Carlena Lowell SEI 516 Child Observation

Assignment B: Child Observation Carlena Lowell SEI 516 Spring 2013 February 17, 2013

Carlena Lowell SEI 516 Child Observation

*Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality Introduction The observations discussed in this summary were chosen through a collaborative consultation process with Carlena (consultant) and Jill (consultee) for the purpose of supporting a working Technical Assistance Plan. The focus child, Tyler, is a student in the classroom Carlena and Jill co-teach in at a Head Start program. The data collection methods were created by Carlena and discussed with Jill prior to the observations. This summary will describe the program, introduce the child, discuss the observations including the two behaviors observed, data collection methods, and interpretations of the data, and finally make recommendations. Setting This particular Head Start consists of two classrooms, A and B. The teaching staff is includes four teachers and an assistant teacher who acts as a floater between the two rooms. Classroom A is an inclusive classroom, and is a collaboration of Child Development Services and the Head Start agency. The teaching team in this classroom consists of Carlena, an early childhood special educator from CDS, and Jill, an early childhood educator from Head Start. Classroom B is a Head Start classroom; the teaching team is Amy, the center manager, and Belle, an early childhood educator. Classroom A enrolls 14 children and Classroom B enrolls 18. In addition, the center has a full time case manager to work with the families. The program runs Monday through Thursday; the children in Classroom A attend 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, and the children in Classroom B from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm.
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Carlena Lowell SEI 516 Child Observation

Child Tyler is a three-year, seven-month old child who attends Head Start with consistent attendance. Tyler lives with his mother, Rachel, who works as well as attends classes on weeknights. Rachel and Tyler receive support from Rachels parents, as well as close friends. Some of Tylers strengths include his ability to sustain his attention for a long period of time on a preferred activity, he is beginning to be able to suggest solutions to problems with adult support, he is able to consistently count to three and identify several colors. A few areas on concern are Tylers continued separation anxiety on most mornings, his refusal of teacher instructions, his ability to control strong emotions, particularly anger, and his ability to initiate, join in and sustain positive social interaction with both peers and adults. Tyler currently receives speech therapy for 60 minutes per week as stated on his IEP. He is in the process of receiving social-emotional, occupational therapy, and developmental evaluations. Observations The observations of Tyler consisted of two parts: (A) an observation to determine which areas and for how long Tyler plays in them during free play; and (B) an observation to determine how often Tyler follows teacher instruction and how often he refuses teacher instruction verbally. Carlena and Jill chose to record data on observation A to determine Tylers preferred activities and areas during free play. This will support the next step of the Technical Assistance plan goals, which is to develop a plan for Activity-Based Instruction. Understanding Tylers play preferences will assist in facilitating the establishment of embedded learning opportunities. After discussing

Carlena Lowell SEI 516 Child Observation

several areas of concern for Tyler, Carlena and Jill decided on the objective of observation B because this particular behavior adversely affects Tylers ability to follow classroom rules and routines. After determining patterns in Tylers ability to follow teacher instruction in relation to times of day, they will be able to better implement teaching strategies to encourage positive behavior. The observations were conducted by Carlena with some input from Jill over three days, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. On Monday, 11 children were present, on Tuesday, 12 children were present, and on Thursday 13 children were present. For both observations Carlena used event sampling as the observation tool; observation A also recorded duration. For observation A, the first row of the matrix consisted of the various areas in the classroom. The specific times Tyler entered and left various areas of the classroom throughout free play were recorded, which also indicated the number of times he played in particular areas. The first row on the matrix for observation B entailed the daily schedule in eight parts. Observation B used a system of plus and minus symbols to tally the number of times Tyler complied with teacher instruction throughout the entire school day. Tyler displayed behaviors consistent with those considered typical for him throughout the observations. Interpretation of Observation A Data On Monday, we were unable to go outside due to the playground not being plowed; therefore, we had a longer inside free play time. Tyler played in four areas throughout free play: the block area for 25 minutes, the dramatic play area (currently a restaurant theme) for 29 minutes, the water table for 35 minutes, and the

Carlena Lowell SEI 516 Child Observation

puzzle/manipulatives area for 23 minutes. On Tuesday, Tyler played in three areas: the block area twice, once for 5 minutes and again for 8 minutes, the dramatic play area twice, once for 36 minutes and again for 9 minutes, and the art area for 5 minutes. On Thursday, Tyler played in two areas: the block area twice, once for 25 minutes and again for 8 minutes, and the puzzle/manipulatives area for 19 minutes. In evaluating the data collected, Carlena and Jill determined two things. First, Tyler has an ability to become engaged in play and sustain his attention to preferred activities for a great length of time. Twelve time ranges were recorded during this observation; of those twelve, seven consisted of durations greater than 15 minutes. Second, Tylers free play area preferences were concluded. Tyler played in five of eight areas throughout the week. Collectively he spent the most amount of time in the dramatic play area, which was 74 minutes, he spent 71 minutes in the block area, 42 minutes in the puzzle/manipulatives area, 35 minutes in the water table, and 5 minutes in the art area. This information provided Carlena and Jill with a basis to understand where Activity-Based Intervention will be most effective: in the dramatic play and block areas. Interpretation of Observation B Data The teacher instructions included in this observation entailed all instructions given to Tyler throughout the course of the morning. A plus symbol was recorded when Tyler followed the teacher instruction on the first request. On Monday, Tyler was able to follow 14 out of 42 instructions (33%), on Tuesday, 9 out of 42 instructions (21%), and on Thursday, 10 out of 32 instructions (31%). On average, Tyler was able to follow 28%

Carlena Lowell SEI 516 Child Observation

of instructions given by a teacher on the first request. After having calculated and analyzed the percentages for each block of time, it was determined that the times of day when Tyler followed instructions an average of more than 50% of the time were outside play and lunch. The times of day in which the average percentage was below 25% were arrival/am circle, transition to inside, and late morning circle. The time of day Tyler is in need of the most support is late morning circle, as he was unable to follow any teacher instruction throughout the week. One factor worth mentioning happened during the transition to outside. On Monday and Tuesday, the percentage was 14% each day, and on Thursday it was 75%. This may be due to a heavy job Jill provided Tyler with, which was carrying the back pack with the first aid kit in it outside. Recommendations Based on the interpretations of the data collected during these observations, the following is recommended to encourage Tylers positive behavior: 1. Attempt to reduce the number of directions given to Tyler by providing more choices for him 2. Modify and implement the following teaching strategies: a. Provide more positive reinforcement when warranted b. Provide individual transition warnings in addition to the group warning c. Provide more big/heavy jobs for Tyler to do d. Use an assistive seat during circle times, as well as have a teacher in close proximity to Tyler 3. Consider restructuring transition times to be less chaotic for Tyler

Carlena Lowell SEI 516 Child Observation

4. Place more emphasis on teaching social emotional skills including techniques to calm down, solutions to social conflict, appropriate social skills, and involve more puppets during circle time 5. Focus Activity-Based Intervention plan in the dramatic play and block areas Conclusion The objective of the two observations were to: (A) determine which areas and for how long Tyler plays in them during free play; and (B) determine how often Tyler follows teacher instruction and how often he refuses teacher instruction verbally. After interpreting the data collected, several distinct patterns in Tylers behaviors in relation to these objectives were identified. Through collaborative consultation, Carlena and Jill were able to generate a list of teaching strategies. Some of these will be new to Tyler, and some will be modified strategies already in place.