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.

Observation #4

This weeks observation had a lot going on. I get to class and the new boy that started last week gets dropped off by his mom. As soon as they go in he walks in screaming and crying saying "mom, no I don't want to stay". His
mom kisses him goodbye and quickly tries to rush out of there. He walks towards the door and tries to open in to get out. The teacher then has to try to console him by telling him she will back soon. Once all the kids are in the classroom, the new boy continues to cry, the teacher gives him the option to go play outside in the playground or stay inside and free play. He decides to stay inside then after a while of crying, the teacher goes over to turn on some music because another little boy asked her to put on a certain "bear hunt song". Once the music starts the other boy gets distracted with the music and quietly sits down and observes the other child who is singing along and making hand gestures. The child demonstrated separation anxiety because he still hasn't adapted to leaving home. It may take a few weeks before he feels completely comfortable and makes new friends. Other children played wit each other well, they played with puzzles and made paper airplanes, and played in the kitchen area which demonstrated some imaginary play. An activity I would try for the next class would be teaching the children how to make shapes and sizes out of paper. I see the kids enjoy working with arts and crafts so I would teach them making diamonds, triangles, house shapes, hearts, paper airplanes and then let them color or decorate it as they pleased. The children that had paper airplanes needed assistance fro the TA, so by letting them make their own they can enjoy making it themselves.