"OBSERVING COMMUNICATION AT A PRESCHOOL"

For this week assignment I went to preschool and I observed 4 years old class. There are 4 boys age 4 and 5 girls ages 4. This is what I observed:

Children playing with blocks, child G, and child B. Whoa!! Blocks are falling down, child G tries to steady it, child B, because, but this goes onto there, child B placing block on top of tower structure. I know, but this goes into there and then the people can walk and sit. We need a ruler to get toy boat from shelf. I know, J but the boat well I know how, wait a minute I’ll tell you what happened. The boat will go through the bridge, “rearranges the tower to make a bridge structure”. Yeah, and then go into there and now other people will come over here and go in this. The toy boat is pushed under the bridge, then in an arc toward J’s arrangement where there is an opening like a harbor. There are two girls in the corner playing patty cakes, and having fun with each other.

As early childhood professional, observing children in one of our natural habitats is an excellent way to gain understanding of how young children experience their worlds and function in their environments. Mrs. Mars, who teaches 4-year-olds, is calm, reserved, and a good listener. Mrs. Scales, who teaches 3 and 4 -year-olds, is very energetic and talkative. The spring has arrived, and both classrooms are full of flowers, seedlings, insects, colorful eggs, and baby chicks coloring on the walls. Other things that I notice in the classroom are a picture of the community, so when they take their walks in the community they will know each building when they go past it. Like city hall, the fire station, churches, and the library.

The communication with these children and the teacher was great. When the teacher stated that it was time to put up the toys, so you can wash your hands they all help put the toys up than they line up to wash their hands for lunch.

Teacher talk is a powerful classroom tool, and researchers think that teacher talk is encouraging and lets children know that their teacher values their efforts and accomplishments (Rainer & Durden, 2010). (Rainer & Durden, 2010) also states “there are seven primary functions of language that preschool teachers use to communicate with children for multiple purposes:

1) encouraging participation  2) responding to children's needs and ideas  3) managing the class or providing a necessary instruction  4) fostering children's language  5) conveying ideas 6) assessing children's knowledge   7) promoting children's thinking.

We have to observe incidents or events, as early childhood professionals and describe each as fully as possible when we are observing young children. This preschool scored an A+ when it was graded . And I would not change the communication styles of the teachers because this is the way children need to be communicated with by being calm, good listeners, and energeti

 

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=47964033&site=ehost-live&scope=site