Module 4- Observing and Interacting with Professionals, Children, and Families in Your Setting

Module 4- Observation and Interaction with Professionals, Children, and Families in Your Setting

 

                I interviewed a parent for this blog.  This is parent who we will call Mrs. Smith is very involved in her daughter (whom we will call) Mary’s education.  Mary is enrolled in an at-risk preschool program in the school district I have been observing in.  Mary just turned four years old.  Mary has a speech and language delay. 

                Mrs. Smith said she loves the preschool program that Mary is in.  She said that the classroom teacher is always encouraging Mary to speak and express how she is with words.  The speech pathologist that works with Mary informed me that Mary has progressed in huge steps since starting in the preschool program.  Mrs. Smith stated that she loves how the speech pathologist and the classroom teacher meet weekly and are always on the same page with Mary’s progress.  Mrs. Smith said the classroom teacher and the speech pathologist are always providing her with information on how to enhance language development at home as well as strategies that are being done in the classroom.  I asked Mrs. Smith if she thought early literacy was important in Mary’s classroom.  She answered by telling me most definitely.  She said she is so amazed at how much literacy and writing plays a role in the preschool classroom.  Mrs. Smith said the children are constantly practicing how to write their names, addresses, and phone numbers.  She said they learn vocabulary words they go over weekly.  Mrs. Smith also stated just last week the children learned how to write postcards. 

                It was very evident from my interaction with Mrs. Smith that she is very comfortable and happy with Mary’s preschool program and the classroom teacher as well as the speech pathologist.  Through this talk with Mrs. Smith I again noticed how important it is for educators to develop a close working relationship with families.  When we create positive relationships with families it makes it easier to communicate and work with the family and student and make them all feel comfortable with us as the teacher. 

Module 3- observing

Observing and Interacting with Professionals and Children in the Early Childhood Setting

Name: Lisa Miller

Date: Observations date 2-04-2013

Name of the Program:

Early Childhood preschool program (3-5 year olds) in a school district setting

Who I spoke with:

 The classroom teacher and two paraprofessionals (I will refer to the classroom teacher as classroom teacher and the two paraprofessionals and paraprofessional 1 and paraprofessional 2)

Whom you observed and interacted with in your setting during these two weeks:

 I observed and interacted with the children, teachers, and the paraprofessionals in the classroom.  The interactions were in the classroom setting during morning activities.  This is a blended preschool program which means there are children in there that are delayed, Special Ed, ESL, or low income. 

What I learned about…

I learned that the children began with their morning circle time where they talked about the weather, the color blue, and their goal for the week (the seasons ). The teacher then proceeded to talk about the weather and the seasons.  I also noticed that there is a bilingual paraprofessional within the classroom, and the children were encouraged to dictate in English but could also in their home language.  

The special learning experiences that I saw were…

The classroom does centers and I noticed that their centers are based mainly on Reading and Writing.  The children are split into groups of four and complete three stations.  There is an adult (either the teacher or one of the paraprofessionals at each station)           at the first station the children made a book about weather.  The students read through the weather book and colored the pictures.  At station two the children did rolling pin paint to make snow pictures.   At station three the students did cloud art.   The students read Little Cloud and made a painting of clouds using cotton balls. 

Questions asked while observing and interacting with professionals:

Teacher interview questions:

I asked the teacher:  Is it difficult to work with not only children ages 3-5 years old but also with some of them have IEPs or disabilities?

The teacher responded by saying this is true.  I have a blended classroom so I not only have students ages 3-5 but I also have some students with IEPs and disabilities including down syndrome, autism, and speech/language.  This is extremely difficult because adaptations need to be made not only based on age, but also ability and language.  The teacher said my student with autism has a break area, etc. my student with down syndrome has an aide with him the majority of the morning to help him transition and usually receives hand of hand assistance for his work. 

 Conclusion:

At the end of my observation I thanked the teachers, children, and paraprofessionals for allowing me observe.  I definitely feel that all of these children have the early literacy support and much more needed to get their foot in the door for kindergarten and beyond.