I.

Observation 2:
Planning

II. Grade:
Pre-school

III. Students:
2 boys, 3 girls

IV. Setting:
Pre-school classroom at a Somerset County Daycare
Ages (3-5 years old), 5 students, 1 head teacher

V. Pre-Observation:
The purpose of this observation was to evaluate the way the school and teachers use
planning to educate and make sure the students are learning at their age level. It is also to
make recommendations to better plan and better educate the students. To prepare for this
observation I read chapter two, Teaching Stories (Koch, 2016). By reading chapter two, I
learned how teachers plan a curriculum to teach their students.

VI. Data:
(A)

(B)
 (C) (D)

VII. Analysis:
Lesson planning is very important for teachers, it allows what the students need to
learn day by day and how it will be done effectively during a specific class time. For
instance, at the daycare teachers plan on their own about a month ahead. As shown on
data (A), the teacher jots down their notes, ideas, and a theme of what they will teach for
that specific month. Then the teacher will use what the daycare calls a “weekly lesson
plan sheet” as shown on data (B). For the weekly lesson plan sheet, the teacher will use
this to jot down in more detail what they will teach for that week in that month according
to their monthly plan notes as shown on data (A).

The teachers use a set curriculum that the school provides them as shown on data
(C) and (D). With the set curriculum, teachers are provided with a yearly scope and
sequence for the age level assigned within the curriculum. Also, the director of the
daycare noted that the teachers can also put in their own ideas into the curriculum to
make the lesson plans more fun and creative for their students.

Also, at the daycare the teachers do not attend or have common planning
meetings. Therefor I could not attend to a meeting at all. Instead the teacher explained
that each teacher at the daycare plans for their own class or they plan with another teacher
of the same grade level to help one another.
 The students are also involved in planning process. The teacher explained that she
follows the set curriculum along with her own ideas to teach the students. When the
students or some students do not understand or are improving. The teacher then makes a
new plan for that specific topic to re-teach and make sure the students are learning.

At the daycare, teachers have to submit their plans to their director for review a
few weeks before a new month. After planning on their own, jotting down ideas, notes,
and themes as shown in data (a), teachers then talk with their director about their
planning. The director reviews the teachers notes and the set curriculum to see if the
teacher has followed curriculum along with adding their own ideas.

VIII. Recommendations:
Even though the teachers and the school follow certain assignments to improve and
educate their students, there are still some important tasks missing that can help
intensively. For example, when the teacher told me that they do not have or attend to any
meetings at all that surprised me. According to the Early Childhood Learning and
Knowledge Center, staff meetings or teacher meetings provide “learning and
development, focusing time with hands on meaningful learning experience, providing for
individual learning styles and collaborative thinking experience, coaching with
developmental stages and milestones in mind, and using facilitative questions to promote
self-reflection” (Margie Carter). By providing meetings, teachers will hear and discuss
ideas from colleagues to better plan, educate their students, and improve their school as a
whole.

IX. Post-Observation:
After a few visits at the daycare, I felt more comfortable and I was more familiar with the
daily schedule/activities. Each day I am learning more from the school, teacher, and the
students. Most importantly with every visit, I am realizing why I chose to become a
teacher and the important tasks to becoming a great teacher in the future.

X. References:
Carter, M. (2012, October). Planning Staff Meetings. Retrieved from
https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/operations/mang-
sys/communications/Planning%20Staff%20Meetings.htm

Koch, J. (2016). Teaching Stories. In Teach (pp. 16-31). California: Author.