Serven_Anecdotal+Records


 * __Analysis-__**

Jaquan- The reason why I chose to observe Jaquan is because the behavior issues that he presents each day. Jaquan is a student who is fully capable of completing each of the academic tasks that is required of him; however, he has difficulty completing the various social tasks of the classroom. One of the trends that I seemed to notice about Jaquan is the fact that he always seemed irritated right before lunch. This 4th grade class typically eats lunch at 12:05 each day; Jaquan chooses to act up around 11:15 each day. I also noticed that Jaquan was much more responsive and active as a learner during science exercises.

Yaitza- The reason why I chose to observe Yaitza is because from the first day at placement, I believed that Yaitza had a strong sense of learned helplessness. Each day, Yaitza would consistently ask for my help during each of her activities. As I would try to help her, Yaitza would seem to look lost and attempt to persuade me to do the work for her. Each day that I observed her, Yaitza always seemed to look around the room and focus on other things rather than the teacher's instruction.

__**Sample of student work:**__ I use a fax-machine to scan any papers. As I tried to scan my anecdotal records (which were taken on notebook paper), the paper would jam in the fax machine and the scanned copy would look illegible. Typically, I would take notes and then type them up on the Microsoft Word chart.

__**Recommendations for future instruction for the class:**__ Judging by my observations, I would strongly advise my cooperating teacher to motivate Jaquan during science lessons. To me, it's clear that Jaquan seems to really enjoy science and I believe that the teacher can promote further learning behavior for other content areas by encouraging Jaquan during science. If Jaquan starts to believe in his abilities to learn science content, it is certainly possible that he can become motivated in other content areas as well. As far as Yaitza is concerned, I have a serious problem with her placement in the classroom. Each of the students in the class are seated in groups of 4. Outside of the 4 grouped tables are 4 individual tables that are placed in a row (Yaitza is in one of these rows near the window). Above any other recommendation, I would strongly advise that Yaitza be seated away from the window to prevent further distractions.

__**Recommendations for future instruction for the students you sampled:**__ For Jaquan, I would recommend that he should see his own potential in his learning abilities. Jaquan is very gifted at completing his science activities and I would hope that he could further that motivation to learn. I would also recommend that Jaquan bring a snack to school as it is clear that he becomes irritable before lunch. For Yaitza, I would advise her to continue her love for reading. The more books Yaitza reads, the more likely she will become engaged in other forms of learning.