Blog Entry 1

Blog Post 1

What developmental differences do you see between the children in the classroom?

I am currently assisting in a fourth grade classroom. The students there are so much fun. They are all smart in their own way and working with them is such a rewarding experience.

Today I worked with three different small group with changing mixed numbers to improper fractions and improper fractions to whole numbers. The first group I worked with struggled through the first few problems. The only ones they got right, they had guessed on. After explaining it to them, they quickly picked it up and were able to solve the last problems with little to no help from me at all. These students just needed a little more explanation of the concept before they were able to do it on their own. The next group was completely different.

The second group was four children who were all over the place developmentally. I had one child, Child A, who could not focus on the problems at all. He was constantly looking around and could not focus. When I could get him to focus, however, he knew all the answers. He would explain to me how to get the answer but would not share with the group. Another child, Child B, was very ahead of the other children. After we worked the first problem together, she was ready to solve the others on her own. She always wanted to share how she got the answer and was first to volunteer information. The other two children, Child c and Child D, could not grasp the concept at all. They were guessing on every problem and couldn't keep focused. I explained it in multiple ways but they could not grasp it. Near the end of the assignment, Child C, started to understand. She was able to do the last few on her own with little help. Child D could work through everything as long as I walked him through the problem. Child D mostly wanted to work on drawing and doodling on the worksheet. While he was not so great at math, he is amazing at drawing. He was excited when i recognized his drawings and tried to apply that to the math concept. That started to help him understand the problem more.

The children in this classroom are all smart in their own way. Some are behind socially and do not want to share anything or participate in group work. Others are behind cognitively and do not understand things as quickly and easily as the other children. They all have something they are really good at like Child D with his drawings. I am excited to spend more time in this classroom and learn more about the children.