SPED 400 Observation-2 PDF

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SPED 400 Observation...

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Name: School: CSUN Lab School Grade Level: Preschool (Full Day) Date observed: Hours observed: 2 hours What setting was observed?: Both classroom and playground A. Overview The classroom observed had a main focal point of a play area. The play area had a carpeted floor and different areas to play with different toys, but overall was not a very large area. Approximately 15 ft x 8 ft possibly. From the point of view behind the two-way mirror I observed from, there were clothes for the children to dress-up in hanging on the wall, bins of balls and various toys, and a bookcase with cubbies that acted as a room divider on the righthand side. On the left there were more bins of toys and children’s kitchen and house sets to play with. Along the walls were signs that had sayings such as “Look at his/her face. How do you think he/she feels?” or “Is there something you can do to make he/she feel better?” Further back from the observation room past the play area were three tables: One rectangular, one circular, and one square. Behind the tables were cabinets filled with supplies and a doorway that led to a handwashing area. A few children had been working on a art project for the day at the rectangular and circular tables, while the majority of children were interacting and playing on the play mat. The entire class appeared to be speaking english, and the boy-to-girl ratio seemed 1:1. From what I could tell, once a child had completed the art project (I believe to have been half of a paper plate they painted with their name on it), they were free to play in the play area. Once all the children were finished, they gathered in a circle for circle time, which mainly involved

breathing exercises. They did complete an activity similar to the game Twister where they had to place a hand or food on the mat with symbols and colors that were in the middle of the circle. Once their turn was over, they sat at one of the three tables and waited for snack time to begin. Snack time from what I could see involved cantaloupe, goldfish, and either milk or water. Onced snack time concluded, the children returned back to the map for circle time where they once again completed breathing (and this time) facial exercises. From what I could hear, they were now going to practice music, but the teacher became upset with the children and told them she was going to stop since they upset her, and dismissed them to the playground outdoors. Once the children were outside, they were granted one hour to play. There were playhouses, tricycles, building blocks, sandboxes, and a swingset for the children to play with/on. B. Physical Development In regards to racial diversity in the classroom, there was some, but not much. The vast majority of children were either Caucasian or Asian. There weren’t any African-American children present in the class. The only “outlier” present was a caucasian girl, Sally*, who appeared to lack gross motor skills and had physical growth defects as well. She was unable to properly walk or bend her knees, so whenever she attempted to walk or pick something up from the floor, her legs would stay stiff. She also wore a bib to protect her clothing from her drooling. In terms of physical growth over all, besides Sally*, most of the children appeared to be physically healthy. No child appeared to be obese or have physical abnormalities. When taking into account gross motor skills, I observed two of the boys who were playing on the play mat mainly only participated in throwing balls at one another. Again, Sally* seemed to lack control of her gross motor skills in regards to walking and overall gross motor function. The children were

all showcasing their fine and graphomotor skills when completing the art projects they were required to complete by drawing, coloring, and painting on the plate given to them. Though these skills are still underdeveloped, they were still managing to write their own names on their plates. Sally* needed constant support throughout my entire observation, whenever she needed to walk anywhere, she would have to hold onto something, whether it was one of the teachers or just a chair/bookcase. Sally* also needed assistance when sitting down and getting up since her legs did not bend. There was more attention focused on Sally* and what she was doing more so than the other children received.

C. Cognitive/Linguistic development (language & communication) Going back to diversity, aside from physical diversity, I also observed diversity in the way the children interacted with each other. Kevin* and Ryan* were communicating through words by saying phrases such as “no, come here!” or “Let’s play this.” Their sentences were basic but comprehensive. Mary* and Jane* had slightly more advanced vocabulary when communicating with each other, and would use more articulation when structuring their sentences. Sentences such as “I want to give this doll the pink flower dress and this doll the blue polka dot dress” were used by Mary* and Jane*, whereas Kevin* and Ryan* had more simplistic sentence structure overall. Sally* had not spoken through the duration of class, however she did make sounds. The children were also encouraged to “use their words” by their teachers when trying to resolve an issue. During snack time, Paul* did not like the cantaloupe they had and started to cry, so the

teacher pulled her aside and told him “I want you to tell me what’s wrong and how you are feeling once you stop crying.” On the playground, I noticed more nonverbal communication between the children than inside the classroom setting, but oral communication remained the dominant form. Children would communicate with each other by pointing and the expressions made on their faces. Jack* was angry that Ryan* took his ball, so he yelled “give it back!” and made a very angry face. When observing the attention span of the children and their memory, I noticed more of a struggle with attention for mainly the boys of the group over the girls, and the closest thing I observed to challenging their memory was during when it was time for clean up and the children had to go in the group to clean their area according to the color you were. Ryan*, who seemed to struggle the most with remaining attentive during activities the class did, forgot what color he was and had to ask the teacher for help. The Children’s decoding skills were challenged during an exercise they did during circle time that was similar to Twister but instead with shapes. The children would come up in pairs and each stand on their own 4 X 4 square that each held a cutout of a shape, and the teacher would say “put your left hand on triangle” or “put your right food on the circle.” Sally* was last to complete this activity, and the teacher who was helping her would put pick up her foot for her and place it on the mat. When Sally* would try to bend over to place a hand, she was unable to do so. D. Social/Emotional Development Social development and interaction was observed throughout the duration of the observation. The children were integrated and interacting with each other, but I could also notice a segregation of

personalities in terms how the children socialized based on their personalities. The children on the playmat were more interactive with each other, while the less interactive children sat at tables in silence working on arts and crafts. There didn’t appear to be any distinct friendships between the interactive children. They all went from group to group and interacted with each other. There seemed to be more distinct pairs on the playground outside, though. The girls were playing either hide & seek, on the swings, or playing house in the play house set up. The boys were racing on tricycles around the playground. The only physical support I observed with with Sally*. She used a walker to get around on the playground, and there was always a teacher around her helping her in some way. Mainly holding onto her while she walked. A teacher also offered emotional support when Paul* was crying, asking “what’s wrong?” or “can you tell me why you’re upset?” The main teacher ended circle time early and expressed it was because “they upset her” and “made her mad and sad.” The expressions of how the teacher was feeling encourages the children to express how they feel as well. E. Final thoughts and questions (approx. 400 – 700 words) Since my observation was behind a two-way mirror, the children had no idea I was there observing their interactions, actions, and behaviors. In previous observations I’ve done, I’ve noticed children tend to act differently when there is a stranger there observing them. The amount of diversity overall was substantial and provided an even better observation environment. I had never observed a class with a special needs child, so it was beneficial to watch the interaction and development of Sally*. There were good exercises completely with the children that promoted social, emotional, and cognitive development as well as challenging their

motor skill abilities with putting their foot or hand on the correct shape activity to emphasize the use of their gross motor skills and the arts and crafts activity to enforce their fine and graphomotor skills. The teachers played a strong role in how the children interact and react to their surroundings, however the was one teacher who did not seem he wanted to be there. When I child was not sitting still, he told the child “Lucas*, can you, like, not?” He also complained throughout the duration of the class about not wanting to be there. Overall the classroom was well set up, the activities were encouraging, and the social aspect was present.

*: Out of respect and privacy of the students observed, I have changed the names of each child and placed a * by each of the changed names....