Miss Miranda, and six students, most of whom were two years old. In the preschool classroom there was one teacher, Miss Stephanie, and eight students, each of whom were 3 years old or 4 years old. While the rooms were physically similar, the teachers used different strategies and activities to appeal to the different age groups.

During my observation at the preschool here at Harper, I looked around and realized a lot of similarities and differences it has; compared to other daycare and preschool centers. The age of children in the room I observed was ages 3-5 with one lead teacher, and depending on the ratio of how many kids showed up on that day, about three or four helping teachers. The program was set up to a very open, happy and overwhelming setting. Every furniture and object in the room had a sign saying what it was, and then underneath the typed out word was the children’s way of writing what the object was. For example, a book shelf was in the corner of the room; on the book shelf was the word printed out “Book

As a toddler teacher, I was interested in attending an ECFE class with children between the ages of 16 months and 24 months. Therefore, I contacted the STMA (St. Michael/Albertville) school district to set up an appointment for their Terrific Toddlers class. After getting a background clearance, I was contacted to set up a time to observe the Terrific Toddlers class. On October 24, 2017, I observed this ECFE class. The class goes from 8:30am to 10:00 am, and it was led by parent educator Ms. Liz. The class was a non-separating class, as the children are at the side of their parent(s) the entire time. I was particularly interested in attending a non-separating class because as a toddler teacher, I have never been in a classroom setting with both the child and parent(s) present. This ECFE class meets for eleven weeks every Tuesday; therefore, I observed their 5th session. In this class, the majority of the participates are stay at home mothers.

The date of my observation was April 27th, 2010. It was about 9:30 in the morning when I began my study. I went to Grossmont College’s Child Development Center. The first thing I began looking for was if the child-teacher ratio was correct. The child ratio was 2 teachers to about every 8 children. The ratio was good. As I entered there was one large room that almost looked as if it could be two rooms they way it was set up. One half consisted of a large bookshelf with numerous books on it with a couch in the front of it. The other half of the room was almost like a little kitchen. It had a table with chairs around it with a sink and cabinets behind it. There were “age appropriate” toys as well as books all over the

I learned the day before my visit, Miss Suzy threw a pizza party for the children. The day of my visit they were going to make their own individual pizzas (I did not get to view that part of the day). I noticed that during circle time, two children seemed uninterested had wandered off. Miss Suzy did not do anything about it, she just let them be. I thought that was wrong of her because the two children were not being involved. The children could of already known what they were speaking about. If that was the case she should of given them some work to do. When circle time was over, Miss Suzy asked each child which part of the room they wanted to play in. Students chose dramatic play, arts and crafts, reading, and playing on the computer. Miss Suzy walked around each group asking them questions, expanding their imaginations. Morrison states "that teachers work with gingival children, small groups" (2003, p.232). Watching Miss Suzy, you can see she really enjoys what she does. She never once ignored a student who went up to her. She seemed genuily interested when the children shared stories with her. She always welcomed them with a hug when walking into the room in the morning to begin their day, and the children would come in running to hug her.

Hi everyone, I am observing on Wednesdays from 8-10 and Fridays 3-4 in Cuesta Children’s Center Preschool 2. I believe a child’s environment can affect their mood, social skills, ability to learn, mental health, and physical health. These essential elements need to be meet or it will affect their adult lives. I feel the Cuesta Center does a remarkable job of offering all of these, and has wonderful transitions throughout the day. I enjoy observing the teachers modeling acceptable class room behaviors, asking open-ended questions while using descriptive language to help to expand children’s speech, and they were engaged in the children’s presents. I was engrossed with how the class offers multiple opportunities for children to broaden their

The environment in the room embodied St. Anne’s mission on its own. It was comfortable and warm, which embodies the school’s holistic approach to learning. Ms. Moran explained how important it is for the school to have classrooms be warm and inviting to the students, so important, that she referred to the environment as the “third teacher”.

Based on my observation I noticed that the children were talked to in a respectful manner, they were asked various questions. York (2003) stated, “Children are naturally curios they base their ideas on appearance” (p, 28). The children freely explored their environment. The teacher were prepared and engaged with the children. The children were offered choices. The program was developmentally appropriate and encouraged human diversity. The areas were adequately arranged and were anti-bias. There was a great amount of diverse pictures in the classroom. The work of the children was different and you could tell that it was their creation.

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.

I arrived to the classroom at about 8:50 AM and left at 10:00 AM. When I arrived to the classroom the children, the teacher and her assistant were sitting in the table playing with baby dolls. They were using the baby dolls to show the children the different parts of the body. Soon after, they moved to the carpet for circle time. Teacher Dayana and her assistant welcomed each child by his or her name. They welcomed the children both on English and in Spanish. They prosside by singing English and Spanish songs including,”Buenos dias (good morning)”, “The wheels in the bus go round and round”, “Days of the week”, and “Pin Pon es un muñeco”. While they were singing two of the children graved toy pianos and played them. Once circle time was over the teacher assistant started to take the children one by one to wash their hands. They all moved to the table where breakfast was waiting for them. The students and the children all ate together. Throughout the entire time the teacher and the assistant try to keep an open conversation with the children. Once everyone was finished having breakfast the teacher instructed the children to clean after themselves. They all seemed to know what to do as they placed their plates on a container and used napkins to clean the table. After they were finish cleaning the children return to the carpet where each child grabbed a book. Each book had words and the picture of the word. For the last

As teachers we need to state and continue to follow the classroom expectations, for the students to take us serious. If we aren’t able to support the rules, the students will not support them as well. I believe this was an awesome classroom to observe. I was very surprised to see how the teacher had control over everything, without doing any shouting or saying “shhh”. This is a classroom I would love to continue observing.

In the preschool, snacks for the children are provided 'buffet style' in an open kitchen area furnished with two connecting child-size picnic tables. Snacks and juice are accessible to the children in this area for a 45-minute period followed by free play time. Children are free to sit with one another as they please.