9/16/05 1:30-3:00- Today I went to Born Hava for orientation. Anne Hayes gave us a description on Born Hava, along 
with a tour and a bunch of paper work. Born Hava is a preschool for mentally, and some also physically disabled. We 
were given a tour of the school, it was very small, and was meant to be and stay small. Anne Hayes described that 
Born Hava was built by Barbara Jo Hard in order to provide a school that could be more family oriented, and by keeping 
the school small, more emphasis would stay on the children and their learning. She also described that teachers and
 staff aim at using positive reinforcement in order to encourage learning and proper behavior. Anne also discussed 
that we are not to directly share information about children by using their names outside the classroom, out 
of respect for the families and also because of the new HIPPA laws. I would have to complete fingerprinting, 
a physical, and also get a TB test in order to volunteer there. I was assigned to work right at Born Hava (opposed 
to a satellite of theirs:other daycare facilities) three days a week for half days (9:00-11:30). On Monday 
and Wednesday I go to Tara's classroom and on Fridays I go to Diane's classroom.

9/19/05 9:00-11:30
I was a bit nervous for my first day because I was unsure of exactly what I was supposed to do, and what kind 
of children I would be working with and their abilities. I arrived at 9:00 and two children were already in the classroom.
 The children are all between the ages of 3 and 4.  I met the teacher Tara and also the teacher aid. They told me 
that I could just jump in and start playing with the children that were already there. I went over to one of the little 
boys and made sure I sat on the floor (so that I wasn't towering over him) and smiled at him and just starting playing
 with the toys he was playing with. As more children came into the room (there is a total of 8 right now) I went over
 to each on and just sat with them and played with the toys they were playing with. One little girl comes into the 
room and hugs everyone. The teacher used little songs to indicate when it was time to clean-up the toys. You 
could tell that that was the routine because the kids knew exactly what to do. Then after that everyone sat in 
a circle and the teacher took out a miraca for the children to shake and then pass on to their friend on their right
 (everyone is called a "friend"). After gathering in the circle it was time for their snack. The language skills of 
 these children are limited (some can say a few words, some are really shy, and others don't speak at all) so 
they had to either sign apple or say apple and then sign or say please before they got their snack. Then 
the same followed if they wanted more or if they wanted crackers. After snack we all went outside to 
play on the playground. The children were free to move around the playground as they pleased 
and I helped them climb up the stairs to the slides or joined in playing with them with plastic, colorful balls. 
After the playground it was time to go inside and go home. The half day flys by. The teacher then sings 
another song indicating thatit is time to go. The children each got their backpacks on and then left for the bus.
I enjoyed my first day a lot! The kids are great, and it is interesting to see their different abilities and how each 
responds to the different activities. I am looking forward to learning more about how the classroom is geared
towards the children learning and interacting with each other. 

9/21/05 9:00-11:30
Today I was in Tara's room again. It started out just as Monday's class did. The children came into the classroom 
and begain playing with their toys. I went around and tried to play with each of them in order to get to know
them a little more and try to understand their abilities and lack of them. During this time a few students come and go to 
different therapies, mainly eith speech or physical therapy. 
Then, just as before, Tara turned out the lightsand began to sing the cleanup song.....I am catching on more and more 
to the little songs they sing to indicate the 
starting or stopping of a new activity ("Do you know what time it is, what time it is. Do you know what time it is, what 
time it is, it's time to put away the toys. We are all done.") The children, with our help then put away the toys. It was 
then circle time where they all sat around Tara and she had an activity reguarding apples again. Each child was to pull a 
apple out of a bag (the apples were laminated paper) after each shild took a turn shaking the bag up (working on hand eye 
coordination). Once the child had an apple they had to recongnize whether the apple was big or little, and then they had 
to place the apple into the appropriate basket, either the big apples in the big basket or the small apples in the small basket. 
Then after circle time was done they sang another song which indicated to the children that it was time to go to music. 
The music teacher sang numerous songs to the kids. During one song each child got a little drum with a drumstick and they
were to hold the drum in their hand while beating on it to the beat of the song. During the umbrella song the teacher took
out a large colorful umbrella and had the children sit under it with her as she described that she was moving up and down, 
and then she would twirl it around. 
After music the children came back and made apple trees. They worked on gluing the peices down with a glue stick and then
patting the construction paper down. After that, it was then time for the children to cleanup and go home. They sang another 
song indicating that it was time to go home, and the children helped cleanup and got their bags. 

9/23/05 9:00-11:30
Today I was in a different classroom. The teacher's name is Diane and she works with kids approximately 2 years old. 
Suprisingly, there were only 2 children in the classroom that day. She said that she was anticipating having up to eight 
children eventually but she wasn't sure. 
One child wasn't walking yet, and the other was very mobile, not having any troubles walking. Niether of them could 
speak much, but the one more knew more words while the other child knew quite a few signs that mostly her
mother taught her at home and they were then being reinforced at school. The routine was the same in this classroom 
as in Tara's classroom. They began by playing when they first got there and then the same cleanup song was
sang and we all cleaned up. During the beginning play time the children were able to clean apples, real ones and 
some that were just balls with sponges. The apples were in a water table that was low to the ground for them to 
reach and work with easily. Both children neeed hand over hand help in cleaning the apples. One child, after 
cleaning the apple, decided that it was then safe to eat and took a bite, even though that wasn't the point 
of the activity, and the teacher told him to stop and that he would get applesauce later. Then it was circle time. 
The teacher took several items out of her bag in order to visually and physically stimulate the children. She took 
out apples for them to look at and say which one was red and which one was green. 
She took out hats and the children had to indicate by signing "Who wants one" and then sign "Me." Then they had to put them 
their head. Then she took out a scarf and placed it over her head, and then sang a little song asking who was under there
and the child pulled off the scarf from her head and then she was there for them to see. Then the scarf was plaed over each of
their heads and the same thing was done. They also worked on body parts such as head, eye, ear and stomach. 
Then after circle time another song was sang to indicate it was time to go to gym. At gym the teacher worked on the children 
in order for them to move around to music, and then stopping when the music stopped. The children were also asked to take
rings over to a cone and place it over it in order to work on hand eye coordination. 
Then after gym it was time for snack. The children ate apple sauce while the teacher read a book about apples to 
them. Apples seem to be a basic, simple theme to work on with the children in order to explain concepts such as color
and size, among other things. 
After snack, the children were worked on one on one by the teacher, one at a time. Since each child had different 
abilities, she worked on sizes and matching colors with one child while with the other she simply worked on showing pictures 
and then asking for the word for the object in sign language. 
After this, it was time to go home. The going home song was sung and the children's mothers came to pick them up. 

9/26/05 9:00-11:30
Today all the children played when tey first got there. I read a book with two girls about farm animals. 
After I read the words on the page I would ask them to point to the pig, the horse and so on. Both girls 
do not speak very much, but when they have one on one attention in a small group they are more
vocal than when we are doing activities as a class together. 
After playtime the children had "Mixing with Marsha." This is when another teacher comes in and 
makes some sort of desert or food item that needs to be made and then cooked. Today we made
Apple crisp. Everyone got a chance to lift up the box of apple crisp and the bag of apples 
(most children needed help with this task with hand over hand instruction) and then 
passed it to their friend next to them. Then each child, with the help of an adult got 
to pour the dry ingrdient in the bowl (Pouring and Pouring and Pouring and stop!) and
then pass it to their friend next to them. Then each child got to mix the powder with butter
(Mixing and mixing and mixing and stop!) then each child got to go up next to Marsha and help her 
peel and cut the apples by using a tool that does so by turning a handle around and around 
until the whole thing is cut and peeled. It was all put together and all that was left to 
do was to cook it and later the children would eat it for snack.
After this it was circle time. The teacher again passed around the miracca for the children
to shake and then pass along. While its being shaken the class sings "'Amy' came to school today
we're so glad lets shout...horray!" Then afterward the teacher pulled out an envelope with 
laminated animals inside. She laid them on the ground and named each of them. Then she told
each individual student to come up and take a certain one, and they had to recognize it
on their own. Then they sat back down in their chair. Then once each child had an animal
she asked who had the pig or horse and so on and whoever did had to come forward and tape it on
the poster board near the barn. then circle time was over and it was time to go to gym.
At gym, the children were asked to place two different rings on two different cones at the
end of the room. Most child dropped both rings on one cone and had to be instructed to 
look at it and fixed it. Some children had to be encourage to actually get up and walk to 
the other end of the room. Next the children had to either walk, dance, run or side step to 
the music playing and then stop and sit when it stopped. Some of the children did
not get the concept to stop and sit when the music stopped and had to be encouraged to 
sit and some even then still got up and moved when they were not supposed to. At the 
end they were all allowed to play with large bouncy balls to bounce or roll by themselves or 
with the other children. 
When gym was done we all went back to the room and had the apple crisp that was made 
earlier. Nearly all the students were able to use a spoon and feed themselves with very
little help. Some students did not like the apple crisp and opted not to eat it at all. 
When snack was over it was time for each student to get their bags and line up at 
the door to go to the bus. 

9/28/05 9:00-11:30
Today I cam in and started playing with blocks with some of the children. I tried to describe
each block's color and size (small or big) as I handed it to them to connect to the table. Then
I read a book with a little boy and asked him to find the horse, the cow, the duck etc on each
page. Finnaly I went over and helped a girl color in a picture of a horse on a piece of paper.
After playtime in was time to cleanup and have snack. Today the children had crackers, and each
child had to attempt to say or sign, "Crackers please." the teacher would not give the children
anything until they atempted on or the other. 
Next it was circle time. The children each got to hold a little stuffed horse and then pass it
to their friend next to them. Next, the teacher had large laminated pictures of animals. She
asked the children what each animal was, however only one little girl actually spoke aloud what
the animal actually was. This girl does know a little of words, but is extremely shy, so it was 
suprising to hear her volunteer the name of each animal in a loud enough voice for everyone to 
hear. Next she asked them to make the sound that the animal makes. The same little girl was able to 
say the sound aloud also, however she did get one or two of the animals wrong (she said cow instead 
of pig, etc). During circle time three students continually have trouble staying in the seat (same for any 
time when they all have to sit together in chairs while doing an activity). Everytime someone has 
to go get them and bring them back to their seat because they will not come back when asked
to on their own.  
Next it was time for Music. In music the teacher sang along to a tape and asked the children to reach
up to the sky and then touch their toes, this seems to be the "warmup" for each music class. Then 
each student got little shakers to shake for themselves and dance around. For the next song the 
teacher put a little red makeup on each child's nose so that they could be a "clown" and move their
arms and legs and twirl around, and just be silly just like a clown would be. Then, it was time
for them to go back to the classroom. 
Then, before it was time to go home all of us went outside on a little "track" that they have outside. 
They got out little bicycles and toy cars for them to play with. Only a couple children could move
themselves on the bikes by themselves, and the others had to be helped and pushed along. Some
children were pushed around in wagons at first, but then were made to get up and move around
on their own after a while. The children were picked up for their buses from outside to go 
home. 
9/30/05 9:00-11:30
Today there was a new student in Diane's classroom. The child was a girl and approximately two years 
old. She was not quite walking on her own but if you held her hands she was able to hold herself
up and walk with assistence. 
It was evident from the start that the child did not have any prior experience in a daycare or program
such as Born Hava. She was unable to speak, and unable to use signs to communicate what she wanted.
She will have a lot to learn at Born Hava. They will teach her how to sign basic words so that she can
communicate to the adults what she wants and what she needs, and this will be the basis for communication
when she grows up. 
It was especially interesting when the teacher sat with her one on one, because since the child is 
brand new, it is not exactly clear what her exact disabilities and needs are. I sat with the 
teacher on the ground when she was trying to play with the little girl. It was interesting because 
the child could grasp the ring and attempt to place it on the pole, but everytime she would be 
"off" placing the ring a little too much to the left or right so that it did not land on the pole.
The teacher was trying to deduce what the cause of this might have been. Of course, the 
hand-eye coordination was off, but also the child would not be looking at the task at hand. It
constantly seemed like she was looking off into space when she asked the child to place
the ring on the pole. She may not be able to focus her attention for long enough, or may 
have some kind of trouble seeing. It will be interesting to be able to see the progress this
child makes from the very beginning to the end of my stay.

10/3/05 9:00-11:30
Today there were two new students in the classroom. One was new to Born Hava and one was
moved up from another classroom. At Born Hava, students are moved up to another classroom based
on their age, and on their birthdates. It doesn't matter if their birthday is in the middle of the year, they
move up to the next age level classroom. In some cases, children are trasferred up based on their abilities, 
if they seem to be ahead of the other children. This seems like a good idea, although it may be
a little difficult for children to adjust to their surroundings, they are able to learn more and advance at
a level appropriate for their age. 
Today the whole class went for a walk. Every adult tried to pick out different things they saw,
smelled, and heard to stimulate learning while encouraging movement. The teacher also brought along
batons for the chldren to shake and wave on the walk and then share it with another child.
The children also had gym today. They started doing something different since it was the start of a new month. 
For the warmup the children had to get up and run around the cone and then run back to their seat. Most
of the children got the concept of "around the cone" but one or two needed help understanding
what to do once they got to the cone. Next the teacher took out a parachute. They worked on shaking 
the parachute and then making it go up and then down. Then they were told to go under the parachute
and then to sit under and lay under. Some of the children were enticed by the movement and color 
of the parachute and starting grabbing at it to pull it down for their inspection although
this was not part of the instruction. At the end the teacher gave the children balls in which they were
able to play freely with. The adults in the room encouraged different activities with the balls
(throwming, rolling, bouncing, passing).
The new student in the class that is new to Born Hava is more vocal than the other students. He 
does not have a learning disability, he goes to Born Hava for speech. He seems to be the most
vocal student in the classroom and is able to put together simple sentences and voice what he wants.
It does not seem that he will need to learn any of the signs the other children are using to 
bridge the gap between not using words and using words. 

10/5/05 9:00-11:30
Yesterday all of the children went to the farm and it seemed like everyone that went enjoyed it
a great deal. In the classroom, they had been working on identifying different animals and then 
making the sound they make. It must have been exciting for them to then see them all  in person
and be able to touch, feel and hear some of them. One little girl is quite quiet in the classroom
although she knows a lot of words, and the teacher said she was so exciting she was screaming
out each of the animals name. 
Today the classroom had friends from a satellite of Born Hava's come in from Ripen. I beleive
that these children were normal functioning children. It was a good experience for the children
at Born Hava interact and play with these different children. They all integrated quite well, although
it was quite obvious that the children from EduKids were more vocal and more advanced than the other children.
The children from EduKids had playtime, ate snack, and then went to music with the other children.
It went quite well and all the children got along and interacted with each other within each
activity. 
I noticed that the child that was moved up from another classroom, the one that I am in on Fridays,
is a lot less vocal in his new environment, and is less likely to jump in when doing circle
time and group activities. For now, he is happy watching and observing, but he isn't quite ready
to do what the other children are doing. He seems to need more adjustment time
getting used to the new classroom, because from what I saw in the classroom last
friday he seemed perfectly able to do what the children in the older classroom are doing. 
He will most likely become more vocal once time goes on, because I have seen him
talk quite a bit in the other classroom.
One specific child seems to always want to go the opposite way and do the opposite thing
than the other children when transitioning from one activity to another. Today after circle (and
transitioning to the table for snack) he took his chair the opposite direction from the table and took
it near the toys. He proceeded to lay on the floor. Everyone kept on telling him to come over
to the table for snack and I tried to prompt him to go over before he threw himself on the ground.
You could tell that he was looking to get attention, something that would only reinforce
this negative behavior. So i left him on the floor and just told him that he was not going to 
get snack if he did not come over. Then he proceded to run back and forth across the room.
The teacher told him to stop, and that when he came and sat at the table he would get his snack.
From then on the child was ignored, and at first he was still reluctant to come over, and finally
once he realized that he was no longer going to get any attention from this negative behavior, he 
came over and sat down nicelt for snack. The same child repeated this behavior when we were
in music class, and only this time someone ran after him and made him come back to the circle. It 
would probably be more effective in changing his behavior if he was consistently ignored, and deprived
the attention that is unfortunately reinforcing this negative behavior. 

10/7/05 9:00-11:30
Today at the beginning of class the children had the choice of playing in a water table which had water
and several toys in it along with funnels and pails for the children to play with. They could also play
with any of the toys in the classroom or play in a table that was filled with bird seed and other toys
that the  children could play and feel around in. During this time the he teacher took asside individual
students to paint their pumpkins that they had cut out a previous day. Then it was time for gym.
The children did the same warmup they have been doing since the beginning of the month taking
two rings and going across the room with them and placing on ring on one cone and then the other
ring on the other cone) and then we all played with the parachute practicing "up" and "down" and 
shaking it "fast" and "slow." Most of these children require hanf over hand help when doing the 
parachute, otherwise they would not do the activity. 
After gym the children ate snack and then had circle time. Today the teacher took out pumpkins and sang
different songs relating to the different things she pulled out of her "box." The children worked
on being able to point to their heads, touch their feet and stomp their legs up and down. One child requires that
you watch him very closely because he will randomly get up and go somewhere else in the classroom. 
It seems as though he has a short attention span paired with the fact that he is looking for the attention
someone will give him when he gets up, because otherwise he's getting very little individual 
attention at circle time. 

10/10/05-Columbus day

10/12/05
Today the children played as usual in the classroom in the very beginning of class. Some students
were extrmely late getting there on their buses so it was particualry long playtime before 
the teacher started any activities. I sat on the floor with a little girl and read a book. She was
very good at identifying what she saw in the pictures, (she is very vocal in one on one
situations but tends to become more quiet when the class meets in a big group) and when she 
didn't know what something was she would ask what it was and then repeat what i said it was. She
also like to count how many of each animal was on the page, but she only knows how to count to 
three so once she got to three she would start all over again or just keep saying three. Then the 
teacher turned on music and the whole class went over to the rug and dnaced. We all worked on
stomping our feet, kicking our legs, hopping and other various things. When the children that were late 
finally got there it was time for music.
In music the children all got to had their own tin and another circle which was filled with little balls.
They were to tap each of them with a stick when instructed to. This allowed the children to work
on following instructions on which object to hit while differentiating between the different sounds 
they were hearing. The tin was loud and sharp sounding while the other object was quieter and less
harsh sounding when hit. The children also worked on going in front of their chairs and then behind them
and stomping their feet. At the end the teacher passed the stars around the circle so that the
children could pass them on to each other. This is the normal routine in music at the end of the class.
After music the children had circle time in the classroom. The children worked on sharing the 
miracca the teacher gave each child to shake and then were instructed to pass it on to
the person next to them. The children were also given colored construction paper
and told to sit on the ground and help rip it up in tiny peices. Most of the children ripped up the 
paper into big peices and had to be instructed to rip them littler. They were being ripped up so
that they could be used as the colorful leaves of fall for a craft they would do another day.
Then the children had snack and had to sign say me please when asked who wanted their snack
and also for when they wanted juice. Each child then had to take their own plate and cup to 
the garbage, then could play until it was time for them to get their bags to get on the bus.

10/14/05
The consistency of children in this classroom seems to be low. It seems as though different children are
showing up each Friday, and then some are missing each Friday. Today there was a new little boy
there that I hadn't met before and this was his second day in the classroom. This little boy
cried incessently, and wanted his mom the whole time. The only time you could get him to stop 
crying was to distract him with toys or something else to do, and sometimes that didn't 
even stop him. The teacher spent a great deal of time with him trying to distract and play with him
at the beginning of the class. 
After playtime was over it was time for circle. It was important to try to get the little boy to 
stop crying so that the other children could pay attention and hear the teacher during cirlce. 
It was noticable that when the teacher started singing the child calmed down and would stop 
crying. The little songs she sung at circle time calmed him long enough for it to be quite productive
for him. 
After circle the whole class went to gym. As soon as we went for the door again the 
boy started crying for his mom again. He seems to be quite distracted by the transition
from activity to activity and especially when he sees the door opens and closes. When he
sees someone enter or leave the room he starts to cry again. He cried all the way through gym until 
the end when the children were able to play with balls at the very end. As long as someone
stayed with him and kept his attention on the balls he would not cy, but as soon
as the person left and it was up to him to entertain himself he got distracted and started 
crying again. Everyone tried to limit the opening and closing of the door and distracted him if
someone was leaving the room.
At the end of the day all the children sit right in front of their coat racks. The teacher
has been working on getting the children to identify their own belongings and know
what isn't theirs (bookbags and coats). The teacher holds someones jacket up and asks
whose it is. Most children do not say anything but the teacher encourages the children
to sign "me" if they know it is thiers. 
Another observation I made during the day was that the girl who just started with Born Hava 
and who didn't have any prior experience in a program was seemingly not crying as much
as she did on her first few days. She used to start "crying" when she was asked to do something
or sit somewhere. The teacher would sign and say "stop" to her and then further ignore her 
behavior. Today she only cried once or twice and in the beginning she would cry at least
ten times. Ignoring the behavior along with telling her to stop seems to have been effective, however, 
we will see if it was that particular day or whether her behavior is really changing or not. 


10/17/05
Today the children carved a pumpkin instead of doing circle today. The teacher had the children
look at and feel the pumpkin and then pass it to the person next to them so that they could
 do the same thing. After the pumpkin made its way back to the teacher she took one child at 
 a time and did hand over hand instruction to cut the top of the pumpkin off. The children
 had to say or sign me when asked who would like a turn. The children are encouraged more and 
 more to "use their words" instead of sign, but some must sign because they are at the moment
 pretty much non verbal. Then the teacher had the kids stick their hands into the top of the
  pumpkin and feel around along with getting some of the seeds out. Most of the children were 
able to do this however some refused to stick their hand in becasue they didn't like the looks 
and feel of the cold, wet and gooey on their hands. Some seeds were then scooped out and 
placed in front of them so that they could feel them and still some avoided feeling them.Then 
the teacher asked a couple of children to help draw with a crayon a triangle for the eyes and nose 
(how many eyes do we need? how many noses? and how many mouths?) and then a circle for a mouth. 
One of the new boys in the classroom, who is there for speech, seems to crave attention and 
avoids work when you give him something to do and asks to go to the bathroom before you
transition to a new activity, despite the fact that he might have gone ten minutes prior. He 
constantly looks back at me and wants my attention when his attention should be on the teacher 
and what she is doing. I try not to make eye contat or to acknowledge him. I just point towards the 
teacher and look at her and try to model what he should be doing. I don't want to accidently reinforce
this behavior, even though I would be giving him negative attention. He also started to cry
about his finger and make me look at it (even though he hadn't done anything to it) but I again
ignored his attempts. 
After the pumpkin carving the class went to gym and played with colorful, large rings and also with the 
parachute. They are becoming familiar with what is up, what is down, and what is in. Also, the boy that 
transfered from the younger aged classroom i am in Friday is becoming more vocal and participating more
in the class. He seems happier and is beginning to adjust better. I have heard him say several things and speaks
up now when he wants a turn at an activity. Although he is not quite as vocal as he was in the other 
classroom it seems hopeful that he will get comfortable and be just as vocal and involved as he was
prior to the transfer. 

10/19/05
Today the children all played together while some went to speech or other different activites. While
playing with the chidlren I try and make sure to make it a learning experience. I try to vocalize what
they are doing and what exactly they are playing with. I try to say whether it is big or little, what it is
(such as a cow or a bird) and then what color it is or what sound it makes. The children played with dolls
today and I tried to ask them to be gentle with the baby and then wrap them in the blanket. They also 
tried to play doctor with the baby and take its temperature and also to feed the baby.
After playing, the children then did circle time. Each child got to shake the miracca that is always brought out at 
circle time, but now the children were instrusted to get up in front of the class and shake it, then the teacher
told the child to pass it to a different child (she indicated who to pass it to by saying their name). By doing this the child
up front had to know the other child's name and distinguish this child from the rest of the class.
After circle, the class ate snack. There was one boy who decided to not follow instructions all day. When snack
time came he went over to a chair away from the table and refused to come over. He kept on trying
to get my attention by touching my back and hiding behind me. I told him once what he needed to 
do and then I ignored him. He did not come over the whole time, and consequently did not get a snack.
After all the other children ate their snack they went to music. At music the teacher again tried to get the 
children to listen to directions by getting them to stomp their feet by standing in front of their chairs, and 
then moving to the back of their chairs and stomping their feet. This was a hard transition for most of the children. 
Some got distracted and wandered off, while some did not move as fast as the others and had trouble
catching up with them when moving from the front to the back and then to the front. She intends
on continuing with this activity so that the children can get used to following to directions and hopefully 
be able to complete this task after it is repeated enough times. 
At the end of the day, all the children went outside to play on the playground. Another classroom
was outside too and all the children got to play together. The children were especially fond of the slide. 
Some children tried to climb up the opposite side of the slide and some tred to go down it backward or head
first. They had to be continually instructed to go down the slide the right way. Besides the one boy who had 
trouble transitioning from one activity to another, all the children were very well behaved. 

10/20/05
In this classroom, it seems that a lot of the attention of the teachers is taken up by those students who
act out in the classroom (like the child who constantly cries or the other one who will leave an activity
and just space out). So today when I went in I decided to sit down to a quiet, well behaved girl that was
sitting by herself to the side. I tried to play with her and verbalize what I was doing with all the toys. I
would ask her to find the baby, feed the baby, put the baby to bed and so on. We also looked at a couple
of books because although she is not very verable, she will sin a lot of the things she sees in the book. 
Then after a half hour or so I helped each child, one at a time, glue tissue paper on paper so that it looked
like a leaf. I did hand over hand instruction with most of them, although some of them could take the tissue paper
and put it on the paper all of them couldnt put the glue on the paper by themselves. A few of the children 
wanted to put the tissue paper in their mouths so it got hard to get them to put it on the paper. I tried to 
describe what they were doing and tell them which color they were putting on the leaf. 
After this activity it was time to go to gym. The children put the rings on the cones, and for those children
who cannot walk the teacher either held their hand and helped them or in one case she had to carry the child
to the other side of the roomso that they could put the rings on the cone. Next we all tried to work with the 
parachut with the children but one of them would not stop crying and it was being disruptive to all the children
so the teaher decided to stop and just let the children play with the balls. At some points, when the 
child that cries incessantly kept crying, two of the other children started crying themselves.
After gym the children went back to the classrom for circle time. The teacher passed around pumpkins and 
sang a few songs with them. Then she took out a puppet spider and sang a song that described
where the spider was, whether it went around and touched each child's feet, head, nose, or stomach. 
After circle it was time to have snack. The children ate pumpkin cookies a mother brought in and the 
teacher read a book that described the growing periods of pumpkins and described their sizes, whether
they can be big or small. 
After snack it was time to have the goodbye cirlce. The teacher pointed to each bag and jacket and tried to work 
on the children identifying their belongings and distinguishing them from their own. Most children
didn't know which bag was theirs but eventually thry should be able to identify their belongings. 

10/31/05
Today when I came in all the children were dressed in a halloween costuume. Many of the children
were different kinds of animals, and there was also a doctor and super man. I sat down and played
with the one little boy that craves a lot of attention, but is propably the most advanced in his
abilities compared to the rest of the children. We sat down and got a ball with shapes cut out in 
it so that he could place the shaped into the ball. At first, he wanted me to help him put the shapes
into the ball. So I helped him for a while but it seemed as though he knew what he was doing so 
I stopped helping him for a second. He seemed reluctant at first but I told him to try it himself and 
that I would help him if he couldn't do it. As it turns out, he had no trouble at all placing the shapes in 
the ball all by himself. I made sure to encourage and reinforce this independent behavior he was displaying. 
After playtime the children got in a circle but did not have their regular circle time. Instead the children
got the rest of their costumes on and they got paper halloween bags they decorated themselves last week. 
The teacher then tried to make the children say trick or treat to her and then she dropped candy in their 
bag. After she was done going around the circle, the children then got up and we went down the hall to 
"trick-or-treat" to the rest of the classrooms and staff desks. The children made their rounds, however some got 
cranky and did not want to walk down the hall anymore. They just sat in the hall until someone came
over to help them walk or carry them. The one little girl does this every time she has to go out of 
the classroom. She always does not want to leave, but once she is in another classroom she is fine. 
After the parade down the hall, all of the children went outside. They just got a big square of metal
put in broken up into little squares and when the children jump on them they make little bell chimes. Some 
of the kids werent heavy enough too make it make music so i helped them bounce up and down. 
The children seemed to enjoy the consequences of their behavior of jumping up and down
on the squares. Then the whole class went down the block for a walk. As we were walking I tried
to point out different things to them and make them notice the falling leaves and how they were
changing color. 
When we got back in the classroom it was time for snack. Most of the children wanted to take off 
their costumes, however one little boy fought to have it on. This little boy constantly wants 
pressure placed on his head, and like the feeling of the top of the costumes which was a furry 
dog head. Usually the little boy brings in a hat and is happy if he can wear that throughout the 
day, and the teacher usually lets him so that he is not crying and being distracted by being uncomfortable.  
The children got to pick whether they wanted a little bag of crackers or a little bag of cookies. If
possible they were expected to say which one they wanted, if not they had to point to it. After
snack it was time for each child to put their coats on and go home.

11/2/05
Today I sat and played with a little girl who does not talk much, but brought over animal puppets
for us to play with. I put them on my hand, narrating what I was doing and then I told her what the 
animal was and then made the sound it would make. Then I told her to put an animal on her hand, it was
a rabbit and then I instructed her to mover her hand up and down so that the bunny could go hop-hop-hop. 
She liked this a great deal. 
Today was a Ripen day, when children from the daycare come to interact with the children in our classroom.
Since it was their day to come in, we played in the beginning for a longer time than usual. The children from 
Ripen, along with the ones from our classroom all put on smocks and played in shaving cream that was
put on the table. They manipulated the shaving cream with their hands and played and enjoyed the texture. 
They also slid some toys through the shaving cream. They became familiar with what wet and gooey felt like,
and what they could do with it.
After the children were done with this it was time for circle. They all got to go around and shake the 
miracca. Each child had to get up in front of the group and shake it, and then they had to share it with a friend.
Then the teacher told the children to reach up to the sky, and then down to the ground to touch their toes. 
By then it was time for the children to go to their music class.
The children sang a song about growing, and practiced what it meant to grow out, in, down and up. They
were supposed to gesture with their arms and hands where each of these places were (up and down) and 
imitate the teacher, however some students did not want to try, even though they are perfectly physically
able to, and still did not want to respond when verbally and physically prompted to do so. Then the teacher 
had the children make their chairs into a cirlcle so that when there was an empty chair next to them they were
supposed to move over to it. First all of us prompted the children to move by saying their names and asking/showing
them to move to the chair next to them, and then we all moved to physical prompts of tapping the chair
and seeing if they would move. All of them pretty much got the idea and no one attempted to act difficult.
It was obvious though that the children from Ripen were physically and mentally more prepared to complete this 
task than the children in our classroom, but they all integrated well with each other. 
After music the children from Ripen left and it was time for snack. The children had to sign cookie if they 
wanted a cookie, and if they wanted another one they had to signn cookie again. The teacher is 
trying to move towards more specific signs for those chidlren who do not yet speak, and is trying
to avoid the use of the sign "more" so that the children move to the more specific sign of what they want
which was a "cookie." 
Then it was time for the children to get their coats on and go home. Some of the children at that time,
especially the girl who does not like to leave the classroom when asked to, went over and tryed
to play with the toys instead of gathering by the door with the other children and saying goodbye as
usual. She just had to be grabbed and taken over so that she was with the others, and as soon as 
she was over there she was fine with being at the door and leaving. She always gets used to the fact of 
leaving, but always trys to be difficult initially. 

11/4/05

Today there was another little girl that I had not yet met. She doesn't walk, and continually cries throughout the
morning. When I got there the teacher was trying to get her to engage in playing with some toys, but she kept crying. 
Despite her crying, we kept on doing hand over hand instuction with some toys and kept talking to her. The 
little boy that had consistently been crying when his mother left is doing much better. He only cried today when 
she initially left, and then about a minute later, after he was engaged in an activity he stopped. He went from crying almost
the whole morning to just periodically crying when transitioning from one activity to another or when he was not doing something
and had time to think about his mom. The other little girl who had been crying everytime she didn't want to do something has
done this less and less each time I see her. However, her skills in other such as signing and doing things the teacher asks her to
has not improved. These children are learning in a very short time to get used to the classroom, and being away from there parents, 
and that their crying will not be reinforced. 
Today was a gym day and the teacher had an obstacle course set up for the children. Each child, whether they were walkers
or not had to climb up the stairs to the slide, slide down, crawl through a tube, go in the house window and go out through the 
door, crawl over a flat slide and through a tunnel. Each child had a turn by themselves at first and all the other children had
to watch and then all the children had their free time to go through it by themselves. Some children needed help, expecially
those who did not walk, but most of the children could do most of it by themselves.
After gym it was circle time and the teacher pulled out a mirror and asked each child who they saw in it. They were supposed to 
respond "me" but only half of the children were able to do this. The teacher also had rythm sticks that each child had to hold 
one in each hand and tap them along to music and then tap them down low and then up high. The little girl who kept crying needed 
hand over hand help, and I tried to get her to hold them but she didnt even want help in doing it, but she was forced to try anyways. 
Just like the other children, she will eventually learn what she has to do if no one gives in to her and lets her jsut sit there. 
There was snack after cirlce and it was pudding. The teacher was looking at each child to see if they knew how to properly hold their 
spoon. Most children were able to do so, but some couldn't dip it in their bowl in order to get more on their spoon ( they kept twisting
it to the side) and one little girl didn't understand the concept that she had to put the spoon back in the bowl in order to get more 
pudding. 
After snack the children had their goodbye circle where the teacher held up someone's belongings and asked whose they were. Only
two students were able to recognize which jacket/backpack was theirs. 

11/7/05
Today when I came in I sat with a little girl who kept on givng me hand puppets to put on my hand. She does not speak so I just 
described to her wich animal I had and what sound it made. She also wanted to put animals on her hand and then I told
her what animal she had and what sound it made. After that I played with a farm set with a little boy who talks, but has some
problems with speach. He was able to tell me most of the animals I picked up, but he needed some help with the sounds each animal
made. I tried to get him to repeat me a couple of times because he was trying to repeat what I was saying but was not saying it 
quite right. 
After a little while it was time to go to gym. It was also their opportunity to go through the obstacle course the teacher set up. Each
child got their chance to go through one by one, and then they all played in it together. One of the children tried to get up and go
through it when it was not his turn, but he was redirected and then he was just fine with waiting his turn. Some of the children liked
one specific aspect of the obstacle course the most and tried to go back to it without continuing the rest, but they were encouraged to 
keep going and continue the rest, and then they could come back to that part when they came through it again. 
After gym the children had circle. The teacher had a little glove that she had velcrow parts to and took them out and sang a song to 
tell a story. The first song was old McDonald and she described what each animal was before she sang the song and then the children
were encouraged to say which animal it was and what sound it made. Then she took out a song about 4 little leap frogs and then 
each one jumped off and there was only 3, 2, 1, 0 left on the log. 
After circle the class had snack. Like usual each child had to sign "me" or "cookie" before they got their snack. There is only one 
little boy who will not talk, and has to be given his snack even though he doesn't sign anything. Whoever is sitting by him has to 
make him sign something, and then he gets his snack. Hopefully, at some point this reinforcement will allow him to do it himself,
however, his abilities seem low. He often doesn't eat his snack even when he does get it. He only likes certain textured foods, and he
loves apples, and he has to smell and touch everything before he will even think about putting it in his mouth. 

11/9/05
Today there was only about half the class in because the other half of the children were sick. However, today was a Ripen 
day so there was still a lot of children in the classroom. In the beginning of the morning, some of the children had free time while 
the others made a sensory bottle, and then periodicall y each group switched. The children were able to peel the label off
a empty water bottle, then they put a funnel in it and helped pour vegetable oil inside of the bottle. Then the children were 
able to pick from different beads and other objects to pick up and place in the tiny top of the water bottle. Lastly, they each
chose what color they wanted to make it with different food coloring. Then the top was put on the bottle and the children were able to 
look at their bottle and look at the different objects flow from one side to the other. 
After this, it was time for music, and this time the children would be doing art and music in the same session. The music teacher sang
a song about the falling leaves and their different colors, and then pretended that crumpled up newpaper was leaves and had the children
play in a pile of them and throw them around and up into the air. All of the children engaged in this activity, but some needed to 
be prompted to throw the paper, but after that they were ok with doing it themselves. 
After this the children were able to take a crumpled up peice of newpaper and dip it into differnt colored paint and then tap it on a 
white peice of paper on the wall. Some children were trying to rub the paper on the white paper, instead of tap it and they had
to be instructed how to pat it up and down. Then they all colored a white peice of tissue paper. At the end of the class, the children
all sat together and the teacher showed each child's tissue paper for everyone to see and then wrapped it around a stick so that
the paper looked like colorful leaves on a tree. Each child got to stand up and show the class what they made. Then the teacher sang the 
goodbye song and gave each child their tree to take back with them. 
After music the Ripen children left and it was time for snack. One of the children wanted a lot of crackers, and tried, after being rejected
by one person to have a third helping, to ask someone else. He was still not allowed to have more. After each child was done they each
have to take their own paper plate and place it in the garbage and then place their own cup in the sink. Most of the children are able to do this by themselves, but some try to sneak off and play with out doing their work and they are brought back to the table so and told
that they are not allowed to leave until they clean up after themselves. Usually after this they do it immediately so that they can 
leave the table but some need to be walked with to the garbage and the sink otherwise they would get distracted on the way. 

11/11/05
Today when I entered the classroom I decided to sit with the little girl who was sitting by herself reading a book. I tried to take the 
book from her so that I could read it to her but she didn't want me to do that. So I decided to grab another one so that maybe
I could get her to look at that one while she help the other one up to her mouth. The other book seemed to comfort her and relax her
because she remained calm when you let her hold it but became upset when she didn't have it. I was able to get her attention with the 
other book and I tried to point to things in the book and explain what they were and what color the were. She is nonverbal with minimal
signs so I couldn't get her to repeat anything I said but i was able to keep her attention for a little while. A little boy that constantly cries when
his mother leaves the room is making significant improvments. Just a few weeks ago he would start crying several times throughout the day and 
they were long in duration. Now it seems as thought he is only upset when the mother initially leaves, and he can be easily distracted and 
immediately stops crying now. Hopefully we can get to the point where he is no longer upset at all when his mother leaves, but he is
making great improvments. 
After a half hour or so it was time to go to gym. The children were to complete the obstacle course first one by one with the teacher and then 
they were allowed to do it themselves after everyone had one turn. the children who could not yet walk were encouraged to stand with assistance and 
move to the best of their ability throughout the different sstages, but at some points they were just carried because it wasnt possible 
for them to do it standing. All the children were then allowed to have free time and go through it themselves, but most of them didn't do much.
The girls who could not yet walk were encouraged to crawl through the tunnels and also walk across the balance beam while someone held them up.
After gym it was time to go back to the room for circle. The teacher opened up her box and took out different colored leaves and had them 
pretend they were falling from the trees. She sang a song about the leaves falling and had the children take the leaves and make them fall to the ground too.
Most of the children were able to complete this task without assistance  besides one little girl. I took my hands over hers and made her extend her 
arms and drop the leaves. 
At the end of cirlce it was time for snack. the children had mashed potatos and sweet potatos that a child's mom brought in from home. Most
of the children are able to eat with a spoon with little difficulty. Some of the children did not want to eat the potatos so they weregiven pudding. For one little girl it was unclear as to whether she didn't want to eat or didn't like the potatos because she needed help with her spoon. When she was got the pudding she didn't want 
the spoon in her mouth either so we didn't know whether she was being uncooperative or just wasn't hungry.
At the end of the day we did the goodbye circle and explained that some of them would go home on buses and some would go home in a car. They 
had to recognize their belongings and some were able to put their coats on by themselves while others still need help.

11/14/05
When I came into the classroom I tried to play with one of the little girls but she seemed like she wanted to play alone because she 
would move with whatever she was playing with when I came over. This little girl often does not play with the other children in the 
classroom and will only occasionally engage in play with an adult in the classroom. She is nonverbal and only knows a minimal 
amount of signs. She entertains herself and does not attract a lot of attention to herself. However, when she is given attention
by an adult in the room ( she is being instructed to do something) she is usually oppositional. She may comply in the beginnning
but she will often sit down in the middle of the floor when you want her to go somewhere or sit in front of her chair instead of on her 
chair. She seems to be getting positively reinforced when she is given negative attention, however when she is willingly given attention 
in the classrooom when playing she rarely wants to engage. Today, this little girl did start playing a game with another little girl in the classroom
who avoids attention and eye contact with adults. They were playing a game of chase together and were laughing as they were chasing each other 
around the classroom. This is the first time I have seen either one of them enagage in play with another student for more than a minute 
or so. 
We went for a walk afterwards and the little girl who is oppostional refused to comply when we were halfway through our walk. She insisted on
sitting down when we were trying to walk along the sidewalk. I tried to distract her by letting her walk through the piles of leaves and 
jumping in them, but she would comply for a while and then insist on sitting down. I would not carry her because I wanted to make sure
she knew that she had to walk on her own because she is a big girl. One other little boy was doing the same thing and sitting down throughout the 
walk. As soon as one of them saw the other do it they got it back into their head again and did it themselves. We were consistent on our 
instistance that they walk by themselves and if they didn't get up we would hold them up but make their feet touch the ground so that they still
had to move them until they walked on their own. 

11/16/05
Today Ripen did not come in because it was the children's thanksgiving celebration at school, and later on in day
they were going to eat Thanksgiving dinner with a familiy member if they were able to come in. Only a few students were
going home on the bus because family members were unable to come in. The children all were able to play in the 
beginning of class and I sat with some children who were playing with cars and a race track. There is always this little
boy who is very concerned if someone is playing with something that he is "playing" with, however, he always is "playing"
with the all the cars or all the little people so you have to encourage him to share with the other children, and that
the few cars he has is all that he can play with at one time. He listens at firsts but continually has to be reminded not to 
get upset at the other children who want to play with the toys that he is sitting next to but not actually playing with. All the
children around the racetrack enjoyed playing with it, but some of them didn't understand that they couldn't hit the lever really
hard or the cars would not go down the track, they would just fall off. Some of the children listened while others continued to
flip the lever too hard so that the cars didn't go anywhere.
Music was held in the classroom because of the Thanksgiving celebration. The children were given little guitars so that they had
to pluck the rubber bands along to the music. All of the children were able to complete this task, and one or two of them needed
individual instruction but were then able to complete the task as asked. The children were also given spoon knockers to tap
against their needs so that it made a clacking noise. Again, this task was simple enough for all of them. 
At the end of the day the children were given turkey feathers they had decorated a previous day to wear on their backs.
They all went into he motor room where all the children from all the different classrooms gahtered so that they could show their parents 
their turkey dance. One little boy from the class I was from had his dad there and he did nothing but scream and cry. It was unclear
if it was because there was so much going on in the room or if he just knew he could scream and cry so that his dad would hold him.
I had never seen him act so defiant before. 
Although chaotic, the rest of the children took turns picking out different colored feathers to pin on a large turkey in the front of the room. 
Everyone was cooperative and everyone took turns even though there were so many other children in the room. 

11/18/05
I sat down with the little girl who continually cries throughout the day. She sits by herself and does not want to 
engage in any kind of activity. I read several differnt books to her but I don't think I got her attention or distracted her.
Then I brought over a set of rings that you put onto a stick in the order of their size and I tried to take her hand to go
through the motions of putting them on the stick. She seemed like she was paying attention for a short period of time but hen
continued to cry. I also worked with a little girl who does not talk but knows a great deal of signs. The teacher wanted me
to see if I could get her to match a picture card with the corresponding object out of a total of three cards. Although she knows
what a fish is, and will sign it when she sees it in a book, she could not match the picture to the other fish when I asked her too. 
Most likely she knew that the picture was a fish, but that the instructions and task was too complex for her to comprehend
and complete.
During circle, the children were given rhythm sticks to tap along to the music. They had to tap the sticks "up" and then 
tap the sticks "down." Then they were instructed to rub the sticks together. Some of them needed promts to start
the activities, and some of them needed hand over hand instruction throughout the whole activity. They also were shown a 
mirror and asked to say who was in it and they were to say or sign me. Then they had to point to their noses, their eyes, heads and 
ears. Most children were able to do this and if they were not the teacher touched their head and said what it was. 

11/21/05
I sat down with a little boy who doesn't talk much but does a lot of babbling, so that he thinks
he is saying things to you when in reality you don't know what it is he is trying to communicate. This little 
boy does sit down and play with you for a good period of time without losing interest and wandering off somewhere. 
We sat down and played with a little farm set and the animals that were in it. I told him what each animal was and 
told him the sound it made. After that he wanted to play with a little baby and we worked on holding the baby, 
putting it to bed, and feeding the baby with the bottle he found. He did hit the baby and I told him that you should touch
the baby gently. He also helped me to wrap the baby up in a blanket, and after I showed him how to do it he
unwrapped the baby and wanted to do it himself. 
During circle a bunch of frogs, lady bugs, and turtles (bean bag animals) were put in the middle and then each child got a turn to
go into the middle and grab which one they wanted. Then the teacher held out a basket and the children had to 
try and throw the animal in from their seat. Most of the children were able to throw it from their seats
but some had to get up and play it in the basket because they were unable to throw it that far. Two separate children 
in the group will periodically decide not to listen to what is asked of them and just lay down right in front of their chair
or wonder off and go play with a toy. It seems obvious that these children are trying to get attention from the 
adults in the room, because you see them glance back at us to see who is going to come get them and take
them back. Most of the time, if we aren't leaving the room they are left to do what they are doing, and just
asked to come back. No one will come running after them right away. But, if they continue this behavior and they 
are missing out on what is being done someone goes to get them. They precede to be noncompliant and make their
legs go limp so that you can not guide them back to where they were supposed to be, and they have to be
carried. It is often hard to not give them this reinforcement they are seeking for their bad behavior. 
During gym some children kept on getting up off of the mat before it was their turn to go through the obstacle course.
Then when the children were done taking their turn and had to go back and sit down to wait for everyone else, 
it was also hard to make them sit back down. Even after being instructed on what to do some of them were
still noncompliant. While they are waiting on the mat, we try to make the time go by faster by singing songs or
doing some other activity to distract them while they are waiting. Sometimes they have to wait a good
ten minutes before they can go and play and it probably seems like an eternity to them. 
During snack the children ate crackers. There is one little boy who constantly seems hungry. And when he enters the 
room in the morning he is always looking for food. It is hard to determine if he does not eat breakfast and is
really hungry or whether he would just eat constantly. He is given a few helpings at snack, but he is always wanting more. 


11/30/05
When I came in this morning I sat down and played with a little boy that is mainly at Born Hava to work
on his speech development. He is very chatty, however he has problems pronouncing different sounds, and
although he knows the word he is unable to say it correctly. I sat down with him and we played with animal puppets.
I asked him what the animal was and if he didn't say it correctly, I repeated it slowly to him emphasizing
the different sounds and the shape of my mouth when I said it and told him to repeat it. He did this
continuously with the names of the animals and the sounds they made. He then wanted to play catch
with some bean bag animals. I explained to him what color each of them were and asked him to say it too.
He does know some of the colors, but there are still some he is unsure of. When I threw the animal to him he was unable to catch it. 
His reflexes were not yet quick enough to perceive when he should move his arms to catch it.
His arms always went up a little too late. However, he was able to throw the ball with no problems.
The children from Ripen also came in today. All the children made pictures with 3D stickers that they 
had to peel the back paper off of and this worked on their fine motor skills. The children were
all pretty much able to peel the backings off with just a few children needing help occasionally. 
For circle all the children were given a mitten and then asked, when it was their turn to come 
to the middle of the cricle and find the mitten that matched the color they had. Again, all of the children
were able to complete this task with little help. The one little girl that went last prbably couldn't have done it
if there were other mittens in the pile with hers, so the teacher appropriately placed her to have the 
last turn. The children all also had to use a clip to hang their mittens up on a "clothes line." Most of them
needed help with opening the clip and getting the mittens on the string. When doing the hand motions in the 
circle the children are all doing a great job of going through the hand motions with everyone else. The Ripen 
children seem to encourage the other children to follow along because of the fact that they are doing it. This
has been an improvement I've notcied since I have started. 
In Music all the children were given bells and asked to shake them along to a song. No one appeared to have trouble with 
this task or need any help. However when the task got more difficult and the children were asked to march in 
front of their chair and then in the back of it, a lot of the children got lost as to where they were going and 
just wondered off instead of going behind their chari. They needed a great deal of physical and verbal prompts
in order to complete this task. Again, most of the children seemed to follow along to most of the hand motions
they were asked to do in their seats, but some needed some physical promts to get them started. 

12/2/05
Today was the first time in two weeks I had been in this classroom, and a few of the children I hadn't seen 
for three weeks due to their absences. These children are younger and this is the first classroom
they have been in and I have seen a lot of improvements in the short time that I've been there. 
One little girl is now walking on her own. She doesn't walk very far and sometime will just plop down,
but when she first started she wasn't walking at all (you could get her on her feet and get her to move
her legs but you had to hold her up). Another little girl used to cry and hardly respond to any stimuli and 
now she is not crying at all and I am able to gain her attention for a short period of time. Another little boy who had severe 
separation anxiety when his mom left is also doing much better. When I walked in the room he was not crying, 
nor did he have to be distracted with something by the teacher, he was engaged in his own play. The other
little girl who just joined the classroom (a few months ago) and just started walking had people in
to observe her to determine what services she needs and what exactly her disabilities may be. A frequent occurence
with her was that she does not give eye contact. It was unclear as to whether she could not see very well or
if she was trying to avoid the eye contact because she was asked to do something. She was very attached
to a pair of plastic keys she liked to bite on and when the teacher took them away during circle time you
could see her eyes move around and search for the keys and she knew where they were. It seemed as though 
she didn't have trouble seeeing, rather she was avoiding eye contact when asked to do something or given attention. 
The observers stayed throughout the play time and snack and took note of everything she did. 
In gym, one little girl who can't yet walk was put in a chair with wheels so that her feet touched the ground and 
she could push her feet on the ground in order to move herself around. She usually would not try to move 
herself around in the chair but today she used her feet to move from the classroom to the gym room.
The other more advanced children are building vocabularies and have started to repeat words when asked to. They 
are moving away from using signs and actually trying to say the words. Even if the children just make the sound of the 
word they are given reinforcement, because that is one of the first steps to saying the word when they are ready to 
do so. 
In the three months that I have been in this classroom once a week, I have seen great improvment in all of the 
children
12/5/05
Today I sat down with a little boy and played with some toy cars. I told him what color they each were, and 
counted how many wheels they all had. Then we counted to three and pushed them down a ramp. I also
sat down with another little boy and did a few puzzles with him. I dumped all of them out and then when
he picked one up I asked him what it was. He was able to tell me what almost all the items were, and I corrected
him when he did not quite say the word right.
It was a mixing with Marsha day and today we made brownies. The children each got to look at the box and pass
it along to their friend next to them. Some of the children had trouble giving up the box and sharing with their friend
but when reminded to do so they willingly gave it up. Then each child go to help pour the mix into the bowl, and go
up to Marsha and mix it in with the water, eggs and oil. Then at the end Marsha poured a little of the powder in front
of them on the table so that they could small and taste it. Then they were ready to go into the oven.
In gym today they had a new activity to complete. They all took turns going to the front and throwing tennis balls 
(explained as the small balls) across the room and into the wall. After everyone had a turn after saying or signing "me"
they were all allowed to go up and throw them to the opposite side of the room trying to his the wall (it was too 
far for all the children to actually hit but it was a good aiming spot.) They also had to follow the instructions not to 
step over the mats in the middle of the room that sectioned off where the balls were being thrown. Some children 
didn't listen and tried to climb over into the worng side of the room and they had to be stopped. Then they all 
had to help put the balls away. Some children wouldn't listen so I took a ball in their hand, held them up and 
made them go over to the bucket so that even though they were not willingly putting them away they were
going through the motions of doing it and knew they couldn't get away just sitting there. Then they were
all allowed to play with the big bouncy balls. I sat with a little girl and we worked on rolling the 
ball back and forth while we sat on the ground. She is very slow mvoing and kept the ball to herself a 
lot of the time and i kept having to convince her to roll the ball back to me. 
At the end of the day we had snack, and there is a little girl who has a wide-ranging vocabulary when she is 
one on one with someone, but when she is with the other students she will rarely talk, and reverts back to 
using some of her signs. Usually during snack she is asked to tell us what she wants, whether it be a cookie or
cracker, and then request her drink, but if eventually she doesn't say anything she is given the snack anyways.
Today, when she did not say anything, her snack was placed in front of her, out of her reach, and she was told that
when she told us what she wanted she could have her snack. She was asked several times to say what she wanted
and by the end of snack she had not yet done so and it was thrown out. It was hard not to give her what we all
knew she wanted, but if she keeps on being reinforced for not saying anything she will never learn that she must
speak in order to get what she wants. 

12/7/05
Today when I came one of the little girls came in screaming and crying as her mother carried her into the classroom.
She usually is never one to cry or get upset, but today she didn't want to come to school. The teacher sat with her
on the ground and calmed her down, just letting her sit and relax herself. Then the teacher left her to be on her own
so that she knew that she couldn't cry the whole day. Eventually she came over the the table that one of the other
students were gluing on and wanted to start to play. She was fine the rest of the day. 
I played with a little girl and a drawing board. I traced her hand and tried to get her to say hand. It took her a while, as
it does usually when someone asks her to say something. She knows the word and is able to say it, she is just really
quite and it takes her a long time to get it out, and sometimes she won't say it at all. I also drew circles and had her 
say it, and then I drew a big circle and little circle, and pointed to each one as I said it. She was saying house so I took
her hand and helped her draw a house, explaining that she could draw a square with a triangle on top to make a house, 
and then out windows on it. 
At cirlce time everyone worked on warming up their legs by stomping them and their arms by shaking them. All the the children
were pretty cooperative, and their were only a few interruptions because of children not following along. 
There is one little boy that is constantly getting up, and cannot stay still. When he is let go to 
roam around, he jsut flounces his body everywhere and ends up falling and knocking into things. It is 
hard for him to perceive his own space. So during circle someone has to sit right behind him and hold him down. 
He does not seem to mind someone holding him, because he does not resist or try to get away, but if they weren't 
holding him he would bounce right back up. 
After circle the children went to music. The children all got kazoos to use and try to make noise with. A kazoo is
hard for some children to actually use because it involves more than just blowing in the one end, the chidlren 
must make the "ooo" sound for it to make noise, and some children cannot yet comprhend this concept and just
blow through the end of it. The children also had to get up out of their seats and sit on the floor and spin around
like tops. Whenever there are transitions such as this one where the children have to move from sitting in their
chair to somewhere else it is hard for some of the children to keep from running off. One child does so because I think
she is confused, however, the other one looks back instinctively and wants you to come get him, and he is looking
for that attention. Someone usually goes to get him because it would take him too long to come back on his own
and he would miss out on a lot of the class. At the end the children had to hold a parachute and shake it and the 
teacher put bells on top of it so it jingled as the children shook it. Some of the children had trouble holding on
to the parachute and needed hand over hand help with it. Others could grab ahold of it and do it just fine. Besides 
a few of the children having trouble not transitioning well, they all did good following along and doing what they were
asked when they got into an activity.