Gabriele Johannsson

Who Are Your Learners?

Part A
● The kindergarten learner who is most like me is S. S is confident, she is a quick learner,
outspoken, independent, and quite mature for her age much like I have always been.
● For the most part the students get to choose their own square for carpet time. S always
chooses a square in the front half on the carpet, just like I would. She often has her hand
up and likes to be called on.
● S is very capable of participating in classroom activities and performs most with ease.
She came to kindergarten with the ability to write her name and continues to improve
her neatness. S works well in groups, she stands up for herself and sometimes takes on
a leadership role. This aspect of S reminds me of myself as a kindergartener because I
liked to be in charge and being the youngest and only girl in my school I had to stick up
for myself.
● I haven’t seen S face many challenges because kindergarten isn’t very challenging for
her. However, S is very easy going and always has a positive attitude, which makes me
believe that she would respond positively to challenges.
● S has the ability to socialize in a friendly way with all of her classmates. She is always
happy to sit with anyone at her table and speaks to everyone in a kind way. On the
playground I’ve noticed S playing with children that are older than her. As a child, and
young adult I have always gravitated to people that are older than me because I feel
that I often have more in common with older people than I do with people my own age.
● From what I have seen S works well with others. She is open to working with anyone in
her class and I have never seen her be rude or have any issues with other students.
● S is right on track with her writing, her pictures tell a story, soon she will be able to add
labels. When asked about her story she is very expressive and happy to share.
● S likes to teach others, she has told me that she teaches her little sister a lot at home.
She is a natural helper and leader.

Part B
● The kindergarten student who is unlike me would have to be D. He has a lot of
knowledge but doesn’t share it very often, he is quiet and shy.
● D is like me in the way that he likes his work to be perfect, he will concentrate for a very
long time and is often the last student to finish his work. I also like to make sure my
work is perfect but I was much more competitive and liked to be the first one done.

● D likes to blend in, he often sits in the middle of the rug and likes to be seated next to
children who are also quiet at the tables. D does not perform well when he is sitting at a
Gabriele Johannsson
Who Are Your Learners?

table of highflyers or noisy children. Throughout my school years I liked to stand out and
be the centre of attention.
● Because D is so shy he struggles with working in groups. He is a very bright boy and has
a lot of knowledge but he keeps it inside. He may struggle with socializing or he may just
be shy.
● D faces a challenge when he needs to verbally socialize, something like making him
publicly ask for help could upset him and he might respond with covering his head and
not speaking to anybody.
● D is very kind but just not very verbal, I think that if he had a close friend he would be a
very good friend. Whenever I see D on the playground he is playing with his older sister
and rarely students in his class.
● He is quite behind on printing his own name, part of this may be the way he holds his
writing utensil, we have been trying to help him with this, but when we walk away he
goes back to his original grasp.
● D wants to be a baker, I would use his interest in baking to engage him. We could do
baking projects while learning about math or science.

Part C
● I’ve noticed that I give more attention to the students that are more outgoing. I notice
the students who are constantly raising their hands, as opposed to the students who
know the answer but are keeping it in.
● As a student I was competitive and a total show off, I can identify students who are also
like this and I can understand their motives. However, I don’t like it when students
compete with each other because I don’t really like that aspect of myself.
● I also called out lots, not because I was disrespectful but because learning made me
excited and I couldn’t hold it in. I think that I will try not to stomp on student excitement
by punishing them for calling out. I will try to use their excitement to engage other
students in the lesson. I will also teach these students non-verbal ways to show me that
they have a connection, a question, a prediction, or are just excited.
● I feel that I am most successful when I share my ideas and collaborate with others. I will
give my students lots of time to talk about what we are learning and share their ideas
with each other.
● I feel strongly about teaching children to be independent, because that has always been
a strong quality of mine.