Running Head: PEPSI OF ANGEL AQUINO

PEPSI of Angel A. Aquino

Fatima Aquino
College of Southern Nevada
Education 220- 3001: Principles of Educational Psychology
Professor: Dr. Hooks
December 14, 2016

Biography

Angel was born on April 01, 2007 in Sunrise Children's Hospital. His mother had a

natural vaginal birth and there were no complications that would have affected him in any way.

He currently lives with his family in Las Vegas. His family consists of Angela De Aquino

(mother), Antonio Aquino (father), Fatima Aquino (oldest sister), and Noe Aquino (older

brother). Angel is the youngest among the three siblings and there is also a 10 year age gap
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between him and the middle child. Being that there is such a big age difference, he sometimes

identifies himself as being an only child.

The home environment for Angel is probably very similar to the environment in many

other Hispanic families. Spanish is the primary language, and many of the traditions are still

kept, even after leaving their home country. The Aquino family is Roman Catholic, and therefore

religion also plays a major role in their lives. Angel's parents strive their best to preserve the

family traditions, so they too can practice them with their kids.

Angels comes from a family of hard working immigrants. He is actually the first one to

be born in the United States, his whole family is from El Salvador. In 2003, his parents decided

to move to the United States in hopes of a better future. Angels parents in El Salvador went to

school at night and worked during the day in order to finish their education. They know it may be

difficult, but that getting an education, is the key for a successful life. Both of Angel's siblings

have finished high school with honors and are now in College. Angel, will not be the exception.

His parents are willing to work really hard in order to get him through school. He has dreams of

becoming a teacher or a veterinarian someday.

Angel at the moment is a fourth grader at Rex Bell Elementary School. He has always

been very passionate about school, and enjoys to learn new things. He does like to miss any days

and takes his perfect attendance very seriously. When he is not at school or doing homework,

Angel can be found playing outside with the neighbors, watching movies on Netflix, playing on

his tablet or watching YouTube videos, playing board games with the family, playing with

Luna(dog) or drawing. He is a kid filled with a lot of energy and love. Angel is going places in

life with his love of learning and charisma.

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Physical Development

During the interview process of this assignment, Angel was asked to measure his weight

and height to find his BMI. A BMI is used to determine if a person is underweight, healthy,

overweight, or obese. At nine years old, Angel weighs 93. 8 pounds and is 4 feet and 6 inches

tall. According to the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) BMI children

calculator, Angel falls into the 96th percentile of the chart provided with his BMI, making him

obese for his age. (CDC, 2016) Last time Angel had a checkup with the pediatrician, which was

according to Angel's mom, around June, the pediatrician said he was beginning to be overweight.

That means that within six months, he has passed that line of overweight to obesity.

In the book Psychology Applied to Teaching (2014) by Snowman and McCown, it is

explained how obesity can become a major problem for some children during this age group,

because nine and ten years olds have more of a control over their own eating habits and that can

lead to them overeating. (Snow and McCown, pg.88) Overeating, was something common for

Angel during the months of observation. He would be constantly reaching out for snacks. He

would get up at 6 am to watch his cartoons Saturday and Sunday, by 8am he would have

breakfast, and around 9am or 10am he would be reaching for a snack(usually chips, cookies, or

granola). Around 12pm he would do the same. He is constantly reaching over the cabinets for

goodies, and it was around the same times. That could explain the significant amount of weight

gain.

According J'Anne Ellsworth, the professor at Northern Arizona who invented the PEPSI,

another physical characteristic that children of nine years of age should be demonstrating is,

Large muscle control and a sense of body ownership. (Ellsworth, 1999) Angel during the
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observations, was able to demonstrate large body control every time he went outside to play with

Luna or with his friends. Luna loves to play fetch, and that would get Angel out throwing the ball

for her to get. Angel and the neighbor also like to go and ride bikes on Fridays after they get out

of school.

Angel is aware that he is on the heavier side, and that does not stop him from continuing

to do is favorite activities outside. In fact that might even help him lose a couple of pounds, if he

were to do it more often.

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Emotional Development

From the observations, it was clear that Angel has a strong sense of who he is, not only in

the classroom but at home as well. Keep in mind he has considered being a teacher when he is

older. So in school, according to Angel, He likes to be able to help the teacher out. (Interview,

Angel) He does this by helping others whenever he finishes first or by being a student aide. At

this point in life, teachers as well as peers are beginning to influence and are helping to create his

idea of self-image and self-worth. According to Snowman and McCown, for children in

Elementary years, Self-image is influenced by the information and attitudes that are

communicated by such significant others as parents, teachers and friends, and by how competent

the child feels in areas in which success is important. (Snowman and McCown, pg. 91) The way

other students think of Angel or the things other student say of Angel, affect his idea of self-

image. For example, in one of the observations that happened at the drop off and pick up area for

the kids, one of Angel's friends was saying that Angel was really smart because he was able to

complete the 15 level of Lexia (an educational program in school) before anyone else in the

class. Next thing that happened, was that he was telling his older brother that he was a smart

person in class because he completed Lexia before anyone. Before his peers pointed it out, he

didn't think of him as being super smart, he was doing it just because liked to complete the

levels. It was almost like a challenge game that gave him a rewarding feeling of accomplishment.

Continuing with this idea competence, Angel would fall among the Industry V. Inferiority

stage of Erik Erikson. In the article named Simply Psychology: Erik Erikson, that explains the

eight stages, it is said about Industry V. Inferiority that, If children are encouraged and

reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious and feel confident in their ability to

achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teacher, then the
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child begins to feel inferior, doubting his own abilities and therefore may not reach his or her

potential. (Simply Psychology) Basically if Angel continues, the way he as about education he

would be able to continue to achieve the goals in school and in life. Angel was able to experience

this by completing the levels of Lexia. His parents were really motivating him to strive for the

best. His parents were encouraging and now they are motivating him to continue to do better in

math, because that is the topic, he tends to struggle in.

According to J'Anne Ellswoth, at this age the child is beginning to express a sense of self

dignity and self-responsibility. (Ellsworth, 1999) I was able to observe that Angel feels that he

feels very smart in some areas, and he knows he is weak in others. He takes his school work and

makes it his duty to finish on time. When he does this every day, he is demonstrating that aspect

of self-responsibility that Ellsworth is mentioning. He likes going to school and being able to do

good in school makes him feel proud about his hard work.
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Philosophical Development

For this section of the interview, Angel was given a short story and asked a question

about what should be done within the situation. In the excerpt called, Chapter 7: Kohlberg's

Stages of Moral Reasoning(W.C Craig, 1985) There is a small story talking about a man named

Heinz, basically his wife is really terminally ill and the husband does not have enough money to

buy the medicine. The man who created the cure does not want to give it away because he wants

money. Therefore in order to save his wife, Heinz steals it. (Kohlberg, 1963, pg.19) The big

question is what should have the husband done? After reading the entire story Angel, concluded

that it is bad to steal. He was asked why he would not steal it and he responded, Because it

would be bad. And I would go to jail. (Interview, Angel A.)

That being said Angel demonstrated to be at Stage 1: Punishment-Obedience Orientation.

This is one of the levels of Kolhberg's Stages of Moral Reasoning. In the book Psychology

Applied to Teaching, it is explained by Snowman and McCown that at this stage it is when The

physical consequences of an action determine goodness or badness. Those in authority have

superior power and should be obeyed. Punishment should be avoided by staying out of

trouble.(Snowman and McCown, pg. 61) By Angel saying that he did not want to go to jail for

stealing it was this level he was demonstrating. This is typical for children around this age and

basically would be considered at level or slightly under the level he should be for his age.

Another major philosophical characteristic of children of this age is, according to J'Anne

Ellsworth, is that children tend to, tell the truth, unless a lie will help them get out of

punishment-- and when lying there is awareness (Ellsworth,1999) For this Angel was asked,

Have you ever lied to not get in trouble? He kind of laughed and said yes. He said that had lied
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to his mom over something he broke. He also made his sister promise not to tell his mom. Him

mentioning, that he did not want his mom to know, is once again another demonstration of him

avoiding punishment and trying to stay at of trouble. He was very well aware that he was lying,

but he did not say anything.

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Social Development

Angel has always been a little shy, when meeting new people. However, once he gets

comfortable enough with the person he will become very friendly and talkative. He loves to hang

out with friends after school and play with the two girls right next door. He also has another

friend named Jose who also lives in the same neighborhood (they are the ones that go riding

bikes on Friday's). In the book, Psychology Applied to Teaching it is mentioned that,

Friendships become more selective and gender-biased. [] Although children of this age will

rarely refuse to interact with members of the opposite sex when directed to do so by parents and

teachers, they will avoid the opposite sex when left on their own. (Snowman and McCown, pg.

90) That is not exactly the case with Angel. Yes, he tends play a bit more with boys, but will has

an equal amount of both genders as friends. He is also not the type to avoid playing with the

girls.

As previously mentioned, another important aspects for children of this age range is self-

image. Children really do care about what other think about them. They are afraid to act in a way

that might not be as acceptable as other. According to J'Anne Ellsworth children who are, Being

"caught" performing may be embarrassing since a social consciousness is developing.

(Ellsworth, 1999)That would explain why Angel was being very self-conscious, about what other

would think when he was performing on a school musical. He was going to be singing and

playing the jingle-ling the bells throughout the song. However everyday he would mention he

was nervous to go up there and perform. When it was over and he came home that day, he said

It wasn't too bad. (Angel A.) He simply was worrying about what other were going to say way

too much.
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Being able to play among each other, give students an opportunity to increase social

skills. Not only that but according to the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC)

children around Angel's need to have about 60 minutes daily of exercise. (CDC, 2016) When

they are excising every day, they could be doing it in a group of kids and also learning how to

interact with one another. According to Snowman and McCown the benefits of children who are

allowed to play are that they, play their own games, include refining skills of self-direction, self-

control, learning how to join the play activities of others, and fostering the development of such

cognitive skills as planning and using symbols. (Snowman and McCown, pg. 90) Angel benefits

when he is playing outside because he is losing weight, but he can meet and interact with other

children as well improving his social skills to make friends.

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Intellectual Development:

Angel through his entire school career has had a pretty solid grade average. He has

maintained himself A's and B's and is among the top students of his class. He like to learn new

things and enjoys going to school. For this part of my interview, Angel took a multiple

Intelligence test on Edutopia, The questions were fairly easy for him to understand. He has also

taken many multiple online test and quizzes in school, and he knew the procedure of what he was

supposed to click, however when he had questions on what certain areas meant, he would ask

and would get help him The results were actually very surprising, because he was came out to

have the visual-spatial intelligence, and also high scores on musical intelligence. (Edutopia

Results)That describes him very well, he can memorize information better when there is a song

attached to it. In school he must be a visual learner and if his teacher does many hands on

activities he succeeds.

In the book, Psychology Applied to Teaching, it is mentioned that, when it comes down

to simple memory skills [children of Angel's age] often perform about as well as adolescents or

adults. But on tasks that require more complex memory skills, their performance is much

limited ( Snowman and McCown, pg. 92) Previously it was mentioned that Angel enjoys to play

board games with his family, and among those games, is the game of memory cards. He may be

small, but he can beat many adults playing that game especially when there are more than 20-30

cards on the floor at once.

I observed that Angel was beginning to make more concrete and abstract connections

about life in general. This is confirmed by J'Anne Ellsworth, when she write in her PEPSI that

another intellectual development skill is that, Rulers, maps, distance begin to make real sense
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and the child can realistically utilize devices in place of reality without losing sight of true

meaning. (Ellsworth, 1999)

Angel is able to sense of maps, and distance when traveling. He is able to correct his older sister

when driving at times, and he is in charge of the navigation system. He makes an excellent co-

captain.
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Angels Graph

PEPSI Chart
13

11

7
Age
5

-1 Physical Emotional Philosophical Social Intellectual

Developmental Characteristics

Dark Gray: Where Angel should be at

Red: Where Angel is currently at

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Recommendations:

Physical: It must be best to take Angel to the pediatrician again, to see what she would

recommend doing. He has passed the overweight line and has gone to obese. He honestly does

not look like he is obese, he is on the heavy side but not obese in my eyes. Perhaps its because I

live with him. As far as I can see perhaps, a little bit more time outside will help and a much

better balanced diet. Buying healthier snack will be an alternative and breaking that on the clock

retinue to constantly be munching.

Emotional: Angel is currently at the Industry v Inferiority stage according to Eriksons stages.

He needs to be motivated to continue strive and take the initiative. He needs to be praise when he

is demonstrating competence. That way he does not fall into inferiority and starts to self-doubt

what he does. He is a very intelligent individual, and if his parents and family continue to push

him to do better he should be very successful.

Philosophical: Out of all the categories, this one is the one Angel scored the lowest. It was

probably one of the hardest topics for him during the interview. My guess is that he is not old

enough to or he hasnt been taught that depending the circumstances, it might be okay to disobey

law and order. Within time, and probably having a talk, with him that even though someone may

tell him something, it doesnt always mean they are right simply because they are older or have

authority. It is important to know that everyone makes mistakes. However, this may take a while

to figure considering it might take till he is 20 to fully understand the following stage which he is

in. A life time to go through Kohlbergs moral stages.

Social: Even though Angel in the beginning is shy, he is truly a friendly person and that

friendliness should be encouraged. Talk to angel about what peers might think about him, does
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not determine the person he is at all. He should not be have so much self-conscious about what

other students have to say, if he likes to sing, then he should be able to express himself. He

simply needs to get more comfortable in the environment. A suggestion might be getting

involved in activities he like to do, like playing an instrument or singing.

Intellectual: As previously mentioned, he is very intelligent and is constantly bring good grades

home. His parents and family should help him not lose that motivation and happiness that school

brings to him. He truly enjoys school. Help him find school fun, so he does not get bored of the

system. Work off his strengths and intelligences, those are the activities he would strive the most

in. For example, if he likes to read perhaps get him to sing along with musicals. Hands on

activities would also help, perhaps making trips, so that sees how the information that he is

learning in school is helpful in real life.

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ANGEL A. AQUINO
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Reference Page

CDC. BMI Percentile Calculator for child and Teen English. Center for Disease Control and

Prevention. Retrieved December 14, 2016, from

https://nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/calculator.aspx

Ellsworth, JAnne. 9th Year. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year9.html

Simply Psychology McLeod, S. (1970). Saul McLeod. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html.

Multiple Intelligences Self-Assessment. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2016, from

https://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-assessment

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2014). Psychology Applied to Teaching (14th edition). Cengage

Learning

W.C. Crain. (1985). Theories of Development. Prentice-Hall. pp. 118-136. Retrieved from

(Kohlberg, 1963, pg.19)