Field Observation Report

Field Observation Report 1 Page 1

Field Observation Report 1
EDUC 210-B02
Darrell E. Powers
February 15, 2013

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The Head Start program at Madison Heights Elementary School was a classroom full of educational and fun activities for the students and the teachers. The class was an involved and busy group, but ready to also learn when the opportunity came their way. Three teachers – Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Arrowood and Mrs. Morefield – gave their classroom plenty of attention, and a nice balance between play and learning time, or a combination of the two. This particular Head Start classroom was a Pre-K classroom, full of energetic four year olds. There were desks arranged in a semi-circle facing a table where two of the teachers sat, while a teacher’s desk was located near the back of the room so it would not be a focal point for the students. Twenty-three students were in attendance (although the class usually had twenty-seven). The teachers had different materials spread out throughout the room, including a play kitchen area, a small library, a carpet area for the students to sit on during presentations, and there was a more “masculine” play area as well near the teacher’s desk, which featured toy trucks and cars, but also building blocks for the students to build whatever their imagination inspired. The day began with the students coming in, two of the teachers greeting them at the door and saying, “good morning,” and asking the children how they were doing this morning. Whether the child reacted like they were in a bad mood or a good mood, the teachers reacted to whatever the answer was, which brought to mind NAEYC Standard 1a about knowing and understanding young children’s characteristics and needs; even if the children were grumpy, the teachers took the time to respond to the child and try to create a way for the day to get better. As the children entered the room, each of them was required to hang their back-packs and coats on the wall before getting materials out of the back-pack to give to the teacher: materials such as agendas or notes from home. The previous day, one of the teachers had written a small note home to the parents letting them know how the day had gone (NAEYC Standard 2c). As soon as all the children had arrived, whether by bus or car, the students were asked to come and sit on the carpet in front of the Smartboard. A rocking chair was set up along the edge of the carpeted area, and Mrs. Arrowood sat there with a pointer. A bulletin board was set up next to the Smartboard with a calendar, and underneath were various cards with numbers and weather designs on them. The students took turns after Mrs. Arrowood asked them a question telling the teacher what the day was, the date was, and, one of the students was asked to go to the window and tell the teacher what the weather was like. Another student then came up to the calendar and placed the numbered card on the date and one of the weather cards underneath indicating the date and the weather outside. Once that was finished, Mrs. Arrowood brought out a book called The Snowy Day. As the teacher read the book aloud to the students, she was asking them questions about the story, or how they spent their last snow day at home, something to connect the story to the kids.
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The three teachers then separated the children into groups to go to three separate areas of the classroom – the Red Group went to the reading table with Mrs. Davis, the Yellow Group went with Mrs. Moorefield to what she called the Hands Table, and the Blue group stayed on the carpet with Mrs. Arrowood. At the reading table, Mrs. Davis was reading to the children two different versions of The Three Little Pigs: The Three Little Pigs by Steven Kellogg, and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka. If one of the children knew what was going to happen next in either of the two stories, they were allowed to stop the teacher and try to guess. After Mrs. Davis had read both stories to the group, she asked them questions about what was different about the two stories. Mrs. Davis knew the stories well and never had to refer back to them in answering the students’ questions (NAEYC Standard 5), and the students had a good time comparing the two stories, as the teacher noted their comprehension in a small notebook. Once this group was finished, they went back to their desks, where they were given crayons and paper to draw a picture from their favorite part of the book. Meanwhile, the Yellow Group, which had been making things out of play-doh, went to the reading table, and the Blue Group went to the Hands Table. These particular centers lasted about 20 minutes each, and gave the children “diverse activities and play environments that lend themselves to teaching different skills, concepts and processes.” (Morrison. pg. 211). After this first group of centers, the children were allowed 45 minutes of free play, where they could choose what they wanted to do for that time period (Morrison. pg. 221). After that, it was time for the students to take a bathroom break, and get ready for lunch (the Head Start children ate their lunch before the older grades came in). The class had its own section for lunch just as they entered the lunch room. The tables and chairs were smaller and more accommodating to the size of the students, but the students still got to act like the big kids and go through the lunch line if they did not bring their lunch. Lunch ended and the students went back to their classroom, where I read them a story as they relaxed on the carpet. I read them a Little Critter book, and did the voices for the characters, just like I did for my oldest son when he was their age, and the children seem to enjoy that quite a bit. By the time I finished I Just Forgot by Mercer Mayer, it was time for the children to have their lay-down time, where they were allowed to grab their mats and small pillows, lay them out at various points on the floor, and rest. I observed that the teachers in this class were very pleasant with the students, but stern when they needed to be, always explaining why they were upset with the child. In addition, there were other areas of the room where there were other play areas that the children did not get to before I departed: Among these was a Science Station, which had a rock collection, as well as different types of material on a poster board meant for touch. Beside the library, behind the Reading Table, was a small area with two bean bag chairs where the children could sit to look at the different books. Field Observation Report 1 Page 4

This was a day where I observed students preparing for that next step, where the teachers were clearly involved with their students and happy to be there doing their job. I enjoyed the day as well, and was quite surprised to see first-hand just what goes into preparing these students to get to kindergarten. Obviously, NAEYC Standards were being met inside the classroom, and the students were learning, and so was I.

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References:
Morrison, George S. Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education. 2011, Pearson Education, Inc.

References: Morrison, George S. Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education. 2011, Pearson Education, Inc.