I observed a first grade classroom at Big Hallow in Ingleside, IL. During this module I have interacted with the kids. I have tried to observe them to go along with my research paper. I have looked at what the students challenges were and what appeared to be easy with the students.
While watching the students and observing them it came clear what the struggles were and what came easy. The students all varied. The reason behind this is because of every child is different. I also interacted with the teacher and asked her tips for how to make sure that developmentally appropriate practices, DAP, are used in the classroom. Making sure that DAP is used in the classroom, she said that one must observe the children. The teachers will have to see how the students act and how they are with certain assignments and material. Getting to know the students one on one also helps a lot and should be done on a regular basis.
Working with children and their families is going to be tough. In my experiences one must try to build a relationship with the families. The families are with the students after you have had them all day. Having the communication is going to be beneficial for the students because the relationship can give advice to one another.
Some families just leave all the work and teaching to be done in the classroom. Some families are too busy to be involved with the children’s life in the classroom. Other families are so in tune and want to know anything and everything that has to do with their child. As a teacher one needs to realize that the students are their children and even if the parents are hard to work with, you need to give it all you can to help the students and the parents.
One of the insights that I have gained from this experience and the observations is to work with the children as much as you can. Some of the home lives are not the best and if one person can guide the students and care from them it is so important! The students need at least one person to go to and if you are it then that it so amazing! Some of the parents are so busy now days trying to support their families and do not have time to even ask how their day was because the students are already sleeping by the time their parents are home. Work one on one with the students because it will help them for the future.
Another insight that I have gained form the observations is that observing the students throughout the day is so important. While observing the students, the teachers are able to find out what their appropriate practices are. The teachers are also able to see if something is wrong that day and if everything is okay with the students. Depending on if something happened the night before or over the weekend may cause the students to act up and act out.
Observation is a very important tool in teaching children of all ages. Through observation you can find out the child's strengths and weaknesses. I also find it frustrating that parents expect children to do all of their learning at school. It needs to be a shared effort on both parties part so that the child is the one who comes out being the winner in the end because they have home and school working together to teach them.
ReplyDeleteThat is great that you are observing at Big Hallow, I have been there many times. What a great school!
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to see that some parents don't make time for their children at home to help with school work. That is one thing that I saw in my observation as well. Observing children is very important I believe that an educator can pick up on a lot of information by observing the children in their classroom. I think that some parents leave all the work to teachers because they don't want to face the reality that their child could have issues or a delay so they let the teachers do all the work in finding that. There are many useful tools that are used in observations today.
- Natalie