I.

Observation 4:
Child Study 1

II. Grade:
Fourth Grade

III. Students:
Child X, Female age 9

IV. Setting:
Classroom at St. Matthias School in Somerset, NJ
19 Students, ages 9-10, one teacher

V. Pre- Observation:
The purpose of this observation is to analyze one child in the four domains of development,
social, emotional, cognitive, and physical. Prior to this observation, I read an excerpt from Mike
Andersons book What Every Fourth Grade Teacher Needs to Know about Setting up and
Running a Classroom.

VI. Data:

Social-Emotional-
Individualistic and competitive

Often worried or anxious

Complain about fairness and hurt feelings

Critical of self and others

Often prefer same-gender friends
Need lots of encouragement
Physical-
Push themselves to physical limits

Complain about aches, pains, and injuries
May twist hair or bite nails to relieve tension

Better coordinated but still working on physical control
Can't sit still for long

Still need recess and snack

Cognitive-
Industrious and Curious

Beginning to see bigger world, including social issues

Still very concrete in their thinking
Easily overwhelmed

VII. Analysis:
Beginning in the social-emotional domain, Child X can be hard on herself and competitive, like
most of her classmates. Child X is extremely anxious at the beginning of the school day. Her
anxiety lessens throughout the day, but is still visibly present. When I first started observing the
class, I was shocked to see Child X break down in tears out of nowhere. I became concerned and
asked the teacher, who replied that Child X is always like that. Instead of comforting her, the
teacher chose to ignore her. On one particular day, Child X had to be physically forced out of her
homeroom into Mrs. Penningtons class. With encouragement and guidance, Child X is very
motivated and eager to do well. Child X is shy, but friendly with everyone. Though she prefers
female friends to male friends, Child X is willing to work with or talk to anyone. She often
doubts herself and her abilities. In the physical domain, Child X does not tend to push herself to
physical limits. Though she is often anxious, Child X does not necessarily complain. During
class, Child X twirls her hair and bites her nails. She gets up many times during class to blow
her nose, though it seems she does not really need the tissue. Lunch and recess are a vital time
in Child Xs day. In the cognitive domain, Child X is eager to please and strives to do well in
class. Child X is shy and often quiet, but will ask for help when needed. While working in a
small group with Child X, she was having trouble grasping some math concepts. Child X is
concrete in her thinking and has trouble thinking abstractly. Though I have not seen Child X
become overwhelmed in my observations, she often begins to cry suddenly during class.

VII. Recommendations:
Child X meets most of the points on the checklist overall. Despite struggles in some areas, she is
doing well overall in the four domains of development. In the excerpt from Mike Andersons
book What Every Fourth Grade Teacher Needs to Know About Setting Up and Running a
Classroom, he gives tips and recommendations to benefit students in the social, emotional,
physical, and cognitive domains. In the social-emotional domain, Anderson says teachers should
Watch carefully for over-competitiveness and criticism of peers. Use gentle joking and laughter
to help keep things light and playful. Lead cooperative and team building games to build a sense
of community and safety. Keep assessment low-key, concrete, and focused on strengths, not
deficits (Anderson, 2010, pg 5). In the classroom, the teacher uses games and strategies that
encourage and promote competition, which can be stressful for fourth graders. For example, the
class played a Jeopardy review game where one student from each team would come up to
answer a question. If the student knew the answer, they would ring the bell. When a student
would get a question wrong, some of the other students, and even the teacher, would make
remarks. This judgment toward students can be very harmful to their self esteem. The teacher
should allow students to have a lifeline or be able to converse with their team. This would
relieve some of the stress that Child X and other students experience. The teacher rarely allows
partner or group work in her lessons. The teacher often discourages her students from helping
each other during projects and lessons. Students would benefit from working together rather than
alone. The teacher often uses sarcastic tones with the students and yells, which is traumatizing
for any student. Her jokes are often sarcastic or about students, and she is rarely light and playful
with them. Instead, she should be gentler with the students and not react with anger. Many of the
issues that go on in the classroom could be handled through modifications in the lessons and in
the teachers attitude. In the physical domain, allowing movement and breaks is essential for
students in fourth grade. To help students develop in the physical domain, Anderson says
teachers should Keep students moving to reduce wiggles and help with focus and attention.
Allow students to choose their best working position (sitting, standing, etc) when possible. Keep
direct-teaching lessons short. Include snack in the daily schedule (Anderson, 2010, pg. 5). The
students in the fourth grade class would be more focused if the teacher included breaks and a
snack in her lesson. Many of the students with ADHD and IEPs struggle to sit still throughout
class. The teacher becomes very irritated with students walking around the room and standing up
at their desks. If the students had more freedom to walk around and explore, they would be able
to focus and enjoy coming to school. Lessons often run very long, due to the fact that the teacher
has to constantly yell at different students for a variety of reasons. The yelling and negativity in
the classroom has a serious impact on Child X and could be the reason for her anxiety. In the
cognitive domain, teachers should Elicit passionate engagement by embedding discussion of
right and wrong, justice and fairness into science and social studies. Break large projects into
bite- sized chunks. Offer hands-on, experiential learning activities (Anderson, 2010, pg. 6). The
teacher rarely allows students to debate topics or express their thoughts. When students try to
talk about their experiences, she usually shuts them down. Though the teacher does do hands on
projects with students every marking period, the projects do not allow for a lot of creativity or
individuality. Child X often worries about doing things correctly and needs reassurance. The
teacher breaks up the projects into chunks, but some students struggle with time constraints,
including Child X, which can cause her to get anxious. If the teacher allowed students to talk
about their experiences and thoughts, they would feel more comfortable and cared for by their
teacher.

IX. Post Observation:

All of the factors and suggestions mentioned above have an effect on Child Xs social,
emotional, physical, and cognitive domains. The classroom environment is often negative and
the teacher's tone does not set a good mood. Her seemingly constant yelling and remarks to her
students sets a negative tone for the classroom. Child Xs behavior and anxiety may be due to the
teachers attitude and the way she speaks to her students. I chose to observe Child X because she
reminded me of myself at the same age. I had very high anxiety which began in fourth grade, due
to a sarcastic and negative teacher. I experienced fourth grade similarly to Child X, with many
tears and struggles going to school. This anxiety followed me throughout my schooling. I know
that if I had a teacher who exhibited the characteristics of a fourth grade teacher explained by
Mike Anderson mentioned in my recommendations, I would have been more confident and
successful in school. I feel the same for Child X. If she experienced a more positive environment
in the classroom, she would thrive in every domain.

X. Citations:
Anderson, M. (2010). (Northeast Foundation For Children Inc.)What Every Fourth Grade
Teacher Needs To Know About Setting Up and Running a Classroom. Retrieved from
https://oqoyz1y45eq3fjitpwe0w2k8-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/sites/default/files/et4intro.pdf
Date Completed: Spring 2017
Date Submitted: Spring 2017
Title of Artifact: Observation Four: Child Study 1
Standard: Standard One Learner Development The teacher understands how learners grow
and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually within and
across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and
implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences.

I am placing my artifact, Observation Four: Child Study 1, under Standard One- Learner
Development as evidence of continued mastery towards understanding student development in
the four domains. It is important for teachers to understand students individual development and
learning style. In my observation, I observed the behaviors and development of one student in
particular. In the recommendations of my observation, I talked about how the teacher could
benefit the child, as well as her classmates, by using positive reinforcement and understanding
students individually. I recommended that the teacher focus on the positive and offer students
more freedom in order to promote learner growth and development.