Early Childhood Classroom Observation Paper

Based on her reaction it appears she has developed deferred imitation. According to Piaget, deferred imitation is defined as ¨a sequence in which and infant first perceives something that someone else does and then performs the same action a few hours or even days later¨ (Piaget 166). According to table 6.1, stage six intellectual accomplishment, involving both thinking and memory appears at around 18-24 months. Based on this information, Isabella, at 20 months of age, would be within the age range for development and therefore within the norm for her age (Piaget 162).

This paper contains observations of a preschool classroom in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The observation was conducted in a Pre-K classroom with approximately ten students present. Observations are presented with regard to dramatic play, the presence of gender roles, and themes that emerge during preschool play. Peer relationships and levels of friendship between students will also be discussed. Relationships with adults in the classroom with in terms of attachment styles and general interactions involving teachers and parents will be reviewed. Observations are also described in relation to self-control, self-regulation, aggression,

The date of my observation was April 27th, 2010. It was about 9:30 in the morning when I began my study. I went to Grossmont College’s Child Development Center. The first thing I began looking for was if the child-teacher ratio was correct. The child ratio was 2 teachers to about every 8 children. The ratio was good. As I entered there was one large room that almost looked as if it could be two rooms they way it was set up. One half consisted of a large bookshelf with numerous books on it with a couch in the front of it. The other half of the room was almost like a little kitchen. It had a table with chairs around it with a sink and cabinets behind it. There were “age appropriate” toys as well as books all over the

This alteration of the class curriculum results in a narrowing of the classroom focus to better take a specific test, but when the same material is tested in a different way, results show that information is not retained (“Why” 2). An 18-month study found that because of standardized tests, elementary school teachers had to give up on “reading real books, writing, and long term projects” because they had to spend more time reviewing material that was tested in the external assessments (Shepard 3). Barth and Mitchell insist that the overuse of standardized tests will distort the curriculum to only go over what is going to be tested (1), and the group Parents Across America support that claim because their children will miss out on important lessons like teamwork, being creative and learning to ask good questions (1). Barth and Mitchell clarify that teaching the format of the test with the purpose of preparing the student can be helpful, but only to the extent of a couple of weeks before the exam

Jeremy’s biological development has progressed exactly the way it should. I observed him interacting with his family. I was able to observe that he could process information and react to it in an acceptable manner. He was also walking, running, bending and performing many other tasks that a child his age should. He displayed good motor skills and development.

In the United States, many parents feel that their children should be protected from all dangers at a young age and as children get older parenting styles will frequently change. Some parents believe in strict parenting and having rules and guidelines for their children to follow. On the other side of the spectrum there are parents who are very lenient and passive when it comes to how they parent their child. How a parent chooses to parent their child is a strong indicator of how the child will act in public and around other children.

During my observation at the preschool here at Harper, I looked around and realized a lot of similarities and differences it has; compared to other daycare and preschool centers. The age of children in the room I observed was ages 3-5 with one lead teacher, and depending on the ratio of how many kids showed up on that day, about three or four helping teachers. The program was set up to a very open, happy and overwhelming setting. Every furniture and object in the room had a sign saying what it was, and then underneath the typed out word was the children’s way of writing what the object was. For example, a book shelf was in the corner of the room; on the book shelf was the word printed out “Book

Public education today is facing many issues. In my career as a teacher I have seen firsthand many of these issues. The lack of technology and furthermore, teachers trained and comfortable in using the technology is one problem that is facing public education. Besides technology, closing the achievement gap between socioeconomic status and race is an extensive public education issue. Lastly, high stakes, standardized testing is an issue that many educators, students, and parents face each year.

Pundits say testing prompts a narrowing class educational module, since educators may "instruct to the test" as opposed to investigating themes and ways to showing that may not deliver results on paper. The other side of the contention? Wayne Camara, Vice President of Research at The College Board, says the nature of schools influences testing, as well. "Accomplishment on tests in school is profoundly identified with the nature of training that children get," says Camara. It's no big surprise that this chicken-and-egg problem has folks, and policymakers, confounded regarding what to do

We had the opportunity to sit-in at two different primary schools, and each provided us with valuable insight into the early education system in Ireland. The first school we visited was an all Irish-speaking Catholic school. The second was an educate-together primary school. The educate-together primary school differed from the educate-together secondary schools we had visited in that they did not require students to wear uniforms. These two schools fundamentally differed in many ways both from the secondary schools and from one another.

There is this idea of how if the teacher’s students do great on the test it means that they are great teachers, which is not necessarily the case. Columbia University states, “Standardized testing causes many teachers to only “teach to the tests,”. This practice can hinder a student’s overall learning potential. With the stakes getting higher and higher for teachers, this practice will only continue to increase. The sad reality is that it fosters an atmosphere that is boring and lacks creativeness. Teachers have such pressure to get their students ready for these exams that they neglect to teach students skills that go beyond the tests.” With the lack of teachers actually using their skills to teach the curriculum and the only thing they teach is how to take tests, school will not be where students would want to learn, and they will eventually drop out in the future. Also teaching tests will not help students in life in any way, especially without the teacher and student

According to Diane Ravitch, the author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, after the No Child Left Behind Act passed, there began to be a lot more focus on teaching students how to be efficient test takers. In turn, knowledge has become second to test-taking skills (Ravitch 107). Edward Davis, the author of Lessons For Tomorrow, said “Kids are taught how to outsmart tests by recognizing trick multiple-choices” (Davis 95). There becomes more and more evidence proving how much curriculums at school are becoming centered around what will show up on the test (Ravitch 16). This causes students to learn only the basic facts and questions on the test rather than being encouraged to think and explore other ideas and concepts. Lynn Olson, author of Study Questions Reliability of Single Year's Test Score Gains, said in a study, “... 50 percent and 80 percent of the improvement in a school's average test scores from one year to the next was temporary and was caused by fluctuations that had nothing to do with long-term changes in learning or productivity” (Olson 9). This shows that according to the study, tests are not helping students overall to improve their knowledge and learning. The knowledge teachers put into

This country is filled with children who come from all different backgrounds with all different learning abilities and strengths. To put them all under the same standards, limits our youth, telling them that regardless of what they do know, if they don’t know this list of things they are not adequate. I do believe that guidelines are great for keeping children’s learning on track; nonetheless, I do not believe that a big fat test at the end of the year should be the only factor determining a child’s fate on moving on to the second grade. Standardized testing creates immense pressure on both students and teachers. Teachers have the pressure of making sure their students are prepared to pass these tests and move along the track while kids have to do it on their own despite any other contender that may get in the way. Every student in every grade is taking the same test, required to reach the same goal, and doesn’t that imply that they should have learned the same things to the same extent? Yes it does, and unfortunately, this is impossible. Children who come from low income families, experience an entirely different education experience than children who do not. According to New York Times,

I observed the preschool classroom of Ms. K. Today was a smaller group, as several children are on vacation. This is a new facility and just the host teacher was in there at this time. I came into the classroom at 8:00 and left at 9:00. I spoke with the host teacher before and after the observation for feedback, which I felt was beneficial to both her and me. I observed the children during inside for 20 minutes. I observed the children during outside play for 40 minutes.

“I know”, talkative, and energetic are three words that describe my five year old nephew, Landon. First, let me tell you a little bit about him and his family! Landon is an only child that lives in a development with a lot of other children. His mother, Jessica, travels for work and is gone most weekends and some week days too. Kyle, his father, is a car salesman and works long days. Landon is often dropped off at daycare by one of his parents and then taken care of after kindergarten by a babysitter. At home he also has three dogs and is very interested in playing baseball.