Jessica Bowlby

October 26 2017

Dr. Savage

AE 4200

Guided Observation 3

Lincoln Park Elementary School is located about twenty minutes south of campus. The

school houses grades Pre-K through sixth. The area is considered to be low income and the

majority of students receive free lunch (96.8%). The students are mostly white (44.6%) and

black (40.6%). Although there are some Hispanics (4.5%) and some that identify under two races

(10.1%). The amount of female and male students in this school is about equal. Also, their

passing rates for State testing is below average. (StartClass, Graphiq)

The third student to enter the art classroom on this particular day was a fifth-grade white

male. On this day, the fifth graders were starting a new project called Zentangles. The teacher

explained the project, passed out materials, did demonstrations, and showed a YouTube video on

the project. I sat in the corner of the classroom and observed the student while he worked on his

project.

While observing the student, I came to realize that he is a visual learner. While the

teacher was explaining instructions, the student danced around in his chair and did not seem to

pay much attention to the teacher, but when she was doing the demonstrations and showing the

YouTube video, the student was fully engaged. I noticed this for all steps of the project. He does

not listen well, but watches in detail.

 The student seemed to get along well with the other students at his table. He engaged in

their conversations but was never too loud or disruptive. From where I was sitting, I could see

him laughing along happily with the other students. He also seemed to respect the teacher. He

followed directions well and did what was asked of him. He did not talk while the teacher was

talking and kept his eyes on the teacher while she was talking. He was also very quiet when

asked to be.

The student seemed self-directed in his learning. He never had to be told to get back on

task and was never yelled at for anything. He stayed on task the whole class period except for

when he was happily dancing in his seat. For a fifth grader, he seemed to do pretty well. He was

focused on the project and the teachers instruction. He was very well behaved during the entire

class time.

After I was done with my observation, the teacher was curious as to what todays

observation prompt was. I told her it was to observe the third student to enter the room and that I

was observing the little guy in the corner. She nodded and heartbreakingly explained the little

boys background to me. She said that the little boy is very sweet and that he is a hard worker but

has a pretty tough home life. She said that his older had sister practically raised him but she had

been killed last year. She also said that his parents are both strongly dependent on drugs. She

said the little boy is a great student but she seemed concerned for his future due to his home life

and upbringing.

Resources

Graphiq Inc. (2017). Lincoln Park Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio. Retrieved October 09,

2017, from http://public-schools.startclass.com/l/69371/Lincoln-Park-Elementary-School