Diana High

Ethnographic Observation

Heights Middle School is the school to attend. Regarding demographic information, most students who attend Heights come from good backgrounds with parents who are educated. When preparing for this observation, I drove around the neighborhoods where the students live and found that most of them are well maintained. There are nice cars in the driveways and the lawns are manicured. Rarely do you see anything much different.

Student A is an 11 year old girl of Mexican descent and your typical over achiever. She does well in school, is comfortable in her own skin, and radiates self esteem. When talking to Student A I found out that she was very easy to get along with and is able to carry on a meaningful conversation. I visited with her mostly out of the classroom and she is very mature for her age and very intelligent. From observing student A, it is clear that she is from a healthy environment and that is also evident when talking with her mom. Her mom says, “Student A has always been on the honor roll, since she began school, she just demands that of herself.” She is supported by her family and the involvement within that unit is perceived within the walls of the schools. Her mom is a substitute teacher and you can see the connection that they have. More than once her mom and her have come into the classroom early to receive help on homework that was not understood. Her mom would say, “We just wanted to make sure she was doing this right.” She is your typical 7^th grade girl, has many friends, one best friend, and is very well adjusted.

Motivation for Student A is not extrinsic, it is intrinsic. She strives to do well and any teacher that she encounters will have to differentiate instruction so that she will be challenged. Teachers would not want boredom to become a factor for this student.

Student A lives just off of the Bloomfield Highway where she is responsible for many animals that live on her farm. She raises pig, lambs, and quail. They also have land in Napi where they raise cattle. Student A is very involved with her animals and aspires to be a veterinarian. As a matter of fact, she is raising quail for the 7^th grade science fair and wants to release her quail on Napi for hunting. She is a very driven individual and isn’t afraid to take on a challenge.

I identify with Student A in that this is the way I grew up. I lived on a small farm where we were expected to do our chores everyday, being responsible for animals was second nature to being responsible for yourself. This is why I know that Student A is as responsible as she appears to be. When other lives depend on you for their well being, you automatically become skilled at dealing with more responsibility.

The support from the neighborhood would come in the form of parents for this student. Although there is nothing notable for neighborhood support, this student will not require it, it would just be an added bonus. She has all of the support she needs at home with a support system from parents that we wish all students had.

As far as after school activities, Student A is involved in 4-H and was involved in soccer up until this year. She had a bad experience with a coach last year and decided that she didn’t want to participate again. This is unfortunate since she had been playing since she was 5.

Again, Student A is a very attentive student. She makes it to all of her classes on time and is always a willing participant. Although the halls are crowded, Student A is able to weed her way through the traffic in a timely manner even stopping to chat with friends on her way. She has to stop at her locker but does so quickly and efficiently since she has materials prepared according to her schedule. She is always willing to answer questions and is one of the first students to raise her hand, without having to be called upon.

There was an incident at school involving Student A and a fellow female student. The other student offended Student A and infringed on her personal space. After this happened, Student A asked to speak to the teacher explaining the situation and asked to be moved. I feel like this took a lot of nerve on the part of Student A. I was worried that she might feel the repercussions of being a teenage girl that exerts self reliance. Would the other 7^th grade girls chastise her? Would they be overtly mean? With great relief I report that none of this happened and she handled the situation wonderfully.

After visiting with this student, one would assume that teaching would be easy. She says of herself, “I am a perfectionist and I can’t relax about my work.” However, I feel like that at times the over achievers require more attention than your average or below average student. They must be challenged since they are equipped to excel at their every endeavor. Boredom could easily become a factor for this student and she could ultimately be lost if teacher’s are not willing to nurture her unique possibilities. When given assignments that are to be completed in class, she panics. She knows that she has limited time to complete the assignment and she also knows that all effort will have to be limited to the classroom environment. When I tell her to just take it easy when she is notified that she can’t take the work home she says, “I can’t take it easy, I have to do everything perfect.”

In dealing with this student, I will definitely have to make adjustments concerning instruction. She will be able to read ahead in the story that we have planned, she will be able to work at her own pace, and she will be given more challenging assignments that she may choose to complete. This student is going to excel at whatever she does because accomplishments are ingrained within her. Just be working with this student, I will become a better teacher. Right off the bat, I will have to deal with fostering a child’s differences.