Observation #2

I observed Lily in class again today, this time during Exploration Time which is just some unstructured play time in the class. This is really what I wanted to see to determine how she is interacting with the other children and what things interest her the most in the classroom. I also had the opportunity to talk to the Teacher Assistant who was absolutely wonderful and so helpful in giving me a good overall picture of Lily at school.

Because Lily was so taken with Riley, I wanted to make sure that she wasn't clinging to her or playing solely with her. But I saw that Lily played well with a variety of children in the class (more girls than boys) and didn't even seem to particularly favor playing with Riley over the others. She played independently and cooperatively, and I saw her join in a group play in progress in a very appropriate way (which is a highly underrated skill). I was also happy to see that she ventured off and chose her own activity as well (writing in the Writing Workshop area). Overall, I got to see all the things that I wanted to see first-hand.

The TA, Ms. Kelly, said that Lily has been doing a great job in the class, especially since she is the youngest one. She said that she participates in all the activities and gets along well with the children and is getting to know the routine. She said that Lily has been shy and not very talkative so far, so they were working on bringing her out of her shell. This was completely unsurprising to me. Lily and I (and maybe even Carl) are classic "slow-to-warm-up" personalities. In new and unfamiliar situations, we tend to lay low first, take everything in, and then gradually interact when we feel more comfortable. I have tried hard to overcome my initial shyness/reservation when in new situations, but you can only do so much to overcome what is inherent in you. I'm never going to be one to "work a room", and I have a feeling Lily will continue along the same path, but you never know.

Lily particularly clams up at their "Bucks Time". This is when the children earn classroom "bucks" for following classroom rules, participating, etc. They then use these bucks to participate in special activities. They earn many bucks throughout the day, and when bucks are distributed, the children say whether or not they think that they earned one for that particular time period and why. Lily has been the only one who won't say a word during this time until today when she finally said "yes", that she did deserve one (although she still would not say why). Step by step, she'll get there.

I'm not really sure how I feel about the whole bucks system overall. I do believe that there should be some system for children to monitor their own behavior and be accountable, I just don't know if I like it having such a capitalist bent. I know, I overthink these things way too much. But I also think that children should learn to behave appropriately because it is the right thing to do, not because someone is going to reward you for it. I guess it is just a process getting children to that level of thinking. We'll see how this all plays out.

Overall, she seems happy at the school, so I'm happy.