Running head: OBSERVATION #3 GUIDANCE 1

Observation #3 Guidance, Routines and Classroom Management

Allison Gerlach

Raritan Valley Community College

Professor Kimberly Schirner

November 5, 2018
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EDUC 212 Foundations of Education

I. Observation #3:
Guidance, Routines, and Classroom Management

II. Grade Level and Subject Area:

Preschool II

III. Setting:
The classroom is in a childcare department that is a part of the Somerset Hills
YMCA. The class is comprised of 20 children ages 4-5 years old typically. The
day that I was in the classroom, there were only 14 children (9 girls and 5 boys).
There are two teachers in the room. There are three other classrooms of younger
children in the childcare department.

IV. Pre-Observation:
Effective classroom management is imperative for effective teaching. If a
teacher does not have their classroom in order, often their students do not learn
either. Under the umbrella of classroom management, there is a wide array of
techniques that teachers employ to keep the behavior of their class in control
(Rusk, 2016). Each teacher has their own philosophy of education and although
the two teachers in my classroom may be on the same page, they will undoubtedly
have different reactions to behavior problems. Because of all this knowledge, I
expect to see varied strategies of discipline when I observe this time.
The main strategy that I assume will be used in the class is Positive
Behavior Support (PBS). This strategy is the best practice that works at
effectively managing 85% of student behaviors. It is done by giving the most
support that is needed for each student to succeed in their learning environment.
For example, most student can learn with a universal instruction approach. This is
a structure that is set school wide and consistent throughout each class. Some
students thrive in small group instruction where they can still work with their
peers but with more support from their teachers. The most supportive approach
that is needed for a small number of students, is the individualized level where
they work one on one (Kratochwill, DeRoos, & Blair).
While not all teachers are trained in PBS, through professional
development and collaboration with specialist in the school, it can be
accomplished. Not only is PBS supportive of the students’ academic needs, it also
accommodates for their social and emotional well-being. The best way to
implement this technique is consistency. Consistent rules and consequences will
set a structure that students can identify and frame their behavior around
(Kratochwill, DeRoos, & Blair). To set these guidelines, it is the teacher’s
responsibility to be clear with what they expect to see from their class. Research
proves that teachers have the largest impact on classroom management in early
childhood education, not directors or principals. Working directly with the
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students gives you the most power over the guidance and success of your children
(Smitson, 2015).
Something that I also noticed that was common throughout my research
was that teacher perception of their guidance had almost direct correlation to their
student’s success. Meaning, teachers who thoroughly believed in their
management methods, had the most success in their classroom (Smitson, 2015;
Rusk, 2016). The only cases where this was not true was when teachers were
using the wrong management model. Older teachers, for example, may be stuck in
their traditional discipline practices and be confident in them but this often breeds
the least success having the opposite effect of more modern techniques (Rusk,
2016). This is a great example of how teachers need to constantly be developing
and collaborating so they can grow as education evolves.
Similar to consistent rules, routines are important too. Especially with
young children, clear expectations and set schedules help to cut down on
transition time which in turn cuts down on misbehaviors. By making sure that
your students understand these expectations, you are giving them the tools they
need to begin self-regulating. A way to help them in this process is to keep rules
and the class schedule posted and readable. Routines should be clearly outlined
and demonstrated as well. While guidance will still be needed, the amount of
guidance will be drastically less. When classroom management is not a struggle,
teachers can focus on teaching (National Education Association, 1999).
Something that I hope not to see in my observation, is the use of rewards
and extrinsic motivation. Use of these gimmicks are detrimental to the students’
intrinsic motivation and will in turn limit their productivity, creativity, and self-
regulation. A study that I found even mentions that the use of praise for work and
behavior that is appropriate makes the student reliant on the approval of adults
and of others. Guiding the student is preferable because it helps students reach
their own conclusions about what works for them personally and teaches them to
self-regulate rather than waiting for someone to tell them what to do (Angeleque,
et. al, 2004).

V. Data:
 Children play freely until it gets a little loud and teachers call for clean-up
 Picture day is tomorrow and this will mess up their schedule
 Discuss the changes that they will have to make and the flexibility they
will need to have
 Walk to the Teen’s center downstairs to prepare the students for what to
expect when they need to perform in there
 The students will be performing songs for Veteran’s Day to a large group
of strangers in an unfamiliar space
 A few students are visibly nervous about the different situation “How
many of us have ever felt nervous. Nervous is when your tummy feels a
little funny and you feel a little scared. But it is okay to be nervous about
trying new things. We all are trying this together though. We are going to
practice so it will be less scary and you will know what to expect”
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 “Finger on the lips and a hand on your hips” to get them to be quiet and
pay attention
 Hold hands in the hallway in pairs so they stay in the proper height order
and to keep the line shorter while they walk through the halls
 Teachers say the students name casually while they are giving directions
to grab the student’s attention back
 “We listen to you when you are talking and it makes me feel sad when you
do not listen to me”
 Skipped circle time to prepare for the Veteran’s Day performance
 Two children said, “thank you” at snack time and they received a juice
box and the other students did not
 Schedule is not in the teachers control so they have to switch around their
routine when schedule changes are being made
 One student is crying because someone said she wasn’t eating right
when the teacher asked what happened the other student started crying
“You are not in trouble I am just trying to figure out what happened and
why Mackenzie is sad. Please use nice words when we are talking to our
friends. You are not in trouble” The student apologized and the teacher
hugged both students
 A child ran down the hallway instead of walking “You will get very
very hurt if you do that. Show me how you walk”
 No sarcasm is used while talking to the children
 Two students are asked to go take a seat at the tables because they kept
interrupting during story time”you are not a part of the story time
because you keep calling out and your friends can’t learn when you are
talking over me” the students are allowed back in a few minutes
 Another student starts calling out and the teacher tells her to go take a seat
at the tables she does not follow directions her privilege of helping
set up lunch is taken away
 Sometimes yelling out of turn is not punished but other times when their
name is called out that is a warning that they are one step away from a
punishment
 One student is held back to talk to the teacher about calling out because
she was distracting during the end of story discussion
 Schedule is posted in the hallway for parents, other teachers, and the
director to see where the class can be found if they are not in the
classroom
 Teacher squats down to talk to the students when she is talking to them,
especially during free play time when all the classes are together
 One teacher from another class pulls aside a student and yells at them for
playing aggressively “That’s it. You’re done for the day. Enough.”
He is forced to sit out and watch everyone else play Teacher keeps
coming out and yelling at him for not sitting still He eventually runs
away and the teacher does not do anything about it
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 The classroom has a reward bin that has stickers and erasers and things in
it. Typically, only one student per day gets something out of the bin and it
has to be for something really special
 One student was having a panic attack because the gym was too loud and
crowdedOne teacher takes her out into the hallway while the other
teacher stays in the gym with all the kids Teachers decide to email her
mom about her difficulties because this isn’t the first time this happened
 One student was punching another student so she had to sit out on the side
for about five minutes
 One student was being hit by another student “Tell him to stop. You
need to tell him how it makes you feel.” After the students talked the
student who was hitting had to sit out
 Problems are mentioned to parents at drop off or pick up
 Things that are emergencies are the only things that would warrant a call
home
 Most misbehaviors happen in the gym during free play and that is when
they have formal time outs
 Used to use red light, yellow light, green light in the classroom but the
teacher went to a training that said it was not appropriate to do that
teacher asked me why it was not best practice
 They do not send their students to the director for discipline
 The director does not observe formally at all, just pops in every now and
then
 Teachers have complete control over their lessons, classroom, and
discipline
 Students are aware of the schedule and how it is set because it very rarely
changes when the schedule is being changed the teacher explains it
thoroughly to acclimate their students to the changes

VI. Analysis:
What I saw of the teachers’ classroom management was really effective.
While the students were a little rowdy at times the use of guidance brought them
back to the task at hand inside the classroom. Something that I noticed was that
the teachers did not necessarily scold the students as much as pointed out the
inappropriate behavior and giving them an opportunity to change it. For example,
when a student was running, they made him practice walking. Or when a student
was mean they made her think of a kinder way to talk to her friends. Based on an
article that I found, this is an incredibly effective classroom management
technique. The author even goes on to explain her own successful recipe to
classroom management that is backed by theoretical research. She discusses how
teaching requires love, engagement, support, and consistency (Prior, 2014). The
teachers that I observed were warm and caring and each student clearly feels
valued in their classroom. They feel free to share their ideas and to go to the
teachers if there is something wrong. The teachers also engage their students with
many interactive activities. This may not be the most academic classroom but the
students certainly love being there because they have so much fun. The teachers
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support their students by guiding their behavior rather than disciplining them.
They also support them cognitively when they are working in groups and
individually.
An issue that I found with the classroom management stemmed from the
lack of consistency. There is a consistent schedule that goes unaltered for the most
part but the sporadic rewards and punishments are not. For example, one teacher
rewarded two students with a juice box for saying thank you at snack time. This
was a positive reinforcement for those students but it was random and the other
children did not think this was fair. Rightfully so, there needs to be clear
expectations in place so that the students can know what is expected of them and
what consequences will follow (National Education Association, 1999). Another
example, is when one teacher asked students who were calling out during story
time to take seats at the tables. This punishment was one that was not warned and
was not explained to the students. While their behavior needed addressing, taking
them away from the group was not consistent with the typical classroom
management.
On the other hand, the teachers were sensitive to the approaching changes
to the schedule and how that would affect the daily consistency. The day after I
observed was picture day and later in the week the class would be preforming for
a Veteran’s Day celebration. Both of these activities meant that the children
would be in a different learning environment for the day and that there would be
changes to their usual schedule. Something that the teachers were sure to do was
explain explicitly what was going to happen those days. They even brought the
students to the unfamiliar classroom so that they could prepare for what they had
to expect. Sticking to the same schedule is important but sometimes doing so is
outside of the teacher’s control. Teaching your students to be flexible is important
and that is what is taught when there needs to be adjustments in a daily routine
when the students are so used to it (Prior, 2014).
On a different note, rewards are not best practice at all. They are
gimmicky (Prior, 2014) and even detrimental to the student’s internal motivation
for learning. The inconsistent rewarding that I stated above aside, rewards should
have no place in the classroom in general. This topic has been up for debate for a
long time and while reward systems work on an individual level for some
students, it is not effective at a classroom wide level. In a constructivist
classroom, like the one I observe, where students are encouraged to be
independent learners and be responsible for themselves it is counterintuitive for
students to be waiting for teachers to reward them. This is especially true for
things that the students need to learn how to do on their own. For example, self-
regulation of appropriate behavior is important to teach young children. Using
rewards and punishments is taking the child’s power away from them (Aneleque,
et al., 2004). While these teachers do a great job at guiding their students, they
need to have more confidence in their own guiding skills rather than relying on
extrinsic motivation to finish the job (Smitson, 2015).
The location where the most student misbehaviors happens is in the gym.
During completely unstructured free play students race around the gym throwing
balls and hitting into each other while four teachers attempt to keep them in
GUIDANCE 7

check. It is complete chaos that the teachers site as “the students needing to get
out their energy”. Most of the issues here are met with time outs and being yelled
at from across the room. I can pinpoint most of the yelling to a teacher from a
different class who has a very traditional sense of discipline as opposed to the
younger teachers of my class. She is quick to scold children and seldom discusses
what the proper behavior would have been. Prior notes in her article, that this is
never going to change the behavior because the student does not learn what is
appropriate they only learn what is not (2014). What this disparity in teacher
management philosophy shows me as an observer is the lack of PBS at a universal
level. If the whole childcare department had a consistent view on expectations of
behavior and worked together to enforce them, they would not have as many
issues (Kratochwill, DeRoos, & Blair).

VII. Recommendations:
Based on the research I have done and the things I have observed I have a
few suggestions that I think would benefit the classroom management and
guidance of Preschool II. The main thing that needs to be fixed is the consistency.
The teachers need to keep consistent consequences in their classroom to avoid
confusion and unfairness amongst their students (Prior, 2014). Something that can
be used to assure this will happen is creating a classroom rules list. By physically
writing down expectations, the students will be clear on what they need to do and
the teachers can be sure to stick to them as well (National Education Association,
1999).
Another way that classroom management would be improved would be
with the removal of reward systems. While this classroom is not reward heavy,
the teachers will use rewards sporadically to praise students for positive behavior
or outstanding academic work. This is unnecessary because the teachers do such a
great job guiding their students without them. The use of rewards only makes the
other students jealous and it sends a message that the students should seek other’s
approval (Angeleque, et al., 2004). By guiding their behavior in the same way that
these teachers guide their student’s knowledge, it will allow them to create their
own independent framework that they can build off as they grow (Prior, 2014).
A problem that I saw in my observations was that of no universal
management philosophy throughout the school. While it is great that the teachers
have such control over their individual classrooms (Rusk, 2016) it is important to
have similar behavior expectations. When the children are all together every day,
the teachers need to be on the same page. I think that this staff could benefit from
a training in PBS. Some teachers on the staff are older and even the younger
teachers may not be professionally trained in this management technique
(Kratochwill, DeRoos, & Blair). Putting all the teachers on the same page would
result in less misbehaviors in the student body and a more positive learning
environment for all.

VIII. Post Observation:

Something that I think I could have improved on in my observation would
be the amount of time I spent on teacher interviews. I tend to ask questions
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throughout the day but for this observation specifically I could have been looking
more closely at how the teachers perceived how their classroom management
works rather than just using my observations of their teaching, their body
language, or their conversations with each other. As a preservice teacher, I should
be using the professionals as a resource not just as an observational subject.
Additionally, practicing asking questions will also help me further along because
observation is such an important part of teaching. You do not just watch your
students to check for comprehension, you can ask them questions that help you
assess their progress (Sudha, 2018). This is something I will definitely work on
with my next observation.

IX. Citations:
Angeleque A. K., et al. "Extrinsic Reinforcement in the Classroom: Bribery Or Best

Practice." School Psychology Review, vol. 33, no. 3, 2004, pp. 344-362. ProQuest,

https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/219653655?accountid=13438.

Kratochwill, T. R., DeRoos, R., & Blair, S. (n.d.). Classroom Management. Retrieved from

https://www.apa.org/education/k12/classroom-mgmt.aspx

National Education Association. (1999). Set Up Rules and Routines. Retrieved from

http://www.nea.org/tools/15377.htm

Prior, J. (2014). Love, engagement, support, and consistency: a recipe for classroom

management. Childhood Education, 90(1), 68+. Retrieved from https://link-galegroup-

com.ezp.raritanval.edu/apps/doc/A357965669/PROF?u=raritanvcc&sid=PROF&xid=728

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Rusk, R. B. (2016). A case study of classroom management practices and the influence on

classroom disruptions (Order No. 10015230). Available from Education Database.

(1767220699). Retrieved from https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-

proquest-com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/1767220699?accountid=13438
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Smitson, M. A. (2015). An exploration of teachers' early childhood guidance beliefs and

practice within early learning classrooms (Order No. 3745413). Available from

Education Database. (1753919786). Retrieved from

https://ezp.raritanval.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezp.raritanval.edu/docview/1753919786?accountid=13438

Sudha, S. (2018, October 9). Emotional Skill: Teacher Observation Skill. Retrieved from

http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/3003-teacher-classroom-observation