Observation Of Ms. Douglas Kindergarten Art Class

On today I observed Ms. Douglas’ kindergarten art class. The room was colorful and filled with various resources such as the elements of art, some key concepts to becoming an artist, and the rules. On the whiteboard were the words I CAN… with the objectives of the day/week listed for each grade level. The display which caught my attention the most was the display board on the side of the room labeled Art Behavior Race. It was a reward system that Ms. Douglas used for all of her class to earn prizes based on their class behavior. There were various prizes listed such as, a free day, candy bags, and the final prize was a pizza party whenever the class reached the end of the race. The room was set up with students seated in groups according to

In order to gain order in her classroom or to call the classroom to order, Ms. Douglas used a system where she instructed the students to: Clap once, clap twice, put their hands up, and then into their laps. At each table, a help was appointed during each class period and that helper distributed the materials to each group member for that class period. The quietest person in each group earned the privilege of being the helper. The students then raised their heads and began receiving instructions on today’s lesson. The lesson was on community helpers, such as firemen, police officers, chef, construction workers, soldiers, nurses and doctors. Before telling the students what they would be doing on today, Ms. Douglas checked their background knowledge to see what they knew about community helpers. She then asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up; some listed the community helpers provided, others listed ones that were not. The students were very engaged and enthused. The students were to make a hat that resembled the community helpers listed on