Carson Satchwell

MUS 342
Portrait #2

Taso
Taso is a six year-old first grade student at Leal School in Urbana,
Illinois. Leal School is located in a middle-class residential area, and
roughly one half of its population is white. Many of the classrooms at
Leal are dual-language, as there is a large number of Spanish-speaking
children enrolled. Taso is a white male, and he is part of a duallanguage class. In my time spent observing Taso in his classroom, I
have noticed that his attitude and personality seem to waver from a
day-to-day basis. He is a very unique individual who enjoys music
class, and loves to dance around.
Taso lives with his mom and his dad. His mother works at the
Krannert Art Museum, and while Taso wasnt sure of her duties there,
he said that she enjoys art more than anything else. Taso could not
recall what his fathers job was, but assured me that it was a boring
one. His family lives near Leal, and he can walk to school with his
parents whenever he wants to. Taso is generally an active member of
music class. For the most part, he sits quietly and listens very intently.
However, when his friends and classroom neighbors begin to get
restless, he almost immediately follows suit. For example, I watched

Taso sit as still and as silently as possible for twenty-five minutes

during Mrs. Blackers Ellington lesson on Monday. As the class made
its way through the book that Mrs. Blacker read, Tasos eyes were
glued to every page. As soon as Mrs. Blacker stood up to play a song to
accompany her reading, Tasos neighbor, Oscar, began pretending to
hold and blow through a trumpet. Taso laughed, and joined in the
trumpet playing. Both Taso and Oscar were asked to sit still, as their
movements were disruptive to the other students. Oscar quit playing,
but Taso continued to swing his trumpet around. Taso was reprimanded
once again, and had a very hard time sitting still afterwards. Mrs.
Blacker finished up the book, and began to ask questions about its
content. She called on Taso to volunteer his answers several times.
Taso had no problems finding the right answers, and elaborating on the
concepts that Mrs. Blacker brought up. Everything that I saw during
this lesson was in line with my previous impressions of Taso. He is a
quiet, respectful student who does not initiate disruptive behavior, and
seems to be a follower rather than a leader.
My questions for Taso were very similar to my questions for
Andy, but the interview itself was quite different. The very first thing
that I noticed was that Taso looked extremely uncomfortable. He was
fidgety, and his eyes constantly shifted back and forth in to the room
and down the hallway. He rarely looked at me as he gave his answers. I
tried to make him feel more comfortable by telling him that he didnt

have to answer any specific way, and that I just wanted to know about
his life as a music student. He seemed to take comfort in that.
Q: How do you like school?
A: I like to go to school
Q: Do you have a favorite class?
A: HmmmI think I like art.
Q: What do you like about art?
A: I like the painting, and I also like clay.
I could tell that Taso was not thrilled about discussing school just yet,
so I changed the subject.
Q: Do you have any brothers or sisters?
His face lit up.
A: No, just me!
Q: Wow, an only child! That must be nice.
A: It is nice. I get to have all of my toys to myself, and I get to do
the things that I want to do. I dont want a brother.
Q: That sounds like a lot of fun! Do you get to listen to all of your
favorite songs?
A: I get to listen to Gangnam Style
Q: Is that your favorite song?
A: Yes. I dance around all when I hear it.
Q: Do you know the words?

A: They arent English, so I dont know them. I know when they

say Gangnam Style!
I asked Taso to do the dance for me, but he said that he couldnt dance
well without music accompanying him. I promised him I would come
back with some music another day. He seemed excited about that.
Q: Do you have any cool instruments at home, Taso?
A: My mom has a piano in her room thats a little cool.
Q: Do you like to play it?
A: I like to play crazy notesnot music, really.
Q: You dont think your crazy notes are music?
A: They dont really sound like music. They just sound crazy.
Q: Do you parents know how to play piano?
A: No, they dont play it. They dont play music; they dont listen
to the radio!
Q: Do they listen to other music?
Taso didnt know if his parents listened to music. His next few
responses concerned the handful of times they played a Raffi CD and
danced with him. He was getting too old for that, and had not heard
Raffi in a long while. I redirected the conversation, and we began to
discuss Tasos life inside of music class.
Q: When youre in music class, what is your favorite thing to do?
A: Dancing and art
Q: What do you mean by art?

A: Like when we colored last week!

Q: Have you had a favorite day yet this school yeara day that
you just really enjoyed the lesson and had a lot of fun?
A: When we did all of the animals in Carnival of the Animals
Q: Do you like to listen to music with not voices like Carnival of
the Animals?
A: I like songs with words and without them, too!
Q: Do you think you might want to play an instrument when you
get older?
A: Maybe violin!
Taso was incredibly eager to return to the classroom, he caught a
few dancers in his peripheral vision, and couldnt miss out on that. Taso
was much concise than my previous portrait subject. Taso does not
volunteer unless expressly prompted to do so. I have to admit that
before Mrs. Blacker suggested that I choose and interview him, I was
worried that I would not be able to get much out of him. Andys
enthusiasm made it very easy for me to get a feel for his taste in music
and his (tentative) plans for the future. Taso gave me a run for my
money when it came to getting him to open up. Although it was clear
to me that he is a model student with great intentions, he was far less
outgoing when taken away from his friends.
Overall, I dont think that Tasos behavior is anything that a
teacher should need to worry about. My only concerns stem from his

sponge-like attitude in class. He is perfectly mild-mannered on his own,

but if he is seated near a rambunctious friend, there is a very good
chance that he will adapt his actions to fit his or hers. If I were Tasos
teacher, I would make sure that he was separated from those friends
who might influence him negatively. Mrs. Blacker dealt with Tasos poor
decisions with swift action and general patience. She recognized that
Taso was mirroring his friend, and she recognized that Taso probably
felt that he would be the odd one out if he did not follow suit. Mrs.
Blacker took his attention away from his friends with a simple question
about the lesson that she knew he could answer. Taso was quickly
drawn back in, though his friends continued to misbehave. Mrs. Blacker
dealt with them separately. Taso remained still and quiet for the
remainder of the class period.
Taso is a great student. His personality is unlike any that I have
ever experienced in my time working with children in a classroom
setting. It is obvious that he has a very positive attitude towards
learning new things and participating fully in activities he may not be
sure about. Watching in the classroom served as a great reminder that
misbehavior and discipline are not universal and should not be handled
in the same way for every child. Tasos behavior in the classroom is
generally dependent on the behavior of others, and I believe that as a
teacher, it would be much more effective for me to first address the

source, rather than try to detach a child like Taso. From what I could
tell, he had no intent to be disruptivehe was just trying to fit in.