LEARNING OBSERVATION REPORT
Observer ___________________ Date: 11/19/2018
Location: __________________
Type of observation (circle): Cognitive Emotional/Social Learning
Description of the Context
Child’s name:
Liel Natan
Child’s age
8 years 4 months
Child’s grade:
Third Grade
Child’s academic achievement:
Liel is doing well
Child’s main academic interests:
Math
Child’s relationships with classmates:
Liel has many friends and gets along with his peers
Child’s relationships with the teacher (other authorities):
Liel is a hard worker and has made tremendous progress. He is happy, enthusiastic, and participates in most therapeutic services.
Socio-economic status of the child’s family:
Liel comes from a middle-class family.
Child’s family composition
Liel resides at home with both his parents, his fifteen-year-old sister Leetal, his twelve-year-old sister Shirel and his three-year-old sister Michaela
Child’s family atmosphere
N/A
Child’s relationships with relatives
N/A
Presence/absence of child’s special need(s):
According to his SETTS teacher, Liel presents delayed receptive and expressive language skills, in addition to speech impediments and delays in fine/gross motor skills, and visual perceptual/motor skills.
Presence/absence of IEP or any therapy sessions
Liel has an IEP that classifies him as having a “Learning Disability”. The IEP mandates that Liel’s LRE placement places him in the general education classroom for the majority of the day, with SETTS services three times a week in the general classroom and twice a week as he is pulled out into a separate location to address his specific skills. In addition, Liel also gets pulled out into a separate location for speech/language services twice a week for thirty minutes, and occupational therapy services once a week for thirty minutes.
The sequence of the child’s activities under observation
I chose to observe Liel in a math lesson. Ms. Ratner is teaching the class about multiplication. In today’s lesson she is teaching the class about the Commutative Property of Multiplication.
The main task the child is accomplishing while being observed
(describe in detail)
The main task is to observe how Liel comprehends new material/skill presented during his math class. During my observation I focus on Liel’s ability to understand the concept of multiplication and his ability to solve the problem. I observed whether Liel can work independently or does he require extra guidance?
Something else what observer believes is important to know about the child.
Liel is motivated to learn, but often has difficulty grasping new information. Liel especially expresses difficulty in new math concepts. However, Liel is a hard worker and a good listener. He tries his best and always puts in a lot of effort.
Liel continues to be the subject of my ongoing observation. On November 19th, 2018, I conducted my third and final learning observation in an academic setting. Liel is in the first semester of third grade at a private Jewish elementary school in Queens, NY. He is eight years old and comes from a middle-class background. Liel resides at home with both his parents, his fifteen-year-old sister Leetal, his twelve-year-old sister Shirel and his three-year-old sister Michaela. Liel’s teachers describe him as being “very respectful and kind” as well as a “good listener” and “well-behaved”.
Liel is an average student. However, he has a LD that presents delays in his perception skills. His teacher, Ms. Ratner describes him as being enthusiastic about learning, but often frustrated when he doesn’t comprehend new areas of study. Ms. Ratner emphasizes that Liel is always willing to learn, but sometimes doesn’t grasp new information as quickly as his peers. Liel gets discouraged when he is introduced to new material. Liel is happiest when he completes his tasks correctly and especially likes to receive praise from his teachers. He is very cooperative and is very motivated to learn. He is one of the best-behaved students in Ms. Ratner’s third grade class.
Description of Child’s Activities/Actions Comments
What an observer sees (it is reality, it is objective)
What an observer thinks about it (subjective opinion and interpretation)
1.
10:35 a.m. Ms. Ratner sits in the round table with Liel and two other students.
2.
She advises the students to take out their Go Math workbooks and turn to page 171, in chapter three.
Liel is a good listener, he is first to take out his notebook and turn to the page.
3.
Liel places his math workbook on the table and turns to page 171.
Liel looks around to his if the other students followed. He helps Michael find the correct page.
4.
Ms. Ratner defines the Commutative Property of multiplication and explains that you can multiply numbers in any order.
5.
She then demonstrates an example by stating “2*3” is the same as “3*2”. She explains that both equations will have the same end result.
Liel seems engaged. This is a new skill presented to him.
6.
She continues to give some more examples of this property:
4*5=5*4 both equal 20
6*5=5*6 both equal 30
7.
She then asks Liel, “10*5 is the same as?” and Liel responds “5*10”. Ms. Ratner tells him “great job!”
Liel seems happy when he answered the question correctly. He smiles when Ms. Ratner praises him.
8.
She continues to ask the other two students the same equation.
Liel feels confident because he also answered the question correctly.
9.
Ms. Ratner asks the boys to try and solve the problem on page 171 independently.
10.
Liel begins to read the problem. He then looks up at Ms. Ratner and says “I don’t know what to do, I don’t understand it”.
Liel looks confused. He looks at his peers to see if they are writing.
11.
Liel smacks the pencil on the table and slouches back on the chair.
Liel seems frustrated and looks discouraged. This math problems seems to be out of his current ZPD, but just in reach. Liel is showing signs that he is in need of support from his teacher.
12.
Ms. Ratner gets up from her sit and walks over to Liel. She grabs her chair and places it on Liel’s left side.
13.
She sits and grabs the workbook. She tells Liel “let’s try this together”. She advises Liel to read the problem.
Ms. Ratner is using the Scaffolding technique by providing help to Liel to allow him to reach his ZPD since this is new information to him. She is acting as the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO).
14.
Liel reads: “Dave works at the Bird store. He arranges 15 boxes of birdseed in rows on the shelf. What are two ways he can arrange the boxes in equal rows?” “Arrange 15 tiles in 5 equal rows.
15.
The first question is “how many tiles are in each row?”
16.
Ms. Ratner tells Liel “let’s understand the problem”. She asks “how many tiles are in each row?” Liel responds “15” she says “correct!” Then she asks “in how many rows” and he responds “5”.
He seems to understand the question better when Ms. Ratner explains it to him. She uses prompts to guide him.
17.
Liel wrote “15” on the paper.
18.
Then Liel was asked by Ms. Ratner “what multiplication sentence does your array show?” Liel responds “15*5” she praises him and tells him to solve it.
Liel likes it when Ms. Ratner provides feedback and words of praise.
19.
Liel answers “45” and Ms. Ratner tells him “that’s a good guess but let’s count again”. Liel puts up his fingers and starts counting by 5’s. Ms. Ratner tells him to remember the Commutative Property of multiplication and tells him that it might be easier to count by 15’s five times, since they will both end up with the same answer.
Liel got the first answer wrong, but Ms. Ratner didn’t let him feel bad about it. She suggested he try again. This keeps him motivated and engaged, instead of discouraged.
Liel still uses his fingers to count.
20.
Liel adds 15+15=30+15=45+15=60+15=75
Liel breaks it down and is very careful when adding the numbers.
21.
Liel answers “75” very excitedly and writes the answer on his paper.
Ms. Ratner tells him that he is doing great and asks him to read the next question.
She provides more feedback and praise to encourage his engagement.
22.
Next Liel reads: “Suppose Dave arranges the boxes in 3 equal rows.” “How many tiles in each row”.
23.
Liel looks up at Ms. Ratner and asks her what to do. Ms. Ratner encourages hm to re-read the question and figure out what it is asking.
Liel looks confused again and looks at Ms. Ratner, who is an MKO, for support and direction.
24.
Liel re-reads the question and asks what does he have to put into three rows. Ms. Ratner points to the question on top and tells him that we are still using the 15 tiles but we are now arranging them in three rows and not 5. Liel responds by saying “oh now I understand”
Ms. Ratner uses prompts to encourage him to solve the question correctly.
25.
He writes down “15” as his response and draws and array of 15 tiles in each of three rows.
Liel seems to understand the concept and draws the array with ease and comfort.
26
Liel is then asked to write a multiplication sentence for the new array, and he answers correctly “3*15=45” and continue to fill out the answers for the rest of the problem correctly. Ms. Ratner told Liel that he did a great job and urges him to turn the page over and continue with the rest of the problems.
Liel seems to be more confident with this question and answers quickly.
27
Liel turn the page over and completes the rest of the problems correctly.
Liel is now able to work independently and is no longer looking for guidance from his teacher. He is self-coaching and showing mastery of the new skill.
28
Ms. Ratner gets up to return to her seat and tells the students to continue their work. She tells them to ask her if they don’t understand.
Ms. Ratner withdraws her scaffolding support because she sees that Liel is able to work independently.
29
After completes page 172, he continues to page 173 and 174.
Liel completes the next couple of pages independently and with ease. Liel internalized the scaffolding that Ms. Ratner provided.
30.
Ms. Ratner goes over the problems with the students and Liel’s answers are all correct.
Liel is very excited to see that his answers are all correct. He often smiles and says “yes!” when his answer is correct.
31.
Ms. Ratner rewards Liel with a sticker on his math folder for a job well done.
Liel feels accomplished. He is confident and poised. When he is rewarded with the sticker, he shows it off to his friends. He seems triumphant. Ms. Ratner is using Operant Conditioning, by giving the sticker to Liel as a reward to encourage him to repeat the same desired behaviors of cooperation and independent work, in the future.
I have chosen to continue to observe Liel Natan as my subject. I conducted my third observation of Liel in his morning English class, where the teacher, Ms. Ratner is teaching a new math lesson. She introduced the Third-grade students to multiplication in the last week. Today’s lesson included her teaching the students the Commutative Property of Multiplication. My objective was to observe Liel’s comprehension of the new math concept and his ability to solve multiplication problems.
Ms. Ratner sat in a table surrounded by Liel and his two peers. She explained to the students what the Commutative Property of Multiplication is and showed them an example. She handed the students a page from the Go Math book, Chapter 3 page 171. She instructed the students to work independently and solve the problem on the page. Liel read the problem and expressed his concern. He said that he didn’t understand what to do. He even got frustrated and slapped his pencil down on the table. Ms. Ratner walked over to Liel and grabbed a chair to sit by him. She guided him and helped him solve the problem. Her scaffolding technique was beneficial and helped Liel complete the activity. My later assessment will include a full report and analysis of Liel’s developmental ability and student plan.
Inferences
Specify the two theories that are applied to the child’s behavior analysis in your Inferences:
The sources which represent these theories are:
Lev Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development – ZPD and Scaffolding
Elena Bodrova, Deborag J. Leong (2007). Tools of the Mind. The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education. New Jersey: Peason. P.p. 40-49.
Cortney Belolan (2013). Pre-Assessment: A Key to the ZPD. Retrieved from: http://www.competencyworks.org/resources/pre-assessment-a-key-to-the-zpd/
Y. Karpov (2014). Vygotsky for Educators. Paperback edition. Cambridge Univ. Press. P.p. 22-25.
B.F. Skinner’s Theory of Operant Conditioning – Rewards and Reinforcement Theory
McLeod, S.A. (2018). Skinner – Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
Cherry, K. (2016). An Overview of behavior psychology. Very well. Retrieved from: https://www.verywell.com/behavioral-psychology-4013681
Grace, E. (2016). Skinner Behavioral Theory. Retrieved from: http:// www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/bfskinnersbehaviouraltheory.html
Inferences
Lev Vygotsky was a well-known developmental psychologist and the founder of many developmental theories that included the Zone pf Proximal Development and Scaffolding educational principles. He focused not only on the development of a child but the learning process involved in this development. He considered “The Zone of Proximal Development”, or ZPD as a way of conceptualizing the relationship between learning and development. Bodrova & Leong (2007) explains that Vygotsky defined this zone as the “distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers”. Belolan (2013) explains that the student is in the zone when they still need the support from a teacher or a peer in order to understand something new. Once they no longer need teacher or peer support, they are out of the ZPD for that particular skill or understanding. “The ZPD is the core of performance-based learning, individualized learning and customized learning” explains Belolan (2013). Vygotsky believed that educators should help students learn within the zone of proximal Development so that they can increase their skills and knowledge without becoming frustrated by things that are currently too difficult for them to accomplish. His studies emphasized that children need to interact with others who are more intelligent than they currently are in order to learn. In order to successfully reach a student’s ZPD, scaffolding is an effective teaching method that some educators utilize in their teaching methods. Scaffolding in instructional approach designed to draw on the zone of proximal development. In this method, assistance by a more knowledgeable other (MKO) is aimed slightly able what the child can do on his own. This creates an environment that enhances the students learning. As the child becomes more competent that supports are gradually withdrawn and the child will take over and work independently. Vygotsky’s concept of ZPD and scaffolding are effective strategies that if implemented correctly can help students learn much better and quicker than with the traditional teaching approach. He believed that “we do not learn because we have developed, rather we develop because we have learned”.
During Liel’s learning observation he was introduced to a new math skill/knowledge of multiplication and the Commutative Property of Multiplication. Liel knows basic math. He is good at adding and subtracting, although his teacher explained that it took him more time than his peers to be able to solve it independently. When introduced to multiplication, no matter how hard Liel will try, he won’t be able to learn it on his own unless he gets guidance and support from his teacher, and only then will he be able to solve the problem independently, because the skill is within his ZPD. According to Vygotsky “learning new things enhances our developmental level. In order to learn we have to be presented with tasks that are just out of reach of our present abilities. Tasks that are too simple or already within our present abilities do not promote learning, on the other hand, tasks that are too difficult can cause us to be too frustrated and no learning occurs. When Liel was first introduced to the math page, he got frustrated and felt lost. The skill was new to him and outside of his current ZPD. However, is was just of reach from his current ZPD and with the scaffolding approach used by his teacher, Liel was able to master the new skill with the assistance of Ms. Ratner. Following Ms. Ratner’s removal of scaffolding support Liel was able to self-coach and internalize the scaffolding to do the rest of the problems independently. The new skill was internalized and became automatic for Liel. According to Vygotsky, Liel mastered a new skill and this process promoted his development because he has learnt a new math concept. At the end of the math period, Liel had presented an additional three pages of work that he had been able to complete correctly on his own.
The second theory that I chose to apply to my learning observation of Liel is behaviorist B.F. Skinner’s theory described as operant conditioning. This is the process in which learning can occur through reinforcement and punishment, and is based on a system of both positive and negative reinforcement. Skinner believed that by forming an association between a certain behavior and the consequences of that behavior, you learn. (Cherry, 2018). In addition, Skinner discovered that the timing of these rewards and punishments has an important influence on how quickly a new behavior is acquired and the strength of the corresponding response. Grace (2016) states that “Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning further states that the process does not require repeated efforts, but is instead an immediate action to a familiar stimulus”.
Once Liel had completed his math pages independently, Ms. Ratner rewarded him with a sticker for his folder. The feelings that Liel experienced associated with this behavior is controlled by conditioning. According to Grace (2016), “When previous behaviors have been rewarded, children are likely to repeat those behaviors happily and willingly, feeling that they are doing what they ‘want’ to be doing”. As a result of Liel getting rewarded, he will most likely repeat the same behaviors that deserved the incentive. In the future, Liel will remember that he felt happy and confident and will want to repeat those behaviors once again. Ms. Ratner’s use of operant conditioning tactics creates a positive reinforcement technique as a means of guiding Liel’s good and cooperative behavior. This method encourages good behavior from all the students and promotes positive roles models in her classroom. In addition, the classroom is managed in a pleasant and respectful manner and these rewards will encourage the student’s continued cooperation.
References:
Elena Bodrova, Deborag J. Leong (2007). Tools of the Mind. The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education. New Jersey: Peason. P.p. 40-49.
Cortney Belolan (2013). Pre-Assessment: A Key to the ZPD. Retrieved from: http://www.competencyworks.org/resources/pre-assessment-a-key-to-the-zpd/
Y. Karpov (2014). Vygotsky for Educators. Paperback edition. Cambridge Univ. Press. P.p. 22-25.
McLeod, S.A. (2018). Skinner – Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
Cherry, K. (2016). An Overview of behavior psychology. Very well. Retrieved from: https://www.verywell.com/behavioral-psychology-4013681
Grace, E. (2016). Skinner Behavioral Theory. Retrieved from: http:// www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/bfskinnersbehaviouraltheory.html