Khandji

Liana Khandji
C&T 4123
Child Inquiry Data Piece #1
Overall Context:
All data pieces were collected at CES 173 in the Bronx where Scott is in the fourth grade. His
family is from Sierra Leone, but he was born in the United States. Scott is a very social nineyear-old African American and the second smallest boy in the class. He tends to seek the
attention of teachers and other students throughout the day often by using humor or silliness to
make them laugh.

Context for Data Piece #1:

I believe in investing the time to get to know my students at the start of the school year. I decided
that my first data piece would be a getting to you know survey. I created a questionnaire that was
comprised of different sentence starters for Scott to fill out. I purposefully left room between
each prompt so that after he completed the sentences I could go back and ask him about his
choices. I conducted the interview on October 2 at lunch (12:20pm-12:45pm).

INTRODUCING...
Name: Scott

1. The three things I do best in school are Reading/Scince

Analysis: Right off the bat I noticed Scott was having trouble with the first sentence. He let me
know that he could not think of three things. I told him not to worry and just to write down
whatever he could think of. When I asked him why he chose reading and science he told me that
sometimes in science he is really focused and thinking good thoughts about science. It seems to
me that Scott equates doing his best with being focused. This made me think about engagement
in the classroom. How engaged is Scott throughout the day? What behaviors does he exhibit
if/when he is not engaged? I plan to observe these behaviors next week!

2. After school I go to Becon

Analysis: I was interested to learn more about what Scott does at Beacon so I asked him a follow
up question. Scott gave me a play by play of the daily after school schedule and it resembled

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most after school programs in that students have time for homework, snack, and play. He seems
to enjoy his time at Beacon.

3. My favorite part of the school day is Math/lunch

Analysis: After asking Scott why Math and lunch were his favorite parts of the school day I could
predict what his response would be. I knew that for lunch he was going to say something along
the lines of lunch being fun because he gets to spend time with his friends and play outside. Scott
also tends to enjoy challenges, which is why I think he enjoys math. Many times Scott will get the
math answer wrong, but he is genuinely trying different strategies and working hard to arrive at
an answer.

4. I wish I could be a pedatrition for kids

Analysis: I did not expect this answer out of Scott. When I asked Scott to tell me more about
wanting to be a pediatrician he mentioned wanting to help around the world because of the many
kids that are dying around the world. Scott went on to explain his plan of traveling each year to
a different country and state. I was very impressed by this plan and how much Scott has thought
about it already. His response highlighted that he has dreams and aspirations that he intends to
fulfill. I was also interested in learning about where the pediatrician idea came from so I asked
and Scott told me that his older brother had told his mom that he wanted to be a pediatrician.
This made me think about how much younger siblings pick up from older ones, and how it affects
them. In this case it seems like Scotts older brother is a source of inspiration for him.

5. I would like to meet Lebron James

Analysis: When I asked Scott why he chose Lebron James he told me it was because Lebron
inspired him to start playing basketball and to get better and better (and he mentioned that he
was in fact getting better and better.) It was interesting that Scott chose someone that inspires
him. Again I thinks this ties into Scotts positive goal-oriented outlook on life. It was also
interesting that he chose basketball because he is the second smallest person in the class with
only one boy and one girl who are smaller than him.

6. Sometimes I am funny
Analysis: It seems that Scott is very aware of his class clown status. I mentioned that sometimes
my CT points out his comedic behavior and other times his classmates find him funny and laugh.
It seems to me that Sam uses comedy and class clown status as a way to be noticed by his peers
and teachers. As mentioned above, Scott is the second smallest in the class so comedy could be
his way of expressing himself.

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7. When I am older be niceer to eldery and help them and help them with
their groceries if they need help or something
Analysis: Again, a theme of helping people came up in this sentence starter. Scott reminded me
that he loves helping people and told me that my CT (who had Scott in first grade) used to tell
him that he was helpful. The fact that Scott is thinking about the elderly as a fourth grader
highlights his compassionate nature.

8. My favorite thing to do on the weekend is go to school. I go to my culture

school I learn Arabic
Analysis: I learned a bit about where Scott comes from here. I learned that he goes to school to
learn Arabic. Once I learned this information I asked where was he/his family from. I was
curious because I speak Arabic and I wanted to find out where he was from. I learned he was
from Sierra Leone and I let him know that my family was from the Middle East, Syria more
specifically. Then Scott mentioned to me that at school he does a lot of playing around. This
response did not shock me because I have witnessed similar behavior in our classroom. I also
leaned he has been at the school for three years. This shows me a level of commitment and a
hard work ethic that, in my opinion, has translated into our classroom.

9. My family is careing
Analysis: Once again, the theme of caring for others comes back. Scott mentioned that his sister
is always there to comfort him when he gets hurt or doesnt feel okay. He also told me this caring
thing comes from his culture in Africa. He told me that in Africa they help a lot. He said his
family likes sending things to Africa to help the poor people like cars and clothes. I could sense
Scotts strong connection to his culture here. I learned that although he was born here he has
been to Sierra Leone to visit family. This highlights that Scott has been exposed to different
cultures and ways of life that he brings into the classroom every day.

10. I would like to visit JZ (clarified it that he was referring to the rapper
JAY Z)
Analysis: Scott and I had different interpretations of this question. When I wrote it I was thinking
about places I would like to visit. Scott thought about it in terms of visiting people (hence the Jay
Z response.) So I clarified and asked if you could visit any place in the world where would it be
and Scott hesitantly said Korea. When I asked why, he said that he had heard a lot of people
talk about that place, he wanted to see how it was, and he wanted to spend a week there to act
like how they act, like their culture. When I asked who told him about Korea he said he just
heard a lot of it on the radio. It seems like Scott is very culturally aware and understands that

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each culture is unique and he is eager to explore new cultures. I let Scott know that him and I
share a similar interest in culture and I thought that was really cool!

11. The most important thing to me is my family

Analysis: I was not surprised by this response. Throughout the conversation I have been getting
the feeling that family and caring for one another is very important to Scott. He told me his
family is important to him because they look out for him, so in return he should look out for them
He also said that all he thinks about is his family. Then he raised his voice and said AND MATH
because by CT was in the room. It seemed as though he was trying to grab her attention. I have
noticed Scott does have a lot of attention seeking tendencies. I am interested in exploring that
more as the semester progresses.

12. Some of the responsibilities I have at home are doing my homework

Analysis: I thought Samuel would have mentioned other things besides homework. When I asked
if there were any other responsibilities he mentioned he cleans his dads shoes, wash his hats,
vacuum the house, sweep sometimes and he told me that he gets paid 5 dollars. These chores
seemed pretty standard for a fourth grader.

13. I am happy when I get ticcled

Analysis: I am not entirely sure what to make of this sentence starter. It seems very surface level
to me. I asked Scott if there was anything else besides getting tickled and he said, Im happy
when something is funny. Again, the theme of comedy makes an appearance. I would love to
learn more about why comedy and being funny is so important to Scott.

14. I do not like when I get in trouble

Analysis: My first instinct was to respond by asking Scott why are we getting in trouble in the
first place? and he responded with, because we dont listen! It seems to me that Scott is very
self aware of his actions (positive or negative) I noticed Scott looking away during this question.
This showed me that he may have felt a bit uncomfortable with letting me know that he gets in
trouble.

15. A great thing about me is I nice, sometimes

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Analysis: When I asked to learn more about this Scott told me that when someone drops
something Ill help pick it up, or if they need help carrying something. Again, I felt as though his
response was very surface level.

16. I would like to get better at math

Analysis: Scott is very committed to improving his skills as a student. Math is a subject that he
struggles in so it was no surprise that he completed the sentence with Math.

17. This year, I would really like to learn more about math/scince
Analysis: Scott let me know that he would like to learn more about math, like tape diagrams and
division, and in Science he wants to learn more about plants, animals, and amphibians. This
sentence starter highlights Scotts curiosity as a child and learner.

Overall Observations of Data Piece #1:

Scott was in a very cheerful mood when he entered the classroom after lunch. He came and sat at
the back table with me. Before we began I thanked him for meeting me and missing out on his
recess time. Then I explained the directions where Scott was going to fill out the sentence
starters. As mentioned before, I noticed Scott struggled with the first sentence starter. He told me
that he could only think of two things (prompt asked for three.) I told him not to worry and to
write whatever he could. It took Scott about five minutes to complete the sheet. As mentioned
before, I purposefully left spaces between prompts in so that I could go back and learn more
about Scotts choices for each sentence starter. For most of the questions he expanded on his
answers, however at times I felt that even though I asked follow up questions, Scott was not able
to expand on his responses in a meaningful way.
Something interesting that occurred during the interview was that my CT came back into the
classroom about 10 minutes into our conversation. Once she did I noticed Scott included her into
some of his answers in order to get her attention. For example, he mentioned that my CT used to
tell him that he was very helpful in first grade. Again, Scotts attention seeking tendencies are on
display here.

Overall Analysis of Data Piece #1:

Scott was very receptive to skipping his recess time to come and meet with me. I had asked him
earlier in the day his thoughts about coming up to the classroom so we could get to know each
other a bit more. I had a feeling he would open to this because he does like to talk and we have a
created a bond/trust with each other, but I wanted to check with him to make sure. The way I
went about telling Scott he was going to be my child inquiry study student without actually using

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those words was to let him know that I just really wanted to get to know him more and learn
about who he was. I have told him and the class about how I go to school on Tuesdays and
Wednesday and tell my fellow classmates and teachers about all the wonderful work they are
doing and how fantastically they treat each other, so I framed our conversation that Scott was
going to be my person and we were going to have conversations like we were about to have
throughout the year. I noticed a sense of pride in Scott when I told him that I had chosen him to
be my person.
Overall, I sensed a very strong feeling of love and respect for Scotts family, culture, and where
he comes from. Many of his answers were derived from how he was raised and the culture. As a
teacher, Scott reminded me of my commitment to being culturally aware and making sure that
my curriculum includes the many differing experiences of my students.
As mentioned before, I intentionally left space under each prompt so that I could have a
conversation with Scott about his responses. I noticed that when I asked him to expand or tell me
why he seemed to respond with very surface level answers, or he would repeat much of what he
was saying. For example, I was unsure how to analyze Scotts sentence, I am happy when I get
tickled. However, some of his sentence starters/explanations shocked me. For example, his
dream/goal of becoming a pediatrician. Scott provided me with great details about his future
plans and the reason why he wants to be a pediatrician.
It seems that Scott is very self-aware. In other words, he uses the word sometimes quite a bit.
More specifically, I am nice sometime, and I get in trouble sometimes It seems that he
knows the types of things that get him into trouble yet still makes the choice to engage in them.
noticed a theme of comedy and being funny throughout our conversations. In my experience,
usually smaller students find and fixate on something else to make them stand out and for Scott it
seems to be comedy and being the class clown. It seems that comedy is his way of being noticed
in a classroom.