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Week 6 Observation

Connie Thomeczek

University of Phoenix

MTE/511

Erika Nix

03/07/2023
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Week 6 Observation

When talking about development of a child, we often do not think about how many

influential factors go into the child’s journey for understanding, ideas, knowledge, and creative

thinking. Children will follow and or mimic who they around the most like parents. This

however; is not limited to only parents, this also goes for peers as well as other students.

Observation Setting

The first observation took place in my hometown of Cuba Mo. This was with Mrs.

Ashley in Head Start. All of the children were 4 to 5 years of age. Mrs. Ashley has been a lead

teacher at this location for 8 years. Class starts at 9 am and the day ends at 12:30 pm. There are

also 2 assistants that work along side Mrs. Ashley to help accommodate with the children that

have IEP’s. The children were used to their routines so I observed them walk into class, put their

bags in their cubby, wash hands, and then sit in their designated areas for breakfast. The

curriculum for the day, was rug time where the kids discussed the calendar, weather, alphabet,

numbers and sang songs.

My second observation was at Crawford County R2 Elementary School in my hometown

as well. This observation took place in the fourth grade classroom with Mrs. Werley. Mrs.

Werley has been a teacher for four years with our district. The school day starts at 8 am and ends

at 2:55 pm. The curriculum was structured by the hour which included ELA, Writing, Reading,

Math, Science and Social Studies. The students were not allowed to enter the classroom until

7:55 and at that time they would enter the room, hang up their back packs, and then put down

their chairs and sharpen their pencils. Attendance was taken and then the children led us in the

Pledge of Allegiance.

Physical Development
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While observing physical development, I was looking for the children’s ability to control

their bodies with the use of motor skills. While both teachers focused on the refinement of motor

skills, they were a little different due to the age difference and lack of routine. While Head Start

had more free movement than Elementary, they were still learning how to control their bodies

through different methods such as forming lines, running, jumping, etc.

In elementary, they had more control and could contain themselves much better. With

this, elementary became more skilled at more complex activities such as playing ball, dancing,

and even instruments. Some theories I observed mostly took place at recess and at playtime.

Head Start students were playing with items to help improve their physical development such as

balance beams, and “train” games. Elementary students were playing with larger jungle gym

equipment and also playing in sport like activities.

Cognitive Development

While observing the cognitive development, I was looking for the way children think,

explore, and figure things out with problem solving. Some theories I observed in Head Start was

the children learning how to question, problem solve, and classification during symbolic play.

The entire class played a scenario where one student was the cashier and the others were

shoppers. They each had a certain colored item or items (depending on what they chose) that

they had to purchase. This helped them with colors, numbers, and coin strategy.

Some differences that I noticed would be that in the Elementary, they were beginning to

see views from other classmates and were learning how their behavior affected others. A few

similarities I noticed were the use of words, where Head Start were learning the meanings and

sounds of single words, elementary was learning how to perform sentences and paragraphs using

words.
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Social and Emotional Development. While observing the social and emotional

development of a child, I was looking for child’s ability to create and maintain relationships with

peers and other children. Head Start was just learning how to form relationships outside of

parents and siblings. They were also learning confidence and how to try new things. Elementary

had already began making relationships with friends and teachers. Both were learning how to be

better communicators. Both are learning that there are rules and consequences to those rules.

Emotions are a big factor in this stage of development. While Head Start children are just

learning what emotions are, elementary should be familiar with emotions enough to know how to

express them properly. Head Start cannot control emotions as well as fourth graders. All of these

instances was observed by both classes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, The most surprising thing that I observed is how children with IEP’s

struggle more than others and I gained a lot of insight from watching these children struggle

developmentally. I also observed that once you establish a teacher-student bond, you learn more

about that child, things such as their abilities, interests, and character. This can help you develop

a plan for that student so they can succeed. Influence of family, peer relationships, technology

and drug or alcohol substance can also affect development. Children need to have family that is

active in their lives to encourage and praise them so they can achieve great things.

Teacher-parent relationships needs to have a bond and both parties need mutual

understanding in what the child needs to be successful. The use of technology makes this easier

as the teacher and parent are able to communicate more freely and at a greater pace. The use of

email, text, and messaging is a very effective tool for parents to know what is going on in the

child’s academic life.

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Drugs and alcohol can also have a negative affect in development, rather the child is the

one using or a parent or guardian is. This can result to issues at home that may affect that child

developmentally. This usually stems from neglect and/or abuse. Children are very willing to

learn, and early stages are very crucial for a child development. Proper role models, mutual

relationships, guidance from peers, and the love and support of your family is very important.
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