Before I reflect on my field experience of September 8, 2009, I would first like to reflect on my class experience. It has been some 3 odd years since I have been a student in a classroom setting and adjusting to the workload has been been quite the ordeal. I wasn't able to obtain the textbook I needed for this class until two weeks and and I simply let the workload snowball onto me to the fact that, as Dr. Mayer had warned against, I am now rushing to complete all of my blog posts on the day they are in fact due, but with much effort and uphill struggle (and a sturdy snowplow of determination), as a teacher in training I will, myself, learn form this experience, and use the upcoming Fall Break to get some much needed snow shoveling done!
When I arrived at the two year old classroom I was first surprised to see the small class size and teacher ration (2:5) and that the caregivers were very well educated in the field of childcare. Also I noticed all of the furniture was size appropriate for the students, and that the meal prepared (breakfast) was carefully monitored by one of the caregivers (the children were not forced to eat no more or no less than what they were satisfied with, and there was no rush or hurry to get the children to eat) while the other caregiver watched over the toddlers who had eaten at home and were engaging playing with play-doh or on the computer. There was no immediate set schedule for the toddlers (story time, math time, block time, etc.,) and were allowed to pursue their own intrests and socialize with each other and the caregivers. The caregivers would converse with the toddlers, ask them questions about what they were doing, and scaffold their activities to promote further creativity and awareness (asking what they were making with the play-doh - a pancake in one child's case - and asking the toddler what else they could make to go with the pancake). The atmosphere was calm and easy going and the toddlers were generally well natured towards each other.
On the other hand the three year old classroom was much busier and much noisier. The student:teacher/caregiver ratio there was roughly 10:1 (twenty students, two teachers/caregivers). The students were engaged in multiple activities (and conversations) at the classroom seemed to be in more disarray than the two year old classroom (mainly due to the level of activity), but the classroom itself seem to be more busy and a bit cluttered (there were multiple posters of colors, shapes, and of the alphabet plastered about the classroom). The number of students and the amount of shelving, furnichure, toys, and child implements made it difficult to maneuver and traffic about the classroom. Also the caregivers had implemented rules about how many children were allotted to each area/activity at a time (and it seemed more stressful on the caregivers to enforce these rules than to allow the children freedom, from my perspective). For the given circumstances (cramped classroom and student class size) the caregivers were able to maintain (as much) order in the classroom (as possible) and remained cool and collected if not a bit frazzled by the sheer amount of activity going on in the classroom.