Amy BjornsonClassroom Observation ReflectionMonday, December 1, 2009Mrs. Loschy1st Grade1. What did I learn about young children today?
I didn’t necessarily learn about young children today, but I learned more about thedifferences between 1
st
graders and students at higher grade-levels. With a mother as achildcare provider, I am used to working with young children. So I am learning more aboutthe classroom environment and how to teach this age group. I think this age group is morecomfortable for me than the higher grades, because I love young children (as I do older children), I am accustomed to being around them, and I think the grading would be lessrigorous and the curriculum more flexible, etc. The 1
st
graders are very sweet, and they stillhave that innocence. When Mrs. Loschy was going through the directions for a math sheetwith the students, one student asked “What if you know how to read?” This question waskind of caught in the shuffle and ignored, but a parent and I got a kick out of it. The studentwasn’t being rude, but he just wanted to get started and was probably wondering if he neededto wait for the other students.
2. What did I learn about developmentally appropriate practices today?
One of the first things I noticed this morning was the height of the desks. They are probably about as tall as my knees, and that is just right for the students. For this class, theydon’t really have a schedule written up on a board or anything. Instead, the teacher promptsthem when they need to do something else (this is good for making the students moreaccountable for staying on task and paying attention). Some of the good things Mrs. Loschydid were:
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She made connections from old experiences to new experiences (i.e. she asked aboutwhat the students had started to make in Science, a week or so ago. – They made clay beads) and today they were painting them to continue their science work (I guess).
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For math, Mrs. Loschy gave the students dot paper that was double-sided. Sheinformed them that making drawing shapes on the dot paper is like working withgeometry tiles. She used the overhead to project a dot paper transparency onto thewhiteboard. On the white board she drew the shapes by connecting some dotstogether. After the students made all the shapes and were allowed to color them in,they were allowed 10 minutes to draw whatever they wanted, using the shapes, on theother side of their paper.Judging by how Mrs. Loschy worked with the children, I think that it is safe to say a fewthings about students at this age:
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I think they work well with connections from old material to new material. For example, Mrs. Loschy made a lot of connections to things students worked with inthe past, to what they were learning today.
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The students work well with things that appear or sound like games. For example,Mrs. Loschy had a way of giving them clear instructions, and even though I don’tthink the “show me five” method works very well for quieting students and callingattention to the teacher, she used it
after
using a different method. She would make a“dut” sound in the rhythm and sound of “Shave and a hair cut” while clapping. She
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