Observation Report Form

Students Name: C Date of Observation: January 16,2014

Location: School B Observer: Rebecca Jones
Time spent: 1 full PM pre-K session

Classroom Management Yes No
Restlessness, inability to sit still X
Disruptive, bothers others X
Attention- seeking behaviors X
Bizarre behavior, odd X
Attends to task X
Begins assignment on time X
Works on tasks X
Follows directions X
Accepts constructive criticism X
Volunteers appropriate comments and answers X
Asks appropriate questions X
Attentive to discussion X
Personal Management Yes No
Talks out of turn X
Speaks at appropriate volume X
Appropriate peer interaction X
Quiet and withdrawn X
Dressed neatly and appropriately X
Hair combed, hands clean, etc X




Observations
I observed STUDENT C in TEACHER 1s afternoon special education pre-school classroom. My observation began with
STUDENT C getting off the bus, included all classroom activities and ended with him getting on the bus. STUDENT C
began attending the pre-school program at SCHOOL B in October of 2013. During the mornings he attends Head Start.
STUDENT Cs afternoon started with handing in his folder, washing hands and choosing a center to play at. Each of these
activities demonstrated STUDENT Cs impulsivity- running across the room to hand in his folder, taking at least 5 paper
towels to dry his hands and trying to pick a center with another student with behavioral issues that STUDENT C had
previously been told he could not be with. When asked to pick a different center, STUDENT C had great difficulty and
was finally told by an adult that if he didnt pick one, then she would. STUDENT C did finally pick the sand table, a center
with no other children. During this center time STUDENT C had one-to-one adult attention by one of the classroom
special education teacher assistants. He was articulate; he responded to her questions and played calmly and
appropriately with the center items. However, once her attention was taken to help other students, STUDENT C became
rougher in his play, roaring, taking trucks out of the sand tray and putting them on the floor and banging them into each
other. Once the TA was able to put her attention back on STUDENT C, he did comply with directions and his behavioral
chart was used to show that he was still in the green and that she was happy because of that.
The behavioral chart used with STUDENT C was equal to a full size sheet of paper, with a green, yellow and red strip. On
the left side was a picture cue to match each color; green=happy, yellow=worried, and red=sad. On the right side was a
spot of Velcro and STUDENT Cs picture that could be moved up or down the chart according to his behavior. The
language Im getting worried as well as showing the chart was frequently used with STUDENT C when his behaviors
escalated. STUDENT Cs individual chart was a copy of the classroom chart that was used for the whole class but
STUDENT Cs could be used in front of him and he could see the picture being moved first hand.
During center time, STUDENT C had great difficulty choosing a center with other students despite adult prompting and
when another student joined him at the computer center STUDENT Cs first reaction was to try to leave. He was
required to stay by TA using sand timer as a measure as to how long he had to stay with classmate. During this time,
STUDENT C played without much notice of the other student, only once smiling at him when something happened on
screen.
I noted that when other students whose behavior was slightly escalated were near STUDENT C he very quickly got hyper,
did not attend to adults and was warned he may need to move to the bean bag (the time out area). Instead of using this
as a chance to avoid further consequences, STUDENT C dropped to the floor, rolled around and was moved to red. The
TA escorted him to the bean bag where STUDENT C pulled all the calming picture cues off the chart in the small area,
threw the bean bag out of the space and tried to push his way out. He only remained in the area due to the TA and at
one point the teacher as well, stood to block his exit. During this time, the student hit the TAs legs, pushed and growled.
He was shown the timer by TEACHER 1 and was told he could only come out if he had a calm body. When he began
throwing items from the cubbies all over the floor the large sand timer was tipped sideways and STUDENT C was
reminded he needed to have a calm body. Once seated, the timer was again allowed to flow and STUDENT C excitedly
exclaimed, Its working! TEACHER 1 did confirm when the timer was done but made the expectation clear that
STUDENT C would need to clean up the mess he had made before he would be allowed to return to class. The student
quickly cleaned up all he had thrown and then joined TEACHER 1 at the table to participate in a shaving cream activity.
She complemented him with direct praise, I like how you cleaned up your mess.



Recommendations

Observations Recommendations/ Questions raised
STUDENT C responds well to the system that is in
place for him- the green, yellow, red chart.

Be sure that all staff members use the chart
consistently. The staff member responsible for
STUDENT C changes throughout the afternoon, it is
important that all use it with the same
expectations. While behaviors escalated more as
the afternoon went on, it was hard to determine if
it was due to him being on rug with other students
or due to the fact that his chart was less present
and referenced much less during a portion of the
afternoon. Since STUDENT C did respond to
behavioral cues- sand timer, chart, time out, clear
expectations, specific positive feedback, adults
developing rapport and more, it is important that
all adults hold STUDENT C to the same
expectation.
During a cooking activity, TEACHER 1 asked that
STUDENT C be reminded of his expectations on his
chart- quiet lips, ears listening, eyes looking and
calm body. When his body wasnt calm he was
cued with his picture tag moving to yellow and
reminded only those on green could make pizza.
He would calm himself in order to move to green
but would escalate again and the process would
repeat.
An example of clear expectations included the use
of a fork to spread sauce. Students at each table
were expected to share the fork and no one was
allowed to lick it but simply spread the sauce with
it. STUDENT C became adamant that he would
only use a new fork, would not share and yelled
that he wanted another fork. TEACHER 1 made
the expectation clear that students were sharing
and if he chose not to use it then he was choosing
not to spread his sauce. The choice was his.
STUDENT C did not use the fork and did not spread
the sauce and the issue dropped.
The chart used and language used is focused on
how STUDENT Cs behavior impacts others.
STUDENT C tends to not engage with others and
isnt necessarily concerned with how others are
impacted by his behavior. It may be beneficial to
have him reflect on how his behavior impacts
others but when developmentally appropriate it is
important to also have the student reflect on how
he feels about his behavior. Relying on the fact
that STUDENT C will care that others are worried
might be short sighted. At some point we would
want STUDENT C to take responsibility for his
behaviors and how it impacts his life and his
choices. The language would only need to change
slightly and could still include how others feel but
also include how his behavior affects him- either
earning or losing privileges.
As soon as adult attention is diverted from
STUDENT C, his behaviors become less regulated.
How will adult support be provided when moving
on to a new school and new grade? Since
STUDENT C currently receives one-on-one support
due to being in a special education pre-school with
teacher assistants part of the program his
behaviors are typically brought under control
before they get too escalated. However, when
not being watched STUDENT C threw paper
towels, yelled, smashed his lunch box into the
table causing his fruit to open and spill, banged on
the table, ran, went into a classmates backpack,
stepped in a puddle and more.


STUDENT C is benefitting from being in a setting with clear expectations, an individualized behavior chart, specific praise
and guided choices. He is successful in this setting when he has adult attention focused on him.
Questions as to what is at the root of STUDENT Cs behavior persist and seem to be more than DD. The team may want
to consider further assessment such a clinical to assist in future planning for STUDENT C. STUDENT C quickly gets out of
control behaviorally when not receiving one-on-one attention from an adult offering behavioral guidance. Due to this,
careful planning will need to be done for kindergarten to determine the need for either teacher assistant support or
special programming that would provide intense adult support. This observation is a snapshot of STUDENT Cs behavior
over the course of one afternoon pre-K session and must be viewed within that limited scope. STUDENT Cs IEP team
will review this observation, his progress and any other pertinent documents and determine what next steps are
appropriate.

Respectfully Submitted,
Rebecca S. Jones