Reference no: EM133354817

1) Read the Early Childhood Case Study: Counting Pockets

2) Read and Reflect upon the questions that follow the case study.

Early Childhood CASE STUDY: Counting Pockets

Ms. Miller teaches 3 & 4 year olds in a preschool situated with a large suburb outside a metropolitan area. The preschool is free for teachers and low-income families in the community. Ms. Miller finds the diverse backgrounds and languages a rewarding aspect of teaching.

Today, on a cold February morning, Ms. Miller and her assistants, Ms. Maggie and Ms. Addison, huddle in a circle on the carpet for the morning meeting. Ms. Miller likes to use the morning meeting to encourage language, number concepts, and general knowledge through fun, hands-on activities. After the children sing the hello song and talk about the weather the way they do every morning, Ms. Miller asks them to stand up. "Today we're going to count pockets! Noah, how many pockets do you have?"

Noah quickly looks at his clothes and proudly shouts, "Six!" He has four on his jeans and two on his shirt.

"That's right," Ms. Miller replies, as she draws six squares next to his name and writes the number 6 on the easel to represent the six pockets for Noah.

"Diego, how many pockets do you have?" Ms. Addison points to Diego's pockets. Diego counts "Uno, dos, tres-three!"

"Great counting!" says Ms. Miller. "Now say, I have three pockets." Diego repeats it exactly.

Ms. Miller continues "Ok, now we're going to count more pockets. You're going to work with a buddy and county each other's pockets. Then draw your pockets up here," as she points to the children's names on the easel, "and write the number the way I did."

She begins to assign pairs. Casey and Mariah, Anika and Ella, Jayden and Aarush, and so on. Ms. Miller is careful to pair children of different backgrounds and abilities so they can learn from and help each other. She is also grateful to have her two assistants to circulate the room and help children count and write the numbers on the easel. Some children know how to count, write numbers, and add, while others cannot count yet.

As Ms. Miller is circulating the room, she overhears Caleb and Hunter shouting back and forth, "No you don't!" "Yes, I do!"

Caleb shoves Hunter and knocks him down. Caleb is 4 years old and big for his age. He often resorts to using his fists "instead of his words," Ms. Miller constantly reminds him.

Hunter jumps up angrily and wipes tears from his eyes. "What's the problem, boy? Ms. Miller asks. "Caleb is cheating. He has 2 pockets, not 3!" Hunter shouts.

"No, I have three!" Caleb shouts right back. Ms. Miller reminds them both to use their inside voices.

"I have 2 pockets on my pants and a pocket on my hoodie. That's 3 pockets," Caleb says.

"Hoodies don't count," Hunter retorts. "That's a pouch, not a pocket."

"Well, I see the problem," says Ms. Miller. "I think you're both right. It can be called a pouch, but if it can hold things, then we can call it a pocket too. Agreed?" They both nod hesitantly.

"Caleb, apologize to Hunter for pushing and knocking him down, and both of you shake hands," says Ms. Miller.

Seeing that most children were done with the task, Ms. Miller calls them back to the carpet. "Now let's continue. Who has the most pockets?"

Ella raises her hand and waits to be called on. "I like how you raised your hand, Ella. You many answer," says Ms. Miller.

Ella responds, "Noah, has the most cuz six is bigger number."

"Good thinking, Ella," replies Ms. Miller. "Who has the fewest pockets? Aarush, I haven't heard from you yet today."

She knows he is still learning his letters and numbers. He speaks very little English and his parents speak Hindi to him at home. Aarush is reluctant to answer.

"Can you come up to the easel and point to the smallest number?" Ms. Miller asks. He goes to the easel and points to the number 1 next to Casey's name.

"Hmmm. One is a very small number. That's where we start when we are counting 1, 2, 3...But there's even a smaller number," says Ms. Miller.

Some children start shaking their heads in confusion. Others shout she is not correct. Ms. Miller continues, "This can be a tricky one. Can someone help Aarush?"

The students begin shouting again in opposition to what Ms. Miller is asking. Ms. Miller is becomes a little frustrated with the class and hushes them to be quiet. Three tries later and they are finally quiet.

"Anika, since you are the only one who I think knows this, will you tell us who has the smallest number of pockets?" Ms. Miller asks. Anika gets up from her spot in the circle, smirks at her classmates, steps over Caleb and bumps him and points to the number "zero" next to Ella's name. Caleb starts to cry.

Anika states "Ella has zero pockets because she has a dress on. Dresses don't have pockets!"

Several students who do have dresses on begin to stir and Ms. Miller overhears them saying, "I have a dress on and I have 2 pockets, see," another "My dresses have pockets," and yet another "Just because it is a dress don't' mean it don't have pockets."

Anika states to no one in particular "Dresses are not supposed to have pockets."

The students in the circle continue to debate dresses and pockets as Ms. Miller talks over them to praise Anika for her correct answer. Even Aarush chimes in broken English about his father's clothes having pockets.

Ms. Miller hands out a worksheet as the children's voices become increasing louder. As she hands the final one she says, "One, two, three eyes on me." The students repeat the chant back and look at her.

Ms. Miller instructs the students "Return to your seats and doyour worksheet on counting." As they slowly get up and move toward their desks, their voices become loud. Ms. Miller loudly says to them "No more talking! Please start your counting worksheet."

Now at their seats, over half the class is raising their hands to ask questions or ask what to do. Ms. Miller waves at them to put their hands down. To her assistants she says "What has gotten into them? I thought the lesson was a fun one," and walks away to sit at her desk.

The assistants begin circulating the room to assist and answer questions. Caleb is still crying.

Questions:

In your professional opinion, what do you see as the primary issues of this case study? Be specific, Elaborate and support your response. Note: Primary issues can be academic, behavioral, professional ideology, classroom management, or all a combination of any listed.

Elaborate and support your response.

a. What strategies does Ms. Miller use in this case study that are effective in teaching self-regulation skills? Why are the strategies effective?

b. What strategies are not effective? Why are the strategies not effective?

Think about Ms. Miller's handling of the issue with Caleb and Hunter. Discuss 2 effective teaching principles she violated and Why? Elaborate to support your answer.