Hannah Aguilera

ECE 250-1001
Project: Classroom Evaluation

Name of Facility: Judith D. Steele Elementary

Teachers

Name: Ms. Deb Cooley

Address: 6995 W. Eldorado Ln

Telephone

#: (702) 799-2201
Ages & Number of Children: Ages 5-6, 19 children
SECTION 1: PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Classroom
1. Center: Listening Center
a. Number of children center can accommodate: 6
b. Equipment: 1 low to the ground table, 6 chairs, 1 cd/tape
player, 6 headphones, 2 shelves with various books, rack
on table holding packets with 6 books and a correlating cd
in each, boxes holding writing implements, stack of lined
paper, bookcase holding various levels of books.
c. Types of learning experiences: The children learn about
language, and verbal skills. Teacher communication skills
by hearing the speaker, understanding what the speaker is
saying, responding to the speaker. Promotes book reading;
phonological awareness. Open-ended questioning helps
students learn how to analyze information heard/read in
book.

2. Center: Sensory Center

a. Number of children center can accommodate: 4
b. Equipment: A sink, a tray of sand holding sea shells, and
rocks. A large box containing sponges, funnels, cups, a sink
stopper, and tiny rakes. 4 small aprons hanging on wall
next to bins. 4 bins on floor next to sink containing small
toy animals, wooden cars, foam letters and numbers.
c. Types of learning experiences: Promotes fine motor and
cognitive skills. Verbal skill and communication
development. Social skills like sharing; promotes
communication through math concepts, such as discussing
how much water to fill up cups (measurement; quantity),
and numbers/operations (comparing sets of toys, ordering
toys in sets).
3. Center: Writing Center
a. Number of children it accommodates: 6
b. Equipment: Curved table with 6 small chairs, 1 large
chair, large board with alphabet, 1 small white board; bin
containing lined paper, labeled boxes of pencils, pens,
markers; bag of popsicle sticks; 3 folders of vocabulary
words and sentences; kindergarten level books.
c. Types of learning experiences: Spelling; developmental
spelling; sequencing; verbal communication; written
communication; listening skills. Promotes reading and
phonemic awareness; letter awareness; fine motor skills by
maneuvering pencil on paper.
Outdoors:

1. Available equipment: Hula hoops; play structure; hopscotch

painted on pavement; 4 small tricycles.
2. Fixed components: Medium sized playground with a slide,
play tunnel and a balance beam; shade structure. 2 bench
picnic tables regular sized; 2 water fountains.
3. Natural features: 3 large trees and a large grass area.
4. Types of learning experiences: Besides getting the
opportunity to physically challenge themselves and use
typical gross motor skills, the outside helped promote sensory
awareness. Social skills such as taking turns, including each
other to play, cooperation; emotional literacy, describing how
they feel playing a certain game outside. Spatial awareness
and creative thinking.
Evaluation
According to DAP on pg. 191, in order for children to
appropriately develop fine and gross motor skills, a school should have
inside and outside physical activity areas with adequate space for
children to move freely and safely without bumping into each other
appropriate equipment so that each child benefits from maximum
participation. The outdoors play area was a very large grass field,
giving children ample room to run, and play; allowing children to
participate in gross motor activities, as well as socialization. Inside the
classroom, there was adequate equipment for children to use. Inside
centers and areas of the classroom had enough materials for every
student. The outdoor playground (with a slide and tunnel) was large

enough for many children to be on it; indoors each center had

equipment available for the specified number of children it could hold.
Virtually every activity that can be done indoors can be done
outdoors. In fact, the outdoors may be the richer of the two areas
because numerous activities that can be done outdoors cannot be
replicated indoors. (Week 6, slide 49). Outdoors, the only equipment
presented besides the playground was hula-hoops and 4 tricycles. I
thought that the lack of other outdoor equipment, such as playhouses,
balls, or chalk, might have been inappropriate. The lack of outdoor
equipment doesnt promote socialization or cognitive play for the
children. Play- based opportunities so children can experiment and be
creative with skills they are learning can be vastly increased if more
outdoor equipment was offered to allow children to experiment with
socialization and creative play (DAP, pg 190).
The indoor centers were organized, as there was clear
boundaries between learning centers by using furniture, floor covering,
or shelves that help limit the number of children who work or play in
each area at one time (Education, 201). The sensory station had the
most amounts of various appealing objects for the children to use. This
station clearly indicated how many children it could hold (4), as there
were only 4 aprons hanging. The listening center established clearly
how many children it could hold with the 6 chairs, correlating with the
pairs of headphones. Both these 2 centers, and the writing center,

were clearly defined in their own part of the classroom, and provided
ample materials for children to learn/practice skills, while enjoying the
materials.

(Listening Center)

(Writing Center)

(Sensory Center)

SECTION 2: CURRICULUM

1. Philosophy
a. Center/School: The mission of Judith D. Steele Elementary
School is to develop a high-quality diverse instructional
program with a focus on accountability and excellence in
learning, through a safe supportive environment,
accessible to all students.
b. Teacher: My philosophy is to make sure every student of
mine is given respect, love, and good learning experiences.
My biggest responsibility as a teacher is making learning
enjoyable. Without the fun, children will only do the bare
minimum. Its not about forcing information into them; its
about giving and guiding them through valuable learning
experiences that not only will help them, but also will
appeal to them. Every child deserves a safe place to be
loved and to learn in, and that is what I try to provide.
2. Goals
a. Program Goals: Help students develop more
fundamentals of reading writing, and mathematics. Inspire
students to work to the limit of his/her ability; to encourage
and challenge them. Help students understand how to be
responsible and respectful in the classroom, and out.
Assists the development of self-esteem, cooperation, and
curiosity to learn in students.
b. Classroom Goals: Goals for the classroom is to foster the
love of learning. Goals are for students to get a grasp of
math, by sorting, identifying, counting (forwards and

backwards to 10), compare measurements, and know how

to use terms of more than, and less than. Engage in
reading and writing by inventive spelling, recognize letters
and letter-sounds, and begin reading and retelling stories.
Students to understand how to communicate with others
kindly, and be learn the basics of understanding their own,
and others emotions.
3. Classroom Schedule: Begin day with opening meeting, which
includes singing good morning song to establish sense of
community. Reviews alphabet with a song while teacher
evaluates to see who pays attention and whos off task. After
morning songs, teacher goes over 3 sight words from previous
day (peg, met, hen). After reviewing those, the teacher reads a
story to the class (the story read that day was about a spider.)
After the story, class does a whole group writing activity,
brainstorming what words describes a spider and how to spell
them. Next is recess, and the end activity for the day is a whole
group math lesson about positional words, left, right, etc.
4. Lesson Plans: Mondays lesson plan is described in the
classroom schedule above. Tuesday includes a writing activity
involving learning 3 new sight words and writing them down.
Math lesson is sorting colored blocks from each other, counting,
(which color has more blocks? How many more?) Wednesdays
plan is review Tuesdays sight words, read a story with the class

(another book about a spider/other insects), have students

identify characters, setting, and major events. Math on
Wednesday is correctly naming shapes. Thursday is writing
descriptive sentence of spider, and drawing/coloring a spider off
of that sentence, and reviews Tuesdays sight words again, and
visit centers. Fridays math involves noticing the difference in
shapes, regarding flat shapes and 3-D shapes. Activity is make a
spider web using coffee filters and scissors, helping children
develop fine motor skill.
5. Individualization:
a. Children with Identified Special Needs: She makes
sure to be in constant communication with special needs
childs parents, asking them what works best for their
child, about what their child can handle, about his
strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. She makes sure
to tell parents what she thinks will help the kids in class,
and what the parents can do at home to help keep their
child. One boy in her class has a muscle deficiency, making
it hard for him to walk, and very fidgety and restless. The
teacher makes sure to include him in all classroom
activities, but she acknowledges when the boy is having
trouble, and accommodates that. In longer morning
meetings, she allows the boy to spread his legs on the
carpet since he gets too restless in criss-cross applesauce

seating. On class walks, she makes sure not to rush him if

he walks slower than the rest of the group, and makes sure
his classmates know its okay for someone else to be
different (i.e. if they cant walk the same as you.)
b. Typically Developing Children: The teacher meets their
needs by altering the schedule a little bit in order to help
them focus better. For example, she altered the length of
morning meetings, so half of them arent as long as the
other half, giving the few students with difficulty sitting still
a chance to not be sitting for so long every day. She also
gives reminders to her students, and asking them
questions to keep them engaged. She pays attention to a
students progression, and if the reminders are helping
students with focus and difficulty sitting, she will slowly
decrease reminders to see if those habits have stuck.
6. Evaluation
One important criterion in planning curriculum for every
age groups is the need to adapt for individual differences in
children, including children with special needs (Education, 253).
Judith Steel Elementary has a special education program, and
Ms. Cooley has children with special needs in her classes, so
adaption of curriculum to help students with special needs is
evident in this classroom. Ms. Cooley said at times she has to
alter the kind/amount of a practice to use, like scaffolding, or
change time schedules. I could see this was evident when she

shortened the morning meeting because a boy with a severe

muscle deficiency couldnt sit on the meeting carpet very long.
She was very aware of the capacity of what her students could
handle, and kept an eye on this particular boy, noting when she
needed to adapt the lesson to help him.
The curriculum is designed to help children explore and
acquire the key concepts (big ideas, e.g., language
experiences exploring sound/letter relationships, hands-on
science activities) (DAP, 239). The curriculum in Ms. Cooleys
class represented getting across big ideas to students, and then
working into details from there. For example, letter/sound
relationships were heavily emphasized in her classroom, as
numerous boards around the room had the alphabet stapled on
it. The writing center table was located right next to the largest
alphabet bulletin board, and also located next to a small board
with rhyming words on it. Rhyming sounds and letters were
emphasized, also building on childrens demonstrated
understandings of phonological/phonemic awareness (DAP,
237).
From what I observed, there were no inappropriate
practices. The weekly schedule helped build on concepts that
children already knew, while still challenging them. Teachers
build on childrens current knowledge, making sure that children
consolidate their understanding of a concept before moving

ahead (DAP, 240). The teacher was clear in her philosophy

about provided excellent education, and care, for her students.
She did no abuse her power, and was very knowledgeable about
the curriculum, and how to create lessons in writing, reading, and
math to help build childrens knowledge. She also emphasized
making sure learning was fun, and did this when she opened the
painting area, allowing children to explore visual arts, cognitive
play, and creativity.

SECTION 3: GUIDANCE
1. Routines:
a. The morning routine was at the beginning of the day when
the students arrived. Ms. Cooley opened the door to the
classroom and came out to greet everyone and their
parent when the school bell rang. She went to each child
and said hello, or asked how they were, and did the same
to each parent. Then she told the children they could go
inside, and all the children ran into the classroom. Ms.
Cooley followed them inside, where she walked over to the
CD player at the front of the room, and she played a song
called Good Morning while the children got settled. I
observed how the children knew how to settle in. They
knew to take off their jackets and where to hang them, to
take off their backpacks and grab their folder to put in their

table in front of them. They knew it was okay it talk to

other children while doing this, especially when children
walked over to the classroom table that held the school
boxes they needed for the day. The school boxes are pencil
boxes with each childs name on it, which holds writing
implements, erasers, and popsicles sticks (tool to use when
spacing out words when writing). The song started off
quiet, but Ms. Cooley, in segments of minutes, would
slightly turn it up as time passed. Once the volume got to
close to loud, the children knew it was time to have
everything settled and be sitting in their chairs. Once
everyone was sitting, Ms. Cooley turned off the music, and
started talking to children to begin the day.
b. Another routine I observed was the exiting for recess
routine. Since recess usually happens after a
reading/writing assignment, I assume this is the routine
that happens everyday. Every student is sitting at their
table trying to finish the assignment. Ms. Cooley walks
around observing to see how far they are, and if they need
help. Ms. Cooley reminded the students when they finished
the assignment it would be time for recess. So after you
finish the assignment, put it in the folder on the front table,
put everything in your school box, and return the school
box to the front table. One by one students finished the

assignment, and they knew exactly what to do, by turning

in their paper and putting the materials away. Then I
observed they recognized it was almost time for recess, so
some of them went to use the bathroom in the class before
going outside, and others made sure to put on their coats.
When everyone was finished with the assignment, Ms.
Cooley said it was time to go outside. I observed how every
students calmly got up from their chairs, put on jackets if
they didnt yet, and then lined up in front of the door
without being asked.
2. Classroom Rules: Listen to the Teacher. Follow directions. Raise
hand to speak. Be Responsible. Be Safe. Be Respectful. Make
Good Choices.
a. Ms. Cooley, before story time, asked all the students to sit
on the carpet. The carpet was a large mat with various
colored squares. Each child knew they had to sit in their
own square. All 19 children got up from their chairs, a few
pushed them in, others did not. 2 children, boys, quickly
got up from their seats, ran to the front of the carpet,
laughing, and once they got to the squares they wanted,
hurried and plopped down, still laughing. Right after they
sat down, they looked up at Ms. Cooley who was sitting in
the reading chair right in front of them. They both looked
away right after gazing up. During this, the other children

all walked to a square, sat in it, and didnt talk. Ms. Cooley
looked over at all the kids sitting on the carpet. She said
Thank you to everyone who safely walked over to the
carpet. I saw a few students nod their head, and1 girl
student said youre welcome. The 2 boys in the front
looked up at Ms. Cooley when she started to talk, but were
very fidgety in their squares. The one boy on the left kept
twitching his foot, which kept hitting the boy on the rights
foot. The boy in the right smiled, and twitched his foot
back, so it hit the other boys foot. The boy on the left
didnt notice, or didnt acknowledge this. Then the boys
both stop moving their feet when Ms. Cooley spoke up
again, and asked the class Why is it important to walk in
the classroom, and not run? The girl who said youre
welcome earlier, raised her hand. Ms. Cooley nodded at
her and asked What do you think Maria? Maria then said,
It is so we dont run into others and hurt ourselves. Ms.
Cooley nodded at Maria, and said Yes, it is so dont run
into things and other people; so we dont hurt ourselves.
She gets up from the chair and walks to the whiteboard,
pointing to the rules poster hanging on the whiteboard.
She points to the rule that says Be Safe. Ms. Cooley looks
at the children and reminds them what that rule says. She

walks back to the chair, sits down, and looks at the two
boys sitting the front, still looking at her. She asks them Is
running in the classroom safe? The boy on the left shakes
his head left to right. The boy on the right doesnt say
anything; he sits there still, staring up at her. Ms. Cooley
says to the boy on the left Youre right, Jacob. It is not safe
to run in here. Next time, walk over to the carpet please.
Jacob nods his head up and down once, and then looks
down at the carpet. The boy on the right looks over at
Jacob, and then says Me too. Ill walk next time too. So Im
safe. Ms. Cooley nods at the boy, and then addresses the
whole class, saying Acting safely is a classroom rule. It is
very important so you or your classmates dont get hurt.
Be safe means no running in the classroom. All the
students are looking up at her, and nod.
b. Ms. Cooley is sitting in the reading chair at the front of the
classroom. 19 children are sitting in their own square on
the carpet in front of her. Ms. Cooley is reading a book
about spiders. She is holding up the book in her right hand,
and using a pointer finger stick to follow to words she is
reading. Every student is looking up at the book in Ms.
Cooleys hand. At the end of the page, Ms. Cooley asks a
question about what the spider did. 6 students raised their
hand to speak. 1 boy in the front, did not raise his hand,

but spoke out loud, answering the question. Ms. Cooley

looked over at the boy and said he was right, but asked
him What did you forget to do? Other students, about 4,
raised their hand to answer for him. 2 students waved their
hand in the air. Ms. Cooley asked everyone to put their
hands down. She looked back at the boy, and she asked,
Kyle, what did you forget to do when you answered my
question? Kyle stared at Ms. Cooley, his mouth was
opened; he did not say anything. Ms. Cooley took the
pointer finger stick in her left hand, and moved it towards
Kyle. She tapped the pointer finger on Kyles left hand 3
times, and then moved the pointer away. Kyle stared at this
hand while Ms. Cooley tapped it, and still stared at it when
the pointer finger left. He stared at this hand for a few
seconds, and then looked up at Ms. Cooley and said, Raise
my hand! She said, Yes Kyle, You forgot to raise your
hand to answer my question. Kyle said he was sorry, and
Ms. Cooley replied It is okay, just remember to raise your
hand for now on. Ms. Cooley then looked over at the rest
of the class, and said Okay, lets finish this book.
3. Teacher Interactions:
a. The daily writing activity was explained thoroughly by Ms.
Cooley. She introduced the new activity, writing a sentence
on a spider, and then explained how to do it by drawing on

the whiteboard while addressing the class. She made sure

to explain it both verbally and visually so students would
understand. After the explanation, she asked if anyone had
any questions. Once everyone understood the assignment,
she walked around the room to help students she saw
having trouble. Since she knows her students, she can
sense when one is actually having a difficult time, or is just
a slow writer. She walked around encouraging everybody to
keep going, and ask for help if needed. She always made
sure to address students by name when talking to them.
She was reassuring to the students, and calm, so the
students didnt feel rushed or overwhelmed. She smiled
when talking to her students, and always crouched down
next to them so they were at the same level.
b. During story time, Ms. Cooley, throughout the book she
was reading, made sure to ask multiple questions to keep
the students listening and engaged. If she saw that a
student wasnt looking at the book she was pointing to,
and saw they were daydreaming, she would address them
and ask them to listen to her. She never angrily asked
anything of, or talked harshly towards her students. If she
saw someone not paying attention, she would quickly,
nicely, but sternly, remind him or her to pay attention. She

was really attentive of her students, and able to keep them

focused by her questions, and her relaxed demeanor.
4. Social-Emotional Guidance Techniques:
a. There is a painting area where Ms. Cooley is setting up
paint supplies. 3 children walk over to the painting area,
where Ms. Cooley tells them to put on their smocks, and
each grab a paintbrush. She places 2 cups of paint at each
easel and tells the children to wait for her to get the rest of
the supplies before they touch anything. Ms. Cooley goes
over to a cabinet to grab paper. The 3 children stand in
front of their easels talking. There are 2 girls and 2 boy.
Since Ms. Cooley is at the cabinet, she is not looking at the
children. The boy looks over to see if Ms. Cooley is looking,
and then he sticks his hand in the paint cup in front of him.
The two girls look over and him and tell him to stop. The
boy pulls his hand out of the paint cup, and then turns to
the girl on his right. He sticks out his hand covered in paint,
stretching it to try to touch the girls smock. The girl told
him to stop multiple times. The boy laughed and pulled his
hand away. Ms. Cooley came back with the paper and the 2
girls told her what happened. The boy still had paint on his
hand, trying to hide it curled up in his smock. Ms. Cooley
asked the boy why he dipped his hand in the paint, when
she told him not to touch anything? The boy looked up at

Ms. Cooley and said he couldnt help it, and he wanted to

touch it. Ms. Cooley said it was not right to try and get
paint on another person, because it is not nice, or
respectful. It would also ruin their clothes. Ms. Cooley then
articulated a strategy to help the boy try to regulate his
behavior. She said We have to keep our hands to
ourselves. Next time you feel like you want to touch the
paint, or touch another person, to keep your hands from
wandering, hold them together. She then showed the boy
how to clasp his hands together. Ms. Cooley said This is
what I do when I know Im not supposed to touch
something yet, it helps me remember to keep my hands
off. Ms. Cooley had to boy walk over to the sink to wash
his hands off. He then came back and Ms. Cooley had him
hold his own hands together. She asked him make sure he
knew what the purpose of holding his hands together was.
The boy replied So I make sure to keep my hands to
myself, and not touch anything until its okay. Ms. Cooley
said That is right. Im glad you listened to what I told you
about keeping your hands to yourself. Remember the next
time you want to touch something you cant, fold your
hands.
b. At the beginning of class, when the students were putting
away jackets, and taking out papers from their folders, one

girl sat in her chair, took out her folder from the backpack,
and had a frown on her face. The girl sitting next to her
asked he what was wrong. The visibly upset girl opened
her folder and took out her homework. The piece of
homework paper was crumply. Ms. Cooley was standing off
to the side observing this interaction. The girl with the
crumply paper told the girl next to her she was sad
because she spilt water on her homework, and now the
paper is crusty. The girl replied, by saying Its okay,
dont be sad. It can be fixed. The girl then slid her chair
closer to the sad girl and patted her back. Ms. Cooley
walked up to the two girls and asked what was the matter.
The sad girl explained what happened. Ms. Cooley then
looked at the other girl, and said Katie, I saw how you
comforted Lilly when she was sad because her paper got a
little ruined. That was very nice of you to tell her it was
okay. I am glad you could see why Lilly was upset. Ms.
Cooley then turned to Lilly and showed an understanding
of her sadness by saying I can see you are sad because of
your crumply paper. How would you feel if they paper could
be flat again? Lilly said she would be happy to see the
paper flat again. Ms. Cooley then said Lilly, its ok to be
sad over your paper being messy, but spilling on it was an

accident, and accidents happen. She reassured Lilly she

could help flatten the paper out. She walked Lilly over to
the bookshelf, and asked Lilly to pick the biggest book
there, which was a dictionary. Ms. Cooley then out the
piece of paper underneath the dictionary. She told Lilly that
since this book was heavy, it could help flatten out the
crumply paper.
5. Evaluation
In order to promote cognitive development in kindergarten, the
teachers interactions with the children are vital. Emotional security
frees children to devote energy to the cognitive tasks they encounter
in the classroom. Organization of instruction allows for taking
advantage of teachable moments in planned and systematic ways
(DAP, 205). Ms. Cooleys classroom rules and her interactions with the
students allowed children to thrive not only in cognitive development,
but social-emotional development. Ms. Cooley had rules simple enough
for children to understand, but important for the classroom to function
in a safe manner. Through her constant questioning to remind the
students of the rules (such as raising her own hand to remind children
to raise theirs; asking what it means to be safe in the classroom), the
children soon will able to incorporate the rules in the classroom without
being reminded as often. This guidance of scaffolding: (Education,
103), gradually providing less assistance as children become more

capable of performing on their own, helps the children become a little

less dependent on the teacher to remind them of every single rule;
their memory is improved throughout the course of the year as a result
of the guidance of the teacher.
The only guidance I observed as inappropriate was the over
emphasis on external awards for motivation to keep children either on
task, or to behave according to the classroom rules. She never
chastised children for their mistakes, but I observed that the extreme
use of stickers, prizes from a toy bin, etc. didnt help contribute to a
childs development.
Teachers set clear limits regarding unacceptable behaviors and
enforce these limits with explanations in a climate of mutual respect
and caring (DAP, 228). Ms. Cooley, with her interactions, reminders of
rules, and social-emotional guidance, displayed limits to unacceptable
behaviors, and helped students by constantly reminding them of right
and wrong. Through the paint incident with boy and two girls at the
painting easels, the teacher made sure to define what he did was
unacceptable (putting hands in paint; trying to get paint on someone
else), and then gave him instruction on how to keep his hands to
himself (fold hands), all with respect and without anger. She
emphasized it was wrong, but never was harsh with the boy, and spoke
calmly but sternly, demonstrating how to communicate respectfully
with another person.