Field Notes # __1_ Student Name: Jamie Mei Date of observation: 02-26-2013 Length of Observation-time and # of hours (8:30am-12:30pm-4hours)

Setting: The classroom was on the second floor. The first thing that caught my attention was the music playing in the classroom. It was a soft music, for yoga, or the type used for tranquility. There is a large window in the front of the building. The room was well lit. The classroom was warm; several of the children were wearing short sleeves. All of the children were in the block area and dramatic play area. There was laughter, screams, and small conversations going on. The children were in free play, there were 8 children in the classroom. Organization

From 8:30 9:00am the children arrive and signed in. After which is free play. At 9:30am it was group time. At 10:30AM the children go to the upper level, a gross motor room called Play scape. At 11:00 am the children are back in the classroom, in which the teacher engage them in various activities. At 12 noon it was lunch time. At 1:00pm it was nap time. During each of the transitions, the teachers turn the lights off, it was a signal for clean up time. When the lights were off, the children placed objects into their designated positions. Environment: What you observed: In this section you will succinctly describe what you observed during your stay in the classroom. From 9:00-9:30am the children engaged in free play. The teacher look on and prepared for the next activity as the children engage in play with one another in the block area and the dramatic play area. Children were on the floor playing with cars, some were building structures with blocks, and others were playing dress up in the dramatic play area. There was a girl assisting a boy in buttoning a white doctor coat in the dramatic play area. At the sound of a girl crying the teacher walked over to her, M, who hurt you? M, points to D. Teacher, D give M a hug D cries. Teacher, You big boy, show me youre a big big D, Im big boy. Proceeds to hug M. At 9:25AM, the teacher turned off the light. The children began to place toys back in its original position. 9:30AM group time began. The teacher says criss-cross apple sauce, sit down. The child sit down folding legs , in circle formation on rug. Good morning song plays on the stereo. Children sings along. The CD skips, children mimics the scratching sound of the CD player. There are seven days in a week, the teacher asks, and student recite the days of the week, then months of the year, the seasons of the year, and the senses.

The teacher uses an activity book, with different theme. That week the theme was transportation. The themes last for two weeks. The teacher chose an activity called how far will it roll The children used the cars and rolled in a straight line, it was measured by the square tiles on the floor. One tile counted as one unit. Next, the teacher used a wall display for the children to spell out words related to transportation. For example, the teacher ask one student at a time to go up. Then she ask them to find the bus, when the child finds it, she ask them to spell out the letters of bus. 10:30AM was play scape time. It was a short trip to the upper level, it was used for large motor activities. The floor was with rubber material, there were three play structures, large bouncy balls, bikes, teeter tot toys. The children rode the bikes in circles, often crashing into one another. There was a bathroom in the playscape area. At 11:00am the lights were off, the children play the toys in their original positions.

As the children wait for lunch, the teacher reads the Big book as she read it, she explains all the emotions shown in the pictures of the characters. The children all stares that the teacher as she reads into character, uses different voices, and tones as she reads. When she asks questions between pages, the students all raised their hands to reply.

The emotional climate in the classroom, the teacher was the authoritive figure. The activities were teacher initiated, except during freeplay. The teacher used time-out as a form of discipline, in which the students sit alone at a separate table. After a 5 minutes, they rejoined the group. When a fight breaks between two students, the teacher inquires about the situation, then ask the students to hug one another.

Analysis: The class environment, I felt the teacher was the enforcer, she often uses a loud tone to get the children to get in place. She often uses negative reenforement to get the children to behave. For example, that day, they were having pizza for lunch because it was a fellow students birthday. Throughout the length of the observation, she kept saying or else, no pizza! to get the children to behave. The teaching style was effective, it was 1 week into their 2 weeks theme, the children knew how to spell and identify all of the transportation themes. The teacher uses rhymes to teach, and by rhyming, the student can guess the right answer. Overall, I think the curriculum is effective.