Case Study Another Typical Day By Mrs. Arling

In order to have effective instruction, it is crucial that teachers have an understanding of child development. Throughout their years in school, children experience a myriad of social, emotional, and behavioral changes. Teachers should implement research based strategies in order to develop a caring learning environment so these changes can take place alongside learning. In the case study “Another Typical Day,” Mrs. Arling must ensure her students are making academic progress; however, she still must attend to the social and emotional needs of her student. Countless studies show that the most effective way to provide instruction is to introduce it in a concrete way; once students have an understanding, only then can they understand it pictorially. By having the concepts taught concretely and pictorially first, students are ready to receive instruction on the abstract. Studies also show that students learn best when collaborating on work while the teacher provides individual assistance. It has also been proven that one-on-one and more individualized attention helps students achieve more. Mrs. Arling encounters many situations that offer the opportunity to teach beyond the textbook and address learner needs. In order for students to be successful, teachers can implement strategies that focus on the academic development of their students. Students in kindergarten still operate in an early development stage, typically Piaget’s preoperational stage of development (Snowman and McCown, 2015, 40). This affects all areas of their development but, specifically their logic (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 42). For example, Luke receives one big brownie, and Russell receives two small brownies. Even though both students have an equal amount of brownie, Luke is highly upset that he did not get two brownies. After announcing the discovery that Russell has two brownies the other students are also upset and want two brownies so it is fair. The students’ preoperational logic argues that two brownies is more than one and therefore Russell has more despite the size difference. The students’ lack of conservation they cannot understand that they have the same amount of brownie as Russell (Snowman and McCown, 2015, p. 40-41). As a result of the upheaval, Mrs. Arling divides every student’s brownie in half. Though this solved the immediate issue, this could have been used concretely teach students a lesson in conservation and math. Mrs. Arling could have used the brownie pieces to demonstrate that more pieces of a brownie does not equal more brownie. By concretely and visually showing students this they could more easily comprehend that size is another factor that must be taken into consideration, not just pieces. This concrete and visual demonstration would’ve helped students grasp the more abstract concept of equal parts. It would have also helped them progress toward the concrete operational stage. Kindergarten students need a significant amount of individualized attention and assistance. Their abilities fluctuate frequently and significantly depending on the material, as a result it can be difficult to accurately assess their students’ true knowledge. In addition to difficulty in assessing, students ever changing ability to perform tasks on their own makes it difficult to ensure instruction is in the students’ zone of proximal development. In Mrs. Arling’s class, she asks the aid to only answer questions and guide students though the problem, but not solve it for them. The aid is then asked to place a checkmark on the student’s paper so Mrs. Arling knows who can perform the task independently and who is still struggling. In this …show more content…
Arling meets learner needs by dividing the students so they are engaging in social learning. This also allows her the opportunity to work with a smaller group of students as she assists each group. Students who receive individualized assistance, according to research, perform better academically indicating that Mrs. Arling is using the correct approach (Oliver, Wehby, and Reschly, 2009). In contrast, when students do not receive individual attention they can quickly become frustrated which impairs the ability to make connections and store new information (Oliver et al., 2009). By providing specific instruction in a smaller group Mrs. Arling and her aide are able to more effectively and efficiently assist students in a way that encourages learning and discourages overwhelming feelings which could cause the student to stop