Wing Yan Hui

Professor Jessica Shackil

PSY-217-80987

19th November 2023

Observation Assignment

Learning Environment

Enclosed is to feature the floor plan in the kindergarten classroom. Mrs. M has

organized more space in between quiet and noisy center in order to provide an environment

to help minimizing noise by putting the writing and math center next to the library.

Similarly, the block center has been positioned next to home living center, promoting

engagement and productivity for students.

 Each students’ stationary has been put on their seat and been labelled their name so as

to help them recognize their name, as well as classmates’ names. I recognized that the

teacher put different abilities students in a table with a group. It matches Vygotsky’s social

development theory and Bandura model. Vygotsky suggested a child’s cognitive

development and learning ability can be guided and mediated by their social interactions.

The students with better language development can scaffold others by assistance.

According to Bandura model, students can learn by imitating others including peers and

adults. By doing this, students in a group can learn from each other. I like the centers Mrs.

M placed because it encourages students to learn and work together.

Classroom Management

There is a classroom rules poster which is “Be kind, be safe and listening” on the wall

with every student signature. Mrs. M goes through the classroom rules every day before

dismissal and pick one student who performs well to get a special prize. The students are

very excited about it. They can choose wear pajama on the next day, bring a toy back to

school on the next day show and tell, have a privilege to choose station first, etc. These

rewards are not only extrinsic rewards, but also encourage them to learn and have intrinsic

motivation. Also, students take turn to have different classroom duty, such as line leader,

light helper, projector helper, and so on and students can engage more in the classroom.
Mrs. M gives students clear instructions during lesson. She gives chance if students didn’t

behave well. If it happens again, they will have the natural consequence. For example,

student M played her necklace and it made her distract from the lesson. Mrs. M gave her

chance to wear it nicely and told her if the necklace will be her distraction again, she will

have to put it into her backpack. She played again and Mrs. M asked her to put it away

even she begged she wouldn’t do it again.

Students usually have lesson on the carpet, unless they have to use Smartboard to

assist with their learning. Mrs. M created brain break for students to let them have music

and movement because their attention span is not that long. Mrs. M assesses students’ needs

and makes adjustment to help students learn better.

During structured play, students get used to put their name tag on the station shelf as

it is a routine. When structured play ends, they know they have to clean up. Mrs. M went

to check if they clean up well before starting next lesson.

Lesson

During math lesson, Mrs. M distributed the ten frames foam to each student. First,

Mrs. M did the review from one to ten. She reminded students that they should start the

foam from the top left to the right, then from the bottom left to the right. At the same time,

Mrs. M observed how students perform and gave assistance. She showed on the
Smartboard how six should look like in the ten frames foam instead of holding the ten

frames foam so that students can see it clearly. After reviewing each number of ten frames,

Mrs. M wrote some numbers on the Smartboard and asked students to use the ten frames

foam to represent the numbers. After most students were done, she used her ten frames

foam to show the answer and asked if students got the same answer with her to do self-

assessment. After practicing some numbers, Mrs. M distributed a worksheet to each student.

They have to draw how to represent the number on the worksheet. Mrs. M asked them to

use ten frames foam and use pencil to draw on the worksheet. Students were very engaged

in the lesson because they can manipulate the ten frames foam. After the lesson, students

gave the ten frames foam back to teachers.

Mrs. M was using some of the information processing theory steps. She focused on

attention by reminding students to start from the top left to the right. She also helps students

with encoding by asking them to use ten frames foam to represent the number. Mrs. M

followed a clear and logical sequence of instruction. She started by reviewing the numbers

from one to ten. Then, she asked students to represent numbers using ten frames foam.

Finally, she asked students to draw how to represent the number on a worksheet. Mrs. M

helped students to build on their prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of

the mathematics concepts. In the math lesson, she gave students a hands-on experience to
learn about numbers. It helps students to develop a better understanding of abstract

concepts. Also, it can help students to keep engaged in the lesson. Using the Smartboard to

show students how six should look like in the ten frames foam can help students to visualize

the information and make connections between different representations of numbers.

Technology

Smartboard is the main technology that will be used. It is not only working like a

projector, but also like a larger version of iPad. In the curriculum, students have social-

emotional learning. There is a character called Moody. After listening a story with

visualization about Moody, there are some multiple choices for students to answer. It can

be an observation as well to let students look closely of Moody eye-brows to identify his

emotion. The questions are about how students identify the emotions or what the emotion

is. Instead of social-emotional learning, it assists with teaching as well. When students have

to turn pages, it is a good tool for teachers to show on the smartboard. Teachers can write

on the Smartboard like an iPad to help teaching. There is a literacy station time in the

timetable. Students can use the 2 iPads in the station. Students can also use the CD player

to listen stories. There are other activities for literacy station.

Assessment

There are different assessments in different domain. When students are learning
reading, there is an assessment form for teacher to assess students’ level so as to let students

have an appropriate level to read. Teachers have to rate how student retell a story as well.

Mrs. M also has a checklist to check how students preform on rhyming and phonics. These

are formal assessment. The informal assessment will be observing students in class. For

example, students have writing workshop, although they are kindergarten grade. They will

use whiteboard pen and write on lined whiteboard, while singing the letter song. Teacher

can observe if students know how the letter looks like. Teacher would give assistance if

needed.
 Teacher Interview

1. Describe the socioeconomic status of your students. How much do they vary?

This is a Title 1 School, meaning that a certain percentage of the students are in low-

income families. About 20% of students are in low-income families. Others are

working and middle class.

2. How many of your students qualify for free or reduced-cost meals?

About 20% school wide, cannot report on class.

3. How many of your students come from single parent families?

Less than 10% in my class

4. Do the parents support their children’s efforts? Are they supportive of the school?

Yes, most families are supportive of their child's learning and progress. Some are less

supportive than others, but the majority are supportive. If a family is struggling to meet

basic needs it is harder to focus on school, which I have seen in previous years.

5. What do you do to accommodate the differences in SES among your students?

I make sure not to assume any students have certain opportunities, resources, etc. I have

extra snacks if students need food. I am very sensitive to different family and housing

dynamics.