Today we were able to observe a pre-k classroom after our regular field experience.
Classroom Observation
The classroom is decorated with very bright colors and all of the walls are covered in posters, words, and art projects. On one walls was filled with jelly fish and ice cream cones that the children made. The others have all of the numbers, letters of the alphabet and birthdays of all the children in class. There is a special corner with the month, days in school, the weather and letter of the week. This pre-k classroom is different than the gymnasium because it is much more decorated and colorful. BUT, the classroom is much smaller than the gymnasium so it would make sense for it to be more difficult to fill with artwork and such. The gymnasium is similar in the sense that there are posters, charts with student progress, and words of encouragement on the walls. Educationally, the classroom appears to be more controlled in the sense that it is smaller and more easily managed. There they are learning while sitting, but in the gymnasium, the students are learning by moving.
The atmosphere in the classroom today was a little bit tense, the children seemed to be a little antsy, perhaps because it was Friday. I would imagine that it is difficult to keep pre-schoolers on task for most anything. The portion of the lesson that we observed was their "meeting" where the teacher and students discuss the days of the week, month, weather outside and how many days they have been in school. The teacher has them recite the days of the week, and their prayer. All of the students sit around a circular carpet in their designated spots. The teacher is sitting in a chair on the edge of the carpet while she talks with them.
These students have a basic level of language and literacy. They are able to count and know the months and days of the week. It appears to be appropriate for the level of education that they are at. The teacher was able to engage the students by speaking in a higher voice and constantly drawing them back into what she was saying by calling on a students, repeating herself or pointing to an example. She was able to have them all in view and constantly monitor their attention. There were a few boys that were sitting next to each other and because they were fooling around during her lesson, she had to separate them slightly. It seems as though the boys sit next to boys and girls sit next to girls. After the lesson we were able to join them for snack time as well and then they were allowed to play with "Friday toys and dress up." The teacher had to remove one of the dress up accessories because the students had difficulty sharing. It seems at this age they are quite self centered.
This insight will help me because it shows what to expect out of this age group of children. Also, it was good to see how the children acted in a classroom versus a gymnasium. There is definitely a greater level of freedom in the gymnasium that can be very beneficial to the students if it is managed correctly.
Being in this classroom brought be back to my elementary experience. I had forgotten the basic knowledge that is taught to these children. There was a large emphasis on place values and counting. I feel that a lot of people forget learning this because it comes to naturally for them now. This also applies to the gymnasium. For the elementary school is where these children learn the building blocks of movement. They may not remember it when they are older, but without it, they cannot progress to activities with more difficulty.
