Hannah Aguilera

ECE 251-1001
Group Time Observation & Evaluation

1. Judith Steele Elementary; (702) 799-2201; Ms. Cooley; 5-6

yo/Kindergarten
2. 8:10am -8:50 am
3. 2 adults, 21 children
4. The nature of group time was active at the very beginning, but
the main discussion was mundane, yet the two main activities
engaged in the group time were very different but still correlated
to each other. At 8:10am, the teacher called each table over one
by one to sit on the large carpet in the corner of the class. Each
child sat in an individual colored square. She started off the
group time with a good morning song, in which two children got
to fake play guitars and everyone sang. After the song ended,
and once everyone was seated Ms. Cooley started the calendar
day discussion. There was a large calendar picture on the wall in
front of where Ms. Cooley stood in front of the children. She
pointed to the day they were on, and said today is the 28th of
October, what is the name of today, many children shook their
heads. Even pointing at the word Wednesday, nobody answered.
Is today Monday the teacher asked. A few children said no. A
second later a boy said Its Wednesday! The teacher then
asked the group how to say Wednesday, and what sounds go into

it. How do we sound out Wednesday she asked, then called on

a girl who raised her hand to the front. Ms. Cooley pointed to the
word Wednesday, and the girl sounded out wen sa day. The
teacher asked the rest of the group to sound it out like the girl
did. After that, the teacher then pointed to the next block on the
calendar, Thursday. What day comes after Wednesday? Many
kids said Thursday. She pointed to the word Thursday, and then
back down the block representing the next day. It had a big star
sticker stuck on it. Does anyone remember what this star
means? A boy said Something special will happen The teacher
said, Yes, this star means something special will happen, we use
this star to mark a special day. What is special about tomorrow?
Many of the children yelled Pumpkin Day! Ms. Cooley said Yes,
Pumpkin Day is tomorrow. Tomorrow we will be celebrating
Nevada Day and pumpkins. Does anyone know what will talked
about doing tomorrow? Many kids started talking at once, but a
few kids raised their hands. Ms. Cooley called on a boy with his
hand raised. She told him not to talk until everyone was
listening. The children soon stopped talking, and then the boy
said On pumpkin day we carve pumpkins and dress like
cowboys. The teacher said Yes, we will dress like cowboys,
because some of the first people to visit Nevada were cowboys.
How do we dress like cowboys? A few kids shouted things out,

but the majority of children just stared and shook their heads
side to side like they didnt know. Ms. Cooley grabbed a bandana
from her pocket and said Who knows what this is called? Only
one boy knew what is was called, and Ms. Cooley wrote the word
bandana, on the whiteboard. Cowboys wore bandanas. How did
they wear bandanas? Ms. Cooley showed them different ways to
ear a bandana: tying it around her head, over her nose and
mouth, around her neck, etc. After each new position she tied it,
she asked why did they wear it like this. The group talked
together and brainstormed why, ie. to make sure dust didnt get
into mouth, protect head from the sun, protect neck from biting
bugs. After this discussion, the teacher brought attention back to
the calendar by asking how many days were in this month
(October). Only a few children got up to count numbers on
calendar. After a few children answered, they sat down and Ms.
Cooley started a numbers song (counting by 10s, 5s, and 2s to
100.) The children seemed to know this song, and after singing it
3 times, Ms. Cooley asked children to all spin around and face
the other way on the carpet. She walked to the other side of the
carpet to face them. She held up a color by number page, and
asked what children saw in this picture. Ms. Cooley called on
children who raised their hands, as they pointed out how there
are many pumpkins and squash and the girl had crazy hair.

The coloring page featured 2 children holding pumpkins in a

field. The activity was to coloring the page with the color by
number sheet supplied to children. She called each table 1 by 1
to leave the carpet to return to table. The students started to
color their pages once back at their chair, and colored their page
until 8:50. 5 minutes before 8:50, Ms. Cooley reminded the
children that they would be going to their art special in 5
minutes, but could continue their drawing once back in class. At
8:50 the students were told to put down coloring utensils, and
line up at the door.
5. Appropriate: The calendar activity at the beginning of group time
was not entirely appropriate, as seen by the responses of the
children. Although this has been a regular activity this class has
been doing, the concept of days and sense of time was not
strong with this age group. Many children, even though the
teacher was pointing to the Wednesday day, could not figure out
what day it was. It was easier for children to understand
tomorrow, or the concept of after, though. I think the teacher
sensed this, and then shifted this calendar activity to focus on
the special day that was happening the next day. This was
appropriate because it engaged the children to think, and by
having this symbol/picture of a star helped the children visually
understand what importance this next day was. The discussion
about dressing up like cowboys was appropriate because it

involved many more children to think and share their ideas, and
also was based off of something these children were clearly
interested in. The coloring activity was appropriate because it
tied into the theme of the calendar pumpkin day. By being a
color by number activity, it tied math skills with colors.
6. How long? Appropriate for the age:
The group time is 40 minutes long, and almost 30 of those
minutes were spent sitting on the carpet. This time frame isnt
appropriate for this age group because the majority of the
children were squirming and not actively looking or listening
during the last half of carpet time. This shows that these children
(who were mostly 5 year olds, two of them were 6) arent
comfortable sitting for that long of a period without any sort of
physical activity, making harder for them to concentrate and pay
attention to what was happening. I think it was smart that the
teacher had the children spin around and face the other direction
when she explained the color by numbers activity, but other than
that this time frame with very little movement and wasnt
appropriate.
7. Space: This space is a corner on the carpet, which was large
enough to hold the whole class size on the carpet. Having
individual spaces on the carpet that were colored coded
reminded children to keep to their own space. With the carpet in
the corner, and the children facing the corner wall and the white
board right next to it, there is little in their peripheral vision to

distract them. The spaces that the children work in, the carpet
and the desks, give some variety and change of scenery to this
group time. Both areas were appropriate, and were large enough
to hold the entire group, even at the tables where the children
arent all facing each other, the activity at hand allowed children
to converse and ask each other questions, making the tables an
appropriate group time space as well.
8. Bring the children together and begin group time?
She starts by calling each tables name over to the carpet. There
are 4 tables, and each has their own name. After calling each
table over, she starts the group time with a good morning song.
She puts this song on the CD and brings out 2 plastic inflatable
guitars. She calls up two children to play them while the song
goes on. After the song ends, she starts the calendar discussion.
9. Involve the children?
The teacher involves the children by specifically calling on
children to get them involved. I noticed her calling on children
that hadnt volunteered or raised their hands at all. She called on
a young girl named Chloe during the calendar discussion, and
asked her if she would look out the window to see what the
weather was like. Chloe got up off her seat and walked over the
window. When she said it was cloudy, Ms. Cooley asked a boy
who raised his hand, to open the door for the girl so she could
step outside to feel what the weather was like. During the
calendar discussion, she asked for volunteers to count to 100 by

10s. She let that boy come to the front of class and show others
how he counted. Then she started the counting song. Another
example is when she a child to stick a special pumpkin sticker on
the day Thursday to represent tomorrow was Pumpkin Day.
During the discussion of how to wear bandanas, when the
children didnt respond at first, she gave them verbal hints to get
them thinking: Im wearing this bandana kind of like I would ear
a hat. Why do we ear hats? This is when a boy said, We wear
hats to keep sun off our head. Ms. Cooley said, Yes. And so if
we wear hats to keep the sun off, and bandanas are like hats,
what do bandanas do? This is when the children started talking
and sharing their ideas more actively.
10. Percentage of the timeactively vs. passively
The percentage of time children were passively involved was
around 20% at the beginning of calendar time, when the teacher
asked the students about Wednesday and how to sound it out.
Many students seemed to zone out, and only one girl was
brought up to sound it out, and even when the teacher asked the
students to sound it out like she did, many students didnt
participate. When explaining the color by number directions, the
majority of that time was spent passively. Actively, the children
sang the good morning song, the counting by 10 s song,
discussing pumpkin day and bandanas, and also the color by #

page, Id say the majority of the group time was spent actively.
Many students seemed to zone out at the end, by Ms. Cooley
made sure to ask questions to keep engaged. She called on
students to come up and answer questions, or demonstrate
something as opposed to just replying by staying seated. 80% of
group time directly involved the students thinking and answering
questions, especially during the bandana discussion. The last
activity of group time was probably the most active involvement,
because each child actually had something to do, whereas during
calendar discussion, normally only one child was addressed and
the others would seemingly lose interest by looking away.
11. Children react
Children seem to be excited to start group time, such as looking
expectantly at the teacher for their table to be called to the carpet.
Many children skipped over to the carpet or hurried. Many were smiling
and laughing with each other before group time even began. The
beginning of group time seemed to go smoothly with the good morning
song, but by the end of the carpet time, many kids seemed lethargic
and zoned out. Children seemed to be very exciting to be called back
to their desks to start the color by number page.
12. Flexibility
On the part of the teacher, there is evident flexibility. During the
calendar discussion, after they established how to say Wednesday, a

girl brought up the fact it was her moms birthday today. The teacher
asked the child Thats exciting! Does your mom like birthday cake?
and the girl replies Yes! The teacher asks what is the moms favorite
flavor of cake, and the girl replies Chocolate. The teacher then brings
up the fact that it will be another students birthday soon, and he likes
chocolate cake too. Also at the end of calendar discussion, a different
staff member enters the room to ask Ms. Cooley something. She says
shell wait till the discussion is over, but Ms. Cooley takes the
opportunity to let children whisper amongst themselves and move
around on the carpet until., giving her the chance to help the staff
member and allow the children a moment to relax.
13. Individualizationspecial needs and the typically developing?
There is individualization for both special needs and typically
developing children. There was a typically developing boy who had a
shorter attention span and got much more fidgety than the other
children. Ms. Cooley allowed him to sit in the corner square of the
carpet so he could spread out his legs. The boy was still disrupting
people by stomping his feet and waving his arms. Ms Cooley then
brought a small rug over and placed it behind the group carpet. She
told him he could sit on this carpet back here and spread out as much
as he wanted as long as he paid attention. This helped the boy as he
wasnt visually in the way distracting others, and it also gave him the
room to move, which allowed him focus more on the discussion. For

special needs children, 3 children came from the special needs area to
join Ms. Cooleys class during the color by number activity. She already
had extra chairs at each table for them to integrate smoothly into this
activity. One of the boys with special needs doesnt not like to be
touched by others. Instead of sitting him at a table with others, she
placed him at a small separate desk so he wasnt close enough to
touch others, but still had his facing other childrens table so they
could talk.
14. Genderinappropriate behaviors
The boys in this class typically expressed more inappropriate
behaviors than the females. More the boys talked out loud about other
things not pertaining to the discussion, during calendar time. Ms.
Cooley had to keep reminding 3 specific boys verbally to make the
right decisions. Some of them would roughhouse and try to hit each
other. She had to separate them and put them on separate sides of the
carpet.
15. Inappropriate behaviors behavior management techniques
The inappropriate behavior was repeatedly talking out or
shouting during the calendar discussion. During the color by number
discussion, 2 boys would take neighboring childrens crayons and
wouldnt give them back, and take them without asking. Transitioning
from the carpet back to the tables, a boy hit another boy. The teacher
uses stickers for positive reinforcement. So she gave everyone a

sticker on their chart for transitioning nicely, except for the boy who hit
another. She also took that boy aside and reminded him of the card
system How Am I Doing? The card system is a child gets a certain
colored card if they arent behaving right, but throughout the day have
the chance to get back to the original positive colored card. She said
Right now youre on the green card, but what you just did is not good
or kind. We do not hit. I do not think hitting equals a green cards, it
means a yellow card. But I am giving you another chance. No more
hitting and you can stay on green. I think the positive sticker
reinforcement is an effective and appropriate behavior management
technique because its not solely used for bad behavior, its rewarding
good behaviors. The colored card system doesnt seem to be effective,
nor very appropriate because whereas each childs sticker board is on
their own desk, the colored cards are located on the front board in the
front of the class. This seems to be sort of a shaming behavior
assessment. And also, its the teachers decision on how offensive
the behavior is. From the conversation, it seems the teacher isnt being
consistent in managing this particular boys behavior. Shes given him a
yellow card for hitting a boy before, but now is not. This might be
confusing for the boy, and instead of thinking this is a second chance,
he might be thinking now he can get away with hitting.
16. Ends group time

The teacher ends group time by telling children 5 more minutes

to color. The group time ended before the children finished their last
activity, coloring the pumpkin page. At 8:50 she called each table up
one by one to get in line for the art special. There is not closure with
the coloring page, as when the children return from the art class, they
do not finish the page, but it is collected unfinished to be done later.
17. Activity follows:
The activity that follows group time is the special: art. This is
an art class in a separate classroom that is 50 minutes long. I think this
activity would be appropriate as long as the group time properly
finishes up before the children leave for this special, but since there
was no closure with group time, this art special activity does not seem
appropriate. Especially since the activity the children just participated
in was coloring project sitting at their desks, and now a few minutes
later theyre going to a different room to sit down and do more art. I
think if anything, the coloring activity in the classroom should occur
first, and then the group discussion on the carpet after. That way 2
stationary art activities with little to no physical activity wouldnt be
taking place back to back.
Evaluation:
This group time was oddly broken up and I believe that was a
weakness of this learning experience. During the last portion of the
group time, which was the color by number sheet, it seemed the

children were rushed. Large group time was paced by the teacher for
40 minutes, which for this age group was a little too long, on top of the
fact that it was divided into 2 separate activities that took place in 2
different areas of the room. The last activity, the coloring number page
needed more time to finish, but this activity was only given 10 minutes
before the children had to go to their special. Not only did the special
interrupt the flow of this classroom, but considering it was an art
special, I think it was an overload of art, or specifically coloring, in such
a short span of time. The 30 minutes dedicated to calendar
discussion/carpet time felt inappropriate because their was little
interaction as a whole group; most of the active participation was done
by 1 child at a time when the teacher asked a question and brought
the child to stand up to answer. An example of this was how to sound
out Wednesday, getting up to check the weather, etc. Although, the
group time did start with an active portion of signing the good morning
song and having two specific people play the guitars. After that
though, the majority of calendar time was sitting and listening. The
calendar discussion could be viewed mostly as non DAP because it was
not an authentic activity. It was an exploratory, problem-solving,
although it could be viewed possibly as a purposeful activity since it
was focused more on asking the children questions about their goals,
yet calendars didnt seem like an activity triggered by the childrens
need to know in this classroom. Although, the majority of the calendar

time did focus on vocabulary (Wednesday, Pumpkin Day, etc.), and

sequencing, as opposed to the concept of time. Also math concepts
were segued into after calendar time when the children were asked to
sing the counting song, by counting to 100 by 2s, 5,s and 10s.
I think the discussion branching off of calendar day was a strong
point, discussing bandanas, Pumpkin Day, cowboys, etc. I do think it
could have been improved during the discussion of bandanas, the
teacher said she had a bag of bandanas for everyone tomorrow. When
many children did not know what that meant, she went to the bag of
bandanas and brought one out to show the children. I think this
discussion could have been furthered if the teacher brought out the
rest of the bandanas and allowed the children to feel them, look at
them up close and test them on their own. Many children did not know
what a bandana was, so giving the children an opportunity to explore
bandanas before asking ways in which they could be used, would have
made it more impactful. Exploring materials and then brainstorming
would have made it easier for children. Something that was
appropriate about this discussion was the fact it directly related to
children: Nevada Day. The discussion of cowboys, the history of
Nevada, and dressing up in Nevadan clothes as opposed to normal
Halloween costumes for Pumpkin Day, was impactful because it related
to these children.

Another strength of this group time was the waiting time

between the activities, which was none. After the carpet talk, the
children went to their tables and the paper and coloring utensils were
already laid out for them.
The coloring page activity allowed children to be more actively
engaged in a group setting compared to the carpet talk. The children
were encouraged to talk to neighbors about what color was supposed
to go where. This was strength of this activity; it was a peer group
social interaction. Children were helping/interaction by talking with
other children, which allowed them to think more accurately, and tried
to recover from the sense of disequilibrium when they colored the
wrong color in the wrong area. The children not only could sit and talk
to neighbors, but also move and talk to other children at other tables &
look at other drawings. The teacher tried to go up to each child and
talk to everyone individually on what they were doing/ seeing. The
teacher even allowed some kids to move to the carpet to color there,
or some children even shared a worksheet to color together. This
activity wasnt individual seatwork, but collaborative work fitting into
group time. This coloring by # activity is a purposeful activity because
of the child-classroom-adult interaction, allowing children to question
and work with each other.
The biggest strength of this learning experience was the
teachers appropriate interactions with the children. There was an

evident mutual respect there, as she responded with full of attention

and kindness with children. Such as when the children were giving
ideas about how bandanas were used a boy said, Maybe cowboys tied
them on like a bracelet. A few children laughed and another child said
Why would a boy wear a bracelet? The teacher said to the boy That
is a good thought Jim. Maybe there were some cowboys who did tie a
bandana on their wrist like a bracelet. Where else do you think they
could tie it around? She helped further his thinking and didnt dismiss
his thoughts.
This teacher also responded to their individualization. She knew
one boy had a challenging behavior and was impulsive on the carpet.
Instead of ignoring this behavior or isolate the child, she provided extra
space with another small rug, and placed it so it was still apart of the
large carpet, but he has room to spread out and not interrupt others.
She knew her special needs childrens requirements as well. Such as
the young boy who didnt like to be touched, so she made sure to have
a small singular desk ready for him for the color by # activity. Yet she
still placed the desk in a way that it was apart of another table so he
was no excluded from the group interaction, but he still felt safe.

Powerful Interaction
Date: 10/28/15

School: Judith Steele Elementary

Teacher: Ms.

Cooley
Age of Child: 5 years
Time: 10:12 am- 10:16am
Setting: The setting included 21 children, their ages ranging from 5-6
years. There were 2 adults in this setting. This interaction took place in
the far back corner of the room, near a supply cabinet full of shelves
with clear containers holding objects.
Interaction: During center time, a boy is sitting on the ground with his
legs crossed. He has 2 clear containers on the ground next to him, one
containing sorting animals, another container holding various sizes and
shapes of buttons. The lid is off of bother containers and he already
has a pile of poured out buttons on the floor next to his foot. He picks
up a small dark blue button from the pile, and then flips it over onto
the ground. His right hand reaches over to the button pile, but hovers
over it without grabbing any buttons. His eyes scan the pile. He then
turns his head behind him when a loud bang occurs form something
someone has dropped. While his head is still facing this direction, he
reaches his right hand into his pocket. He moves it around in there,
and then pull it out with nothing in his hand. He then puts that hand
into his other pocket, and immediately brings it out. He has a quarter

in his hand. He smiles and then turns around to face the button pile
again, the quarter still in his hand. The teacher is standing near the
bookshelf while this all occurs, staring at the boy form a distance.
When the boy takes the quarter out of his pocket, the teacher takes a
step towards they boy, but stops before reaching him. She stands
behind and to the side of him quietly. When the boy turns back around
to face the button pile, this is when the teacher walks over to the boy.
She crouches down on a knee next to the boy. She doesnt say
anything, but the boy sees her next to him by lifting up his head and
looking at her while she smiled. He doesnt say anything, and looks
back down at this button pile, the quarter still in his hand. The teacher
then says, Tim, are you looking for anything special in this buttons?
The boy shakes his head no, still remaining no eye contact with the
teacher, but sticks up his hand to her revealing the quarter. You have
a quarter. WOW, where did you get that? Tim then looks up at her and
says In my pocket! and smiles. He brings down his hand and puts the
quarter on the floor next to the buttons. The teacher said Tim, do you
know how much a quarter is worth? The boy looks up at Ms. Cooley
and thinks for a moment, then says A lot of pennies. The teacher said
Youre right, a lot of pennies equals 1 quarter. Would you like to know
how many pennies? The nods his head yes and Ms. Cooley said 25
pennies. The boy nods his head and picks up the quarter again. The
teacher said next Should we try to count out- and then Tim

interrupted her with You know I can play games with this quarter. I can
buy games and play with quarters. Ms Cooley said Oh, what kind of
games? Like race car games. I put a quarter in and it lets me play.
Like Chuck E Cheese. Ms. Cooley then says Wow a quarter will let you
play a racecar game. What else can you buy with a quarter? The boys
head titled to one side and his mouth hung open. He didnt say
anything for a few seconds. Ms Cooley then said Youre dads job is to
drive taxi cabs, right Tim? Tim nods his head yes. Well, do you know
people who ride in your dads taxi have to pay money? Tim then
shifted off f his legs and knelt, looking up at Ms. Cooley and said Yes,
one time I got to see my dad driving his car! He doesnt have to pay
money though. Ms. Cooley nodded and kept staring at him Youre
right, he doesnt pay, but others do. What do you think they pay with?
Ms. Cooley titled her head and put her finger to her chin, tapping it and
saying hmm? The boy Tim, quarter still in his head stood up and held
out the quarter and said loudly Coins! and giggled. Quarters like
mine! Ms. Cooley nodded and said Yes, I think youre right. Tim
smiled, and turned away from the teacher and walked over to the boy
shelf where two other boys were and said Look at this quarter you
guys!
PI Characteristics:
1. Characteristics/behaviors observed:
The teacher seemed to be present, as it looked like she took a
moment to stop and think before walking over to kneel next to

Tim. Being present means taking a moment to think and

prepare (pg 14). The teacher listened to the children: Put
yourself at the childs level [by] sitting or kneeling. Look into the
childs eyes (pg 47). She also listened by nodding, raising
eyebrows, tilting your head, saying Mmmm or Uh-huh (pg 47).
Ms. Cooley also personalized the interaction with Tim by using
the childs name and used what she knew about this child to
ask different questions that support different problem solvingstrategies, such as the discussion about Tims dad being a taxi
driver (pg 51). The teacher also links the new to the familiar
helping relate new concepts and information to what they
already know or are interested in (page 77). She does this when
she asks what else quarters could be used for, and relates that to
what he already knows about his dads job. This teacher also
focuses on thinking by infusing the words think and thinking as
she talks with the child (pg 82).
2. Improved:
This interaction could have been improved with the inclusion of
letting the child gather his thoughts [without] filling the childs
silence with own words (pg 47). It looked like the teacher
wouldnt fully let the child ponder after asking him What else
can you buy for a quarter? I also believe this interaction could
have been improved if the teacher utilized extended learning.
Instead of answering her own question of 25 pennies in a

quarter, she could have worked with him to count out 25 actual
pennies (or even buttons to represent pennies) to further his
understanding of this particular coins value: by collaborating
with children, you can help them think through the steps of
solving a problem, and use multiple strategies (pg 76). This
interaction would have been improved also during the pennies
conversation, the teacher should have phrased it Do you know
how many pennies are in a quarter?, as opposed to telling the
boy straight away. This could have been phrased as a question
that requires the child to think and giving the child time to
think before responding (pg 82). I also think this teacher could
have utilized the pause to be present for modeling and teacher
problem solving (pg 110). This would have benefitted the child
as I think she would have been able to phrase her questions
about how much is a quarter worth more appropriately.