Episode 4: Individual Differences and Learner’s Interaction

An Observation Guide for the Learner’s Characteristics

1. Find out the number of students. Gather data as to their ages, gender, racial groups,
religious and ethnic backgrounds.

During class:
1. How much interaction is there in the classroom? Describe how the students interact,
with one another and with the teacher. Are there groups that interact more with the
teacher than others.

2. Observe the learners seated at the back and the front part of the room. Do they
behave and interact differently?

3. Describe the relationship among the learners. Do the learners cooperate with or
complete against each other?

4. Which students participate actively? Which students ask for most help?-

5. When a student is called and cannot answer the teacher’s question, do

the classmates try to help him? Or do they raise their hands so that the teacher will call
them instead?

Outside the class:

1.  How do the students group themselves outside the class? Homogenously, by age? By
gender? By racial or ethnic groups? Or are the students in mixed social groupings? If so,
describe the groupings
2.  Describe how the learners interact with each other? What do they talk about?
Observation Report:

There are 17 girls and 15 boys. All of them are Filipinos and Roman Catholics. Their
ages are ranging from 14-17 years old.

During class, t h e l e a r n e r ’ s i n t e r a c t i o n v a r i e s . M o s t o f t h e g i r l s a r e
a c t i v e l y p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n c l a s s d i s c u s s i o n s . Some boys are distracted by their
seatmates. The group of girls are interacting more with the teacher. They are asking some
questions and teacher answer them with full patience. They share give and take relationship
with the teacher. The students at the back are less submissive and more distracted than
students seating in the front. They are noisy and naughty. Some students are competing in
answering the teacher’s question and I find it good for them. They can develop good
sportsmanship and skills in leadership. There are also students who didn’t care what is
happening inside their classroom. They are not aware of their lesson and not participating well
in the class. Whenever a student, fails to give the correct answers to some of the teacher’s
questions, he just thank them and call another volunteer who knows the answer. Sometimes,
few students are whispering the answers to their classmates.

Outside the class, the students are grouped according to their gender and age. Few girls
are sometimes joining groups of boys as well the boys joining some group of the girls. Girls talk
about movies and programs in televisions and their crushes, while boys are talking about
computer games.

Analysis:

1. Identify the persons who play key roles in the relationships and interactions in the
classroom. What roles do they play? Is there somebody who appears to be a leader, a
mascot/joker, an attention seeker, a little teacher, a doubter/pessimist?
The persons who play key roles in the relationships and interactions in
the classroom are the students and the teacher. The teacher plays the role of an
instructor, and second mother or father. They are the people who support and guide the
students, for the development of their learning. The students are the ones who seek
support and assistance to their teachers. These two persons must maintain give and
take relationship in order to develop good rapport with each other.
 2. Are students coming from the minority group accepted or rejected by others?
Students coming from minority group are fully accepted by their
classmates regardless of their differences. They accept each other despite of their
different beliefs and culture.

3. How does the teacher influence the class interaction considering the individual
differences of the students?
The teacher has a large influence in the class interaction because he is
responsible of teaching his students ethical values, respectand acceptance of each
other’s beliefs.He must think ways to make his class united and maintain good
relationship with each other.
4. What factors influence the grouping of learners outside the classroom?
Some factors that affect grouping of learners outside the classroom are
the student’s interests in different things and their similarities on the stuffs that they
want such as material things like shoes and bags for girls and caps for boys.

Reflection:

1. How did you feel being in that room? Did you feel a sense of oneness or unity among
the learners and between the teacher and the learners?
As I was observing the classroom, I felt happiness because the even
though the learners have different characteristics and opinions, they still have a
harmonious relationship with each other as well as with their teacher. They are sharing
jokes and funny stories which make the classroom more alive and active.

2. In the future, how would you want the learners in your classroom to interact? How will
you make this happen?

In the future, I would make sure that the students will learn as well as
enjoy in my class. They must develop good characteristics and values as much as
knowledge that they can use in the future. I can make this happen by providing proper
support and guidance to my students. I will also create good relationship with them.

3. How will you encourage all learners, regardless of religious, ethnic or racial background,
 to interact and participate?
I will inculcate to their minds that all people are fair regardless of their
appearances and beliefs. I will teach them to respect the opinions of others if they want
others to respect them too.

EPISODE 5: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND

LEARNER’SINTERACTION

An Observation Guide for Individual Differences

1. Observe the class to see the differences in abilities of the learners.

2. Try to identify the students who seem to be performing well and those seem to bebehind.-

3. Validate your observations by asking the teacher about the background (family, socio-
economic, presence of some learning disability, etc.) of these children.

4. Observe the behavior of both the high achieving and low-achieving learners. Note
their dispositions, pare in accomplishing tasks, interaction with teacher, interaction with others.

5. Observe the teacher’s method in addressing the learning needs of the students in
his/her class.

Observation Report:

Students possess different skills and talents which are developed as the time goes by.
Most girls are performing well because they are showing interests in their studies. Some of the
boys seem to be left behind because they don’t have much focus and attention to learn. The
teacher told me that these learners came from the lower section class and most of them have
low socio-economic status. Although their parents send them to school, they can’t provide
school materials that are needed by their sons or daughters. The high-achieving learners are
attentive and actively participating in classroom discussions. They maintain good relationship
with their teacher and have focus and attention to their topics. They have many friends and can
easily interact with other persons. The low-achieving learners are quite noisy and attention-
seekers. They could not maintain their focus andattention to their teacher. They make friends to
the students who are just like them. They don’t like to interact with others. The teacher’s method
in addressing the learning needs of the students is by patiently teaching his students the lesson
and providing many examples for easier understanding. He gives them chances to ask
questions whenever they have confusions.

Analysis:

1. Did your observation match the information given by the teacher? Were you able to
correctly identify who among the students performed well and who did not? What
behavior helped you to identify them? (Volunteering to answer, responding to teacher’s
direction, etc.)
My observations match the information given by the teacher because I
correctly identified different behaviors of the students. I recognize those students who
are excelling and showing interests in their studies and students who lack attention and
focus to learn. I easily identify them by carefully observing the way they interact and
participate to their class discussions.

2. Describe the differences in the ability levels of the students in the class. Is there a wide
gap between the students who are performing well and those that are not?
The level of ability of the students varies based on their gender. Most girls are
actively performing while most of the boys are not. There is wide gap between
these different groups of students.

3. Describe the methods used by the teacher in handling the students’ differences in
abilities. How did the students respond to the teacher?
The teacher uses the method of reinforcement wherein he motivates the child to perform
and do his best. He also uses punishment method to discipline and mold the student’s
behavior.
 Reflection:

1. Recall the time when you were in the elementary or high school. Recall the high and
lowachievers in your class. How did your teacher deal with differences in abilities? Was
your teacher effective?
When I was in 3rd year high school, my teacher in math treated us fairly
and avoids scolding my classmates in front of us. She was entertaining questions and
patiently explains and gives different examples for us to better understand her lesson.

2. With the principle of individual differences in mind, what methods and strategies will you
remember in the future to ensure that you will be able to meet the needs of both high
and low achievers n your class?
Asafutureeducator, I am the person responsible in thinking of methods
and some ways for my students to learn fast and effectively. I may consider the
methods of reinforcement and punishment to meet the needs of my students. I will
avoid things that may interfere and may serve as a hindrance for the development of
learning of my students. And lastly, I will teach them not only the lesson but also the
ethical values which are the most important thing they must know.
 Reflection:
After conducting my observation in high school students, I realized that being
a teacher is not an easy job. This profession requires a lot of patience and is a big responsibility.
A teacher must be always prepared because all his actions will greatly affect his students. He
must be guided by different theories of development of a child because it will help them to
think of ways on how to facilitate the students in a way that they will learn fast and effectively. I
also learned that the environment which includes the school and the classrooms have big roles
in the knowledge acquisition of the students. A classroom that is conducive to learning are
those place who have good qualities such well-ventilated, well-lighted, clean and organize. I
became aware of certain methods and techniques I may use in my future teaching profession. I
enjoyed observing different behaviors that children possess at every level of his life. It is also
important to be aware of the student’s different skills and talents so that a teacher can provide
support and can help the student in improving his abilities. The teacher must also observed
individual differences so that he will know the approaches he will use to guide hid student.
Most importantly, an effective teacher should teach not from the book but from the heart. He
must inculcate not only knowledge and important information but also ethical values.