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Part A: Learner Like Me

My “learner like me” is a girl in my grade 1 class. For the sake of keeping her
identity confidential I will refer to her as S throughout the assignment.

In what way is this learner ‘like you’? What is it about this learner that makes
you think they are like you?

This learner reminds me a lot of myself when I was in elementary school. She
is very quiet but also a leader in many ways. Students often like to copy her good
behaviour and I find she often helps students when they are struggling. She is a very
hard worker and is always quick to finish her work, much like I was as a student.

Where is the student seated in the class? (by choice? Teacher’s choice?)

The table groups are chosen by the teacher but S always choses to sit close to
the teacher during carpet time. S often gets praised for her listening and for how
quietly she sits on the carpet. If she is sitting close to a friend she may struggle to
stay quiet but she is usually very good.

How would you describe your learner’s ability to participate in classroom and
group activities?

She always participates in group discussions, she raises her hand often with
ideas when the teacher asks. She is always involved in group activities and never
hesitant to participate. She almost never procrastinates, much like me as a student. I
was always quick to finish my work.

How does your student appear to respond to challenges/solve problems?

She seems to have good logic when it comes to solving problems. She never
gets physical with other students and seems to want to work things out herself
before going to the teacher for help. I used to hate being the “snitch” is class as a
student so that would always force me to work out my problems myself, which
benefited me in the long run.

How does your student interact with others in the classroom? What are
his/her strengths and stretches in this area?

She is not hesitant to help people when they are doing something unexpected of
them. She often tells people what they are doing wrong even if it is not for her to say,
it is for the teacher. I remember when I was in elementary school I used to call
people out when they were doing something wrong and I would sometimes get in
trouble.
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How would you describe your learner’s ability to work with others on and off
the playground?

She is very inclusive with other students on the playground, I often see her
playing with the same people but also is not hesitant to include other people. In
class, she often helps her classmates with their work and plays with everyone
during center time. It seems to me that she does not exclude any students in the
class.

What are your learner’s favourite activities in the classroom/on the

playground/with friends?

In class, her favourite activities are building with the big blocks at center
time, reading books, and colouring. I always see her colouring new pictures for her
friends and her family. On the playground, some of her favourite activities are tag,
playing on the equipment, and hide and seek.

What do you notice about this learner’s literacy behaviours? In what ways do
you see them responding to activities like story time, writing/reading?

She appears to enjoy reading a lot; she seems to have good stamina while silent
reading. S is at a higher reading level than most other students in the class, which
tells me that she practices often and tries her best while reading. She really enjoys
story time; she is always sitting right in front of the teacher during story time and
likes to predict what will happen next in the story.

What are the easiest ways for your student to show what they know?

S likes to apply what she has learned to something else she is doing. For example,
after doing a lesson on patterns she ate her lunch “in a pattern” by eating blueberry,
blueberry, raspberry, blueberry, blueberry, raspberry, etc and saying it as she ate
them. She also is not hesitant to show me her work when she is finished and tell me
what she has done.

Part B: Learner Unlike Me

My “learner unlike me” is a boy in my grade 1 class. For the sake of keeping
his identity confidential, I will refer to him as G throughout the assignment.

In what way is this learner ‘unlike you’? What is it about this learner that
makes you think they are unlike you?

From what I have observed so far this year, G is more of a hands-on learner.
He struggles to finish word work worksheets or write in his journal but he very
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responsive when the class does activities like math games. When I was in
elementary school, I used to be more responsive to just doing my own work on
paper as opposed to participating in class activities because I was very shy as a
child. G also benefits a lot from one-on-one work with the teacher or another adult,
when he doesn’t get that one-on-one time he is very easily distracted and tends to
act out to get more attention from the teacher.

Where is the student seated in the class? (by choice? Teacher’s choice?)

The table seats are chosen by the teacher but he always choses to sit at the
back during carpet time. When I was in school I always chose to sit as close to the
teacher as possible to keep my focus. G often chooses to sit by his friends even
though he is easily distracted.

How would you describe your learner’s ability to participate in classroom and
group activities?

G thrives better with one-on-one time rather than group work. When he is asked
to work with his table group, he is very unwillingly and often lashes out; he
struggles to work well with others.

How does your student appear to respond to challenges/solve problems?

When a conflict arises he is quick to tell the teacher rather than try to talk
through the issue. I usually preferred to try and work out the problem rather than
tell the teacher because I always felt like a tattler when I did. He has a hard time
accepting the blame when he does something wrong, he is quick to place the blame
on others around him.

How does your student interact with others in the classroom? What are
his/her strengths and stretches in this area?

In class, he gets along really well with his friends in the class but struggles to
work well with others who aren’t as close to him. When he is working with his
friends, he does work fast and works really well but if he is partnered with someone
he is not close to he often procrastinates. G struggles to share well with students
that he is not close with.

How would you describe your learner’s ability to work with others on and off
the playground?

G plays with his friends on the playground mostly. He is not mean to other
students but he often does not play with anyone new; I often only see him playing
with the same students.
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What are your learner’s favourite activities in the classroom/on the
playground/with friends?

In the classroom, G likes to play with dominoes and Lego at centers,

occasionally he will join the art table if his friends are doing it as well. On the
playground, he likes to run around with friends and play on the playground
equipment. He also enjoys playing with his friends in the cage area.

What do you notice about this learner’s literacy behaviours? In what ways do
you see them responding to activities like story time, writing/reading?

G definitely struggles to read for a long time independently but reads well to
others and with others. When he gets to read one-on-one with a teacher he reads
very well and is not hesitant but struggles to keep stamina and focus while
independently reading. When I was in elementary school, I struggled to read for a
long period of time too because I easily got distracted but I as I got older I started to
love reading and it became easier for me. I think that this learner just needs more
time and more strategies to build stamina while reading. G loves story time when
the teacher is reading a story at the carpet or during snack/lunch time. He is very
engaged and likes to predict what will happen next in the story. I think he struggles
a bit with writing and it’s not that he doesn’t know how, but more that he is
reluctant to do it. Sometimes when I ask him to write his name on his paper he will
say “I don’t know how to spell it” but I have seen him write it many times before, he
just acts out for attention and tries to be silly.

What are your student’s passion/things he/she is good at?

G gets very excited about Gym time and music class. He always participates
in gym and I think it is a good way for him to have a brain break and to feel like it’s
acceptable to get a little wild. Music class is very hands-on which is his learning style
so he is very excited and engaged in music class.

What are the easiest ways for your student to show what they know?

I think the easiest way for G to show me what he knows is to apply it to other
things that he is interested in. It is hard for him to get excited about school but it is
really easy for him to get excited about stuff he likes.

Part C

Throughout this observation, I definitely feel like there are a wide variety of
learners in my class and I will try to shape my teaching to fit the needs of all the
students. Like mentioned in the assignment outline, I did move around a lot as a
child and went to multiple new schools so I know what it is like to be the new kid. I
definitely empathize with new students as they come to this school and the sense of
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community that Fairview gives the students is amazing and that is really important
to me. Throughout my two week practicum in December, I would like to use my unit
plan to continue to build that sense of community in my classroom As mentioned
before in this case study, I am not a very hands-on learner and never really was
growing up so I think that has influence on what kinds of lessons and activities I
immediately think of when I am planning during my practicum. I know that students
do not all learn the same and there are lots of hands-on learners in the class so I
need to adjust my way of thinking to meet the class’ needs. I also have always
thought that if a student is acting out then they are just misbehaving or not a good
student but since entering this embedded practice I am learning that it is important
to find the root of the problem and that sometimes students just need extra help or a
little bit of one-on-one time. After doing this assignment, I am definitely more aware
of the different types of learners in my class and more self-aware as a teacher about
how I respond and react to everyone’s needs.