School: Childrens Learning Adventure Telephone: 702-389-6133

Teacher: Ms. Vanesa, Ms. Geri, Ms. Qianna Age/Grade: PreK, 4 and five year olds
Date: March 6th Beginning & Ending Time : 9:30
10:30 am

Teacher Characteristics

1. First meeting

When I first met Ms. Vanessa I thought she was very quiet and soft spoken. She

seemed to be well liked by all the children in her classroom, not only the ones in her

primary group. At the end of the observation, I realize Ms. Vanessa is not so quiet, she

loved to laugh with the children and be silly with them. They all seemed to respond well

to her. At drop off one child was greeted by all three teachers in the room but the child

ran up to Ms. Nessa and hugged her and she asked him about his new haircut and he

said he got it yesterday when he stayed home with his daddy.

2. Unconditional acceptance

Ms. Vanessa showed a lot of unconditional acceptance. She responded to the children

whether they were in her group, a boy or girl, acting right or not following rules. The

children had a journal entry to draw or write about forgiveness and she listened to one

little girl tell the story of how another child kicked her and she told that child she didnt

like that and the other child said sorry and she said I forgive you. Ms. Vanessa listened

to this story and told her that is exactly what forgiveness means and helped her write it.

She used terms like no maam and tell him, use your words. She was very respectful
3. Accepting Challenging Behaviors

Ms. Vanessa shows great acceptance and calm when it comes to challenging

behaviors. There was a child in the dramatic play area when they were supposed to be

sitting on the carpet to be called for literacy centers. Ms. Vanes said in a very calm

voice, J. that is not what we are doing. The child stayed in dramatic play center until all

the other children had been called and were gone from the carpet. She went and sat

down criss cross applesauce like she had been sitting there the whole time and Ms.

Vanessa called on her in the same manner she did all the other children.

Bonding

1. Bonding rituals

Ms. Vanessa used high fives with several of the children when they were going outside

with the other group.

2. Other ways of bonding

Ms. Geri gave hugs to the children when she left to go to lunch and she seemed to

know a lot about their lives, from who has what siblings and things like that. That really

helps to give the children a sense of belonging.

Schedule & Routines

1. Classroom schedule.
The schedule follows the Elements of a Daily Schedule Handout. The children have

arrival time as children arrive between 6:00 and 8:00, there is large group time during

morning gathering time to create a sense of community, there is Exploration time for an

hour in the morning and in the afternoon for the children to engage unindividual or small

group experiences, there is literacy time, which include story time, they several meals

throughout the day and a chance for outside play in the morning and in the afternoon.

There is a balance between short and long segments and teacher lead and child lead

activities. They also get to go to two different specialty classroom Monday through
Thursday. They get to go in the gym in the event that there is inclement weather so they

always get a chance to be physically active.

2. Interview

Ms. Vanessa said that she established a lot of the rules and routines at the beginning of

the school year when the children were new to her class. As she gets new students she

has one or more of the other students help them with the routines. This helps them to

remember the routine. She says practicing everyday really helps them and sticking to

the schedule so they know what to expect.

3. Transitions

a. When I arrived in the classroom the children were finishing up snack. Some were

already on the carpet listening to Ms. Geri reading a story, some were throwing away

their plates and washing their hands and some were still eating. The tables that were

clear were being cleaned by Ms. Vanessa. As the children finished they threw their

plates away, washed their hands and sat on the carpet. Some needed to be told, most

didnt. When all the children were seated on the carpet Ms. Geri finished her story then

told them she was going to lunch and Ms. Vanessa took over.

Ms. Vanessa sat on the chair in front of the group and did a hand clap. Most of the

children copied. Then she said in a somewhat loud voice, If you can hear me touch

your nose She gradually lowered her voice to a whisper then said Group B stand up
quietly and move towards the door Half the class stood up and lined up at the door and

Ms. Qianna took them outside.

b. The snack to story time transition was very smooth, the children knew the

expectations and for the most part didnt need reminders. The story time to outside

transition went well also, they knew what group they were up and knew where to line

up.

c. The outside transition could have quicker, the children had to wait about five minutes

in line to have their name called to go outside. If they were paying attention better, they

would have gotten out quicker. There should be a game used to line up.

Rules

1. Classroom rules posted

None are posted

2. Rules heard

Criss cross applesauce on the carpet, hips and lips in line, wash your hands when you

get inside the classroom from outside, walking feet, inside voices, seat to the seat,

hands to yourself

3. Consistent classroom rules

Ms. Vanessa tried to be consistent with the classroom rules but is impossible to catch

every little thing every person does. She seemed to pick her battles. One child stood on

the chair to see the board at one literacy table and she was at the other one helping
with journals. She told him, seat to the seat you dont want to fall. He sat back down and

turn back to who she was helping, then he stood up again.

4. Evaluate

I like the way that the rules are said in a positive way, instead of telling them what not

to do, she told them what they should be doing instead. If she said no running, maybe

that means they can skip. Ms. Vanessa tried to explain the whys of the rules not just

say them. This helps the children feel respected. I would improve getting the teachers

all on the same page as far as rules. Ms. Qianna and Ms. Geri seemed more no

nonsense than Ms. Vanessa. I only got a chance to watch her in action, but the children

in her group seemed to respond differently to her than the ones that went outside with

Ms. Qianna.