Lake 1

Mary Lake
Professor Westfall
Group Time Evaluation
20 November 2018

Using a regular vs special education classroom, observe one complete group time,
objectively recording specific examples of behaviors.

Group Time Defined: Group time can be a small group or a large group that is being
led by the teacher. Group time does not include child directed play at centers or
children doing individual seat work.
Answer each of the following questions and support your answers with specific
examples from your observation. Follow the format below by enumerating, typing
what is blue and then writing your response.

1. School: CSN West Charleston campus. Telephone number: (702) 651-7390.

Name of teacher: Matilda & Tina, Team Teachers. Age/grade level: 4 & 5 years old,
Preschool.

2. Beginning group time: 9:17 am. Ending group time: 9:35 am.

3. Number of adults working with the children during the group time: 1. (She only
watched, but did not add anything to the group time).
Number of children in the group: 7.

4. Describe the nature of group time. Write a complete description of each of

activity(ies) during group time. Include in the description the way in which the
teacher involved the children in each activity.
1. As children were coming in from outside, they were hanging up their coats and
putting away their things, e.g., hat and gloves. Then they took turns washing their hands
and after that they went to the group area. It took some time for everyone to finish
putting away things and washing their hands so as children were arriving in the group
area Matilda started singing songs with whoever was there, to keep them busy until all
had arrived.
2. They sang the “ABCs” plus did the signing to the song. Then they sang “Five
Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree.” By this time all of the children that were there were
sitting in the group area (some children were still being dropped off, so as they arrived,
they came over). Then they sang “Our School Family.”
3. They talked about a child that was not at school. The teacher, Matilda, told the
children, that child did not feel well and would stay home until he felt better and could
come back to school.
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4. After talking to the children about that sick child the teacher asked, “Should we
do the ‘well-wishing bucket?’” Then they each took a turn saying who they were wishing
well, and pretending to put them in the bucket, (the teacher made her hands to look like
a bucket), after everyone had said who they were wishing well, they all sang the song
that wishes all who have been named, well.
5. Next, the teacher said it was time to pick tags, (e.g., each tag had a picture that
represented a child in the class), and the person whose tag was picked, could pick
which job he/she wanted to do for the day. She had a box in which the name of each
child in the class was included, each on a tag. The first two tags she picked were
children who were not present, so she picked again. That third tag named a child who
was there, so she asked who is the lion? A lion was pictured on the tag. The child
whose tag it was said, “That’s me,” and got up, took the tag from the teacher, and
placed it on the hook next to the picture of the job the child wanted to do that day. The
teacher did that until all of the children had their jobs picked. While that was happening,
two more children were dropped off and had joined the other children in the group area.
The teacher took the children’s tags who had arrived late and put them back in the box
to pick again and the next child picked said he wanted to do a job that had already been
picked so the teacher said to ask the boy who had picked that job if he could help him,
and he said yes, so the newly arrived child hung his tag with the other boy’s tag.
6. After all the jobs were dealt with, the teacher said she was going to read a
book and asked the children questions about the different parts of the book, e.g., the
front and back cover, the spine, and the pages. Then she told them the name of the
author, illustrator, and the title of the book. Then she read the book while asking
questions, e.g., what do you think is going to happen? After she finished the book, she
asked the children if they enjoyed that story?
7. The next thing she did was to go over with the children what centers they
would have, to play in today, and what snack was being offered. After that she excused
the children to the centers.

5. How appropriate are these activity(ies)? Explain. I think they were appropriate for
the age of the children in the class. These activities were short and sweet. They were
things the children understood and seemed to enjoy. They were interested when she
talked about their classmate not feeling well and understood when she asked if they had
anyone in mind to put in the well-wishing bucket. They also seemed to know the parts of
the book and were engaged as she read the story. They also seemed to enjoy picking
jobs, and it was a cool way to do it, randomly, but giving the children choices.

6. How long was the group time? 18 minutes. Is this appropriate for the age of the
children? YES. Explain (Include the children’s ages in your answer.) the amount
of time was appropriate for this age group. These children are 4 and 5 years old.
The time was short and to the point so the children would stay engaged and learn but
not get bored or fidgety.
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7. How appropriate was the space used for group time? Explain. I do think the
space was appropriate for the children. It was a good size, not too small and not too
large. It was closed in with one entrance/exit. It had carpet so they were not sitting on
the bare floor. The children did not have a lot of other things around to distract them, but
it was enough space for the children to use to interact with the teacher.

8. How did the teacher bring the children together and begin group time? As the
children were finishing up with putting things away after being outside, and then
washing their hands, they went over to the group area. She led the children in singing
some songs while they were waiting for the others to finish and join them. When they
were all there, they sang “Our School Family” together. So, before that it was like the
band that warms up the audience before the concert starts. It is great if you are there for
the preshow, but if you miss it you still have the whole concert to watch.

9. What percentage of the time were the children actively vs passively involved in
the group time? Actively: 50%. Passively: 50%. Is this appropriate? Yes. Explain. I
would say, during the times when they were expected to be engaged, they were. And
the times when they were to be listening, they were, too. The children, themselves,
gave the indication that the timing was correct, as they were always engaged.

10. How did the children react to the group time? They seemed to enjoy it. No one
acted like they did not want to be there, and they were all engaged.

11. What evidence of flexibility, on the part of the teacher, did you observe while
she was conducting the group time? Support with observed examples. When all of
the children were not ready for group time due to putting away belongings, and hand
washing, she patiently sang songs while waiting for the rest of the class to be ready and
get to the group area. And when she began to pick tags out of the box, for the job
picking time, the first two tags picked at random were tags belonging to children who
were not yet there at school. When the first tag was picked, she said, “they are not
here,” and picked again, and again said, “they are not here either,” and picked again.

12. Was there any individualization to accommodate special needs of children

during the group time? This address both children with special needs and the
typically developing child who is exhibiting a need that the other children are not,
e.g. shorter attention span, higher need for attention, lack of understanding of
activity, etc. Support with observed examples. Nothing happened that required extra
help for individual children.

13. Didone gender tend to engage in inappropriate behaviors more than another.
No, both groups did well. The only time during the observation that anyone acted out
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was when two boys were asked to do what they were doing during outside time, and
they needed to be asked a few times, but that was after group time.

Circle one boys OR girls’ gender during the group time?

Support with observed examples. Both of the groups did well and did not act
inappropriate during group time.

14. Describe
inappropriate behaviors that occurred during group time and the
behavior management techniques the teacher uses. Discuss the effectiveness
and appropriateness of the techniques used. No one acted out.

15. Describe how the teacher ended group time. She told the children their choices
for centers, the snack being offered, and excused them to go to the different centers.

16. What activity followed group time? Child guided play during center time. Is this
appropriate? Yes. Explain. Center time is an important time in the school day. After
spending time in the group, they need to be allowed to express themselves, and
learning through play.

Evaluation: When the group time was starting, instead of expecting the children that
were already present to sit still and wait for the other children to arrive, she used the
time wisely by singing songs “Our School Family,” “Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a
Tree,” and The “ABC” song with the children practicing the signing (sign language) of
the ABCs.1 This was a bonus for the children because they were learning how to be
social in a fun way. I always learn more and retain the information when it is fun or
pleasant as opposed to boring rote learning. While group time was happening the
teacher, Matilda, had a conversation during a powerful interaction with the children,
when she talked to the class about the child that was not at school due to an illness.
She was teaching them compassion for others which is an important social skill. She led
them in an activity that involved the children showing compassion for loved ones in their
family.2 She also was teaching them responsibility in a fun way. She randomly picked
tags out of a box and asked the children who’s tag she had just pulled and had that
child go hang the tag next to the job that child wanted to be responsible for, that day. In
that activity she was also introducing problem solving by having the children make a
second choice of a job if the first choice was already taken by another child, and when
one boy really wanted to do a certain job but it had been claimed by another child, she
gave him the idea to ask the other child if he could help him with that job. 3 When she
read the book to the group, she asked them questions about the parts of the book and
introduced the children to the names of the author and illustrator of the book that she
was going to read. In addition, she engaged the class with questions, asking them to
anticipate what was going to happen next.4 Finally, she explained what the next activity
would be and gave them the choice of which centers and with whom they would play.
Having them learn to make decisions is a very important skill. All of the lessons she had
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in the group time were not obvious; the children were probably not aware that they were
actively learning so many different concepts.

Using information in the course regarding

• DAP philosophy
• authentic activities
• process of learning
• appropriate interaction with children
• routines and pace of activity
1Creating a caring community of learners –Building classroom community

“Teachers strive to create a sense of the group as a cohesive community. They often
refer to ‘our class’ ‘all of us together’ and they engage children in cooperative
experiences that demonstrate that each member of the group is valued (such as
involving the children in making a ‘we miss you!’ card for a sick classmate).”
DAP page 151.

2Creating a caring community of learners–Building classroom community

“Teachers recognize community-building opportunities in various parts of the day, such
as mealtime, cleanup, and whole-group times. During these activities, they engage
children in talking about shared experiences, singing, and discussing problems or plans
(such as planning an event for parents).” DAP page 151.

3Teaching to Enhance Development and Learning-Teaching methods

“Teachers provide many opportunities for children to learn to collaborate with others and
work through ideas and solutions, as well as develop social skills such as cooperating,
helping, negotiating, and talking with other people to solve problems.” DAP page 155.

4Planning Curriculum to Achieve Important Goals-Book reading and motivation

“Every day, teachers read aloud to children, in both small and large groups when
possible. To promote children’s engagement and comprehension, teachers use
strategies such as reading with expression and asking questions (“What do you think
he’ll do now?”).” DAP page 167.

Write an overall evaluation of the group time experience. Be sure to include

supporting explanations for your conclusions regarding these various elements.
(35 pts)

POWERFUL INTERACTION OBSERVATION

Observe a powerful interaction between the teacher and one child. To save
yourself time, you may use the same classroom and teacher from the preceding
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observation. If such an interaction does not occur in that classroom, you will
need to observe another classroom, ages 3 years - 2nd grade.

Use the following format typing first what is in blue and then writing your
response.
Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2018. School: CSN West Charleston campus.

Teacher: Matilda. Age of Child: 3 and 5 years old.

Time: beginning: 8:55am. ending time: 9:05am. of the observation

(i.e. interaction between child and teacher)

Setting: Write a brief description of the context in which the interaction occurred,
including the age and gender of child. If you use a different class than in the
preceding observation be sure to also include a brief description of the new
setting; number of adults present; and the age and number of children present.
The episode occurred during outside time, in the sandbox, one adult, Matilda, the
teacher, and two girls, sisters, a 5 year old and her 3 year old sister.

Interaction: Write a detailed objective anecdotal observation of the interaction

between the teacher and the one child. Recording everything the teacher says
and does, and everything the child says and does in complete detail.
Matilda, the teacher, was there, and two girls, who I later found out are sisters, were
playing in the sandbox when I arrived. Matilda had just come back to the girls with a cup
of water to hold their sand mountain together as they built it. She poured the water on
carefully and the girls were adding sand and packing it with their shovels. They both
said they were concerned that something “bad” would happen to their creation. The
younger of the two got up and came over to her sister and jabbed her shovel at her
face. The older girl turned her face away and froze. Matilda stopped the younger sister
who was jabbing at her sister with the shovel, and Matilda said, “She does not want you
to do that. Look, she is turning her head.” Then Matilda told the older girl to tell her what
she wanted. The older girl said, “She is trying to put sand in my eyes. I don’t want her to
do that.” The younger girl got up and walked away and crossed her arms and turned her
back to them. Matilda said to the older girl, “She is upset. Do you want to check on
her?” The older girl said, “No!” Then Matilda said, “I am going to check on her,” and she
did.

PI Characteristics: Using Powerful Interactions by Dombro, Jablon and Stetson,

describe the Powerful Interaction (PI) behaviors you observed the teacher using.
She was having conversations with the girls, when the issue started. Matilda interacted
with the girls, not taking sides, but helping them deal with the issue. Matilda asked the
older girl if she wanted to check on the other girl, her younger sister, and when she
didn’t want to, then Matilda said she was going to check on her, and did.

Support each behavior with one example from your observation + cite the page
number in the text where you found each behavior.
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“Conversations during Powerful Interactions with Children.” “Learning is a social

process. We learn when we watch and listen to others. Each time we play, work, and
talk with others, we learn-new ideas, new words, and new skills. Through conversations,
even nonverbal ones, we relate, communicate, and learn from one another. We
interact!” Page 96.

Improvement: Describe the specific PI behaviors, that if included, would have

improved this interaction. Cite the page number in the text where you found each
behavior.
Not only did Matilda go to the younger girl to talk to her about her feelings, but after that
the girl ran across the play yard and then hid behind a tree. Matilda called to her and
when she did not answer, Matilda went to her to talk to her and make sure she was
alright.