A Brief Note On The Old Town Recreational Center

It was fascinating working with four (4) year old children, during this stage of Initiative vs. Guilt, they involve mostly in interacting with other children at school. This stage provides them with the opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills through initiating activities.

In this case study, first year third grade teacher, Maggie Lindberg, is having trouble controlling her class. The children are well-behaved during their art period. However, when Ms. Lindberg is in charge, they are highly uncontrollable. They talk when they are not supposed to talk and they don’t listen to anything that Maggie says. There’s supposed to be a nature walk/field trip and Ms. Lindberg’s class has yet to complete the task.

I observed a classroom of four-year-old students who are enrolled at the Child Development Center on the George Mason University campus. This observation lasted about fifteen minutes with a total of twelve students in the classroom. At the time of my observation the students were engaging in free playtime where they are allowed to play games, make crafts, and interact with their fellow classmates. I was seated in the corner of the classroom where the children could not easily see me or get distracted by me. I stayed seated throughout the whole observation so the students would not be affected by my presence. Many different activities were happening at the same time, but a couple standout situations reminded me of many subject areas we

In the toddler classroom, the children interacted with each other, however many of them were more interested in playing and exploring on their own. The children enjoyed free play at learning centers, story time, and outside play during my observation. The toddlers preferred parallel play in which the children used similar toys in similar ways, but did not interact with each other. For example, when one child began playing with the kitchen toys in the dramatic play center, soon all of the children began playing with the available plastic food items. However, the children were more interested in showing the teachers what they were doing and

In this stage, children enter school, and their teacher becomes an important figure in their lives. During this stage, the child’s peer group, such as their classmates, becomes much more significant, and the child begins to feel the need to win approval by displaying typical abilities that society constructs. If the child is encouraged in their initiative attempts, they develop a stronger sense of confidence in their ability to achieve set goals, but if the child is unable to develop the set skill, they begin to feel inferior.

Before my child study, I had a feeling that advanced students were not being adequately challenged at my school; however, I completely underestimated the degree of boredom these students experience. It was very eye-opening to observe how quickly Kayson completed his classwork and then the amount of time he spent engaged in non-academic activities. Kayson often spent as much of 20 minutes engaged in non-academic conversations and “free drawing” because he completed his work so much quicker than the other students in the classroom. Any behavioral issues that Kayson had were attributed to his lack of boredom in the classroom. When he was scolded for talking with other students during work time, it was usually due to the fact that he finished early and did not have anything else to do.

This is a 1st grade class made up of 12 first grade students. There are 7 Girls and 5 Boys. There is 1 male student with general academic IEP that covers all subjects as well as 1 male and 1 female student that have speech IEPs. The classroom is arranged in table seating with a large carpeted area in the front of the classroom for group learning. This lesson will be taught in a group setting at the carpet.

Initiative Versus Guilt (Purpose) Erikson believes that this third psychosocial crisis occurs during what he calls the “play age,” or the later preschool years .During it, the healthily developing child learns: (1) to imagine, to broaden his skills through active play of all sorts, including fantasy (2) to cooperate with others (3) to lead as well as to follow. Immobilized by guilt, he is: (1) fearful (2) hangs on the fringes of groups (3) continues to depend unduly on adults and (4) is restricted both in the development of play skills and in imagination.

The third grade class contained 30 students, some in which were ELL’s. The ELL students get pulled out at various times throughout the day. The classroom set up is arranged in 5 different tables that contain a cluster of about 6 to 5 students each. The students are placed at random but, some are placed far from students that they may not work as well together. Throughout the classroom, student’s work is up for display, inside and outside the classroom. Different students are given different jobs that they are responsible for each day. This allows the students to be active learners and hands on. The school makes each class have at least one

Another indoor environment that supports children’s learning and agency is having a craft area set up with different colors and materials and resources giving the children choice and decisions and variety and giving them independence. The area will provide scissors, glue, paper, cardboard, feathers, buttons, beads, and plenty more sensory items. This area will be well organized so that children can select the particular resources and activites that they would like to involve themselves in, once again giving the child agency. This is sending the message to the children that we trust them with their decision and the materials they may chose and when they choose them. Trust is something educators and children need to build with each other in

One of the most important things that we need to remember as middle level teachers, is that every young adolescent is different, and because of those differences, we need to make sure that our lessons and activities reflect this aspect of young adolescents. The middle school age student is extremely complex. On one hand, they don’t fit into the elementary age of little kids, yet aren’t quite as mature as high school aged students. At this age, it is imperative to create lessons that are unique and captivating. Often the biggest problem about teaching middle school aged children is that they need motivation to do their work. In high school, students are worried about not doing well enough to get into college, while in elementary school their

Jack is a six-year-old Kindergartener at Duval Elementary School and he attends Kids Count every day after school. Jack is in his middle childhood period of development. During middle childhood, children are able to access new environments and they experience pressures that present them with significant developmental challenges (Collins, 1984). Danielle was able to watch as Jack had new experiences that posed him with some of these developmental challenges. For example, Danielle observed some of Jack’s cognitive developmental challenges when she helped him with his homework. There was a constant distraction and social pressure to be involved in what the other children were doing, which made it difficult for Jack to stay focused on homework.

I observed 3 children of high activity (A, B, C), 4 children of low activity (D, E, F, G) and one was somewhere in between (H). All A, B, C are often seen playing in a group, running around a lot and making many physical movements. They often play with games that require movements like role-playing. Even though there are not much data to measure these children’s ability to resolve conflict, but their connection with classmates largely shows their proficient communication skill. A often hugged his friend for no specific reason, and they would start playing with each other. B, when the teacher is still wondering who is not in class, already figured out and shouted the classmate’s name to the teacher. The same thing I detect in these 3 children is that they can always attract people to join their activity. They always either invite people to play with them or are surrounded by peers. This strong evidence shows that

One of the BGC staff members sees me and asks me if I could supervise the children in a nearby room. I peer inside, and see several clusters of boys. A few of them are hard at work completing their assignments. I see more children doing the exact opposite. I willingly agree to oversee the room for the duration of my time-period. The staff member tells me “Make sure they’re doing their assignments, and keep an eye out for the one who is best behaved.” She vocalizes to the children “Because that person will get a special prize!” Once inside the room, I take my seat in the center of the room. I introduce myself to children who look at me. The only girls in the room are two little ones, around the age of 7, chatting quietly to each other in the corner. In comparison, the boys were more boisterous in their activities. Two boys, in particular, were having a quarrel with each other. One of them has a Dr. Pepper in their hand, while the other has an unopened granola bar. Granola bar boy tells me “I told him he could have a few sips, and he nearly drank the whole thing!” The other boy replied, “I only had a few sips, but now he took my granola bar and won’t give it back.” It was clear they did not know how to come to a logical consensus, to which both of them would benefit. I tell them, “It’s very simple, just trade back your things at the same time. If one of you tries anything sneaky, then both the soda and the granola bar will belong to me.” The children look at each other, and then hastily swap their items. I have the natural disposition to lean back in my chair while im sitting. Some children, consciously or unconsciously, picked up on this and emulated what I was doing. Soon after, a BGC staff member walked in, and reprimanded the children for what they were doing to the chairs. I say to her, “I do that to chairs all of the time, and I didn’t know it wasn’t allowed here.” “I guess I’m a bad

The behaviors that concerned the team most during this case study included; off-task behavior, incomplete assignments, and lack of participation. Off- task behavior was defined by the team as pencil tapping and staring off into space. This behavior appeared several times during group work and class lectures and makes it difficult for Mr. Brecht and his assistance to redirect Samantha’s attention. Failure to complete work and follow the assignment directions was another concern the team had because it prevents Samantha from achieving her full potential. This behavior was define as not completing assignments within the given time frame and responding with incorrect answers. The team noticed that this behavior frequently occurred as a result to not following the directions given during class discussions. Lastly, the team was concerned with Samantha’s lack of participation. This behavior was defined as giving vague responses when called on and not raising her hand during class activities. For this case study, I focus on decreasing off-task behavior, as the Mr. Brecht believes that this behavior is the root to the rest of Samantha’s problems. By decreasing the off-task behavior Samantha will benefit academically because it will allow additional time for more productive work to be done. In addition to academic gains, decreasing this behavior would also benefit Samantha socially because it will allow her time to participate and interact with peers during