March 16th Observations

Today when I arrived in the classroom it was set up a little different then the last time I was there. I feel like the new arrangement gives the children more freedom in their play. Once again the children were centers when I got there. This time the dress up area was set up so that the children could pretend that they were animal doctors. So there was a doctor and nurse outfits and stuffed animals. While I was observing I noticed one student that was not interested in doing anything. Chelsea told me that students like this who have no interest in doing anything right when they arrive at school are a challenge because you have to find away of engaging them while trying to meet the needs of the other students. This made me think of things I would have to be ready to address when I start teaching in my own classroom. While in their centers the children had to stop and clean up their areas and choose a new area to play in. I really like the way Chelsea has the student use clothespins to pick the area they want to be in. This way student can see where they can play and understand that they cannot play in an area that is full. The only thing I do not really agree with is that once they make their choice they have to stay in that area until it is time to pick a new area. I can understand why a teacher would have it set up that way but I do not feel that it allows the children to play freely.

March 11th Observations

Since the school was delayed on Tuesday I did my observation on Thursday this week. The students were in centers when I arrived. One girl was playing in the dress-up area and wanted me to play her husband. It was interesting to play with her and how fast she would go from acting out one thing to the next. She had no problem using her imagination to pretend that we were at bay beach; I on the other hand had to try very hard. While observing the students at play I also got to talk to Chelsea about how she gives the children responsibility for their actions and problems they have with their peers. Chelsea feels that it is important to give children this responsibility is important so that they can learn from their actions. The children also have jobs in the classroom, which is something I would not expect to see in a 4k classroom. However I feel that it is valuable for students to have these jobs because it gives them ownership of the classroom.

More time at Aldo

From March 2nd

I visited Chelsea’s classroom for the second time and when I arrived the students were all in the various centers. Today there seemed to be a lot of emotions surrounding the classroom. Children were getting upset when they could not play with what the wanted or when their peers would not play with them. There was one girl playing in the doll house area that was pretending that the doll was in trouble and crying for help. The way she was screaming I had a hard time telling if she was just playing or if she needed help, but in the end it was just play. A boy was very tired and did not want to do anything and as a result was angry with everything. It was interesting to watch how one’s students’ emotions and or mood affect the other students. Then it was time for snack and it seemed that after snack everyone had come down. Chelsea read a story to the class and then we got the children ready to play outside for a little before it was time to leave, I was not able to see them play outside since I had to leave but I’m interested to see how differently they play outside then they do from when the play in the centers.