Week of October 1, 2014

Jessica Weiner
Reflective Journal
This weeks observation was the first observation in which my cooperating class
experienced a normal schedule. In the past, I had observed students on days in which many
activities were scheduled during our half-day in class. For instance, one week, the reading
specialist came in to assess the students and the guidance counselor came to visit the class for a
special program about self-regulation. These two activities, along with their weekly music
special, completely threw off the entire days schedule, leaving no time for learning. However,
this week, I observed a normal Wednesday schedule beginning with their morning meeting,
music, reading, etc.
During this weeks observation, I was able to observe my students and cooperating
teacher by actively involving myself in their lessons. Using the NAEYC standards of observing
and using developmentally effective approaches, I was able to asses my students reading and
writing development during their Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes writing activity, the
students were asked to complete the sentence I love my _____ shoes by writing the a color
word that describes their favorite shoes. Next, they were asked to circle the sight words I and
like in the sentence to reiterate their lesson on these words. Finally, they were to cut out a
picture of a shoe, glue it to the paper, and color it the color that corresponds to the sentence they
wrote below the image. While the students worked on this activity, I was able to observe their
ability to exhibit age appropriate pencil grip, their abilities to identify sight words in a sentence,
write words, and most importantly, their ability to exhibit self-regulatory skills. The cooperating
teacher broke the activity into steps in order to keep the activity developmentally effective, as per
the NAEYC standard; however, many students struggled to show self-control as many of them

Week of October 1, 2014

began to move ahead of the teachers instructions. As a result, I observed as the teacher modified
her technique and turned the directions into a game. As the students completed a step they were
to quickly put their hands on top of their heads. This brought a sense of play to the reading and
writing activity and the room quickly filled with laughter and smiles. Because of the more
playful environment the teacher had created, the students responded well, resulting in each child
following the directions and waiting for the teachers cue to move on.
After this activity, my cooperating teacher and I discussed the importance of enforcing
classroom rules and self control in the classroom from the very beginning. As a professional, my
teacher has learned that spending the first several weeks of school enforcing the rules may result
in a delay or interruption of the lesson or incomplete work, it will benefit both the teacher and
students in the long run when the students are able to use self regulation and follow instructions
the rest of the year when lessons begin to increase in complexity.
Also, as a kindergarten teacher, my teacher explains that it is the teachers responsibility
to encourage and assist in the development of such self-control so as to build a foundation for the
rest of the students educational career and overall lives. This realization proves that it is
extremely important to be a professional in the areas you teach as well as on the development of
the children you teach. This weeks observation opened my eyes to the importance of such
knowledge because everything the students did was a reflection of their development whether it
was cognitive, physical, or even social. I realized how important it was to be fully aware of their
development and assess where they were in relation to where they should be developmentally.
This also made me realize the importance of developmentally appropriate practice and the
standard of using developmentally effective approaches as I watched my cooperating teacher
modify students pencil grip, give extra assistance or modify the assignment for some students,

Week of October 1, 2014

and even the way she broke the activity into steps, creating a game at the end. Being a
professional on child development and utilizing developmentally effective approaches in the
classroom can ensure students success and this weeks observation proved this notion as I
observed students during their activity.