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Runninghead: OBSERVATION #1 SETTING

Observation 1

Karina Diaz

Raritan Valley Community College

Professor Kimberly Schirner

March 1, 2019
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING

EDUC-212-02 FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

I. Observation #1:
Setting

II. Grade Level and Subject Area:

Pre-Kindergarten

III. Setting:
Classroom type is inclusive general education, in a private day care setting which is
located in an urban area. The classroom has one teacher and one teacher’s aide, with nine
boys and six girls ranging from the ages of three to five.

IV. Pre-Observation:
Prior to my observation, the learning environment should demonstrate some
diversity in the classroom setting. Primarily since the preschool is in an urban area where
the majority of the children that attend are Hispanic and African American descendants.
Its is an ideal concept that the kids at young early age start to develop a self-knowledge
of diversity with one another. This can be shown by displaying a mirror in the classroom,
having different options of food or eating utensils in the kitchen area, displaying multiple
country flags around the world, musical instruments, dress-up clothing can all
demonstrate the diversity within cultures. Everybody’s background is different and by
bringing a sense of the child’s home culture into the culture can make them feel more
comfortable or relatable with others that have similarities as well. Especially, in an
inclusive diverse classroom setting diversity can build social skills with all groups of
people and be a teaching opportunity for this age group (Santora & Anti-Defamation
League Staff, 2012).
The classroom should contain various centers that are age appropriate for the
preschool children. Different centers that help develop their fine motor skills and sensory
objects. Supplies in each center should be labeled with phrase and pictures. Since it is an
inclusive diverse setting it is expected that labels of each items in classroom or center be
translated to a language that is most common to the children in the class. It is highly
important that loud noise area such as the block area be as far away as possible from
quite areas such as the book area or computer area. The Block area should also be well
equipped with a carpet to help reduce the sound of when the blocks fall on the floor.
Heavy items, such as a container filled Legos, should be placed in lower areas so the kids
will not have a hard time taking it out or causing it to all fall over while taking it out.
Cozy pillows should be placed in the book area so kids can enjoy reading (Iris Center,
2015).
In addition, on the walls of the classroom there should include all the children’s
work that they have done. This is quite significant because it shows a sense of pride and
ownership of the room. This also helps build language skills for the child (Iris Center,
2015). For instance, if a special guest or a parent of the child comes to visit the child can
show the special guess their work and explain to them the meaning. To further go on
with what should be on the wall, there should be a family tree that helps the child feel a
sense of home. This is crucial because the child will be away from their parents for about
six hours and for some of the children it can be there first time away from home.
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING
Therefore, having a family picture helps comfort a child a help build a positive
environment (Lamm, Groulx, Hansen, Patton, & Jimenez Slaton, 2006).

V. Data:
 Classroom has two computers sitting near the window
 There is no teachers desk in the classroom
 Classroom has no cubbies. Instead the kid’s cubbies are located directly outside the
class in the hallway
 Attendance chart (Who’s Here Today- School or Home) by the door, as soon as a
child enters class, they are prompted to place their name if they are here
 Two round tables with eight kid size chairs, each that are used for small group
lesson
 Round tables are in art area and in toy area. When it is work time, they used the
tables to draw paintings, play with playdoh or in the toy area they will place Legos
on table and build
 Class routine is clearly visible with time of each activity by the door and there is
another one were the kids can see in the block area/message board area with picture
cues to transition to the next activity
 Materials in each center are easily reachable for kids
 Age appropriate games of interest
 One sandbox by the front door
 There is no sink in the classroom. Instead children must go with supervision across
the hall to wash hands or get water for art activities
 No bathroom in the classroom. Kids must be escorted by teacher or teacher’s aide
across the hall to the bathroom.
 There is a second door in the classroom in the block area, that is used on occasion
that leads directly across to the bathroom.
 Classroom has one pet frog in that is kept in the science area in a water tank
 There are numerous visual materials on the walls spread out throughout the class
that include family tree with pictures of the kids and their families, healthy foods
chart, works that the kids created, pictures of kids with descriptive phrase that they
said at the time of photo
 Class poster sections are labeled as – Science, Art, mathematics, literacy,
investigation, and family portrait – which is translated in Spanish as well
 Classroom is divided into sections. The quiet area (science, reading, writing,
computer) is quite small compared to the loud area (toy, block, kitchen)
 Reading area is filled with pillows and stuffed animals, a rectangle carpet flooring
in the reading area
 Variety of books to choose from in Spanish and English
 Class materials, poster, and sections visibly labeled in both English and Spanish.
 There are nine main centers for work time. That includes art, writing, science,
reading, computer, toy, block, kitchen, and dress-up area
 Problem solving pictures are posted in various areas of the class
 Kids would argue because there were not enough of the Legos to play with
 Toy area gets crowded during work time and caused a mess on the floor
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING
 Noise level is moderate in both sections of the class
 Main instructions are open and spacious. Kids sit in a rectangle carpet facing the
message board and listen to the teacher. Some kids were sitting nicely paying
attention and at least two got up would move around, go closer, or go to another
section in the room.
 Traffic flows is moderate throughout the day. During greeting time, when kids are
supposed to be sitting and listening to the message board, there was a distraction
when a boy would constantly get up to blow his noise and the tissues were located
all the way by the writing center. This caused a chain reaction because every time
he got up a couple kids whose nose were clean got up as well, to blow their noses.
There is also no sink in the classroom, so he was unable to partake in good hygiene
after blowing one’s nose.

Science area
sandbox

door area
Calm down
Easel

Art area Library

area

Toys shelf

Art supplies
Toy area

Message board

b Toys shelf
Rectangle l
carpet Dress up
o
c
door
k
s Kitchen area
Block area
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING
VI. Analysis:
Observing the classroom, it was clearly indicated that there was one room, the
main classroom, where all the kids spend most of their time doing their activities such as
work time, small group, large group, and greeting time. Lunch time and snack time takes
place downstairs om the cafeteria. Children also have an hour of outside time that is split
into two, thirty minutes in the and thirty minutes in the afternoon, that takes place outside
or in the gym. Children’s cubbies were located right outside of the classroom. The
classroom is divided by two sides, there is a quiet side that one can see when they first
walk in and there is a loud section that is going towards the back of the class. Quite areas
include library, quiet time, writing, and computers. Loud areas consist of blocks, toy, and
kitchen area.
When one fist walks in the class you would wonder where the teacher’s desk is.
However, in this teacher’s class there was no desk. According to the teacher preschool
teachers are not allowed to have desk because it takes up too much room and class should
be centered on students. This is correspondent to the research from Matthew P Krych
from the University of Wisconsin River Falls, argues that in theory a desk is a waste of
space and by having a desk in the class it allows a teacher to have a more authoritarian
personality which is something one does not want in a preschool setting (Krych, 2015).
Having no desk leaves time for more interaction with the children instead of just sitting
down behind a desk watching kids. The teacher in the class demonstrated an excellent of
interaction and would visit each child at centers and ask questions.
Immediately when entering the class, the kids are prompted to place the names
in a picture of school that indicates that they are present. Everything in the class is
reachable to the students. For instance, in the art area when wanting to color, paint, use
glue, or even playdoh it is all reachable for the child. This gives a child a more of an
independence feel in the class and gets them use to doing task by themselves. The class
even has plenty of visualizations, filling the walls with works the children have done
(The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, n.d.).
however, on several occasions the children who utilizing the art area needed to ask the
teacher to get water so that they can paint. Kids are not being independent if there is no
sink in the class to get water for art projects.
The block area is very spacious and one of the most preferred centers the children
enjoyed going for work time. There is a variety of blocks that come in different sizes and
shapes that make it easy for kids to build anything they imagine. In this area there is also
vehicles, toy peoples, and animals such as dinosaurs. Children played by themselves or
with other children. There was enough space to do both. Teacher takes photos of what
the children have built and writes down what they said they build and prints the picture
out to display it in the area. In the block area it is clearly supporting creativity,
communication, critical thinking and collaboration which is recommended (Anderson,
Lindeman, 2016).
Block area also converts to greeting time where the teacher greets the class and
delivers her message for the class. There is a big rectangle rug that is illustrated with
alphabet letters and shapes. Kids must sit and listen to the teacher for about fifteen
minutes until they are transferred to go to small groups. Some kids had trouble sitting for
the duration and would het up and wander off to play in other centers or just walk around.
This caused a distraction for the children who would draw their attention on the child
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING
instead of focusing on the teacher. Another distraction came when a boy sneezed and
needed a tissue, but there was none near him. The tissues were located all the way
towards writing area. This caused an effect on other children whose noses were clean,
they wanted as well to blow their nose. By doing so they disrupted the message the
teacher was trying to teach.
Following greeting time, it is small group time and kids were divided into two
groups, a blue and red. Eight kids would go with the teacher and seven kids would go
with the teacher’s aide to be taught either, writing, math, or science depending on the
lesson plan. They would sit in round tables with kid’s size chairs. Students seating
arrangement is very critical at this age group because it promotes social interaction. The
way students’ desk is faced affect student to student interaction. It also affects group and
individual behavior. Therefore, having the round tables for the children increases
listening, focus, and participation which are factors in helping children learn (Grubaugh,
Houston, 1990).
The classroom environment was fit for the preschoolers and based on centers of
their interest. Each center was being used by each child at different times. At work time
they are free to explore and go to any center as they pleased. Noise level was exceptional
at each center. At times the block area became too loud, but the teacher immediately
found a solution to the problem. Only complaint that was witnessed and the teacher
would constantly remind them to clean up the center they were at before going to another
center. Otherwise, children enjoyed the class environment and were able to learn a lot
including from one another.

VII. Recommendations:
After concluding with the observations, there was a few recommendations for that
Classroom setting that should be considered in order to improve the children’s learning.
Also, children’s social and physical behavior would be modified with these
recommendations. From witnessing behaviors in the classroom that can easily be
improved and ultimately an aspect of health and safety concern that affects all children.
Recommendations would cause less disruption, especially distractions from other kids.
Only two recommendation are required from my observation of the class that can make a
big difference in the setting and effectiveness of traffic flow. A sink in the classroom is
the priority that should be in the classroom. Second, more tissues in the classroom in
every area were children may be. With these to begin, the students will improve in many
areas.
First, the classroom had no sink which is essential for proper hygiene and
when the children for any reason such as for painting need to grab water. This was the
case in many scenarios. During work time some kids like going to the art table and
creating different projects. Almost everything is reachable for the kids in the art area
such as, markers, crayons, construction paper, beads, pom poms, paints, and
paintbrushes. However, when students want to utilize paint, they need to ask a teacher to
get the water which is located outside in the bathroom. Kids are failing to become
independent which is an important aspect in a learning setting in preschool. An
important aspect of the physical environment is to help promote independence and
exploration based on children’s stages. For example, easy access to material and
allowing independence is vital to the learning environment (Workman & Ullrich, 2017).
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING
Since children were not able to freely show independence in the art. The most suitable
course of action to make everything work would be to install a sink near the art center.
However, if that is not possible, the teacher should consider bringing a kid size pitcher
filled with water into class before the kids arrive so they can use on their own to fill a cup
of water that would be used for painting.
In addition, the learning setting was affected by the lack of tissues being placed in
the classroom. Realizing the fact that it is cold and flu season, many children in the class
showed signs such as sneezing and running nose. In respect to traffic flow. Children
were getting up and had to walk to be the tissue box was which was not reachable to were
they were. This affected others because then they would get up and disrupt the lesson
and get tissues as well. Failure of hand hygiene was missing because they would blow
their nose but not wash their hands right after. Hand hygiene is very important in schools
especially since you can pass the infection to others and get them sick as well. Improving
this can help lower the transmission of infections to students and teachers (Campbell,
Chittleborough, Basker, Bell, Nicholson, 2012). The suggestion would be to put a sink in
the class so kids can wash their hands or the teacher can immediately take them when
they sneeze or cough in order to reduce the risk. The other suggestion that will help with
disruption would be to place tissue boxes in more places in the class so the kids can have
easy access to them and a trash can near for easy disposal. This will eliminate any
distractions or interruptions in the classroom that can affect learning.
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING

Sink
Science area

tissue
s
Library
tissues

Art area

tissues

Toy area

Block area
tissues

Kitchen area

VIII. Post Observation:

Setting is the number one ground level learning that affects learning which
include physical, safety, and aesthetic qualities of the classroom. This class has all the
centers necessary for a child to expand their learning growth. Before starting the
observations, I had no idea what to expect. However, knowing a little about the
preschool helped with the preparations of the observation and research. For instance, the
preschool is in an urban area with most of the students of Hispanic culture. The
expectations were to find multicultural posters and items in the class to help students feel
more at home. Which is exactly what was in the class. When seeing the kids for the first
time it was understood that their main language was Spanish with little English. The
dress up center and kitchen center had items of different ethnicities. Research proves that
this helps students feel more comfortable and it was even a plus when everything that
was labeled was also translated in Spanish which helps the parents when they visit the
class.
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING
Each child learned a lot in every center they learned different skills of
socialization, communication, sharing, resolving conflicts, and hands-on skills. The
setting of the class is the most important including following the arrangements of how
things are placed in the class. Everything must be reachable for the children, it is
recommended that the class can do without a teacher’s desk which takes up too much
space and focus the attention on kids as it should be done. The teacher and teacher aide
of the class demonstrated a lot in how it is to manage the class setting and organize it
properly so there will be no traffic flow. Having the classroom divided from loud to
quiet section is important for children’s learning and avoiding of any distractions.
For the future observation, it will be taken into consideration what the professor
had mention. On Wednesday and Thursday children are aloud to be spoken to in Spanish
because they have a Spanish which they are taught lessons in that language. All other
day’s children are to be taught in English and spoken in English to encourage their multi-
language skills. My research would be learning more about IEP students because in the
class their two students with IEP and language delays. Next time with research done
about how setting can improve and show a positive impact in their learning. Many
factors need to be considered to help the learning process for each individual child in
their classroom physical setting. Small desks such as locations to centers to number of
posters on the wall can make a big difference in the learning.

IX. Citations:
Anderson, E. M., & Lindeman, K. W. (2016, March). Does your block center promote
21st century skills? A checklist for teachers. Retrieved from
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2016/does-your-block-center-
promote-21st-century

The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations of Early Learning. (n.d.). Teaching
your child: to become independent with daily routines. Retrieved from
http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/documents/teaching_routines.pdf

Chittleborough, C. R., Nicholson, A. L., Basker, E., Bell, S., & Campbell, R. (2012).
Factors Influencing Hand Washing Behaviour in Primary Schools: Process
Evaluation within a Randomized Controlled Trial. Health Education
Research, 27(6), 1055–1068. Retrieved from
https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=eric&AN=EJ986529&site=eds-live

Grubaugh, S., & Houston, R. (1990). Establishing a classroom environment that

promotes interaction and improved student behavior. The Clearing House: A
Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 63(8), 375-378.
doi:10.1080/00098655.1990.10114133

The IRIS Center. (2015). Early Childhood Environments: Designing Effective

Classrooms. Retrieved from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/env/
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OBSERVATION #1 SETTING

Krych, M. P. (2015). Placement of the teacher's desk. Journal on Best Teaching

Practices, 2(1), 03-04. Retrieved from http://teachingonpurpose.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/Kyrch-M.-2015.-Placement-of-the-teachers-desk.pdf

Santora, L., & Anti-Defamation League Staff. (2012). How can you create a learning
environment that respects diversity? Retrieved from
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/education-
outreach/How Can-You-Create-a-Learning-Environment-That-Respects-
Diversity.pdf#content

Workman, S., & Ullrich, R. (2017, February 13). Quality 101: identifying the core
components of a high-quality early childhood program. Retrieved from
https://cdn.americanprogress.org/content/uploads/2017/02/10063958/QualityEarly
Childhood101-brief.pdf