Nikira Nunez

2 March 2018

ECE 251

Caring Classroom Elements

School: Children’s Learning Adventure Telephone: 702-389-6135

Teacher: Ms. Alex & Ms. Luna Age/Grade: 3 Years-old Preschool

Date of observation: March 2 Beginning & Ending Time of observation: 8am-9:30 am

Teacher Characteristics (15 pts)

1. Describe the feelings you experienced upon first meeting the teacher. What characteristics of

the teacher triggered these feelings in you. By the end of the observation, did your initial

feelings about the teacher change? -When I first met the teachers I felt very welcomed into

their classroom and they made me feel involved. The teachers had big smiles and also

introduced themselves to me as soon as I arrived. Ms. Luna walked me through what they

were doing while Ms. Alex sat with the children. By the end of my observation my feelings

about being welcomed and feeling apart of the class did not change, they kept me involved

through my whole observation.

2. In general, how unconditional is the teacher in her acceptance of the children's individual

differences? - I believe both teachers accepted individual differences for example during
my visit there was a boy who had his nails painted. Both teachers acknowledged his nails

and made him feel confident about it because the other boys told him only girls do that.

3. How accepting is the teacher of children who present challenging behaviors? How does she

communicate this acceptance or lack of acceptance to the child? Support with observations. -

During my observation I noticed that only one of the teachers was able to deal with

challenging behavior. During circle time one of the boys would not stay still and he was

being very loud and disruptive. One of the teachers continued to raise her voice at him and

then proceeded to ask the other teacher if she could handle him. The teacher pulled him to

the side and talked to him in a soothing voice and got him to calm down. She found him an

alternate activity to do until he was ready to join the group.

Bonding (10 pts)

1. What kind of bonding rituals (as defined in this course) does the teacher use? Support with

observations. The bonding ritual I saw is that the teacher did a name game for the new

student that joined their class during circle time so that she got to learn everyone's name

and the class got to learn hers.

2. What other ways of bonding does the teacher utilize? Support with observations. The

teacher utilizes bonding with hugs and praises throughout the day. I noticed a lot of

encouragement and praise such as high fives, hugs, and good jobs.
Schedule & Routines (25 pts)

1. Provide a copy of the classroom schedule. Write an evaluation of the schedule utilizing the

information from the on-line reading and handout Elements of Daily Schedule. -Copy of

schedule at the end of assignment. I believe the schedule for this classroom follows that

handout pretty well. The only thing that I think may not work so well is that their circle

time is 30 minutes long. In my opinion at the age of 3 it is still hard for a majority of the

children to sit and listen to stories for that long. They tend to get bored and squirmy.

2. Interview the teacher. Ask how they taught the children the various aspects of the routine

such as teacher signals, student signals, responding to fire drills, etc. (Read handout Routines in

1st Grade for more complete understanding of the kind of information you are trying to obtain

from the teacher.) - After interviewing Ms. Alex she told me that herself and Ms. Luna use

many teacher signals such as counting down and using a timer to go through their routines

of the day. I saw that they also use Interactive modeling throughout the day. She said she

likes using a countdown because it catches the kids attention and some of them even begin

to countdown with her.

3. After reading Handouts Planning Transitions to Support All Children and Using Daily

Transition Strategies to Support All Children,

 a. Write a detailed objective observation of one transition. - While one teacher was running

circle time the other was setting up for the next activity. Once it was time to transition Ms.

Luna had everyone stand up stretch their arms up and countdown from 5 once everyone

had eyes on her she explained what each table was set up for, she then proceeded to say,

“Once I call your name you may pick what table you would like to work at.”

b. Describe the appropriateness of the transition. - I thought this transition was

appropriate because she got the children moving and on top of that she was able to get

their attention instead of sending everyone straight to a table.

c. In what ways could the transition have been improved? - This transition could have

been improved by helping the kids who were unsure what they wanted to, find something

they would enjoy instead of sticking them where there was an empty seat.

Rules (25 pts)

1. Write the classroom rules that are posted. -Use listening ears, Have nice hands, Use inside

voices, and Use walking feet.

2. Describe all the rules you heard verbalized or implied in the classroom which were not

posted, e.g. wash your hands after wiping/blowing your nose; wait until I (teacher) finish talking

before you (child) talk; be interested in the task you are doing; child gets in trouble for tapping

their pencil on their desk. -The rules that I heard that were not posted were: wash your

hands after you leave the bathroom, push your chair in, pick up the toys when you’re

finished, flush the toilet, use nice words, cover your mouth when you cough.
3. How consistent is the teacher re: the enforcement of classroom rules? Support with

observations. -One rule that I heard that was the most consistent was to use nice hands. The

classroom is full of boys and I saw that they were very handsy with each other and liked to

wrestle. Both teachers had to keep telling the boys they had to use nice hands or they were

going to hurt themselves.

4. Using information from the on-line reading and handout Rethinking the Rules you Establish,

evaluate the nature and use of rules in this classroom. Include ways the use and nature of the

rules could be improved. I think the rules could be more classroom directed. I feel that rules

should be what they are expected to do in the classroom as well as what the teacher expects

from them as individuals.