Observation 2

04/13/23 3:00-5:30 pm

1. School Information : Name of school and directress observed

Park View Montessori School/ Ms. Parveen

2. Teaching Strategies Witnessed

Ms. Parveen made eye contact with all the children about what they needed and let
them do it. From the time the children woke up to the end of the coloring time, she
taught the ground rule thoroughly. During the coloring time, all the children use their
own clipboard, and the children who can write their names are told to write their own
names first, while the coloring paper is directly put into it, and the teacher writes their
names instead for the children who cannot write their names. Before children started
coloring, she made sure children colored inside the shape. After coloring time, there
was a line time. When she started singing a song she had been doing before, the
children liked it and they were very focused. And the teacher made good eye contact
with the children and led the atmosphere well with motion and singing, and it felt like
the children and the teacher were becoming one.

3. Organization of the Prepared Environment

In the classroom, montessori materials were well separated by area, and each area
was also well equipped in turn. When I asked the directress because I couldn't see
the bead cabinet, she said that she hadn't put it down in the classroom because they
weren't at the level at which they could learn the material, and that she would bring
the material when they reached kindergarten. And there was also an art area, and
there were various arrangements of tools for painting including easel, poking stuff,
and material for sculpting shapes. The pencil box used by each child was stacked on
the designated shelf, and the children's bags and clothes were on the shelf with
hooks in the hallway outside the classroom. The bathroom was not inside the
classroom, but was located a little way outside the classroom. Toys and games
children use after nap time were organized in long cabinets with doors. All the
children knew exactly where the materials were placed, and the children seemed
well adapted to the well-organized environment.

4. Types of Materials Being Worked With by the Children

Coloring chick picture right after the snack time, Animal puzzle, Lego, Wooden
blocks, Toy with track and train and board game

5. Ground Rule Implementation

For snack time, the directress told children to bring their own water bottles. One of
the children did not have a water bottle. So when this child said he didn't have one,
Ms. Parveen took one out of the cabinet saying she would give him one from the
school. When the child received the water bottle, there was no response, so she
asked him what to say, and the child said thank you. After that, she called the
children by name one by one for the prepared snacks. Snacks were a veggie snack
and muffin. Each time a child came to the teacher, the teacher put the veggie snack
into a prepared plastic bowl and asked if they would like muffins as well. If the
children answered yes, the teacher told all the children to say yes please. Among the
children who did not want muffins, the teacher instructed almost all children to say no
thank you. Likewise, she let them know how to say and how to do whenever she saw
children’s words and behaviors that needed ground rules before she left her
classroom at 4 o’clock. The assistant teacher also did this ground rule every time
when she saw the same as the directress.

6. Social Interaction of Children within the Environment

When the nap time was over and the children moved the cot they slept in, the two of
them moved the cot together to stacked cots, and the bathroom was a little far away,
so children had to follow the teacher carefully, so I saw them standing in line and
doing well according to the teacher's instructions. After going to the bathroom, the
children waited for the other children to finish by sticking to the wall as instructed by
the teacher next to the bathroom. In the meantime, the teacher saw a boy waiting at
the wall hitting another boy in the chest with his fist, and the beaten child teased the
beating child first with words, figuring out what had happened and explaining to the
two children what should not be done to each other. There was a scene where both
children understood the situation and reconciled with each other. After going to the
bathroom, when children eat snacks, in most cases, they eat alone or there are two
tables where two people eat together, but they eat snacks individually and rarely talk
to each other. After snack time, the children had coloring time individually. One child
saw that the other child’s drawer was stuck and was having a hard time opening it.
The child asked if he could help, and the other child answered yes, so I watched him
open the drawer. After the coloring time, there was time to play in the playground. At
the playground, the classroom was combined with another classroom and I saw the
children having fun on the playground with parents picking up the children. Teachers
talked with the children. For example, a girl had really long hair, and she said she
would never cut her hair. After the teacher heard it, she told the story of Rapunzel,
and the children and the teacher naturally talked about this topic. The other assistant
teacher also talked with children watching all of the children.

7. Development of Independence and Responsibility

When children were coloring, they brought their own pencil cases and did the work,
and after they played in the playground, when they played a toy or board game, they
chose what they wanted, put it on the floor, and did it by themselves, just like when
they were working. A child was putting together an animal puzzle and didn't know
where a piece was going, so she asked the teacher. At that time, the teacher didn't
tell the place for the piece right away, but explained about the animal and helped the
child find it on his own.

8. Strengths of the Environment

It was unfortunate that I just could see all the children were only coloring after snack
time. All Montessori areas were well organized including the art area. One peculiar
thing is that there is no bead cabinet in the math area, so I asked the directress, and
she said that there are no children who can do that level, so it is not installed now
and will be installed when these children become kindergarteners. One more thing I
thought personally was that the bathroom was not inside the classroom and was not
located right near the classroom, so I thought that it would not be easy to handle the
children. Of course, nothing happened when I observed, but this is my personal
opinion.

9. Observations Regarding Your Own Insights

It was interesting for me to see that the directress taught the ground rule and how to
do a work whenever she saw children who needed it and she taught this part very
thoroughly. Because there is a case that some teachers can't see that part well, or
they don't teach it so thoroughly every time they see that scene. Under her direction,
the children took responsibility for what they were doing, and it was also nice to see
that the interaction between teachers and children was going well.