Group Observation Paper

In this paper, I discuss my experience with observing a group counseling session with the purpose of evaluating it in terms of how it is set up, how it is run, interventions used, culturally sensitivity, and the contribution toward my professional development as a social worker. The group setting plays a critical role in social work outside of the individual session and can be largely beneficial for clients in the forms of therapy, counseling, self-help, and support. By attempting to better understand group interventions, I will learn how to apply this strategy in aiding clients for whom this method is appropriate by increasing their social supports.

In this group there were no disruptive members. I filled the role of an observer, I offered feedback at the end of the session. The counselor filled the role of standard setter. There was an encourager, a harmonizer, an expediter, and a follower.

The researchers goal was to know if the effects of small-group reading interventions implemented positive behavior in support model, on elementary students that show any emotional and behavior disorders or that do not show any emotional and behavior disorders. The following are the research questions they addressed: (a) the differences in reading instruction in a general classroom for students at risk and to compare schools that combine behavior/reading risk. (b) differential effects with small-group instruction. (c) how do any of the observable differences translate to the outcome of students’ growth in reading.

I decided for my social observation the mall would be a good place to start. I came there on a Friday evening when there should be plenty of people to watch. I also sat in the Barnes and Noble café after that to observe. I expected to see a lot of people shopping and conversing. A few things did stand out to me within the few hours I was there. Some things I didn’t expect to see. We are expected to behave a certain way in public determined by our culture as to what is acceptable. Some people stay well within the lines while some might stray outside the norms but never too far typically. Usually the ones to travel to the extremes are adolescents and teenagers. This is what I observed.

Over the past few weeks, I have been observing an all-girl organization by the name of EAGER Inc. I observed middle-school aged girls in Baltimore City Charter Schools. The girls have been working together for about one to two years. They interact with one another on a daily basis, and sometimes after school for programs. The groups needs came to the agency's attention through the principal of the school who noticed that the girls needed behavioral assistance. This group of girls need mentors and the appropriate guidance that will help them transform into successful young women and people who can help keep them out of trouble. The group barely got along with each other, and they always bumped heads during the sessions. The girls realized that

present. Most come for the free pizza. It sounds funny, but it is true. I pay attention

I am currently on our school-wide data team that uses data to find trends within our school population. One trend that became readily apparent to our team this year was that our move-in students were underperforming and that there were large gaps in their data due to the late entry into our building. Therefore, I wanted to delve deeper into this idea of mobility and how it impacts test results. I specifically wanted to look at this across the three middle schools in my district, Gahanna Jefferson Public Schools, because the three districts differ in student populations. I was not surprised by the results but rather reaffirmed in my thinking. I first wanted to see if certain schools would have higher mobility rates than others so I did a comparison of three years to see the percentage of students who were in the

group rules, all patients and therapists pledged their confidentiality, and the patients checked-in with their names, number of days sober, two feelings, and respond to a check-in question. The student planned the research and evidence based curriculum for all sessions they participated in.  The groups incorporated lecture, discussion, demonstration and experimental learning. The student integrated multiple teaching methods into sessions to maintain attention and meet the needs of patients with various learning styles. The sessions typically incorporated a writing exercise, packets for the patients, as well as small and large group discussions. The patients explored their addiction, co-occurring disorders, and identified maladaptive thinking

During the interview on September 12th, the student discussed times and dates in which she would volunteer and discussed activities she would perform. It was expected that the student would help paint rocks for a luncheon to thank the sponsors who helped the Hurricane Matthew survivors that is coming up next month. The student was told how to dress when she comes in for her hours and chose to come in two Monday’s from 12p.m. to 3p.m. as well as Tuesday and Thursday from 1p.m. to 4p.m.

My small group activity will be based off the observations of the children in the Star room. Adjustments will be made if need to ensure optimal development of all the preschoolers. I will incorporate a spider theme, as the children are very interested in insects and because Halloween is coming up very soon. This will help keep the children motivated to participate in the small group activity.

Groups talk about goals in different ways, using different words. Some groups have major and minor goals or meta- and micro-goals; others divide goals into mission, purpose or goal, and objectives, while other groups talk about aims and expectations. A group is strengthened to the extent it has clear goals and all members know what their roles are in helping to achieve them (Dimock and Kass, 2008, p.62-63). My placement is currently in the Mental Health field and as mental health workers we have groups that are organized to promote to mental health of all and to support the resilience and recovery of people experiencing mental illness.

For my observation I choose to watch a club I am part of. The club is the Student Gamers Association, I am the secretary of the club. The absolute size club is currently 119 members, less than half show up normally. The Student Gamers Association is a normative organization. Our members join because of the common interest of video, board, and card games. The club has five officer positions the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and the event coordinator. The president holds the power of having the final say and organizing meetings. The Vice president’s job is to keep up with what other clubs are doing and promoting our club and its events. The secretary maintains attendance of the club members and fills out the forms for the room and events. The treasurer keeps track of the budget and submitting all payment request forms. The event coordinator creates at least three events in a month. The actual way the club runs is dysfunctional. Which is why I choose to observe it in hopes of making the club run more efficient. I am looking for sources of conflict. I observed the club at two separate occasions. Once during the regular club time and again at an officer meeting.

Observation: During our first group setting I started noticing subgrouping. It is almost like the group was split in half. Everyone participated but I noticed more of who hangs out with whom and you could see the subgroups in the larger group.

It was the first day of band camp, as a section leader I was filled with excitement. Fresh faces flooded each section as leaders scribbled names onto clipboards. I was the low reed section leader. Everyone was able to play at a decent level; however, one individual struggled. I pulled her aside to check up on her playing skills. Deborah explained that she struggled in junior high but was determined to improve. Marching was even more difficult because she lacked the crucial internal source of tempo. She was labeled as a “shadow” by the directors, someone who marches behind another performer but doesn’t perform at competitions. I realized she was a reflection of my freshman self: a quiet introverted individual who struggled with both aspects

In this experiment, the participants were tested on both conditions, which are congruent trials and also the incongruent trials. I used within subject experimental design to find the p-value under the assumption that the difference between the congruent and incongruent conditions are only happening due to random chance. In the simulation, I put all the data of the incongruent reading time (seconds) in the group A and all the data of the congruent reading time (seconds) in the group B. Then, I run the simulations 100,000 times as the data have been stabilized at this point. In this case, by clicking the run simulations button, it means that the pairs of data that being generated by the same subject always go together and simply randomize which condition each data point is assigned to within a pair. I get the mean of group A is 414, the mean of group B is 210.5 and the difference in means is 203.5. The difference in means between the two groups is the test statistics in this case. Then, I determine the p-value by selecting the range based on difference of means and select range of both tails of the distribution by selecting the “outside” option. Then I adjusted the range slider to be between -203.49 and 203.49. I do this because I select the data that is just below 203.5, which is the difference of the means of these two groups all the way to the opposite. It worked because the distribution is symmetric between 0. I get the p-value of 0.0309 (3.09 divide by 100), which is