Research Based Observations

With observation, as I continued to observe students I began to focus more on student’s behaviors. I always choose a topic to speak on that I was curious. Often I would be observing and then I would notice something which immediately led to my question. On thing I struggled with was choosing which topic I wanted to research because when in the field you observe so much.

With my questions, as I proceeded I feel I began to narrow down my questions. A lot of questions would pop into my mind when observing and as time when on and I began to do different posts, I tried not to list all the questions I had because I wanted the reader to follow along with my post without confusion. In my first post, Is My Child an Introvert?  I had about 5 or 6 questions. My next post I narrowed it down to 2.

The research area was the most difficult for me. Using the database to find a specific article to coincide with my question was often hard. There was never just on article with all the answers. I learned that with my first post. I began to narrow down my search when I did the next post and specifically choose essential words that would help find the right articles.

Reflection was second favorite thing about the posts. I liked being able to voice what I though about the research I found and how it would help answer the question or if it didn’t answer the question. Sometimes the research led to more questions, but the reflection area was the space to voice that. I feel this part of the post really was open to your opinion which I felt was important to share.

If I were to do R2P Project again I would focus on using the same observation. I feel it would be could to watch what one observed change over the weeks and being able to turn what I saw into questions. I feel it would make the research a lot easier because you are focusing on the same topic for all your posts.

I am taking away the fact that I should be asking questions from things I observe. I should be able to watch something or someone and thing what is the reasoning behind this.

My advice for the next class, would be to have fun with it. Do not take it as a task more so as a journal almost. I would advise taking a journal to their placement every time they go and writing down their observations and questions right there and then. This will make it a lot easier to create a post and do research on it.

 

Observation

Little Johnny is one years old and does not speak words. Other one year olds within the class are able to say a few words such as colors or repeat words that are said them. Johnny only can says words that have a “b” sound such as ball. Johnny often says “buubba bubba” when speaking about other things. He can point to a ball and say ball but everything else is “bubba bubba”. Most of his toddler friends can say the names of the other toddlers within the group but no Johnny. To Johnny everyone’s name is “buubba”.

 

Question

This led me to think. When should one begin to worry about their child’s or student’s speech progress? What are some red flags one should take into account if there are some worries there might be delays? How do you go about addressing such concerns?

Research

With further research from Parents’ Experiences Navigating Intervention Systems for Young Children with Mild Language Delays it is safe to say a child by the age of 18 months should be able to say at least 20 words. Children at this age also should be able to put two words together such as “Baby cry” or “Big boy”. Some red flags one may look for if they are concerned their child may be delayed include: their child not doing any gestures such as waving hello or goodbye, prefers to use gestures over communication, and has trouble replicating sounds heard. Oral motor problems or hearing problems can be some possibilities of the root of the issue.

 

Reflection

With all the research and observation, it is for now safe to say Johnny does not have a speech delay. Johnny is not yet 18 months and has not reached that developmental milestone like his peers. However Johnny is close to reaching it so keeping a close eye on his behavior and how he communicates is important. Using the red flags provided, one will know what to look for if there still is a concern.

 

 

Cites:

 

 

 

 

When teaching a ten minute, hands-on lesson at Eshelman, my group noticed that the kids were involved for the entire period. There were not any behavior issues during this time, and the students appeared to be genuinely interested. These ideas were confirmed when their teachers pointed out how the students were intrigued by our lessons and therefore listening more than they normally would in class. This brought us to the question, “How can we keep elementary students engaged throughout the school day?” Were they simply behaving because it was an event and they knew they would not be able to attend if they acted out? Is it possible to keep children entertained for a full day with academic content?

    Stacia Miller and Suzanne Lindt discuss how one of the biggest methods of teaching that has led to greater student learning, long-term knowledge acquisition, and high student engagement is movement integration. When movement is integrated into the teaching and the lessons that are taught to students, they are much more likely to stay engaged and retain knowledge. A higher rate of student interest, engagement, and learning were all recorded during lessons that integrated movement. This makes complete sense when we look back on our rainbow science activity we conducted. The activity was hands on and the children were are to move the discs around in the water, working on both their gross motor skills (by moving their whole arms) and their fine motor skills (moving their fingers in the water and to color). Hands on learning generally incorporates movement and absolutely engages students more than learning that is strictly paper and pencil. Movement integration and hands on learning are the optimal ways of teaching when it comes to keeping children engaged throughout the lesson and school day.

Reflection

In conclusion, incorporating movement and hands on activities is a great way to keep students actively engaged. All students love to move around or touch thins,so finding away to incorporate that into a lease will increase the likelihood of the students understanding the lesson. It will also increase the likelihood of them wanting to learn the lesson. Hands on activities have no restrictions so any student can participate in such a lesson. As mentioned with the rainbow activity we had no behavior issues or incidents, everyone was engaged and had fun. As future educators it is important to know what methods will work with students and which ones won’t. No matter what the lesson may be involving movement or a hands on activity is definitely a good choice to see full engagement.

 

References

Miller, S. C., & Lindt, S. F. (2018). Chapter 3: Engaging Elementary Students through Movement Integration in Mathematics and Reading. Curriculum & Teaching Dialogue, 20(1/2/2018), 31–43. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=131343472&authtype=sso&custid=s3915890&site=ehost-live.

This 2nd post is about Social and Emotional Development in children around the age 4. What are some red flags when it comes to this particular age and what should one do about it?

It was a nice day at the childcare center. Everyone was in a good mood and excited to go play outside in the warm sun. All was well during outdoor play until there was a loud muffled scream that yelled “No!” As the o’s continued on the pitch got higher.

Heading over to the scene of the crime there was Jane Doe with her arms crossed and a red puffy face and another child who seemed completely content. The teacher questioned Jane Doe about what happened but neither teacher could understand what she was saying because she was so upset. Every answer seemed like a wailing whale was speaking (if your curious as to how I know what watch Finding Nemo). A few deep breaths later Jane Doe was finally understandable. Apparently the other children did not want to play with her or be her friend. The teacher kindly said “Awe sweetie this can’t be true” and she nicely called the other student back over. When the student explained what happened she looked down at her feet as if she were in trouble and said “Jane wanted to play rockstars but we were playing Avengers”. One would think a simple explanation to a Jane Doe would solve the issue, but no Jane Doe was not having it. She went and sat by herself with a large pout on her face.

After the incident my first thought was “Woah that little girl is cra-cra” and “What am I supposed to do if I get a child like that in my classroom?” “Do all 4 year olds act like this?”

My questions then lead me to my research. Searching terms such as “red flags” and “Social and Emotional Development”  Promoting Social and Emotional Development in Childhood and Early Adolescence.  

In the article the researcher speaks on red flags that one may see with the ages of 2-5 in the social Development area. Some red flags I learned that I could associate with Jane Doe include Inability to play without constant adult supervision,
Persistent refusal to comply to simple commands, and Persistent irritability, temper tantrums.

With further observation and research I hope to fine methods and taticts to help assist a student who does exhibit such red flags. If you’re still reading stay tuned for my next blog.

 

 

sources

Elias, M. J., & Gordon, J. S. (2009). Promoting social and emotional development in childhood and early adolescence. In T. P. Gullotta, M. Bloom, C. F. Gullotta, & J. C. Messina (Eds.), A blueprint for promoting academic and social competence in after-school programs. (pp. 63–77). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79920-9_4

 

Observation

Within my center I observed a certain child who seemed to engage better in solo play rather than social or associative play. I observed the children playing during free time and I watched as the children began to play with one another and mostly each child paired of with another and then choose an area to play in.  I watched as one child  choose to play by himself. The child began setting up train set by himself. Fully engaged and content with his playing he didn’t pay attention to any other children. To my surprise the child successfully built the train track fully without any help. Other children then begin to notice and came over to play with child. This upset the child and he angrily tells other children no. The teacher then told the student that he must share and be nice to his fellow students. I watched as the other students then began to play and mess up the train set. The child became very upset and then decided to play with puzzles instead.

 

Question

This encounter brought many questions to my head. “Was the child actually being mean or was he scared his friends would mess up what he had set up?” At the time of the incident the teacher had insisted that the boy must learn to share his toys and play nice with the other students. With her stating that more questions followed, “What if a child prefers to play solo?”, “What if the child struggles more with social play than they do solo? “. I wanted my research question to focus on what age is a child more likely to engage in solo play versus social play. With researching that more questions began to follow. “If there is a certain age for the each stage of play, would there be a red flag if the child is not progressing onto the next stage of play?” I decided stick with my main question “Does age play a role in the certain stages of play that children engage in?”. I feel as though this a good question to start with in order to have a solid foundation of knowledge about the stages of play. From that knowledge I will then be able to build more detailed questions such as the red flag question.

 

Research 

Before starting the research component I decided to break down my question by choosing synonyms to use for some of the words in my question. Using the ESC database I entered terms such as “toddlers” , “preschoolers”. I also tried “stages of play”, “development of play”, and  “behavior during play”. With searching and skimming through multiple articles I finally found one that I could connect best to my question. I choose an article called “Preschool’s Children’s Cognitive Styles and Play Behaviors”. In the article the research done was more so to connect cognitive styles to children’s social behavior. In their research though they were able to discover that preschool aged children prefer solitary play activities. Solitary activities promote solo independence and helps the child feel comfortable with being alone. It also stated that solitary play is not designated for one age group even though it maybe seen more in preschoolers. All age groups should engage in solitary play because it is beneficial to children’s cognitive development.

 

Reflection

When first searching for an article I had a difficult time finding one that spoke on the different types of play. There were many articles on how to incorporate play through music or literacy. Once I found the article I was able to read about how children’s cognitive development can affect social behaviors which are commonly seen in play. Through other research I was able to find that there are 5 stages of play that are split up by children’s ages. This correlates with what I found in the article because at those different ages the children are at different cognitive levels and depending on what level the child is at they may choose a different stage of play over the other. This knowledge will help full my future research questions about whether one should worry if a child doesn’t progress with their play development or if a child chooses the same stage of play over another, does that say something about their cognitive development. These type of questions were not answered within this article, but with further research I believe I will be able to answer them.

 

References

Saracho, O. N. (1996). Preschool children’s cognitive styles and play behaviors. Child Study Journal, 26(2), 125–148. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=508582222&authtype=sso&custid=s3915890&site=ehost-live

 

 

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