GROUP TIME EVALUATION

1. School: ECE Lab School Program North Las Vegas Campus Site

Telephone number: 702-651-4004

Teacher: Valerie Stevenson

Age/grade level: 4 to 4 Preschool

2. Beginning/ending group time: 9:30am-9:45am

3. Number of adults: 4 Number of children: 11

4. Nature of group time: The children arrive to class from outside play time. After washing their

hands the students and teachers sit down on the floor in a semi-circle in the Morning Center.

The teacher begins with saying Once everyone is seated we can start our hello song. Once

the class is all seated the class starts to sing their hello song while clapping their hands which

goes like this Hello (name of student) Hello (name of student) were glad youre here at

school! They sing the song until they have named all of the students. After, the teacher says,

Butterfly shake with a friend. The students connect thumbs with the person sitting next to

them and wiggle their fingers together imitating a butterfly. Then the teacher asks the

schedule mover to move the arrow one spot down from the schedule. The student moves the

arrow on the board from Outside Play Time to Morning Meeting Time. One of the students

tells the teacher My grandma is coming over for Thanksgiving The teacher responds with

That is exciting, it is fun when family comes over for Thanksgiving. Other children begin

to talk about their families coming over for Thanksgiving. The teacher responds to the

children and then moves on to the next activity. Mrs. Stevenson asks the class Who is my

wish well person? The children name the wish well person and say Shes not here today.

One of the children, says, I want to be the wish well person! The teacher responds Hold
 on Jacyra, let me see whose turn it is. Jacyra then says I never get to be the wish well

person! Mrs. Stevenson says, Jacyra you were the very first wish well person, I remember

you were the wish well person in the beginning of the year. Jacyra says, I want to be the

wish well person again! You will get a turn again Jacyra. Jacyra begins to name the

activities that are next in the morning group time and the teacher responds, I see youre on

top of what we have to do but I got it from here you dont have to worry about what is next, I

got it. Thank you. The teacher then tells the next wish well person to put the names of the

students who are absent on the magnet board. After the children and teachers sing the Wish

Well Song. The teacher then tells the children what is expected for the day. She lets them

know what the snack is for the day, what she will be doing with the children during center

time (observing snails) and what projects children can finish from the day before. After Mrs.

Stevenson is finished letting the class know what is expected for the day she grabs the

childrens name tags and dismisses each child by putting their name tags on and asking them

where they want to start for the day.

5. Appropriate activities? The activities were appropriate because the activities allowed the

children to communicate with one another. The children didnt just sit down and listen to the

teacher they were allowed to engage in conversation. The morning group time created a

sense of community. The activities helped the children develop their cooperating, helping,

and social skills. For example, the children were cooperating when they allowed another

child to do their designated job such as the wish well person and the schedule person. The

children developed helping skills when they participated in the activities. Lastly, the children

developed social skills when they were talking to one another and speaking in turn.
6. How long? 15minutes Appropriate for the age? According to HO Elements of Daily

Schedule meetings for this age group (4 year olds) should be 10-20minutes long so yes, the

time was appropriate.

7. Space: The space was appropriate. There was enough space for all of the children to sit

comfortably. The teacher had a clear view of all of the students.

8. Bring the children together and begin group time: The children seemed to already know that

morning group time is expected. It is part of their daily routine so the teacher didnt really

have to do much to bring the children together. When the children finished washing their

hands they sat down waiting for the rest of the children. The teacher did say Once everyone

is seated we can start our Hello song.

9. Percentage of the time actively vs passively: 95%

10. Children react: The children reacted positively to group time. They were all engaged and

they were participating in the group time activities.

11. Flexibility: I observed flexibility when one of the children mentioned how her grandma is

going over for Thanksgiving then the whole class started talking about Thanksgiving.

Although this was not a planned part of group time the teacher let the students talk about

Thanksgiving and the teacher was engaged in the conversation.

12. Individualization special needs and the typically developing: There were no

individualizations to accommodate special needs children or typically developing children.

13. Gender inappropriate behaviors: No gender engaged in inappropriate behaviors more than

the other. The class as a whole was appropriately engaged.

14. Inappropriate behaviors: An inappropriate behavior that occurred during group time was

when one of the children Jacyra, started complaining about not being able to be the wish well
 person and when Jacrya was interrupting the teacher by naming the activities that were next

in morning group time. Behavior management techniques: The technique that the teacher

used is guidance. She didnt punish Jacrya for speaking out of turn but instead she guided her

to what was appropriate which was letting the teacher tell what the activity was first before

she said it. The technique was effective because Jacrya began to speak when it was her turn.

15. Ended group time: The teacher ended group time by letting the class know the plan for the

rest of the day and then putting each childs name tag on the back of their shirts and asking

them in what center they want to start at.

16. Activity followed: The activity that followed was center time. The children all got to choose

which center they wanted to start at. The activity that followed was appropriate because the

children were all given a choice on where they wanted to start. It was also appropriate

because the children knew what would be expected of the day.

Evaluation: Overall my evaluation for the group time experience is a 5. The morning group time

promoted social development by giving the children the opportunity to engage in conversation

with their peers and teachers. The children also learned about roles as different children had

different roles. It also gave the children awareness of what was expected for the day. Teachers

may help children plan what they will play, what roles they and their friends might take, and how

to sustain and extend the play. (D.A.P pg. 127) The activities during morning group time were

also authentic. The morning group time was significant and it provided a genuine internal need to

know because the information about what was expected was relevant for all the students. This

activity also covered many senses. (Learning Process pt.1 pg.2) The senses being used were

visual, auditory, and tactile. Lastly, I rate the experience a 5 because the pace was appropriate for
the age group. The group time did not feel rushed or slowly placed. The time length 15minutes

was appropriate.
 POWERFUL INTERACTION OBSERVATION

Date: 11/09/17 School: ECE Lab School N. Las Vegas Campus Teacher: Mrs. Charlie Age of

Child: 4

Time: 10:15

Setting: The child is a 4 year old girl. The caregiver and the child are sitting down on the floor by

the block area. There is a small table in between them. There are different types of puzzles/block

pieces on the shelves next to them. It is center time so there are children in different centers.

Interaction: Zoey the child, walks over to Mrs. Charlie and asks, Mrs. Charlie can you play with

me? Mrs. Charlie responds, Sure, what do you want to play? Zoey says, Lets have a tea

party! Mrs. Charlie responds Okay, lets go! They grab each other by the hand and walk over

to the block area and sit down on the floor. Zoey tells Mrs. Charlie Im going to make ladybug

soup. Mrs. Charlie answers, Ladybug soup! Oh my goodness, mmm The child puts bugs

inside two different cups. She asks Mrs. Charlie Which one do you want? Before Mrs. Charlie

can answer Zoey says, Here this one! Mrs. Charlie says, Okay and starts pretending to eat

the soup. Zoey also pretends to eat her soup. Mrs. Charlie says, That was delicious, do you want

to make more soup Zoey? Zoey then says, Yea as she begins to put more bugs in a cup.

Another child comes by and Mrs. Charlie says, Whats up Ana, hey. The other child walks

away. Mrs. Charlie asks Zoey What bugs can I have Zoe? Zoey continues to put bugs in the

cups and says This one. Mrs. Charlie answers Thats a lot of bugs! Zoey hands Mrs. Charlie

more bugs. Mrs. Charlie pretends to eat the bugs.

Mrs. Stevenson the head teacher lets the class know If anyone wants to observe the snails

before center time is over you can come now! Zoey tells Mrs. Charlie I want to touch the
snails. Mrs. Charlie responds Okay, lets go. They head over to the snails and then center time

is over.

PI Characteristics: Mrs. Charlie connected with the child. She actively listened by letting Zoey

speak and not talking over her or at her. Mrs. Charlie was respectful to Zoey. Mrs. Charlie was

sitting at the childs level. (P.I. pg. 33) Mrs. Charlie used mirror talk when she told Zoey Thats

a lot of bugs! while Zoey was stacking the bugs. Mrs. Charlie mirrored talked by letting Zoey

know she was aware of what she was doing. (P.I. pg. 92) Mrs. Charlie personalized the

conversation with Zoey by saying her name. Mrs. Charlies tone of voice matched the childs.

Mrs. Charlie facial expressions matched with what she was saying as well. (P.I. pg.51)

Improvement: One specific behavior that could have been included to improve the powerful

interaction was to ask more questions. (P.I. pg.125) Mrs. Charlie could have offered a

manageable challenge by asking questions that would help Zoey further observe, engage, and

predict what she doing. I also think that Mrs. Charlie could have extended Zoeys learning

further by linking new information to the familiar. Mrs. Charlie could have brought in new

concepts to the play by having Zoey extend her pretend cooking when making the ladybug soup.

She could have had Zoey add sauce to the soup or make a drink for the soup etc. (P.I. pg.77)