Make-up for Last Week

This week I had my make-up(rescheduled) time for last week that I missed. Unfortunately, there was a substitute today. I'm sure we've all experienced how a classroom can get when the normal teacher isn't present. The children stepped in the classroom when they arrived and noticed the teacher wasn't there. Since then the classroom didn't seem the same. Even when one student arrived late, the parent was sort of upset that she did not acknowledge the fact that they arrived. She even whispered to me and sat there seeing if she would notice. The children, later, were out of control, especially trying to transition and circle time. The substitute seemed to interupt children while they were saying how the usual teacher does things. I feel she could have said things a little nicer to the children. However, the substitute was very helpful with the aids and tried the best she could to keep the day under control.

An activity that the children did enjoy was the Apple Tasting. They looked at a chart while the teacher's aid named off the types of apples. There were Granny Smith, Gayla, Red Delicious, and Yellow Delicious. The children chose which one they like and which ones they buy at the store. Which ever one they chose, they were able to try some slices of it. They were really excited!

If I were the teacher of the classroom, I would continue the activity next day with them helping choose which apples to make an apple pie with. Since they enjoy baking and cooking so much, why not do another activity with that? Cooking is a type of science, and I rarely see them interecting with science, so it would be a good idea. Materials that would be included would be apples, and other ingredients that would include to make the pie. The children love to measure and help prepare before it goes into the oven. This also involves math. Cooking is such a simple thing, but can include so many academic ideas. The childre love to taste what they help make too!

Happy Halloween!

Observation: Week #5 (week 6 in class)

This week in observation the children were all excited about Halloween! They talked about their costumes and trick-or-treating. This was another day that was different than the usually routine of the classroom. When they split up into centers and free choice, one of the options was to help bake cookies for the bake sale! most of the children were excited to help, and they were patient with taking turns. I did notice that the children were a lot more excited about baking the cookies versus the muffins from a week or two ago. I was thinking that it was because they probably bake cookies with family at home more so than muffins. The way they took turns with pouring and mixing and listened carefully to the Aid's instructions amazed me. I think that when kids are really focused and interested, it is much easier for them to cooperate. The way they used listening skills and small motor in mixing the dough was consistent. This time they were able to use eye-hand cordination with making cookie dough balls with a spoon and putting them in a line on the cookie tray. They had a lot of fun!

If I were the teacher in the classroom, and had to make the plan for tomorrow, I would introduce small amounts of money. Since they are going to sell these cookies and muffins on friday for 25 cents each, I would introduce the dollar bill and what goes into it. For example, 4 quarters equals one dollar, and two cookies equals 2 quarters so they would need 2 quarters back for change. They will use the play cash registers and pretend money (for practice). Maybe another option would be to play shopping or grocery store that day. The children seem excited to sell the cookies to the parents and other students!

Observation: Week #4

Hey guys!
Hope you all had a good week in your observations!

Just want to post about my week. Unfortunately on the day I am scheduled to do my observation, I was unable to make it. Everyday since then (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) I called almost every hour that they were open to try and reschedule so that I could get this blog completed. I left messages with all my information, and hoped they would return the call. This week has been so crazy and hectic. I'm sorta upset that I wasn't able to rescedule, and do the observation. Has any of you had the issue of getting through to the center? Oh well, I suppose there's nothing I can really do at this point, except to reschedule next week and make up the hours.

However, I am looking forward to reading your posts to see how your week went. I made sure to post this just so that you guys aren't waiting on my post to comment, or don't think that I just didn't do it. Anyway, hope you guys had a good week, and that homework and school didn't over whelm you as much as it did for me, (4 classes, midterms, observations, other assignments...etc.)

Have a nice weekend!! -Juliann

Observation: Week #3

~This week's observation was different, but really fun. The children seemed extra quiet and well behaved. After circle time, the children were seperated into different group centers. The centers were either water colors, trains/blocks/manipulatives, Bloom + Grow People (helped water, measure, draw the plants), or making muffins. While I observed the children making the muffins, I also took a walk out side to see the children observing the growth of the plants with the magnafy glasses and helping the teacher measure the growth. Then they took a clipboard and drew what they saw.
Inside at the muffin making table, the teacher's aid helped the children pour the muffin mix, measure the oil, and the ingredients. Next, they went over to the table and helped oil the muffin tins. They were then baked while the children continued to play. During snack time, the children were offered to try the muffins; most said yes and enjoyed them. ~

~This activity let the children observe the science of cooking, sharing and taking turns pouring the ingredients, using small motor skills and hand-eye coordination while mixing the ingredients in the bowl. Just in this activity there were many developmental learning objectives that were going on. It's rare to see cooking going on in a classroom these day, so when it happens it is like a special treat and the children really enjoy it.~

~An activity that I would plan to further the education of these same skills would be another hand-eye coorination activity because not many lesson plans focus on this. It would consist of passing ball back and forth in a relay with a group. The materials would be simple, mostly just a ball, but if it was made into a big obsticle course, we would need cones and any other materials for what activities were involved. This activity would give the children also the experience of taking turns. *I wonder what next week will look like and what activities would be offered*~

Observation: Week #2

*The This week in observation seemed to go very smoothly. Especially since the rain took place, the children didn't seem too out of control like most would be. The rain was a big topic during this observation. The children were very excited when they entered the classroom. They made sure all the teachers and parents knew it was raining outside. Some of them even came up to me and made me look out side, "It's storming!" one of the children pointed and told me. Since it was pouring rain during their class time, they weren't able to play outside. This made it so there were more activities available and more time for the children to interact within those areas. In the playdough area, there were three children that were interested in playing there.

Child "A" is the oldest, Child "B" is the middle aged, and Child "C" is the youngest.

Child A: She attempts to make different shapes with the cookie cutters. She didn't say anything, instead she was very independent on rolling her dough and cutting out her shapes with the cutters and playdough knives.

Child B: She was pounding her dough with her fist, and patted each side with her fingers. She called over the teacher and said, "Look Mrs. Black, it's a cake for you." The teacher praised her, and then Child B got distracted and walked away.

Child C: Has his clump of dough in front of him and looks at it for a minute. I'm thinking he's unsure what to do with it. He reaches over the other two and grabs the playdough hammer out of the basket, and starts beating on it. He then stops and looks at it again. He begins to beat harder and tries to flatten it. He then looks at the other two's playdough and begins to hammer away again.

*The way I interpret this play and development as i watched them interact and play at the table with the playdough is that they were using their small/fine motor skills to the best of their ability. Child B and C are younger which means they've had less time to experience and develop these skills and much as Child A. Age matters when it comes to developmental skills. As they get older their development will increase. Also, by the end of the school year/session anyone would be able to see how they have improved those skills over time.

*For tomorrows activity, I would have another activity involving them using their small/fine motor skills. An activity that would involve this developmental skill could be "cutting lines." Each student that chose to participate in this activity would have a piece of paper with different shaped lines pre-drawn on them For example, straight, zigzag, and wavy lines. This will give them the opportunity to manuver the scissors in their hand different ways. Overall, this activity will provide them with the sense of holding the scissors and following the lines with their eyes so that they get the idea of staying on the lines.

*This weeks observation was a lot better than last week. This children seemed more comfortable with someone new in the class. Also, the aids were there this week unlike last week where the classroom was low on staff. This made the activities and transitions go much more smoothly, and the children were more calm.