Classroom Observation and Teacher Interview

8/10/2019 Classroom Observation and Teacher Interview

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Classroom Observation and Teacher Interview


EDU 305

November 10, 2014

Tiffany Sahadeo


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Me: What are the developmental issues you deal with in your classroom?

a.Cognitive

Me: What are the academic abilities and challenges in your age group?

Mrs. Russell: In my class the studentscognitive skills of my students range from high to low. Their learning

ability ranges from entering kindergarten ready to read, to never being read to. Kindergarteners have a different

range in cognitive skills.

b.Physical

Me: Do you feel that there is an academic difference with gender?

Mrs. Russell: I have seven girls and 11 boys enrolled in my class. All children are physically similar.

c.Emotional

Me: Do they seem overwhelmed or stressed? Do they solve their own problems?

Mrs. Russell: Children at this age, are sometimes very emotional. They oftentimes display mixed emotions in

different circumstances. For children this age this is normal and, I have to explain that to parents. Stress,

overtired, or grief maybe reflected by crying. Crying seems to be a good stress reliever for my children. I tell the

parents to allow them to cry, they will get a sense of their emotions and how to deal with them eventually.

d. Social


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Me: How are their social skills, do they make friends easily?

Mrs. Russell: Majority of my students attended a preschool program. This provided the social

skills and readiness to learn with other children. A few of my students had never attended a

preschool or daycare prior to kindergarten, first they were lacking in social skills, and had

difficulty adjusting to the school environment. Some students at first were frightened by the

school bells and would seem very timid. As time passed those students easily blended in with the

others.

Me: What are the specific challenges of your age group?

Mrs. Russell: Specific challenge: At this age children are not independent learners they have a

difficult time sitting quietly for 10 minutes. They are easily distracted and their attention span is

limited. Amongst 18 of them there is a wide range of skills. Some of my children can follow

direction whereas others need my full attention.

Me: What is the most challenging developmental in your career? What are the details of the

issue?

Mrs. Russell: I would have to say that learning to read is the most significant developmental

issue I have worked with. I work very diligently with my students by encouraging reading

strategies and reading at home. I have many parents that are supportive and involved and I have

some that are not. I feel that child will learn to read when they are developmentally ready.

Me: How did you address the issue?

Mrs. Russell: I explain to parents that some children may not developmentally be ready and

provide literature that shows this. I give them reading strategies to use at


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home such as, getting your mouth ready for the sounds, identifying pictures, and recognizing

words within other words.

Me: What was the outcome?

Mrs. Russell: Once I show parents these simple strategies, their children usually pick on sight

words quicker. Children eventually learn to read when they are developmentally ready.

Classroom Observation

Mrs. Russell used small white boards with her reading groups to help them with word

recognition, while re-telling the story. Mrs. Russell made up flash cards to take home. Students

that have difficulty developing basic reading skills go to the Title 1 reading program designed to

provide extra help in reading throughout the day. I noticed Mrs. Russell incorporating flash cards

quite often during lessons to emphasize high frequency words. The use of flash cards and the

ability of the students understanding what are on the flash cards falls under the cognitive theory.

The more a student sees the words or problem the more likely they will remember the word or

problem the next time they see it. I was able to see Mrs. Russell use flash cards with her students.

Some of the words came easy, such as their high frequency words and other words came harder

for them to identify. Mrs. Russell provided the students with laminated flash cards. These flash

cards are great for when you are on the go, in class, in small groups, individually, or at home. We

you find an attached three photos, two examples of the high frequency words and one example of

a sheet of flash cards.

Documents

Classroom Observation and Teacher Interview