ECE 251 – 2001 Urrea 1

Powerful Interaction Observation

50 points

Observe a powerful interaction between a teacher and one child.

Use the following format to identify the setting:
Date: 3/13/2020
School: Applied Behavior Analysis Institute Inc. (Behavioral Clinic for ABA therapy)
Teacher: Ms. Cristóbal (Child calls her Ms. Roxy)
Age of Child: 4 years old (Nico)

Time: Write the beginning and end time of the observation (ie. Interaction with
the child and teacher) should be no more than 15-20 minutes (10 points)
• 11:00 am – 11:20 am
Setting: Write a brief description of the context in which the interaction occurred,
including the age and gender of the child. How many adults were present? Child
to adult ratio? Organization? (10 points)
• This interaction happened when Ms. Cristobal and three-year old, Nico
(male) were playing with playdoh at their worktable. During this interaction
there were three other adults present and three other children.

Interaction: Write a detailed objective anecdotal observation of the interactions

between the Student and Teacher, use identifying markers (i.e. T for teacher, S for
student) capture the conversation between the two individuals. (10 points)
• Ms. Cristobal and Nico were at the worktable playing with playdoh. Nico
was using cookie cutters to make different shapes with his playdoh; Ms.
Cristobal was doing the same. While the two were making different shapes
with their playdoh, Nico was making a siren noise with his mouth and Ms.
Cristobal was still molding the playdoh:

S: I made a firetruck Ms. Roxy, look, look at my firetruck!

 ECE 251 – 2001 Urrea 2

T: That’s an awesome firetruck Nico, what noise does a firetruck make?

S: They go like this *siren noise*

T: That’s a really good siren Nico, it sounds just like a real firetruck. I see
you made some other shapes too; can you tell me about those too?

*Nico was still making siren noises, and holding his firetruck made of
playdoh in front of his eyes, while tilting it side to side*

T: Nico, I asked you a question, let’s try again; can you tell me about the
other shapes you made?

S: I made a heart like on your shirt, a seashell, and a balloon like on Up

T: Those are all well-made Nico Good job. I love the movie Up; do you like
the movie Up Nico?

S: Yes, and he has a dog and his name is Dug

PI Characteristics: Using Powerful Interaction by Dombro. Jablon and Steton,

describe the behaviors you observes. Cite the page in the text that relates to the
interactions you witnesses. Good or bad. Remember: Not every interaction you
will see will be positive. The goal of this assignment is to identify positive or
negative interactions. (10 points)
• During my observation between Ms. Cristobal and Nico I feel I witnessed a
positive interaction between the two.
This interaction was positive because:
• Nico involved Ms. Cristobal in his play by molding a heart out of his playdoh
because it was on her shirt; on page 31, it says, “To signal a connection and
a willingness to join you in learning, a child may – Involve you in her play.”
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• Nico showed Ms. Cristobal his firetruck in a very excited manner; on page
31, it says, “To signal a connection and a willingness to join you in learning,
a child may – Show or tell you something.”

• Ms. Cristobal makes a connection with Nico when she said she sees he
made other shapes and asked him if he could tell her about them; on page
27, it says, “Connecting means observing what is interesting and significant
about what the child is doing, saying, and thinking.”

• Ms. Cristobal personalized her interaction with Nico by always saying his
name in each of her responses so that he knows she is talking to him and
only him. On page 51, it says, some strategies to use for personalizing your
interaction with a child is using the child’s name.

Improvement: What do you see that could have improved this interaction based
on the reading from this week? (10 points)
• I had a hard time answering this question because I feel Ms. Cristobal did a
really good job on her interaction with Nico, however since I must try and
find one improvement, it would be when Ms. Cristobal asked Nico what
sound a firetruck makes she could have used mirror talk and maybe asked
him do you know who drives firetrucks or why they have trucks. I say this
because Nico was making the siren noise before he showed Ms. Cristobal
the firetruck molding and so we already know he knows the sound it
makes.