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LAB 6 REPORT: TALLY EVENT SAMPLING

LAB 6: Tally Event Sampling and ABC on Infants

HDFS 421 | KRISTINA TIO | DECEMBER 2ND, 2017
INTRODUCTION
For Lab 6 Report, I observed Child J and Child N from the Infant classroom with Ms.
Diaz as the head teacher and Ms. Aiello as the assistant teacher. Child J is a male and he is 5
months old (DOB: 06/25/2017), and Child N is a female and she is 7 months old (DOB:
04/18/2017). The age range in this classroom is from 4 to 18 months old. Most part of the
classroom is the play area, where it is an open carpeted area for babies to explore and move
easily. Another part of the classroom is floored with tiles, where feeding and napping take place.
Each child would have their own cot and their nap area is separated by a partition from the play
and feeding area. There were 12 children and 4 adults present in the classroom. When I did my
observation, it was 11.30 a.m. There were 7 children and 4 adults present in the classroom. Since
it was a nap time, 3 teachers were helping babies to go to sleep and another teacher was
interacting and playing with the other babies.
The purpose of this observation is to follow up on a concern about the Child J’s
challenging behaviors by tallying the child’s behavior for an hour and comparing the child’s
behavior with another child that has a similar age with his. As the frequency of his behavior and
the information regarding the child’s behavioral problems have been identified, future actions
have been listed in the “Follow-up & Recommendation” section to help Child J to reduce his
challenging skills by using new teaching strategies to fulfill Child J’s needs. The domains that
are being assessed are social and emotional domain, as some of his behavioral actions might be
caused from his self-regulatory skill. In order to gain more information on Child J’s challenging
behaviors, I have used a tally-event sampling table with Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence
(ABC) observation integrated unto the table, and the record table is called Tally Event Sampling
Observation Sheet: Challenging Behaviors (refer to Appendix I). As Nicholson & Shipstead
(1994) states that tally event sampling is a “topic-centered approach”, this type of sampling is
beneficial to “obtain unbiased information to be used in planning or revising teaching strategies,
activities and materials” (p. 216). Alongside with the ABC record for each event, there would be
more information obtained on the pattern of the child’s challenging behaviors.
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LAB 6 REPORT: TALLY EVENT SAMPLING
DATA SUMMARY
TABLE 1 Tally Event Sampling on Challenging Behaviors

Strike (push, hit, or kick)

Refuse to comply with

Withdraw from social

Yell/scream at others
Take toy from other

Throw toy or other

Strike (hit or kick)
object or structure

interaction/peers

Other acting out

Refuse to share

Other behavior
peer or teacher
Cry/Whimper

behavior
teacher
object
8 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Child J
Time:
11.30-12.30

3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Child N
Time:
11.30-12.30

Difference #
5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

As it was nap time, it was feeding time for both Child J and Child N. From the ABC
record, Child J cried every time as the teacher tried to feed him 5 times while Child N did not cry
at all during feeding time. Also, Child J pushed the teacher once when she tried to feed the bottle
for the fifth time. During play time for both children, both children cried 3 times.

SUMMARY & INTEPRETATION

From an hour of observation, it appears that Child J shows more challenging behaviors
comparing with Child N’s. Considering that Child J is the youngest one in the classroom, his age
factor might play a role on his developing self-regulatory skill. According to the “MSU
Children’s Curriculum Infant & Toddler,” all ages should be able to self-soothe such as sucking
thumb or pacifier (p. 5). Meanwhile, for Child N, who is 2 months older than Child J, it appears
that she has developed a self-soothing system for her own. This can be seen when Child N cried
and the teacher was not able to come to her at an instant. While she was crying, she was able to
gnaw on the toy that she was holding and stop crying. As for Child J, during feeding time, his
cries would last for several minutes in the teacher’s arms. Afterward, he would calm down and
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started to cry again when he was given the bottle again (refer to Appendix I). However, during
play time, he was able to stop crying at an instant when a teacher came and played with him.
Also, it appears that the frequency of his crying and Child N’s crying during play time is the
same. From this observation, it would seem that it Child J relies heavily on teacher’s comfort in
regulating his emotions and more follow-up will be presented in the section below.
Since I observed the children during nap time, I was not able to obtain a high amount of
data. Some children were trying to be put to sleep and other children were already sleeping in
their own cribs. On the other hand, the challenging behavior that Child J showed may have been
caused by his tiredness. This can be seen when he rubbed his face on the teacher’s shoulder
(refer to Appendix I). As the lights were off at that time and white noise was turned on, that
might have made Child J to be sleepy. Also, from listening to the conversation between the
teachers in the classroom, Child J has been having trouble in drinking his bottle because he just
started school 2 months ago. As his routine is still changing, the teachers have been trying to find
different ways to encourage Child J to drink his bottle. This can be shown from the repetitive
trials of feeding Child J by changing his postures or positions. Compare to Child N, who just
started 1 month ago, she was able to finish all of her milk at an instant. Again, their age might
play a factor in their different ways of adapting and the skill of “adapt[ing] to and cop[ing] with
routine events associated with coming to the early learning environment” is still being developed
by Child J (MSU Children’s Curriculum Infant & Toddler, p. 4). From looking at their feeding
routine, it shows that the cause of Child J’s behavioral problems may have been caused by his
tiredness from being hungry and the classroom ambiance.

FOLLOW-UP & RECOMMENDATION

From the interpretation above, it seems that Child J’s feeding routine is still developing.
In order to know more information regarding his feeding routine, the head teacher can ask Child
J’s parents for information regarding his feeding routine. If he is breast-fed at home, the head
teacher can ask for the parents to change the size of the bottle nipple. If not, the head teacher
would need to keep a constant look-out on Child J’s behavioral. Aside from that, teachers can
encourage Child J to mouth some teething toys as he might be at that age of teething, in which
this method might help Child J to self-regulate. In regard with his nap routines, the head teacher
can ask for more information about Child J’s nap routine since he did not sleep while he seemed
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LAB 6 REPORT: TALLY EVENT SAMPLING

tired. I think teachers should keep on trying different teaching strategies to scaffold Child J in
adapting to the routines at school in order to explore and learn optimally.

REFLECTION
From doing this assignment, I have understood and able to utilize variety of assessments
in order to come up with a follow-up on a child’s challenging behaviors in a classroom setting.
Not only I have used tally event sampling on one topic, the ABC observation has enriched my
learning on using different kinds of assessment at one time. Aside from using the obtained
information regarding the child, I have understood that it should be used to inform the teaching
strategies that should be modified for the child’s needs. In writing this report, it has enabled me
to practice in communicating assessment results to professionals and parent/family members.

REFERENCES
MSU CDL Family Handbook.

Nicolson, S. & Shipstead, S.G. (1994). Chapter 10, Observing Children and Teachers at Work

by Using Tally Event Sampling. Through the looking glass: Observations in the early

childhood classroom. NY: Merrill.

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LAB 6 REPORT: TALLY EVENT SAMPLING

APPENDIX I
TALLY EVENT SAMPLING OBSERVATION SHEET: CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS
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LAB 6 REPORT: TALLY EVENT SAMPLING