Yvette Hartounian
Dr’s Peck and Spector
LRS 100/F
12 October 2004
Analysis and Reflective Piece
When I went to the observation room on October 6, 2004, I observed circle time. It was very interesting to me to see young children interacting with one another as well as the teacher. The topics being discussed in circle time was a book that the teacher was reading to the children and they also sang a song. What I noticed while the teacher was reading the little story book, was that the children were expanding their knowledge. The purpose of that book was to put more creativity and ideas in the children’s minds.
The children did not ask any questions during circle time; because they were too busy interacting with the teacher in other ways. The teacher would ask a question and point at the book and all the children would be yelling out an answer, which they thought was correct. While I was observing them, I realized some children were more involved then others. The book was expanding some children’s knowledge and helping them to understand more things, but for some children it looked pointless. Some children looked too tired and they just looked like they wanted to take a nap, so it wasn’t getting through to them.
It was very impressive to see the teacher’s try to get the children’s attention. It is very hard to have a 5 year old child keep their attention on you for more then 10 seconds, but some of the children were very into the book she was reading. I think it was because she was being loud and trying to get all the children involved. I think the goal of the teacher was to get the children involved so they can learn the little things they need to know. Next, I think she will pick another book and make a book part of their daily curriculum. It’s important for children to start reading books and learning about books from a very early age, because that way they will mature into loving to read. Whatever they do at a young age persistently, it will help them to do it in the future in the same way. Teachers reading a book to their young students will help them in the future with whatever books come their way.
Some things I have learned in Child Development have helped me come up with the conclusions that I saw in the observation room during circle time. The way the children’s reactions are to the teacher and the way some of them are so interested in what the teacher is saying portrays how they think. Some children were way too tired to even listen to what was happening during circle time, but the others that were interacting look up to the teacher in a motherly figure. They were paying attention and were copying the hand movements and the things the teacher was saying. That’s something I learned in Child Development. Children don’t really have an identity yet, so they tend to follow their role models or the person in charge.
This observation was very helpful for me, because I thought of different approaches that I would take in my classroom when I become an elementary teacher. There were some things I saw in the classroom that I thought was the correct approach, but there were some things that I saw that made me realize maybe I could do it in another way. I thought the teacher being loud and using hand gestures was probably the best things I saw while observing. Then, there were things I saw that I thought the teacher could have taken a different approach. Some children were not even listening to her, so I think as a future teacher, I would try to get those children more involved. I would try to pay closer attention to those children that were shy and try to get them to interact. It seemed as though the teacher wasn’t really getting to know the children individually, but rather looking at the classroom as a whole. I would take the opposite approach, because I would want all the children to think of one another as equals, so I would help them feel more comfortable in the classroom environment.