Michelle Watson

Professor Lee
19 April 2018
Case Study
*Disclaimer: Names of the school, teacher, and students have been changed for this case study to
ensure privacy.
Throughout this semester, I have gone to Elementary School A every Tuesday and Thursday
from 12:50 P.M.-1:50 P.M. It is a local school with, to my knowledge, 300 or so students
enrolled. Its atmosphere is that of liveliness that stems from student art work hanging in the
hallways and smiling faces that greet you as you pass by. The classroom that I worked with is a
TK/K classroom which has about 20 students and belongs to Teacher J. This case study is about
three students from this very classroom in this very school that have different yet similar
approaches and viewpoints of their class assignments.
Teacher J is a very patient woman and has a heart filled with kindness. I can tell that she
believes in her students with all her heart. Her students are as what Forrest Gump would say
“like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get”. In other words, there is an
assortment of students that range from personality types to ways of thinking. The three students
that I chose for this case are at different points in those ranges.
My three chosen students are as follows: Student R, who will be called Reggie; Student A,
who will be called Amber; and Student C, who will be called Cal.
During the times that I am in the classroom, Teacher J starts off going over a few
arrangements of chosen items that students can possibly use to add up to their number of the
week. She doesn’t give the students the answer but has them raise their hands if they have a
suggestion of how to arrange chosen items. Following that, she asks students to suggest what the
equation for those arrangements could be. This way, she is giving the students examples without
giving them the answers. Once instructions on the tasks at hand are said and done, she has the
students put together arrangements from chosen items to make the number of the week (i.e.
adding up to 5, 6, or 7) or lesson followed by the makings of an equation for each arrangement.
Sometimes, the worksheets include a section where the students need to fill out a number bond
instead of writing an equation. She seats the students at different tables, or at least in different
groups, each time so that they work with different chosen items. Each chosen item has a
worksheet that takes up two pages.
The chosen items that the students work with are as listed below:
 Sometimes the students work with beads, in which blue counts as one (it is not connected
to another bead), green counts as two (two beads are connected), yellow counts as three
(three beads are connected), orange counts as four (four beads are connected), and red
counts as five (five beads are connected). The worksheets have circles in which the
arrangements are to be drawn with crayon.
  Sometimes the students work with beans, in which there are red (I believe they are made
of plastic) beans. The worksheets have outlines of beans in the amount of the number of
the week (i.e. the six book has six bean outlines). Students are to fill in some with red
crayon and leave some white.
 Sometimes the students work with counting cubes, in which there are either plastic red
cubes and plastic green cubes, or there are plastic red cubes and plastic orange cubes.
These cubes can be put together/connected like Legos. The worksheets have squares
lined up across a box in the amount of the number of the week (i.e. in seven book there
would be seven squares/cubes in a row). Students are to fill in some with one color of the
counting cubes and the others with the other color of counting cubes.
 Sometimes the students work with pattern blocks which include the maroon trapezoid,
yellow hexagon, orange square, golden diamond, and green triangle. The worksheets
have the page divided up and students are to choose shapes from the shapes mentioned
and put them in arrangements of their choosing.
 Sometimes the students use tile patterns, in which there are orange paper tiles (squares).
The worksheets are similar to the pattern block ones in which the page is divided up and
students are to place the paper tiles in arrangements (each one must touch another one).
At the end of each number book, there is a page called “Fast Facts!”, in which students will
answer about 15 addition problems. From what I can tell, all the students have no troubles with
this page. From what I can tell from the focus and looks on the students faces, the students are
not very interested in the assignment but they don’t dread it and will do the work because they
must.
Student R (aka Reggie):
From observing and interacting with Reggie, I found out a lot about him as a person and
how he thinks. He can focus on his work without any trouble. He does his work quickly, easily,
and efficiently. For example, he will put the arrangements all out first, then color/draw/glue the
arrangements, then write the equations in that order almost every time. If you ask him to do so in
a different order, he will tell you that you are wrong and that the way he is doing it is the right
way. I found him to be a multi-tasker. He will converse with you while he is working without
letting it interfere or mess up anything. Reggie tells you about things that he likes, people he
knows, asks you questions about yourself, etc. Most times he wants you to see his work and to
have your attention. Sometimes when I am checking someone else’s assignment, he will tug on
my arm and say “Look at mine! Look at mine!”. From what I have seen, he never writes any
numbers backwards or not in the “Kindergarten way”, which would be messy or backwards.
From what I know, he knows his numbers 1-20 as well as you and I would. He never asks for
help and never needs anything to be fixed or changed in his class assignments. Reggie is social
almost exclusively towards HSU helpers during classwork and towards anyone he is playing
with during “Choice Time”. During “Choice Time” he will always play with the building
blocks/Lincoln Logs to build towers and defense systems; there is always a story he gives behind
it.
Below are examples of Reggie’s worksheets that he has completed:
Student A (aka Amber):
From observing and interacting with Amber, I found out a lot about her personality and
way of thinking. She is able to give her complete focus on her work. Often, she keeps to herself
and doesn’t socialize much with others during work time as well as outside of classwork from
what I’ve seen, but I could be wrong. She seems to be soft speaking and introverted. Many to
most times, she seems to understand how to do the assignment at hand and breezes through with
no trouble. I noticed that sometimes Amber will have trouble coming up with new ways of
arranging items to make the number of the week or parts of the equation. When this happens and
you ask her what other arrangements or combinations that she could make, she will often stare at
you while thinking and give you a serious look as if you were the meanest person for making her
do such things (gives you a “how could you do this to me” feeling). She likes to get her work
done so that she can go to “Choice Time”. Amber knows her numbers 1-20 in general but will
sometimes write a few numbers backwards. When it comes to counting to the 20s-30s with
blocks (i.e. 10,20,21,22,23…) she skips over some numbers (i.e. 10,20,30,31,35…when it should
go to something like 23). During “Choice Time” she will alternate what she chooses to do. Some
days she will be playing in the play kitchen, sometimes the play flower shop, sometimes with
blocks, or sometimes listen to a reading of a book.
Below are examples of Amber’s worksheets that she has completed:
Student C (aka Cal):
From observing and interacting with Cal, I found out a lot about his personality and his
way of thinking. I’ve noticed that sometimes he will be really focused on his work and will get
through the assignment very easily. However, other times he will be distracted and will want to
talk to others around him and/or HSU helpers about a topic he is interested in or that is random.
Cal is very social. Most times he would like the attention of HSU helper and anyone nearby. He
exudes warmth and positivity through his smiley and energetic nature. When he is distracted, he
likes to draw; it usually is a drawing of someone (sometimes himself) being electrocuted but
being saved by his ninja friends with swords. A few times he has said “I can’t” when asked to
write an equation for an arrangement of items he made. I’m not sure if it is because he can’t
think of anything at the time, if he doesn’t want to do the work, or if it is something else. From
what I know, he knows his numbers 1-20 but sometimes he will write a few of his numbers
backwards. During “Choice Time” he will sometimes choose to draw and sometimes play with
materials to build something. Usually, Cal is by himself during “Choice Time”. It may be
because he despises the games that the “other boys” in the class play because as he says, “they
play fighting games” when they aren’t supposed to and that “they hide it well from HSU helpers
and the teacher”.
The students all work with concrete, representational, and abstract approaches in their
class assignments. Their concrete approach is done using the beads, beans, counting cubes,
pattern blocks, and tile patterns. Their representational approach is shown when they draw or
glue their arrangements onto the paper. Their abstract approach is shown when they write an
equation that stems from the arrangements that they had made. I feel that Reggie is proficient in
all three approaches. Amber and Cal, on the other hand, may need a little practice with the
concrete and abstract approaches, depending on the reason that they are having trouble. Since I
do not know for sure the reasons why, I can not give an exact suggestion on what needs to be
worked on more.
From observing the classroom and the three students, I can conclude that these students
each have positive and unique qualities in how they present themselves and how they think. To
know more about these students and how they think, I would need to spend more time with them
and have more conversations. However, I have learned that at early stages in our lives, as
learners, each person has a different way of thinking and putting thoughts and concepts together.
This experience has also given me the chance to connect to the students by the attempts of
remembering how I was at their age and how challenging it is to learn new things. Ultimately, I
learned that you need to be patient and caring towards the students. I must admit that there were
a few times that I got the sense that some of the students didn’t believe in themselves. I could be
wrong, but if I am correct, I hope that some day they are able to believe in themselves. Teacher J
is the type of teacher who facilitates an environment of positivity and I’m certain that her
influence can help guide these students towards greater learning and self-confidence.