Gladys Armenta

Child Dev. 205

I observed a preschool classroom at the CPS Dawes Elementary. This school offers half

day preschool, and two sessions the morning and afternoon. I observed the morning session, the

times are 8-10:35 am. There were 15 children, and 4 adults in the classroom. A lead teacher, an

assistant teacher, and two teacher aids.

The schedule was posted by the entrance and I copied it exactly how it was. From 8-8:10

is the arrival routine includes attendance chart and sign in names. 8:10-8:25 is the morning

meeting includes calendar, counting, and alphabet songs. 8:25-8:30 is music time, then from

8:30-8:50 is breakfast and bathroom time. At 8:50-9:25 is outside and bathroom time. From 9:25-

9:35 is story time, at 9:35-9:45 small groups/centers. From 9:45-10:30 is free choice play, and at

10:30-10:35 is goodbye song/get ready to go home.

The classroom space seemed small to me, the classroom was outside in the mobiles. One

mobile has two classrooms that are divided by the bathrooms. The entrance door by the

bathrooms was opened, there was a garbage can, a microwave, and mini fridge. On the wall there

was a bulletin board with pumpkins on it. There was a discovery center, next to it was the

dramatic play area with a small table, fridge, stove, and a window. There were selves in front that

was the math center and blocks.

On the rug area there is a white board, an iPod player, numbers, calendar, alphabet center,

puppets, names, books, schedule, and helper of the day. In the center there are three tables and a

shelf labeled puzzles and game center. There is another door where children are dropped off at,

by that door there are the cubbies, emotions poster board, there is a what names to know at
school word wall, clock, window, music player, book shelves, the writing center, a sofa,

computer area, a birthday graph. Then there is a teacher computer in the corner, closet and

storage. Theres a shelf with materials and manipulatives next to the door.

Some children in the class had speech problems. I dont know if any other children have

other identified needs besides the speech. A speech pathologist pulled out three children of the

class to give them therapy. All children did participate in the same activities. The teachers

supported all children. I didnt notice a teacher just with one student all the time.

The main teacher and one teacher aid are bilingual and speaks to the children in English

and Spanish. The main teachers voice and tone is calm, and not too loud. One of the teacher

aids tone of voice is firm, and loud. The teacher assistant was mainly on her computer. She did

painting with the children and tracing their names, she stayed inside when the children went

outside.

There were whole group, small group, and individual work during the day. The whole

group times were at morning meeting, and outside play. Small group activity happened during

breakfast and choice time playing a matching game. Individual work was at arrival tracing their

names and choice time teacher worked with a child playing with alphabet magnets. Teachers

addressed negative behavior by vocally telling them something. Lead teacher would remind

children to push their chairs in. When a child didnt listen the teacher asked them where

everyone else was at and to go with them. Another teacher would tell the children to stop.

Besides this no negative behavior was observed.

The activity during morning meeting included the alphabet, counting, and the calendar.

The lead teacher did these activities and towards the end of the meeting a teacher aid joined the
group at the carpet. The teacher picked a helper of the day and the student pointed to the letters

and numbers while the teacher and children said them. The teacher asked why they did their

letters and number every day. Then she said so they can learn them and then later learn how to

read and write. The teacher also did the calendar and during this time she asked the children to

talk to their neighbor about the weather outside. Then they went over the weather together and

put it on the chart.

There was a days of the week song that they got up and danced to. There were hand

movements that they did. The morning meeting is for children to learn numbers, their alphabet,

days of the week, and the weather. All children were involved, they participated in repeating the

numbers, and alphabet. They moved and sang the days of the week song, and they discussed the

weather with a partner when asked. The lesson was teacher directed.

My overall impression of the classroom was that it was organized, labeled, and ran

smoothly. I couldnt identify or specifically know who was a special needs student and who was

a typical student. I felt that the environment was welcoming and positive to inclusion. Something

that I noticed was that the teacher followed the schedule in order but did not follow the times.

Breakfast time was longer than scheduled as well as outside time play. When they got to choice

time play, the children got about 20 minutes. The teacher said that the morning class is really

good at following directions and listening so when it is nice out she just lets them play for a

longer time.

A positive experience that stood out to me was that the lead teacher started conversations

with the children at the table she was sitting down at. She also was very encouraging when it

came to getting the children to try and eat their breakfast although she wasnt having the same

breakfast as they were. Also, I liked that one of the teacher aids tried to say things in a book in
Spanish. She would try to say the words and ask another teacher if she was correct. I think that

the teacher showed interest in the childrens language and tried to communicate with them in

their native language.

Something that I observed that I would do differently is the conversations among the

teachers and their comments. Three of the teachers would have personal conversations during the

day. Two teachers talking about an absent child, and said today was going to be a good day

because that child wasnt coming. After breakfast each table gets called to throw away their

trash, the teacher calls the blue table and no one gets up. So, she repeats herself and says thats

why theyre the blue table- the special table.

Also, during story time the speech pathologist came into the classroom and sat by the rug

with three other teachers and began a conversation about a student and a parent while the lead

teacher was reading a story to the children. I felt that it was disruptive and distracting the

children from the story. Another occasion happened at the playground, the two teacher aides

were having a conversation while children started using the bigger slides they were told not to

play in. One of them noticed by the time half of the children were on that side and she started to

yell to get back on this side. She said and its the ones who dont listen. I think that there are too

many negative comments and that the teachers should be supervising the children better. This

made me realize that conversations with co teachers are distracting and should be avoided during

class time, the teachers focus should be always on the children.

Something that I observed that I thought was great was at arrival time. The children

would sign in themselves by tracing their names on dry erase sheets. The child would go to a

table and trace their names one at a time with the assistant teacher. This is a great way to practice

their names and working one on one with the child each day. I also like that when it was time to
put their books away, the teacher would make beginning sounds. If their name started with that

sound the children would put their books way. This is great way for listening and identifying

sounds. These ideas are something I would like to apply in my own classroom in the future.