I am spending most of my time in the four/five year
old classroom. It is amazing how the children know that it is close to end of
the school year for them; they end on June 7th. They are having a hard time focusing and
listening and the teacher is using incentives to get them to pay attention. She
has a treasure box, surprise toys she does not take out often, a reward chart, and
allows the children to take longer turns at the computer if they have had good
days. This has helped, however she has center time now twice in the morning to
allow the children more free choice time and social interaction at reasonable
levels and this has made it better. I have noticed that this has improved because
the children are now ready to move on; they learned what they had to, (they are reviewing) and now
they can practice what they have learned as they play. They share, role plays,
write, and communicate in all centers of the classroom. This is the area of
interest for my paper and I am witnessing it live; how children learn through
play and integrating the arts into their curriculum and schedule.
I find this
to be a challenge myself in my classroom because my students are also acting up
a bit and I think they are bored. We have been on the same schedule for the
whole year. I too am changing things up a little and making things more unpredictable
to keep the students interested and wondering what will happen next. Having
discussions with them about their likes and interests keeps them wanting to
hear about each other’s story.
As I spent time with the director, there were many
things she was tending to at once. She has been working as a director for
twenty years. Her main concern are the students, however she deals more with
the parents and the teachers. There are always parent concerns or complaints.
The teachers need help with students, getting supplies, or cleaning the room.
The director has a lot to manage such as, payroll hours, children’s safety and
health, sufficient food and supplies. The director is involved in the classrooms;
she always walks around observing the activities in each classroom and since
she brings tours throughout the days, loves to see the children learning in
areas of the classrooms through play. After speaking with her, she says that
the majorities of the parents care about their child being happy, safe, and
respected above all and wants the education and learning to happen alongside
that. It was great to see the school and classroom through her vision and to
have play be such an acceptable part of every classroom, from infants though
pre-kindergarten.
