Fieldwork Experience at a Preschool

Fieldwork Experience
Name
Institution
Course
Instructor
Due Date
Fieldwork Experience
During the ten-hour observation at Head Start Spring Valley Preschool, I focused on the 3-4-year-old preschoolers under the guidance of Ms. Jeanette. The preschool caters to diverse learners, primarily from low-income neighborhoods, and includes both English-speaking and English learners. The classroom was thoughtfully arranged to accommodate the various needs of the children and foster a positive learning environment.
Observation
Head Start Spring Valley is in suburban New York and caters to children from diverse backgrounds. Ms. Jeannete's class was made up of 14 students, made up of five boys and nine girls. Five of the learners were language learners.
Upon entering the classroom, it was evident that the room was designed to be engaging and child-friendly. Colorful and age-appropriate wall decorations adorned the walls, featuring alphabet charts, numbers, and vibrant artwork created by the students. The designated spaces included an independent study area with child-sized tables and chairs, a play area with toys, a cozy reading corner, a group work area with a larger table, and a front teaching area where Ms. Jeanette conducted lessons. During the observation, I noticed that the classroom environment was instrumental in facilitating the learner’s interaction and play. Upon close examination of the preschoolers, it was evident that the classroom arrangement allowed them to express their individuality and interact with peers. Ms. Jeanette's classroom arrangement was in line with Falk’s (2009) observation that preschoolers tend to express themselves through play and exploration as it maximized the learner’s ability to explore and express themselves.
One of the lessons that I observed centered around the topic “My Family and Community.” The lesson was ideal for the learners as it covered concepts related to their socio-emotional development. In the lesson, the teacher combined it with a mathematics lesson as each child was prompted to calculate the number of family members. Ms. Jeanette ensured that the lesson was engaging to the learner by making sure that it was composed of hands-on activities, storytelling, play, and interactive discussions that were appropriate for preschoolers’ attention spans. In one of the activities, Ms. Jeanette had the whole class form an extended family made up of grandparents, parents, and siblings.
I observed that Ms. Jeanette made an effort to cater to the needs of English learners. She used visual aids, gestures, and simple explanations to convey concepts. Additionally, she encouraged children to use their home languages and supported their vocabulary development in both English and their native languages. In the activity where the learners formed an extended family, she had a session where the language learners were asked to provide the terms that refer to their grandparents and parents. Also, Ms. Jeanette employed formative assessment techniques throughout the lesson to monitor the student's progress. She frequently asked open-ended questions, listened actively to student responses, and observed their engagement levels. She used these insights to ta...