Noelle Uranga

ECE 250
Project: Classroom Evaluation
Name of Facility: Clarence Piggott Elementary School
Teacher's name: Ms. Miranda
Address: 9601 Red Hills
Telephone #: (702) 799-4450
Age & Number of children: 7-8 years old / 18 children
SECTION 1: PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Classroom:
1. Type/Name of learning center: Writing
a. Number of children: All children in the classroom
b. List of equipment/material and furniture: 2 low shelves; 3 small buckets
to hold notebooks; notebook for each child; students desk; pencils; colored
pencils
c. Types of learning experiences possible: Language and verbal skill
development; project completion; social skills such as sharing, conversations;
modeling; proofreading
2. Type/Name of learning center: Reading
a. Number of children: 4
b. List of equipment/material and furniture: 3 book cases; 10 shelves; 27
bins of books; large bag for each child filled with 3 books in a small bin;
literature genres poster

c. Types of learning experiences possible: Language and verbal skill

development; social skills such as sharing; modeling; listening;
comprehension; letter awareness; sequencing;
3. Type/Name of learning center: Spelling
a. Number of children: 5
b. List of equipment/material and furniture: 8 envelopes taped on the wall;
worksheets; folders with spelling games
c. Types of learning experiences possible: Language and verbal skill
development; social skills such as conversation, and sharing; comprehension;
letter awareness; problem solving; project completion
4. Type/Name of learning center: Math
a. Number of children: 5
b. List of equipment/material and furniture: 2 low shelves; 2 large bins; 9
bags of counting cubes; small bag for each child filled with cut out numbers
c. Types of learning experiences possible: Counting; shape matching;
problem solving; social skills such as sharing; quantity; project completion;
language and verbal skill development; reasoning; making connections;
designing
5. Type/Name of learning center: Computers
a. Number of children: 4
b. List of equipment/material and furniture: 2 long desks; 4 computers; 4
chairs; AR quizzes
c. Types of learning experiences possible: Social skills such as sharing;
problem solving; language and verbal skill development; comprehension;
using computer software; symbols; motivation
Outdoors:
1. Available equipment: Basket balls; balls of various sizes; hula hoops; jump
ropes
2. Fixed components: Large play area with climbing structure and slide; shade
over structure; small play area with climbing structure and slide; shade over

structure; 9 large picnic tables; 2 water fountains; 3 four square courts; 3

hopscotch sets; 8 basketball hoops
3. Natural features: Large grass area; trees surrounding grass area
4. Types of learning experiences: Social skills such as communication, and
sharing; problem solving; language and verbal skill development; motivation;
balance; length, and height; counting; persistence
EVALUATION:
"The early grades are a time for children to shine- they gain increasing mastery in
every area of their development and learning....They delight in their new intellectual
prowess, social skills, and physical abilities." (DAP, page 257) The children that I
observed were all shining in the environment that they had around them. Those
students have almost all that they need to have around the succeed in the
classroom and meet the 2nd grade standards. Each center had what it needed for
the child to increase their mastery in that area. I saw that especially in the reading
area. They had so many shelves of books, and each genre of book had it's own bin
and was labeled for easy find for the children to be able to find and put into their
separate book bags for them to read.
As stated in Education, page 201, "Establish clear boundaries between learning
centers by using furniture, floor coverings, or shelves that help limit the number of
children who work or play in each area at one time." I feel like the centers in the
classroom I observed did that very well. Most of the different centers were on
separate sides on the room. The spelling was in the front, with the writing in the
back, and if they were close they were separated. Like the reading is right next to
the computers, but the reading in all shelves or on the floor, as the computers are
higher up on a table with chairs. The centers also easily limit how many children can

be there with the amount of space. The computer area has only 4 computers, the
math center with the squares only has five bags of counting squares for the children
to use. Only having limited supplies in each center, makes it easy to see how many
children can be in each center. Another appropriate thing about the classroom was
they "locate quiet areas, such as the book, art, writing and computer center, next to
each other, separated from noisier and more active centers such as blocks,
dramatic play, or woodworking." (Education, page 201) In this room the
library/reading center, computers, and writing, were all near each other while the
spelling, and math are on the other side of the room.
The only thing that I noticed that may have been inappropriate was nothing was
very clearly labeled. The writing center didn't say 'Writing center', the spelling didn't
say spelling, and so on. Certain things you can easily tell what center they are like
the reading is filled with books, or the computer center has computers. If the
teacher wasn't there to show me what where the writing center was, or where the
spelling center was, those are centers that I would not have been able to tell apart
from the others as they were not clearly labeled.
"With teaching and opportunity to practice, they can learn to ride a bike, jump rope,
play a sport or an instrument, write, swim, and rollerblade." (DAP, page 260) The
outside environment this school has, gives them the opportunity to do be taught
and practice some of those things. They provide the large open fields for running,
the basketball courts and basketballs for practicing, the jump ropes, etc. They set
up an environment that can lead to success for the children, with the provided tools.
SECTION 2: CURRICULUM
1. Philosophy

a. Center/ School: "Our mission at Clarence A. Piggott Academy of

International Studies is to inspire student inquiry by using active, projectbased learning. We make connections through a global and multicultural
perspective; therefore, cultivating lifelong learners and contributing citizens
for a better humanity." (official copy attached in separate document)
b. Teacher: Ms. Miranda feels that her philosophy "follows the same philosophy
as the school itself with the stated mission."
2. Goals
a. Program Goals: "The school outlines it specific knowledge content and

academic curriculum, guided by the following five essential elements:

The Knowledge content is organized under the transdisciplinary themes. Each

school decides which specific topics to study under each theme.

The learning skills aim to help students become independent, well-

functioning, self motivated learners.

The learning attitude aim to develop a lifelong love of learning and nurture a

child's curiosity and confidence.

The action component emphasizes the need to connect the student with his

or her own potential and responsibility for using what was learned.
The rigorous guidelines for classroom practices to match the educational
philosophy and values of the IB are communicated through professional
development and a school's internal reflection process." (official copy

b.

3.

attached in separate document)

Classroom Goals: Ms. Miranda's goals for her classroom were:
"Every learner to meet their goal of development"
"Every child to become life long learners"
"For every child to meet the 2nd grade standards"
Classroom Schedule: (See official schedule as an attached document)
MONDAY (Example)
9-10 am Morning work
10-10:50 Reading aloud
10:50-11:25 Independent Reading
11:25-12:05 Recess/ Lunch
12:05-12:30 Reading continued
12:10-1:35 Math
1:40-2:30 Art

4.
5.
a.

2:35- 3:15 Science

3:15-3:30 End of day reflections
Lesson Plans: (See official lesson plans as an attached document)
Individualization
Children with identified special needs: In Ms. Miranda's second grade
classroom there are no children with special needs. When asked if she did
have a child with special needs how would she accomplish the inclusion of
this child and family she responded, " You would have to differentiate
instruction to meet the student's individual education plan. Because
everything is going to be different. Like I can't say that they would need close

proximity because it all depends on what their IEP says."

b. Typically developing Children: When Ms. Miranda was asked how does she
meet the needs of typically developing children with difficulties she
responded " You need to differentiate instruction, and use redirection. With
any of the kids in the class who have that need, it is just a lot of redirection."
6. EVALUATION:
"Primary grade teachers may face particular challenges because of the pressures on
them to narrow achievement gaps and improve the academic performance of all
children." (DAP page 258) As listed above there are many different program goals
and philosophy or mission statements that each teacher has to live up to and
complete. Not only does she have to complete those goals, but she has her own
goals that she wants to live up to in her own classroom, like making them lifelong
learners, having them meet the standards and more. It is not an easy job to have,
but with everything lined up for her in schedules, lesson plans, etc., it makes the
teacher's job just a little easier to handle.
"Still, scheduling blocks of time- to study in depth a new concept or skill within an
integrated curricular framework- is necessary and productive" (DAP, page 259)

Having a clear schedule is important in building and maintaining your curriculum

with what you are trying to teach. As a teacher you need to have specific slots of
time set aside so your students can really comprehend what you are teaching them.
Trying to fit everything into a small amount of time will neither benefit you or the
children in the room in the end. The schedule they have easily sets apart time for
each subject. They have 1 hour for writing, 50 minutes of reading aloud, 35 minutes
of silent reading, 40 minutes to eat and have recess, over an hour for math and so
on. Each subject is given a large amount of time for the children to really thrive and
learn and comprehend what is being taught.
There is no classroom where every child learns exactly the same, and at the same
rate. "Teachers must take into account that children vary enormously on practically
every dimension of development and learning". (Education page 254) Whether you
have children with special needs or a child who doesn't learn as quickly, as a
teacher you need to be able to adapt your curriculum to every child. "Adaptation
may take many forms, such as adjusting the groupings, the time schedule...or the
amount and kind of scaffolding provided." (Education page 254) Ms. Miranda was
very aware of that. When asked how she would accomplish the inclusion of a child,
if she had a child with special needs, she knew right away that you would have to
follow what their Individual Education Plan and go from there. She knew from
experience in her class now with a child who has difficulty following routine, that it
is about the redirection. Children who often get off topic, need those teachers to be
able to help them stay on topic and learn what they need to learn.
While observing this classroom and interviewing the teacher, I did not notice any
inappropriate practices.

SECTION 3: GUIDANCE
1. Routines:
a. To be able to give instructions, she needs the students to be quiet and paying
attention to her. So she says "If you can hear me clap once" (some students
clap once) "If you can hear me clap twice" (all students clap twice). Ms.
Miranda then continues to give her instructions to the class. At the end of
every time she gives instructions she says "Thumbs up I understand, thumbs
down I still need some clarification" . Students then respond with either
thumbs up or down. She scans the room to make sure everyone understood.
If they did, she lets everyone continue, if not, she will explain again so they
do.
b. Everyone morning once the students enter the classroom and put their
backpacks down, they walk over to the writing center and grab their
notebooks. They sit back down, open it up to the first blank page and begin
writing. In their journals they have to have half a page of free writing, and a
illustration that is colored to go with it. Once the children have both of those
complete, they raise their hand, Ms. Miranda will come and check it, and if
they are done, they put their notebooks away, and continue on with the next
project assigned for the day.
2. Classroom Rules:
Be ready to learn
Try your best
Be a risk taker
Be respectful
Have fun
We do Thank You's
We do real
We do I'm sorrys
We do praise
We do learning
We do mistakes
We do laughter

a.

We do respect
We do happiness
We do dreams
We do peace
We do growing
We do working hard
We do friendships
We do sharing
We do family
All 18 of the children are sitting in their desks. The desks are set up in groups
of four to make the different groups. All pencils are down, with all the children
looking at Ms. Miranda, except for one student who has her pencil in her right
hand, looking down at her paper, and drawing lines on her paper. Ms. Miranda
is standing by the desk of the student who is still drawing while talking and
giving instructions to the other students about how to make their beginning,
middle, and end book project. Ms. Miranda looks down at the girl who is
drawing on her paper and stops talking. She reaches over the girl and grabs
her paper while she was drawing. She holds up the paper so the rest of the
class could see it, and asks "Is this what we are supposed to be doing? Did I
say for you guys to be drawing on the paper? No, we should be watching and
listening to me while I am giving instructions." The girl just sat there staring
at the teacher with no expression on her face. Ms. Miranda set the paper back
down on her desk, and said "Remember we are supposed to be respectful. Go
move your pin down one please." The student walked over to the pin chart.
On this pin chart there are 7 different colored pieces of paper each meaning
something different. At the top is pink that says star student, then going
down it is purple and says Great work, then blue that says ready to learn
(where each student starts out in the morning), green that says Stop and
think, yellow that says make better choices, orange that says be careful, and

red that says Uh oh! The student grabbed her pin from Ready to learn and
moved it down to Stop and think. She walked over, returned to her chair, sat
down, put her hands in her lap and looked at Ms. Miranda. The teacher then
continued to speak and give instructions on her project.
b. 18 children are all sitting at their tables. Each table consists of 4 desks
pushed together so the students can sit in groups. The class is working on a
project where they are building a city with different communities in it. Each
table represents a different community. Rural, suburban, etc. The teacher
walks around the classroom and gives each of the 4 groups a box of different
colored clays. She tells the class "Go ahead and begin your work. Remember
we are working on building little objects that will fit in your community. If you
need a certain color your community doesn't have, walk over to another and
ask to borrow." All the kids each grab some clay and begin sculpting what
they need. One girl says "Ms. Miranda, I want to make a person but there isn't
any skin color." The teacher walks across the classroom and stands next to
the girl and says "Remember what I just said, go ask another community".
The girl gets up out of her chair and walks to the table next to hers, she looks
at the stack of colors they have and asks "Can I use your skin colored clay?"
The group all says yes, so she reaches in and grabs the clay, turns around,
and walks away. Ms. Miranda then says "Remember to say thank you to the
other community." The student turns her head says Thank You, and sits back
down in her chair, and begins to build the head of her person by rolling her
clay into a small ball.
3. Teacher interactions:
a. While the students are all at their separate groups working on the
communities with the clay, Ms. Miranda started going table to table to ask
them some questions. She sat down in the chair and made each person stop

working and asked them why they were doing what they were doing, to see if
they understood the purpose. If they didn't understand or know the answer of
why they were doing it, she made them stop working, think about, and she
came back to the table later to discuss it with them, so they could continue
working.
b. During reading time Ms. Miranda had all the children sitting down on the
carpet next to each other. She sat in her teachers chair in the front and pulled
out their book of the day to read ' Our Town'. She introduced the story to the
children, and asked them what they noticed about the cover, what they
thought it would be about, and then had them think of their own community
adventure. She had them all partner up with who was sitting next to them on
the carpet and tell their partner about an adventure they had, and what type
of community it was in. While they were doing that she went around and sat
with each of the groups to hear their stories too, and help those who couldn't
think of one.
4. Social-Emotional Guidance Techniques:
a. All 18 students were sitting on the carpet with their legs crossed and hands in
their lap. They were all looking at the teacher who was sitting in the front of
the room on her teachers stool holding the book 'Our Town'. Ms. Miranda just
finished the book and asked the class "What do you think was the main idea
of the book. We are going to do one of our BME projects, so I want to get you
started. Knee up and tell your partner what you think the main idea is." Each
of the students turned to who was sitting next to them, put their knees
together, and took turns sharing what they thought the main idea was. Ms.
Miranda went around to a few of the groups to hear what they had to say. The
teacher walked over to her desk and grabbed her can that has a popsicle
stick with each child's name on it. She sat back down on her stool and pulled

out the first name. She asked them "What do you think the main idea of the
story is?" The child responded with his answer. Once he was done, the
teacher was smiling and said " I really like the way you stated the main idea
and I really like how you added extra ideas from the story to your answer.
Great job." The child smiled. Ms. Miranda pulled another popsicle stick to call
out and ask the next child what they though the main idea of the story was.
b. All 18 students were sitting down at their tables working on building little
sculptures for their community. With the clay children were building scooters,
people, bonfires, skateboards, food, etc. Ms. Miranda was walking around the
classroom observing the children building. She got near the door, where the
students mail boxes are. She noticed they were getting filled with papers and
said "If you can hear me clap once." Some students clapped once. " If you
can hear me clap twice." All of the students clapped twice. "We need to
come and get our mail out of our mail boxes. So when I call your community
come and get your mail." She said "Urban community come and get your
mail". The four students that were apart of the urban community put down
the clay they were working with, got out of their chairs, and walked to their
mail boxes. They all grabbed their papers, put them in their backpacks, sat
down and continued working with their clay. The teacher said "Rural
community come and get your mail please." Three of the four students at
that table stood up and walked over to get their mail. One boy at the table
looked up, but stayed seated. He shouted to the teacher across the room "I
already got my mail!" The teacher walked over to him and said " Okay so why
did you need to tell us all that? Think about that thought. Is it for you, or for
everyone else around you to know?" The child said "For me". The teacher said
"Okay, then keep it in here for next time", and she pointed to her head. The

three other students returned to their seats and continued working on their
clay, and so did the other boy.
5. Evaluation:
"Primary grade children need environments characterized by good conversation,
joy, and excitement over accomplishments, and laughter..." (DAP page 265). Ms.
Miranda is very good at creating the kind of environment that includes all of those
things. She welcomes you to the class each morning with a smile, and makes you
feel comfortable in the room. She enjoys engaging in conversations with her
students about their writing, or projects, etc. She finds the ways that she can that
will help encourage and motivate you to keep learning. For example when the child
said what his thoughts were about the main idea she responded by saying "I really
like the way you stated the main idea.... great job!" all with a smile on her face. She
guides you in the direction that you need to be going in a positive way. As stated in
Education, page 192, "Social-emotional competence is clearly linked to academic
success throughout all the years of school. Children...perform better on measures of
academic achievement, language, and social-emotional development when they
have positive, sensitive, trusting relationships with their teachers."
Routines are an easy way to help with the flow and the guidance of the teacher and
the classroom. "Teachers provide many daily opportunities for children to develop
social skills...." (DAP page 301) One of the routines that I noticed can help and count
as one of the daily opportunities for the child to develop social skills is during read
aloud time and they knee up. Reading is something that is apart of the schedule
every day, and knee up is when they put their knees together with the person next
to them and talk with them about whatever the subject of the book is. It is an easy

routine that is built in for everyday use, and it gets the children to learn and be
more social together as a class.
The only inappropriate practice that I observed while in the classroom was children
had more leeway than others did. Sitting in the classroom for a day, you could tell
who the normal kids were who had trouble with routines, and the kids who didn't.
Those who were constantly having to be redirected, she was harder on them about
the rules and what they were doing. But when the ones who normally didn't cause
problems did something, she was more easy going, and willing to ignore it.