Kevin Williamson C&I 210: Section 5 November 27, 2010 Observation 1 2 Date 10/06/2011 10/11/2011 Time 2:24pm-3:00pm 10:15am12:00pm

12:40pm1:35pm 10:40am11:10am 9:00am-9:55am 10:00am10:55am 11:00am11:55am 10:00am11:20am 10:00am10:40am Grade Level 8th 7th Teachers Name Unknown (Spanish) Substitute (Language Arts) Mr. Adams Student Teacher Unknown (Spanish) Unknown (Debate) Unknown (Writing) Unknown (All subjects) Unknown (Librarian)

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10/11/2011 10/13/2011 10/20/2011 10/20/2011 10/20/2011 10/21/2011 10/25/2011

5th 2nd 11th-12th 11th-12th 10th 1st 4th

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Observation Notes Observation Number Date Time Grade Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

October 6th, 2011 2:24pm-3:00pm 8th Grade Unknown (Spanish) Physical 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. Cognitive Social Emotional

Examples of Student Development or Behavior Observation Number Date Time Grade Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept

Zone of Proximal Development Social Interaction Repetition and Memory Self-Control Questions and teacher assistance with quiz Teacher discussion with class Students repeat Spanish heard; engrains the material. Teacher counts down from 3 to get quiet. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

October 11th, 2011 10:15am-12:00pm 7th Grade Unknown Substitute : (Language Arts) Physical 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Cognitive Social Emotional

Social Cognition Theory of Mind Media Comprehension and Literacy Obesity Growth

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Examples of Student Development or Behavior

1. Students relate issues in the narrative with their own lives. 2. Students demonstrate that they see where others are coming from. Empathy. 3. Students learn by following the SMART board and have email. 4. Students write and read narratives and learn vocabulary. 5. One girl was noticeably obese. 6. Everyone was at different heights and some had cracked voices. This signifies that everybody was going through puberty. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Observation Number Date Time Grade Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept

October 11th, 2011 12:40pm-1:35pm 5th Grade Mr. Adams (Social Studies) Physical 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1. 2. 3. Cognitive Social Emotional

Examples of Student Development or Behavior

Media Technology Accommodations Self-Efficacy Ethnic and Gender Identity Literacy Humor Effective Discipline Peer Values Organizing thoughts: Memory Use of SMART board to display geography and draw. A blind girl used a braille typewriter and had an aide. Students who want to prove they are right to the teacher and participate. 4. The teacher called on more boys than girls, and more whites than other races in the classroom. Valuing gender and ethnicity would promote a balanced lesson, except, the exact opposite happened. 5. Students were allowed to read text aloud. 6. Extreme use of sarcasm used by the teacher. It is understood by students.

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7. Teacher calls out those who are late to class. Teacher also answers in questions when asked for help. 8. Students were allowed to call on each other during the class activity. 9. Able to remember countries and cities on a world map. Observation Number Date Time Grade Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

October 13th, 2011 10:40-11:10 2nd Student Teacher (Unknown, Music) Physical Cognitive Social Emotional

Examples of Student Development or Behavior

1. Fine Motor Development 2. Behaviorism- Conditioning 3. Information Processing 4. Rehearsal-Memory 5. Personality-The Desire to Learn 6. Discipline 7. Emotional Regulation 8. Humor 9. Prosocial Behavior 10. Antisocial Behavior 1. Students demonstrate dancing, movement, and acting. 2. Playing a form of musical chairs, but without chairs. 3. Attentiveness to the teacher 4. Repetition of song, with added verses later on. 5. One student seemed very uninterested in the activities at first, but eventually warmed up to it, and finally backed away. 6. Disruptive students were moved to the back row, away from the teacher. 7. A few students were overdramatic with enactments, and some lacked any emotional involvement. 8. During the muffin rhyme, the teacher deliberately reads a line wrong (humorously) so the class corrects him engagingly. 9. Encouraging others to join in. 10. Lack of participation

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Observation Number Date Time Grade Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept

October 20th, 2011 9:00-9:55 11th-12th Unknown (Spanish) Physical 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Cognitive Social Emotional

Examples of Student Development or Behavior

Media Self-Control Language Physical Health Inhibitory Control Long-term Memory Environment Each student has his/her own laptop to use. SMART board is used to correct homework and teach new concepts. While the laptops are for educational purposes, some are distracted and visit other websites. Learning Spanish and applying it. Some students appeared tired. Using Spanish to respond by decoding words. Learning Spanish in general. Colorful room with projects hanging. Gives an inviting feeling along with the teachers friendly demeanor.

Observation Number Date Time Grade

October 20th, 2011 10:00am-10:55am 11th-12th

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Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept

Unknown (Debate) Physical 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Cognitive Social Emotional

Examples of Student Development or Behavior

Inhibitory Control Theory of Mind At-risk Students Personality Piaget: Formal Operational Stage Physical Health Respond intelligently by picking out the correct words. Understand how others think and why their conclusions are the way they are. The essence of debate. Teacher calls on the silent ones to keep them reeled in. Teacher has movie posters around the room. Creates a welcoming environment. I like movies! Students are capable of constructing abstract ideas and critical thinking. Much more mature adolescents. Tall and figured students. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Observation Number Date Time Grade Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept

October 20th 2011 11:00am-11:55am 10th Unknown (Literature Comp) Physical Cognitive Social Emotional

1. Conditioning-Positive Reinforcement 2. Media 3. Peers 4. Television-Influence 5. Motivation 6. Gender Identity 7. Literacy 8. Moral Judgment 9. Self-Control 10. Discipline

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Examples of Student Development or Behavior

1. If students are productive, they may listen to music. 2. Computers are used in the classroom, as well as portable ones issued to each student. 3. Class is divided into cliques. 4. Everything a certain distracted group talked about was Jersey Shore and an outside movie in another classroom. Modeling the behavior was observed. 5. Many had trouble getting started on their short stories. 6. One boy was acting feminine and made fun of for it. 7. Overall writing ability. 8. Instigators attempt to distract others. Many students fended them off. 9. Focus on work or not? 10. There is not any discipline, however in high school; the real punishment is the grade.

Observation Number Date Time Grade Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept

October 21st, 2011 10:00am-11:20am 1st Grade Unknown (All Subjects) Physical Cognitive Social Emotional

1. Piaget: Cognition-Preoperational Stage 2. Vygotsky: Speech 3. School Bonding 4. Self-Control 5. Friendships 6. Play 7. Language Development 8. Social competence 9. Organization 10. Behaviorism- Conditioning

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Examples of Student Development or Behavior

1. Students learned patterns with simple math. 2. Many students are outspoken, even when whispering. 3. Teacher creates a welcoming environment. Student feels invited. 4. Students sit in chairs and are quiet when signaled to do so with the bell. 5. Friendships seemed universal, and not clouded by judgment. They show no signs of prejudice in race, although a few in gender. 6. Recess 7. Broken English is sometimes used. 8. Students obey rules and authority 9. The teacher has bins for everything and the students have folders. 10. The bell system for switching tasks.

Observation Number Date Time Grade Teachers Name Developmental Domain Theory/Concept

October 25th 2011 10:00am-10:40am 4th Grade Librarian (Library) Physical 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. 2. Cognitive Social Emotional

Examples of Student Development or Behavior

Self-control Social Cognition Memory Literacy Empathy Information Processing Sitting still and interjecting predictions. Students relate issues in the story with their own lives, as well as the worlds current and recent events. 3. Remember important details of text and showing comprehension. 4. Check out long chapter books 5. Appear to feel the main characters emotions as well as feel sympathy as well.

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6. Store information with memory and showing attentiveness.

Analysis and Application Introduction

For C&I 210, I observed a fair range of grade levels. I was particularly more interested in observing the higher levels in accordance with my major, high school Spanish education. Each level exhibited many different traits which only reinforce my decision to teach at my desired level. This write-up will be divided into three different parts: elementary, middle, and high school education. In each section, I will explain not only my interpretations of the classes, but how the theories and concepts of child development I have learned come into play. I will also be discussing the overall experience, mentioning mutual qualities shared as well as the differences. Elementary Education- (Grades 1, 2, 4, 5) Most noticeably in the first stage were the first graders I observed. Each of them seemed rambunctious at first glance and very adventurous, yet task-oriented. The teacher had a bell system that would tell them it was time to switch to either reading or writing. This most closely relates to operant conditioning because while switching tasks is the effect, it is ultimately voluntary. The reinforcement applied here would be the teachers authority. Discipline was applied a few times, including time-outs in a corner. One trait I personally admire about this grade level is that there is not any bias. If it exists, it is only in a few places, such as gender, but not race. Everyone seems to work

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and play together cooperatively when prompted. One interesting aspect of this class was that we also went outside for a quick recess. I am convinced that play is a vital part at this age because it gives them a chance to express themselves outside of the classroom. During a game of kickball, morality issues arose when there was a dispute on whether someone scored or not. Overall, I applaud the teacher for her patience with the students. Many needed help with simple tasks such as tying shoes and she tended to them. I would not have the same level of tolerance she exhibited, especially during the math portions, because most are too outspoken and easily distracted from the main idea. Moving up the grade ladder, let us transition to the second grade. In this area, I observed a quick half an hour of music class. One boy in particular kept my attention practically the entire time I observed. He did not appear to want to dance or say the rhymes on the board. However, once other students encouraged him, he started to join in. Regardless of the prosocial behavior on the students part, he quickly became uninterested after a while and a few others followed. This is a direct link to antisocial behavior. It takes away involvement in activities, and drags others down with it. After a brief time-out disciplined by the teacher, he finally warmed up to the fun activity at the end. Everyone formed a circle and hopped around, playing a game similar to musical chairs. I think that it is his learning style that motivates him, especially being at the second grade. Echo-learning rhymes definitely did not have the same effect as bodily kinesthetic learning. The fourth grades cognitive development was the most prominent thing I noticed as we all listened to the librarian read aloud. Using memory, most were able to recall

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where the story left off, and could explain it clearly to the rest of the class. While the story was being read, there were only a few that were actually fidgeting. This is showing that self-control improves as children get older. Occasionally, the reader would pause and ask questions such as what do you think will happen next? and do you know what a tsunami is?. Questions like these allowed students to make predictions about future events, as well as relate the books events to their own lives and the world as well. I also hope to incorporate social cognition within my Spanish classes. Thinking critically helps students boost intelligence, and prepare them for later, more difficult challenges. Those challenges, to my surprise were literally right around the corner. The fifth grade at first glance, seemed like fourth grade had received a violent shove into serious. This teacher was strict and demanding, enforcing discipline for most everything. This was the first class I observed that being late was an issue. Students quickly learn the consequences for violating policies through referrals, detentions, as well as being called out by the teacher. Again, this can have a detrimental effect on motivation. Speaking of motivation, students were allowed to call on each other to answer questions. This can go in the wrong direction if not controlled, which is what happened here. The student who had the floor only called on boys; that is until the teacher intervened. The class material being studied, geography requires quite a bit of memorization. To be honest, I was stunned that at the age of 10, kids have the ability to commit locations to memory. Granted, I will run into a bit more of an obstacle due to the synapses having been already pruned at a later age. Middle School- (Grades 7, 8)

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Seventh grade was a fascinating year to observe. Early signs of puberty, including growth, voice change, and maturity, were present in almost everyone in the room. As they go through puberty, its important we focus on their biological models. According to Bronfenbrenner, It is influenced by virtually everyone. Parents do their part, of course, but as students grow, they start to become influenced by their peers, media, and all that is encompassed in their macrosystems. Additionally, I noticed advanced writing skills when the teacher presented an example. At the time, they were learning not only about how to write narratives, but how to make them interesting by embedding inferences. Near-fluent literacy is visible here, especially with the weekly vocabulary. Furthermore, not only is the class growing up, but the media is evolving with them. Most kids at this age have a cell phone and can text. But I was shocked when I heard email was used at this age. Not to mention the SMART board in the classroom. In relation to my future class, I will say right now that I feel that I will not make any use of the SMART board. Conversation, workbooks, and chalk were all of the tools I need. It actually is a bit on the scary side seeing all of this technology integrated. The culture shock continues with eighth grade, as it was the first class I observed. Media consisted of an overhead, which I considered normal at the time and Nooks in class. I could not believe kids had those devices in class, but looking back, it is understandable due to the educational value. As far as behavior is concerned, this particular class was a tad more rowdy. The teacher still used a countdown to quiet rule in compliance with self-control. Looking back, it literally sounds as if I were in a first grade class all over again. Peer-pressure is blatantly obvious here because the kids instigate each other to throw things around, cheat, pass notes, and talk. The quiz that

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was given felt like a race to a certain degree because of the first one done principle. For an introductory Spanish class, it was very basic in terms of vocabulary. Yet again we see memorization of terms, which is not a hard thing to do at that age, but it seemed like there were not any pneumonics to make it half-way engaging. That is how I hope to differ from what I saw there. I hope to bring in my own zest to keep the class lively. Humor could not hurt either, which was what this class also lacked, along with discipline. High School-(Grades 10, 11, and 12) Being a workday, the tenth grade literature computer class gave me a chance to walk around and observe kids in action. One example of positive reinforcement I observed was music. If students were productive, they were allowed to listen to it. Of course, there is always one group that cannot seem to get their act together. That group of kids was talking about television the entire time, even acting out suggestive scenes. As obnoxious as they were, they tried instigating others to join in. Fortunately, a select few had self-control and internalization. I particularly liked the way discipline was handled in this classroom. It was not necessarily a punishment, but more of a consequence. Not doing the work lands a zero. And that seems like an effective dogma to adopt. Another thing that surprised me was that every student had an individual laptop to take home. What is even more amazing is that it was supplied through the school. I never had access to this kind of media outside of a computer lab growing up. Who knows if I will use it in my Spanish lessons? Schools are changing rapidly and I am fortunate to have come to grasp with it now. I will say right now that I admired the following teacher and her class. It is exactly what I want to do. The entire class was taught in Spanish, the class was mature (for the

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most part) and in either 11th or 12th grade, and the classroom is well-stocked and decorated. Not only were the students talking to the teacher in Spanish, they were chatting to each other in Spanish, using the vocabulary they had just learned. Occasionally, the teacher would ask a random question to a student in Spanish and using inhibitory control and language skills, they are able to respond. I could just sense the fulfillment she must feel every day as her kids understand the material. That is exactly what I am aiming for one day; self-actualization through children. Moving on to debate, this class was essentially the same as the Spanish class! Students used inhibitory control to gather their thoughts and respond intelligently. Piagets formal operational stage lets students think outside the box and think critically about their debate topics. The teacher had a beaming personality that just immersed everyone else in the discussion. As for those who were not willingly involved, he outright called on them. Any teacher should be concerned for a student that does not show participation. After all, it could be any situation. I hope to follow his example and keep the at-risk students engaged in my lesson. And imagine! A class without media! This class is proof that classes can be conducted without it and still be just as entertaining. Across different Grade Levels Reminiscing after going through my notes about the different kinds of students I observed, I have to thank my teacher, Dr. Toledo. Without these observations, being organized the way they are, I do not think I could have pointed out so many differences between the ages. For instance, height was variably the most changing thing. The first graders barely stood up to my waist, while seventh graders stood a few inches below me. That was where I noticed a significant growth spurt and bodily maturity. Cognitively

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and emotionally, I can say that most of the theorists are right when it comes to development of the mind. I saw many similarities between Piaget and Vygotsky such as speech and social interaction. Behaviorists mainly played a role in the earlier grades when it came to the bell trigger for quiet time. However, as I mentioned, conditioning still happens at the upper grades with homework and discipline. In my journey in becoming a teacher, I will make use of the methods and apply them accordingly, now aware of the many different variables that go into a classroom.

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Bibliography Bergin, C.C. & Bergin D.A. (2012). Child and Adolescent Development for Educators. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning