SCHOOL: CSN Early Childhood Education Lab School (West Charleston Campus)

TELEPHONE: 702-651-7390

BEGINNING & ENDING TIME OF OBSERVATION: 11 - 1:50

TEACHER: Salam Palwasha

GRADE/AGE: 4 years

NUMBER OF CHILDREN: 14

1. What is the general atmosphere of the classroom like?  What elements in the

classroom help to create the atmosphere you have described? The classroom

was generally calm and easy to work around with. As the typical preschool class-

room, it was very bright and there are massive amount of things to do for a four

year old child. As soon as I walked in the classroom, I could see the reading place

on the right side and in it was a cozy reading nook. That was generally nice, sweet

and made the place seem calm. There was also calming, soft-tuned children’s mu-

sic that was playing in the background.

2. How do you feel about the teacher? Why? I found the teacher extremely nice.

The softness in her voice was careful and lovely which made the children listen to

her better. She was not only helpful to the children but also to me as well.

3. How do you feel about the other children in your class? Why? I believe that the

children was rather smart. I was a stranger to them and so they were not necessari-

ly paying attention to me. I believe that they were successfully taught the phrase

“stranger danger”. Other than that, there was nothing else to say. The children were

all just doing their own thing and speaking to the people only they know.
4. How easy is it to follow the routine of the class? Explain. How comfortable

does the routine feel to you? explain. The class had a lesson plan that was very

easy to follow. Since I was only there for a short amount of time, it was not too hard

for me to follow simple instructions. It was quick and easy to move around with.

Despite being in a preschool classroom many years ago, I still remember the rou-

tines and how the teacher would teach the class. It was almost exactly like that.

The teacher would explain things, teach the children things and move on to another

part. It was very smooth and easy to go along with.

5. How emotionally safe do you feel in your class? Explain. The class had a won-

derful teacher leading it and it had quite a few aides/teachers. It felt amazing and

not too crowded being in that class. It was very nice and comforting specially see-

ing the aides/teachers interact with the children. They were talking to them as if

they were really close and were not looking at them as if they were an individual.

The class was rather emotionally healthy and safe. Everyone could talk to everyone

and they would listen.

6. How well do you know and understand the rules of the class? Explain. While

being there for only a short amount of time, knowing all the rules were a bit hard to

do but understanding the rules and knowing the it is a must to understand and live

by the rules was acceptable and doable. Though I do not know the rules by heart, I

still understand it quite carefully. It was rather easy and most definitely common

sense so it was not very hard to get around understanding.

7. How does the teacher enforce the rules? (Describe the authority style used.

Support with examples). As kids will always be kids, teachers will often have to
 speak to them and what this teacher did was quite simple yet understandable. A kid

was talking to his other classmate while the teacher was speaking and she just

looks at the student and he immediately silenced. He knew that he was not sup-

posed to be talking and the teacher looking at him was the part when he knew to

stop.

8. How is it “okay” to be different? (How accepting is the teacher of the children

who are different from the norm?) Explain. One thing I saw (which was not entire-

ly out of the norm) was when a little girl was wearing a gown, an Elsa from the

movie Frozen costume to be exact. I saw this and thought it was extremely

adorable yet, would her peers make fun of her for it? But surprisingly, there was no

bullying included and the teacher even complimented her. It was not an extreme

case of being different but walking to a room full of “regular” t-shirt and pants

dressed children while wearing a bright blue gown was something I was not expect-

ing.

9. Which does the teacher like the best, boys or girls? Explain. I did not see a

dramatic change in the teacher’s attitude when it comes to being biased between

the two genders. There was not a significant favoritism but I did see that when she

is explaining her lessons and asking questions, she was more lenient on choosing

girls answering the questions as opposed to choosing the boys. Maybe it was due

to them being a little loud.

10. What is it like to “learn” in your class? Consider such things as the kinds of

learning activities; how meaningful they are to you; what happens if you make

mistakes or if you need help; etc. The teachers are all so helpful and kind. They
 are really all there for their students which makes the class have a fun and easy en-

vironment to work around with. It was very easy and enjoyable to learn in the actual

class as the teachers are around the students and are able to help them whenever

they are having a hard time figuring things out.

11. What changes would you want the teacher to make in order for the classroom

to become a better place to learn in? I believe that the place was perfect the way

it was. Things were in great shape and there were many different types of activities

and centers the kids can choose and learn from. I believe that things are fine the

way it is but with today’s technology, I believe that in about a couple of years,

things are bound to change here and there to let kids learn from a different perspec-

tive.