Focus Of Dimension Summary

Focus of dimension: Captures the degree to which the teacher’s interactions with students and classroom activities place an emphasis on students’ interests, motivations, and points of view and encourages student responsibility and autonomy.

Summary of strengths:

Flexibility and student focus: In a flexible classroom, teachers do not rigidly adhere to an agenda or plan at the expense of learning opportunities and the children’s interest in activities. Throughout the observation, the teachers showed flexibility in their activities with the children. For example, during a small group activity, a child showed interest in the Johnny Appleseed Pot. The teacher showed flexibility when she put the book down and let the children try on Johnny Appleseed’s hat. By looking for opportunities …show more content…
Summary of strengths:
Clear behavior expectations: During this observation, classroom rules and expectations were consistently and clearly stated. For example, teachers were heard saying, “Use your walking feet”, “Hands in your laps”, and “Listen for your names. If you are talking you may not hear” as a way to clearly communicate behavioral expectations during large group time. Children are more likely to behave appropriately in a classroom when the rules and expectations are clearly and consistently communicated.
Proactive: Teachers often displayed low reactivity when responding to children’s behaviors. For example, a teacher was observed reminding a child, “Use your walking” when a child was running in the classroom and “I need you to sit down” rather than reacting negatively to the child being disruptive. Effective behavior managers are characterized by their proactive versus reactive response to a variety of situations within the