Classroom Observation With Psychological Application Theories, Essay Example

On October 16, 2009 at 10 o’clock in the morning, I observed a female student by the name of Sarah. The observation took place in a first grade classroom at PS 212. The teacher’s name was Mrs. Murray. The child, Sarah, was seated on the blue square on the mat during reading time. The classroom was divided into four groups of five students each. In total there were twenty children including 9 boys and 11 girls. The students were very diverse in cultures and found no complication mixing with each other. They were full of love and energy.

There was 1 small board to write on, one calendar, books on shelves around the room, two computers on the right side of the room and one big clothes closet to the left of the room. The teacher’s desk was located in the front of the class containing a lot of papers piled on it. I further noticed one reading projector in the back of the classroom. The garbage cans were located by the entrance of the door. The classroom decorations consisted of several posters with educational information along containing rules and regulations for the students to follow.

When I came entered the classroom initially the students were singing their ritual good morning song. The format of the song was for each student to sing one another’s name.

“Where is Sarah? Where is Sarah?” Then she replied here “I’m, here I’m here”, Then they all reply in song, “It’s so nice to see you. We are happy to be here with you. Good morning.” The students continued on with this song until they finished calling the student body’s name. Once they were finished with that, they began the next activity which was reading a Thanksgiving story with the teacher. They seemed to be very excited about everything going on in the story and asked a lot of questions. Afterwards they worked independently on an assignment that correlated to the story that was previously read. The teacher asked them to write a few sentences on their favourite part of the story. After they wrote their sentences they were asked to draw a picture of the scene that they described.

While looking around I noticed that they possessed great imaginations and comprehended what they were doing. Sometimes they had to be reminded to stay on task and be quiet.  When I glanced over at Sarah she was chatting with a friend beside her. The two kids looked happy, but then I noticed that their happy conversation began to turn into a disagreement. When the teacher walked over to see what the problem was, Sarah explained to her that her friend had called her picture ugly. She went further to explain she was very upset about the derogatory comment.  Then she asked the teacher what she thought about her picture? The teacher smiled then turned around with no answer.  Sarah was in tears. It was at this moment I realized that Sarah was a very sensitive child. The teacher finally arranged for Sarah to calm down and the class continued working.

As the morning continued the teacher instructed the class on a new activity. I noticed the students seemed to be moving around a lot. Sarah on the other hand was holding her head as if she was sick and she did not open her notebook to write the new words as the other students were doing. She was facing opposite direction of where the teacher was and she kept touching her eyes. The other children were engaged in the activity the teacher presented but Sarah was doing her own thing. Nevertheless she did not interrupt the students sitting next to her. She did not talk throughout the period I observed her. She played with her blocks, she closed her book and she stared out the window. She was very emotionally distant and distracted.

At the end of class I went over to Sarah’s teacher to have my sheet signed. I asked the teacher why she smiled and walked away when Sarah asked her if her picture was ugly? Her answer was, “She’s just a cry baby.”

Sarah appears to be anti-social based and maladjusted on Erikson’s view personal and social development. Erikson’s theory of identity development proposes that a child’s personality and sense of identity are strongly influenced by his or her active efforts to master the psychological and social conflicts of everyday life. This relates to Sarah because she has issues with accepting rejection. She probably grew up in a dysfunctional home and her ego was not developed in a safe and functional manner. A child will not learn proper coping mechanisms. They can be learned later in life but the problem is that psychological stages build upon the previous stage and should be resolved before moving onto the next stage. Sarah is unable to cope and the way her teacher handles her situation is not conducive to helping her issues.

On October 23, 2009 at 10 o’clock in the morning, I observed the same student Sarah. This morning she seems to be an energetic and active child. She moves around the classroom a lot, finding enjoyment in exploring her environment. Up to now, she still has her hesitations when it comes to joining her classmates in group exercises (spelling words). As regards to fine motor activities, she is still more inclined to engage in manipulative play such as building structures out of blocks, and completing 5 to 10 piece puzzles. She still requires a great deal of encouragement and prodding during paper and pencils assignments. Also she still remains sensitive to certain situations, such as calling her picture ugly.

On October 30, 2009 at 10 o’clock in the morning, Sarah is becoming more and more comfortable with other children. She is beginning to engage in simple conversations and sometimes, even greets familiar people with a Hi or Hello. She is also observed seeking the acceptance of her classmates. Sometimes, she is seen exhibiting early signs of cooperative play- she shares her toys when encouraged. However, there are still instances when she disregards teacher’s directions and insists on what she wants.  This usually happens during worksheet time as she prefers to play rather than accomplish her table work. She needs to be urged and promised that she can play for as long as she completes her assigned task.

According to Erikson’s developmental theory, a child of thee to six years faces initiative vs. guilt or doubt stage. Children’s repeated efforts to satisfy some of their own needs; which include drawing her picture (Philips & Barbara, 2008) are exhibited through Sarah’s efforts in the classroom. During this period, children continually experience maturing motor and language skills permitting them to be increasingly aggressive and vigorous. It is very fascinating indeed to realize that most of the things children go through in their developmental stages are actually a predestined life cycle. Being in class to learn the developmental theories and actually experiencing them in real life gives more insight into deeper research and expansion on these theories.

On the basis of Bandura’s theories reciprocal determinism states that a child will learn most productively by either watching another child or watching another adult complete a project or behaviour. Sarah was able to complete her projects while watching others even though her self-esteem was lower than some of the other children in the classroom environment. Attention, memory and motivation are all encompassed together with this theory as seen by Sarah’s and the other children in the classroom whilst completing projects and reading.

Slavin, educator has proven that children accomplish more in a structured and collaborative learning environment. An example of Slavin’s theories and works are present whilst having the children read in a group or having them do group work for projects and asking them for feedback on each others projects. The important thing with feedback is to keep it positive and the way to accomplish this is to foretell the students that each one is to give ‘one positive feedback’ to someone about their project and to keep any negative experiences they may have to themselves.

Works Cited

Collaborative Learning (2009) Retrieved December 10, 2009 from, http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/cooperative_learning/slavin/

Harder, A. (2002) The Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson Retrieved December 10, 2009 from, http://www.learningplaceonline.com/stages/organize/Erikson.htm

Boeree, C. (1998) Albert Bandura Retrieved December 10, 2009 from, http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/bandura.html