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Child/ Adolescent Development

Child/ Adolescent Development

Deziree Ortiz

UED 480B

Dr. Jennifer Flanagan

April 26, 2023

During my few times observing Ms. Hood’s fifth grade class morning routine, it is

evident that rules and guidelines were established early. Every student who comes in knows

exactly what to do and when to do it. Students put their belongings away, turn in their homework

to the kidney table, and work quietly on morning work given that is already written on the board.

Ms. Hood promotes independency and self-reliance in all her students. Students are held to a

high standard and are expected to perform their very best at everything they do. The day flows

by like clockwork and students can follow along with what is coming up next because their

schedule is written on the front board. Students seem to tip-toe around Ms. Hood because they

know she is a firm teacher, and they don’t want to get on her bad side. Her fifth-grade class are

extremely quiet, and many have very soft voices. Many times, when answering a question, they

are told multiple times to speak up. Some of it has to do with shyness but some of it also has to

do with a fear of getting an answer wrong. Any immature behavior is immediately stamped down

on by Ms. Hood via a lecture on how these poor behavioral habits will not be tolerated in sixth

grade. As previously stated though, this particular class has minimal issues and hold Ms. Hood’s

approval to a high degree.

Students who decide to pair up when given the opportunity will usually go with their

friends which is where the behavioral issues start. Certain students should not be paired up

because they cause each other to become distracted and then they start to clown around. I will

note that there is a student who has been in and out of school for extreme behavioral issues to

which all Ms. Hood’s students become inclined to avoid her. In most of the times I have been

there to observe her class, she rarely is in class but pulled into the principal’s office. Though she

does not do small group instructions, she does have a few students that struggle with a particular
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subject or content come to the kidney table to work and be able to ask her questions with more

ease. Transitional periods run smoothly since she does announce the transition and follows up

with what is expected to happen during these transition periods. Most students do not need

prompting but a handful of the students who have attention issues do need to be reminded.

Sometimes more than once. As another adult in the room, I was first observed as nothing more

than another body in the room. Their focus was solely on their teacher which was very rare to

see. Adults who walk in are normally not given more than a glance because her class is used to

people coming in and out so much. Whether it be someone from the office, one of the teachers

next door, or the speech teacher who comes in to get the ELL student.

When students are called upon to answer questions given, they tend to hesitate. Ms. Hood

then starts raising her voice and reiterating that they need to pay attention and that they should

know the information being presented. Some of the same students will tend to raise their hand

more than others to which she will call on them once and then start calling on those who rarely

volunteer. I have observed that some of the worst times for her to call on students is directly after

lunch. Students become fatigued and slothful and will stare blankly at Ms. Hood when asked a

question.

Reflection:

Learning Climate:

As stated before, Ms. Hood sets the ground rules and expectations at the beginning of the

year and brings them up regularly to ensure cooperation from her students. When students do not

perform or act in accordance with her rules, she begins to preach to them the importance of

maturity and becoming more mindful of their own behaviors. She instills an environment where

they’re not considered little children anymore but maturing kids who are about to enter middle
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school and must fix their errors now before transitioning to a new grade level. Most would find

the way she speaks to her students mean but she’s being hard on them now so they can start to

realize that they could self-regulate. Her harping on them is her own way of showing them that

she cares for them and their growth as not just students but humans. Her rules are set in a way

that they know that they cannot do everything on their own. There is no sense of competition in

the room, but teamwork and comraderies are highly promoted. As those who are highly gifted

finish their work quicker than others, she tells them that they can help the others who need it.

Unknowingly, she is promoting exactly what God wants from us in our daily lives. Relationships

are what help us excel in life. In my own future classroom, I would hope to emulate her firmness

but also add a touch more of warmth to it. Promoting independence and having them own up to

their responsibilities is what every educator should strive to instill in their students. I would hope

to show students that though they make mistakes, every does but it’s up to them to learn from

those mistakes and do better.

The setup of the classroom is hard to control with so many students and such huge desks

in one small room. Even with the limited amount of room, Ms. Hood strive to make her

classroom enriched with learning by decorating and having anchor charts everywhere. Anywhere

you look, there are educational art and posters surrounding you. Students work is also displayed

around the room as well. Students abide by her expectations completely except for the one

student with the extreme behavioral issues. If she takes her medicine, she’s compliant but if not,

she will leave the room to wander, throw a tantrum, or start throwing chairs in the hall. Ms. Hood

is firm but gentler with speaking to her because of her dilemma and because of her known home

life. Besides this one student, her students strive to gain her approval. She is a take-charge kind
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of woman, and she does not put up with backtalk or excuses. Her voice is strong without her

technically shouting although it could possibly look like that to others.

Her lessons are clear and concise while also being monotonous. Students usually

understand implicitly what’s going on because it’s a repeated worksheet, graphic organizer, or

computer-based assignment. She will discuss what they are doing and what the expectations are

before going straight into the next assignment though. She understands that though some

students only need to hear instructions once, others need to hear it multiple times or stated in

other way to understand.

My mini lesson again focuses on science and reading. The students were given the

pudding, graham crackers, and a plate to perform a mini activity demonstrating the three

different faults they have been learning about. The students activated prior knowledge about

plate tectonics to perform the required movements and were able to record their

understanding in their graphic organizers. They were also asked to write down the things they

want to know after showing them the plate movements with my own materials. After the

materials are put away and hands are washed with wipes, students are instructed to go on

Generation Genius to read an article out loud. Each student got a turn to read and see if what

they are reading is answering the questions of what they want to know. After the reading,

students were required to shut their laptops and write down as many things as they can recall

learning in their graphic organizer. As they finish, the students will show the teacher what they

have written down and the teacher will record what the students might still be lacking. The

graphic organizers are they repassed out among the students. The students then turn over the

paper and as each student read what they have written, anything that was not on their paper,

they may write it on the back.

What I should have done in the lesson was printed out the article and have students

highlight important information they find in the articles. Also, I should have been more implicit

on how I wanted them to write down sentences on what they found in that article instead of

just a few random words. Doing a mini lesson was a little bit harder for me because using the

Madeline hunter template for a large group is way easier to do than create one for a smaller

group. Students get distracted easily when other students are doing different work then they
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are. Trying to keep their attention while other things are going on is a constant need and had to

be readdressed often.