Observation 11

The children played on an obstacle course that had balance beams, blocks, slides, benches that were placed on a see-saw that allowed them to rock back and forth and much more. Some children went counter clockwise and some started clockwise on the obstacle course which turned into conflict when they would meet up in the middle. Boy #1 decided to sit on one of the blocks. Boy #2 was trying to walk through. Boy#1 didn't want to move out of the way so he was holding up the rest of the kids. The teacher had to talk to boy 1 and tell him it wasn't a sitting area and he was holding up his friends behind him. He didn't want to move, but he finally got up and continued walking around the course. At one point him and boy # 3 bumped into each other when they were walking opposite ways, and boy #1 told boy#3 to move. Boy#3 said "no you move, your in my way" they both didn't want to move, and began pushing each other out of the way. They were standing at a narrow angle so it was difficult for them to hold their balance. Finally Boy #1 got distracted when he saw his friend who got to class late, he said hello to her and got off the course and ran off to play with his other friend. One activity i would choose to create is having them gather around and play red light, green light. I would divide them into groups of two so there wouldn't be so much confusion. I would have the children rotate in being the one to say red light, green light, when to go and stop. This would be a good exercise to see who is listening, and who just follows the crowd. It would give them a chance to multi-task by listening, and playing in control at the same time.

Observation 10

Today the children were allowed to play outside in the playground first thing in the morning since today's forecast was suppose to be rain in the afternoon. Boy #1 is a few weeks new to the class and he usually only plays with puzzles. But today he interacted with the other children and played on the slides and jungle gym. He called out for his teacher to come help him climb the steps the first time. The teacher came over and told him "you can do i" he was saying "I can't do it, I need help" as she stood by him she told him yes you can try it. He slowly stepped up the stairs and went down the slide. Once he went down he clapped his hands and said "yeah, I did it!" aftter his first try he kept going up and down and was slowly adjusting and letting go of his fear of falling. An activity I would choose is have the children create a painting of whatever was on their mind at that moment. I would give them easels and white paper, brushes, paint, glitter so they can add some brightness to their drawings if they wanted. Then at the end they can go around sharing what they drew and explain why they chose that piece. They could draw their favorite food, toy, character or whatever they wanted, just a way to express something on their mind.

Observation 9

There is a lot of movement in the classroom today. Girl #1 is playing with paint brushes and painting on a canvas that are set up in the art area. Boy #1 and boy #2 decided to come play in this area. Boy #1 takes the paints and grabs a brush and starts painting in his own paper. Boy #2 tries to dip his brush in the paint that boy#1 has but boy #1 doesn't want to share and says "No!", boy #2 begins says "i want to paint." But boy #1 still doesn't want to share. Boy #2 frowns and calls out for his teacher, he says" teacher, he doesn't want to share the paint." The teacher comes over to talk to both of them and suggest a solution for boy#2, she tells him he can play with another activity until boy #1 finishes because he was there first. Boy #2 finally agrees and goes over to the next table and he begins playing with paper and tape. He tapes up a roll of paper to create a sword. He then runs around the classroom playing with his sword. Him and boy #1 made up by then and began playing with each other again. An activity i would choose with children is getting a big canvas where a group of four or five can all paint. I would provide many watercolors they can choose from with brushes. I would add shaving cream on the canvas so they can swirl the paint on it and create a cloud looking surface. They would explore new colors and could all participate at the same time.

Observation 8

I arrive and see some children playing with puzzles, some children coloring, some children listening to stories that the teacher is reading to them, and one boy is getting dropped off my his mom but he doesn’t want to stay. She walks in carrying him because he is still tired. The mom explains how he didn’t get much sleep last night so that is why he is tired. He is crying and doesn’t want to play with the other kids. The teacher has to pick him up and hold him while his mom leaves the class. She asks him if he wants to sit and color, he says no. She then asks him if he wants to lay down and he responds “yes”. She tells him okay I’m going to lay your bed out for you while the other kids get here so you can rest a little. She lets him get a little rest while the other children continue to play. Once more children arrived he heard the class getting louder and he got up. Once he rested his eyes for a little while, he was in a better mood. He began interacting with the other children and sat in the art area and picked up a marker and started scribbling in the paper. He moved to different areas of the class and played with puzzles and then ran around chasing the boys.            An activity I would use is dress up. I would have all the children pick a costume from the costume area and let them dress up for the day as the character or super hero they would like to be. This activity would allow them to use their imagination through out the whole day because they would get into characters and role play. This can motivate them to use dramatic play if they want to reenact something they have seen at home or on TV. They can switch costumes in between if they get bored of being one person. 

Observation 7

Everything was going fine today but it wouldn't be a normal day without a little pushing and someone crying. Out in the playground boy A and boy B who almost always get along were playing in the sand box. Today they argued for the same toy. One boy was playing with a shovel and a little bowl that can hold water in it. Boy A scoops up muddy water from the sandbox with the bowl. Boy B tries to take the bowl away from his hand. They are both tugging at each other trying to pull it away, one of the teachers stops them and explains to boy B he may not take it from him because he was playing with it first. They go back to playing but then Boy B gets mad and throws something to boy A. Boy A begins crying and Boy B runs away. The teacher saw the whole thing so she ran after boy B and had to talk to him and give him some time out from playing because he didn't want to listen and was kicking and crying trying to get away from the teacher. After a few minutes he settled down.
An activity I would choose to use with the kids is having them bake cookies together for everyone. I would provide all the materials needed to make them. For instance the flour, chocolate chips, milk, bowls, measuring cups, trays, dough. This activity would give them chance to work together as a group. They can help each other out and in the end enjoy a snack that they each made. I would allow them to break up into groups of 5 so they can know who baked what. If they would like to add other ingredients they can do so and at the end tho whole class can share with each other. Friends can learn to share and be patient with each other.

Blog#6

I arrive and see boy#1 happy to see his classmates, his father is dropping him off and telling him come on let's go put your jacket away. He waves to his classmates and yell, "ill be back I'm gonna put my jacket away!" He enters the class and begins playing with his friend on a puzzle. Boy#1 grabs a piece of the puzzle and is bouncing it around the table saying "boing, boing." They are both happily running around the table chasing each other laughing, Boy#1 is chasing boy#2 for the piece of puzzle he is carrying on his hands. The mood quickly changes when boy#1 tries to take the piece out of his hand by snatching it from his hand. Boy#2 yells because he tries to take it from him. The teacher walks over and tells boy#1 he can't take it from his hand because the other boy is using it at the moment. Then she shows him, " look there are other pieces on the floor." He picks them up and then moves on to play with something else. An activity i would try is hop scotch. I would have them play hop scotch in the playground and i would draw out the squares with chalk and number them. This would be a good exercise for the whole class so they can work on their large motor skills by hopping and jumping and using balance. They would also benefit with the numbers because they will be counting and measuring the length they can go. This would be a fun way to get them active and competitive.

blog#5

The children slowly showed up to class this morning. It seemed quiet at first, and most of the children wandered around class playing alone. One boy arrived into the classroom in a different mood. He usually arrives ready to play with the boys. Today he was having trouble communicating with his teacher about what was wrong. At one point he picked up a piece of tissue paper that the teacher had for the students to play with and started tearing it up then would throw it on the floor. He was throwing it with a lot of force and had a frown on his face as he was doing it. The teacher then asked him what was wrong. He didn't respond and started throwing more paper on the floor. It got to the point where the teacher had pick him up and take him outside of the class in order to speak to him. He began kicking so she sat with him outside until he calmed down. When he returned to class after about 10 minutes he was in a better mood. Once more children showed up to class the teacher decided for everyone to go outside to play. One activity i would create would be to have have the children make an art collage of their favorite things. I would have them bring in pictures of their families, then draw pictures of their favorite cartoons, foods, music, movies etc. They would then take turns showing it to their whole class in order to learn more about their friends.