Strand: Social Identity In Early Childhood Education

Observational Record

The teacher rings a bell to signal that it is time for circle time. The children clean up from morning choice time and then go over to the carpet. The teacher begins circle time by taking attendance. She looks at her roster and starts calling the children’s names to see if they are present in the classroom. The first child is sitting on her knees and quietly puts up her hand and waves. The second child has his head down on the carpet and jumps up when he is called. The teacher is surprised when he jumps up because he is sitting in a different spot than usual. Then the next few children have their names called and they are all sitting with their legs crossed and wave to the teacher with big smiles on their faces. The teacher

Evidence: When my teacher began circle time by taking attendance allows the children to see that their presence matters to the whole class. When someone is absent, the teacher gives the class the opportunity to talk about possible reasons why that child might not be there. This also allows the children who are present in class to see that when they are absent, it will be noticed. When the teacher asked D if he was sick the day before and then said that she was glad he was back, D knew that him not being in school mattered to the teacher and the class.

Strand: Self

Topic: Social Identity

Indicator: Identify self and other as belonging to one or more groups by observable

I like that my teacher begins circle time every day with the ritual of ringing the bell. “Ritual allows teachers to use one of humankind’s most prized forms of expressing meaning and creating order” (Peterson, 1992, p. 22). When the bell has been rung, all of the children know that it is time to clean up, and get on the carpet for circle time. They all work together to clean up and get to circle time as quickly as possible. When my teacher takes attendance she is promoting a sense of community. “Morning Meeting motivates children by addressing two human needs: the need to feel a sense of significance and belonging, and the need to have fun” (Kreite, 2014, p. 12). Taking attendance is very important because the children see that they are going to be recognized even when they are not there. I also think that when the teacher had a helper count all of the children in the class, it promotes a sense of others and community because they are able to see that they are one of the members in the classroom. The teacher poses a thoughtful question when she asks the children why they think another child is absent. While the most common answer is that they are sick, the children can share whatever idea they can think