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Running Head: Individual Differences Student Profile

Individual Differences Student Profile
Beatriz Nava
Instructor: Tracy Meyerhoeffer
EDUC 205: Development / Individual Differences Online
Spring 2014


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Individual Differences Student Profile
A few years ago, I had an incredible experience. As a student walked into math class, she
started complaining out loud saying, I quit, I will never use this, I hate this class. Tired of
hearing this, I started calling her quitter instead of her name, and I was doing this in class and
even at lunch time. One day, as she walked into class, I said Good Morning, Quitter. This time,
she turned around and looked me in the eye and said, Mrs. NavaI am not a quitter. I smiled
at her and gave her a hug whispering, I knew that, but you didnt know. I am glad you
discovered that. From that day forth, she worked hard until the bell rang and she ended up
passing her algebra and geometry classes.
Every individual has his/her unique way of learning to accomplish his/her daily
assignments as well as goals. Some students will need more than just words. The student I
observed comes from a different cultural background. This student has a different way of
learning. As I worked with her, I had the opportunity to discover more about her background,
physical development, cognitive development, and socio-emotional development. For this
profile, I will examine each of the aforementioned areas and provide a summary of my findings
as well as how these findings may have implications for the classrooms.
General Information
Angelica Solano is a female who is 15 years and 2 months old who comes from a
Hispanic heritage. She lives in a nuclear family which consists of both parents and children. In
this family, she is the fourth child of eight children. Her father works at a farm as a truck driver
and her mother works seasonal jobs. The oldest child is 22 years old, married, and has a five year
old daughter. The second child graduated from high school and is currently working at Mountain
Meadow Motors. The third child is going to graduate from Burley High School this year.
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Angelica is the fourth child; she is a freshmen this year and a full time student at Cassia
Alternative School. Elias is the fifth child, who is in the eighth grade this school year. Juan is the
sixth child, who is in the fifth grade at White Pine Elementary school. Daniel is the seventh
child; he is in fourth grade at White Pine Elementary also. Alex is the eighth child and is in
second grade at Mountain View Elementary.
Angelica participates in Five Star Club tutoring section on Wednesdays and Fridays
from 3:15pm to 4:30 pm. She rides the bus to school and from school, except those days she
stays after school. At home, she has no chores, because her mother wants her to have extra time
to finish her school work or to study for a test. Angelicas mother told me that she wants to see
her going to a regular school, but she is missing credits. Therefore, she encourages her to
complete all of her work. During Angelicas leisure time, she likes to be on Facebook with her
friends and likes to draw pictures for her friends.
During her mothers seasonal jobs, Angelica is responsible for taking care of her brothers
and sisters. She assigns them small tasks to do and promises they can watch a movie of their
choice once they are done. One of her responsibilities while her mother is gone is to make sure
that they have their homework done by helping them. When everyone is done with their chores,
she puts in their movie. Once the movie is over, Angelica sends them to take a bath because
everyone needs to be in bed no later than 9:00 oclock.
Physical Development
Angelica has black hair, black eyes, and light dark skin. She appears to be about the same
physical maturation compared to her peers. She sits in the front row in most of her classes
because she requires glasses to correct her vision, but she refuses to wear them; therefore, she is
placed in the front of the class. This student uses her right hand to do all of her school work and
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perform task at home as well. At school, her teachers were impressed with her work because she
likes perfection. I remember that, when she was enrolled in her adult living class, she had to
build her dream house. She brought her project to school. All of her teachers were impressed by
her fine motor skills. She constructed her dream house of cardboard, and it was cut so perfectly
that it was clear that she took her time to make the right measurements. The windows and doors
were cut to fit perfectly cut to the required dimensions. Because of her perfect hearing, she does
not often miss any instructions that she needs to complete projects effectively.
Angelica loves to play soccer, and last year, she participated in the soccer team at Burley
Junior High School for the entire season. While on the team, she played defense because her
gross motor skills are so well developed that she can move very quickly from place to place. At
one point of the season, she played midfield because her coach noticed that her outstanding
ability was kicking the ball. If during the game, the team would have to kick penalties shots, the
couch would use her because she is really good at kicking the ball to make a goal for the team.
This year has been different because her mother works whenever she finds a job; therefore,
Angelica cannot commit herself to a soccer team.
On Sundays, her mother prepares a special meal, because this is the only day when the
entire family is together. This family values family time. Angelica is very picky when it comes to
foods because she likes to eat healthy to stay in shape for her sport. When the sun begins going
down, Angelica walks with some friends and siblings to a soccer field to play until it gets dark.
They form two teams and compete against each other. The losing team has to buy the ice-cream
cones from Dairy Queen.
Cognitive Development
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While Angelica was at Burley Junior High School, she was enrolled in a LEP (Limited
English Proficient) program, which is designed to help students with their English fluency. At
the school, she had shelter classes with a range of 15 to 20 students. Some states in this country
have bilingual education, and some schools implement rapid transition to all English classes.
This means that students will be placed in bilingual education classes, and the teacher will teach
the students English in their native language. The students will only be in bilingual education for
one to three years before being fully immersed in English. Other schools have a gradual
transition to all English classes. This means that the students are placed into a regular English
right away not knowing a bit of English. Here in Idaho students are placed in shelter classes or
ESL (English as Second Language).
Angelica was struggling a lot in all subjects last year and failed most of her classes.
Losing her credits is what made her go to an alternative school this 2013-2014 school year.
According to Piaget, Angelica is in the fourth stage of cognitive development which is the
formal operational stage where thinking is based on abstract principles. I had the pleasure to
work with Angelica in mathematics where there is a cognitively oriented curriculum. In this
class, the students are encouraged to create their self-organized learning time. Additionally, the
students are able to view all the common core state standards and objectives.
During self-organized learning time, the student decides on what standards he or she
want to work on for the day. Educators make sure that the students are aware that in order for
them to receive credit, they must complete all of their tasks (objectives). If the students dont
finish all of their tasks, the students will receive an I for incomplete. Some students just joke
around for the first two weeks, but the students freak out when the teacher writes an Fs on their
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progress reports. The teacher lets them know that by observing and checking their journals, he
knows if they are not making progress or not.
This is when they start seeing the real picture, and they start using their reasoning and
logic which enables them to start using their time wisely. Angelica was among those students
because she wasted her time during class. I remember that when she came to the class, she was
lost and confused. I decided to pay close attention to her, because I noticed that she had a hard
time staying on task. I discovered that it was hard for her to retain information as well as process
information, and she was easily distracted by other students. I started to work with her by
isolating her from the group. I encouraged her to stay after school to help her finish her tasks. At
first she refused, but she started to stay after she used logic and reasoning and discovered that she
would be getting extra help to get her tasks done.
Socio-Emotional development
Angelica has a lot of friends at school, and it seems that she gets along very well with all
of them. She is very respectful to her teachers, parents, and other adults. As I talked to
Angelicas mother, I discovered that their family has a lot of values, respect is one upon which
they place great emphasis. The parents teach their children to respect their elders. Angelica falls
into identity versus identity diffusion according to Eriksons Stages. Angelicas mother told me
that Angelica is always questioning her about their values and traditions. She has told her that
she is exploring their beliefs and others beliefs and will change what she doesnt like.
One thing that Angelica would like to change is the fact that within her culture, the girls
are viewed as slaves. In other words, when a young girl gets married, she will have to be there
for her husband at all times. She has to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner ready for him every
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single day. Women dont have the right to education because they were born to be mothers and a
wives; therefore, their duty is to stay at home to take care of the children.
Conclusion
This essay explains that all of the students have their own unique ways of learning. As a
result, teacher must discover the way their students learn, so they can help their students to
succeed in the classroom through programs and different methods of teaching. First, teachers
need to make sure their students are obtaining long term knowledge. Second, teachers must
adapt their way of teaching to fulfill their students needs. This particular case is a perfect
example of how teachers can use different techniques in order to bring about student learning.
In conclusion, I learned that Angelica is easily distracted which keeps her from
accomplishing her daily tasks. Second, she seems to work best in an individualized setting.
Third, moving her away from other students that can distract her seems to be an effective
strategy in encouraging her learning. Last, having her stay after school to get extra help was
absolutely essential as this is where she saw her own learning occur. In all, these techniques were
helpful for her because I have seen incredible growth since she has begun to use logical
reasoning concerning time management. Additionally, I know that staying after school has
increased her knowledge and her self-esteem, because now she knows that she can do the math.
In conclusion, working as an aide has helped me learn how to use different kinds of strategies to
fulfill the students needs according to their learning styles.




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References
Berns, R. M (2007). child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (7
th
ed.).
Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.