Observation

I. Personality

In the child lab there were a total of eight children and four teachers or adults. The

personality in the class was positive, warm and inviting. The teachers were all at the children’s

level when talking to them and interacting with them. One example of this was when one child

was brought into the room upset and crying. One of the teachers held him to comfort him.

After he calmed down she let him down on the ground. He was hesitant to go to any of the

stations. He saw that a lot of students were playing at the cause and effect center. He started to

walk over there and one of the teachers said, “Hi Max!” After she said hello, he walked over

and joined the activity. The teacher was aware of him and responded to his body language.

II. Center Time

I observed the cause and effect or art center. The setup had two small tables on either

side of the paint easel. These two tables were covered in paper with toy trucks that had

markers attached. The paint easel had a paint roller to dip in paint and use to paint on the

paper. Something that I noticed occurring was that when there were two or three children at

the art activity, the more children would go over play. There were other centers such as,

sensory, fine motor, gross motor, dramatic play, flop and drop and the block center. The

children had free range in going to whatever center they desired. At the art center, teachers

were involved and helping children move trucks. Many children parallel played while moving

and drawing with the trucks.

 The gross motor activity that was set up in the middle of the class was soccer. There was

a teacher monitoring the activity as the children were able to kick soccer balls into the net. A

few children would bend over and pick up the soccer balls, put it back down and kick it. They

would repeat one or two times and move onto something else. Some children never had

interest to go over there. The teacher would stand at the net to make sure children didn’t pull

on it or knock it down.

III. Physical Environment

One of my favorite things that I saw in this classroom was all of the pictures of the children’s

families. They were hung on the walls around the class at the children’s eye level for them to

see. Another positive impact on the environment was the children’s art work. They had to

pictures hung on the wall that the children had painted. The only thing I would have changed

was bringing that art to the children’s eye level. There was a great amount of natural light from

the windows. Another thing that was impactful to the environment was the large paintings of

nature. This added to the warm feeling and peace in the classroom. There were no schedule

posted and visible in the class.

IV. Challenging Behavior

One challenging behavior I observed was in the dramatic play area. The first time was

when a few children were wanting to go play in the tent. At one point there were four children

trying to get in at once. This was challenging for the teachers. The struggle to get them away

and tell them to go in one at a time took a little while. The children were so excited in it and

started all jumping up and down. Another time in the dramatic play one of the children had a
basket of food and plates. Another child came and tried to take the plates from child’s basket.

The teacher intervened and said you have to ask if they are done playing with the plates. The

little girl still tried to take them, so the teacher asked the other child if she was done playing

with the plates. She said no, so the teacher told the other girl she will have to find another toy

to play with until she is done. This was a situation where the teacher was able to teach one of

the children to ask if they are done playing with a certain toy.

V. Transitions

Later in the lab it was clean up time. To prepare the children the teachers told them

they had two minutes left to play. This prepared the children for the end of play time. When the

time was up the teachers said, “It’s cleanup time.” They turned on the cleanup song and they

directed and helped the children clean up their toys. The teachers were engaging and guiding

the children. Although a two to three children looks a bit lost and unsure what they should be

doing. This would have been a chance for the teachers to take that child and show them one on

one how they can help clean up. Transitions were all smooth and engaging. They were able to

grab the children’s attention by playing music and guiding the children to the center of the floor

for story and singing time.

VI. Overall Impression

Overall, the classroom had a positive environment and the teachers were great

examples. I loved seeing teachers at children’s level when interacting and speaking to them

as well as sitting with them at the sensory table. I admired the teacher who sat with two

children at the sensory table and asked them questions. This helped the children make
connections and learn as they played with the sensory objects. The teachers were organized

and knew when to help children in which activities. I loved seeing the children crawl

through the tunnel and the teachers one at each end, letting them each have a turn one by

one. The children appeared content while learning new skills as they played.