Amy Hanzlicek

10/15/2015

Orlandos Physical Development

I would like to introduce a boy named Orlando. Orlando is a nine year old boy

and in fourth grade at Banfield Elementary. As I watch Orlando at this very moment, I

notice he is the only child in the room sitting at his desk, working independently. He

appears to be concentrating and working on his journal as he was instructed by his

teacher. With excessive talking and collaboration amongst the other students, Orlando

is by himself, quiet and seemingly efficient.

Orlando is average height, compared to the other students. He is neither the

tallest nor the shortest boy in the classroom. He has a lot of thick, black hair.

Orlando is Hispanic and he has a dark complexion with a big, bright smile showing of

his perfectly straight white teeth. His facial features, including his mouth, nose, eyes,

and ears, are all petite and proportionate. He has defined dimples that appear only

when he has that big, bright, smile on his face, which occurs almost every time he

engages in conversation with his peers.

Orlando wears basic, athletic-affiliated t-shirts and always has a zip up hoodie

sweatshirt readily accessible when he is ready to put it on. His tennis shoes sweep

across the floor as he walks with a slight strut, portraying his athleticism. Orlando

walks with confidence, but does not make it known he is present with in the room. He

will engage in conversations amongst his classmates, but seemingly likes to stay under

the radar with his teacher.

During the casual morning meeting, Mr. Braaten has children move their chairs

to a circle in the room. Here, Orlando is slouched in his chair, with his arms draped

across his lap, and his attention focused on whoever is making the most noise. He will

whisper and talk quietly to his neighbor when the teacher is not looking. He is not

engaged in the morning meeting. When Orlando is working at his desk, he appears

concentrated and focused. He seems to listen intently to Mr. Braaten lecture by

watching him as he moves about the room, and writing down answers as the teachers

says them. He sits straight in his chair when he is at his desk. As he begins working

on his assignment, his head moves closer and closer to the desk. By the end of the

ten minutes of working quietly, his head is nearly lying on his desk. I noticed he did

the same thing at the computer lab that same day. Orlando started out relaxed and

comfortable in his chair, but as he was working, his head and body became straighter

and closer to the computer. When the teacher instructed they could play more of a

game on the computer, his body posture returned to slouched, limp, and

comfortable. From these three examples, I conclude that Orlandos body posture is
directly related to whether or not he is focused.

The two observations I found to be most interesting about Orlando are as

follows; Orlando can focus when working, but once he loses focus, he is distracted

and is easily manipulated by his peers; His body language defines how much he is

engaging in the work he is performing.

Orlandos Social Development

I initially chose Orlando as my child to do my child observation assignment on

because his social development intrigued me. I was trying to learn the names of all the

kids in my class. I was having a hard time remembering a kids name, Horacio. My

brain kept calling him Hernando. For the first couple of weeks, when I was near

Horacio, Orlando would tell him his name is Hernando not Heracio. As much as it

drove me nuts, I appreciated the fact that had a skittish smile and outgoing

personality. I could tell he respected his peers, but was also going to give me

something to write about.

Orlando seems to be a leader. He is respected by his peers. For example, if

students have questions about the structure of the day, he will know the correct

answer. He is seen as a reliable source of information related to school from his peers

as well as his teachers. As a guest in their classroom, I personally have had Orlando
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help me with specific classroom rules or routines. He will tell the truth of

expectations, even when his peers tell me diferently. Orlando is the first one with his

hand in the air if he has a question, and the first one to help his classmates if they

need help.

Orlando is also bilingual. I work with a small group for reading, which I was

reminded by Orlando that I was the only non-Spanish speaking person (out of five of

us) at this particular table. Orlando is fluent in Spanish amongst his peers as well.

Orlando is his own, confident student. He is not afraid of confrontation and will

address it to his peers as well as his teachers if he has a conflict of interest. He does

so in a very respectable manner. That is until he is told he is wrong. I have worked

with Orlando on math homework and he will fight me tooth and nail if he feels he has

the correct answer, when indeed it is wrong. He needs direct analysis of any situation

he disagrees with (specifically homework). But he does not get upset or mad. If

Orlando is wrong or disagrees, I have seen him do one of two thigs; he becomes

frustrated, completely shuts down and does not say one more word; or make the other

person describe in detail why they disagree with him.

Orlandos social development is spot on for a nine year old boy. He laughs, talks,

smiles, and engages well with activities with his peers and teachers. During down

time, Orlando will ask if I can come over by his desk to help him with homework or

just to chat. Orlando knows what buttons he can push and how hard he can push

them without being disruptive or inappropriate.

Orlandos Cognitive Development

Orlando seems to see the world through the eyes of a typical nine year old boy.

Academically, he appears to react to on his first instincts, rather than slow, rational

thinking. For example, every day for his math homework work time, it takes him

about one second to raise his hand after getting his worksheet out. Orlando doesnt

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even look at his assignment and automatically thinks he is going to need help. He

would take any answer that is given to him, but does not get discouraged if teachers

only give him prompts to the correct answer.

I record a lot of the students scores for their teacher. Orlando is one student

who always has their work completed and in the basket on time. Orlando excels at

math and is being monitored for reading. Orlando told me he loves doing math.

Orlando also told me he doesnt read very much. His cognitive abilities seems to be

directly connected to his personal interests. During small group read aloud he needs

constant reminders to stay focused. He talks out of turn, he doesnt follow along, and
never seems engaged in the book we are reading. During math, there are not enough

math problems to satisfy him. During lecture, he is the first one to throw his hand up

in the air if the teacher asks a question. He utilizes every minute of work time on his

math as he possibly can, sometimes still at his desk when others are lining up for

break. If he has down time, the first thing he does is pull out his math homework if he

has finished it.

Orlando is asking me questions all day long, not always related to his school

work. If he doesnt know an answer to a problem, he is the first one to raise his hands.

If something is said by his peers that he doesnt understand, he will ask them directly,

or he will even come to me or his teacher to inquire about it. For the most part,

Orlando is engaged in his school work. He does what is asked of him and acts as to

what is expected of him. Give him an inch though, and he will try to take a mile.

Orlandos Emotional Development

As I have been observing Orlando over the past couple weeks, I have seen

Orlando on a wide spectrum of emotions. Most often, Orlando is usually quiet and

reserved. Orlando communicates with his peers and teachers on a regular basis. He

utilizes his hands and facial expressions when communicating with his peers or

teachers. When he engages in conversation, he speaks louder and faster if it is

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something that he is genuinely interested in. If the topic is something unrelated to his

interests, he will still actively listen, but will give one word answers, if he even

responds at all.

I heard one of his peers ask him what he did at recess. When he responded, he

jumped of of his seat and used his entire body to describe how he was playing soccer

with other boys. He was giving the other kid a play by play. He would have kept going

if his teacher didnt interrupt him for being of task.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have seen Orlando mute and ignore his

peers. He was again, talking when he was supposed to be listening and the teacher

acknowledged the negative behavior in front of the entire class. After that, Orlando

shut down every part of communication skills he had. He put his head on his desk,

and did not respond to any question me, his teacher, or his peers had asked him. He

did not start working on homework like he was directed too either. He shut his eyes

and sat at his desk with his head in his hands and stood as still as statue.

Orlandos posture and movements are directly afected by his emotional well-

being. He positively engages with his peers most often, but will start to shut down if

he disapproves or disagrees with conversations.

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