College Writing Ethnographic Research Project Workshop #3: Selecting Themes
(cont.) and Ordering Excerpt Commentary Units
Kiely Hall 236: December 8, 2010
**PLEASE GO BACK TO THE DOCUMENT POSTED ON YOUR BLOG FROM LAST
CLASS AND BEGIN WITH FABRICE’S MEMO.**
Jessie Rhine
English Ethnography
Conceptual Memo #2
Topic: How does the parent perceive and experience their role as a homework facilitator with an elementary school student?
The third time I went to visit Noah and his parents was on a Sunday night at 7:00. When
Noah’s high school sister opened the door I heard a raised voice coming from upstairs. It was the dad, and I assumed he was speaking to Noah because he said, “I asked you to be ready to study with me when I got home.” Noah answered back,” I know daddy!” in a loud high-pitched voice. Noah’s older sister led me down the hall. She was about 5’3’’, and wore a black skirt, purple sweatshirt, and had long brown wavy hair and glasses. I heard some loud thumps coming from upstairs when I passed by the stairs. His sister explained that Noah and her older brother were probably playing basketball in his room.
The dad came downstairs while I was walking with the sister and apologized and said that Noah would be right down. It seemed to me that he probably had yelled before because Noah was playing basketball and not ready to study at the time they planned to.
Noah ran down the stairs huffing and puffing wearing his Mets hat, t-shirt and shorts. He passed by the T.V which was on in the kitchen on low volume playing a teenage show his sister must have been watching. He came to sit at the den table next to his father, in the identical place where they sat last time. His dad’s face was stubbly, his eyebrows were raised and he was frowning. He told to Noah that next time he really wants him to be ready when he asks him to and he doesn’t want to waste any time! Then he said, “Okay
Noah let’s study.” The dad read from the index cards which I assumed they made during the day (based on the way they had studied last time). The dad explained what was written on the card. Noah leaned over the table and read the answer to the question. He leaned all the way over with his elbows on the table, knees on the chair and feet in the air behind him. The dad pointed to the card and started reading, when all of a sudden Noah interrupted him and asked, “When is my hockey game? Are you coming to it?” His dad gave him a look and stared into his eyes. I could tell it was a warning, and then he continued on to the next index card. They continued on for a little and then the older son came into the room and the dad asked him a question about his test for the next day and then turned back around ready to continue. He had lost Noah’s attention because Noah was already standing up, walking around. His dad gestured for him to come back over to the table. When his dad asked him a question and he responded correctly, they both smiled and the dad picked up hand to slap him five. He said, “Awesome Noah!” in an excited tone. When Noah started to tap the excess index cards on the table while he or his

father were reading, his dad said, “Noah please stop! I need you to focus.” I counted the word focus in my notes about three times in this session. While the dad read, Noah leaned into him and “played the drums” on the table again. He answered the next question in a high-pitched, raised voice. The dad started asking questions and Noah continued to answer the question. The dad said, “Keep going Noah, come one you got it.” He said these kinds of encouraging words when Noah gave it his all.
I observed Noah and his mom on the fourth time. When I walked in I saw Noah in his school uniform, white long sleeved polo and navy pants, standing next to his mother. He said in a very quiet voice, “I got back my math test.” His mom had a worried look on her face and when Noah said that the teacher didn’t even grade his test, I knew why she had that face. He said in an excited voice that he could take a retest and his mom said, “Give me a minute.” I watched as she walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room. She put her hands on her face and breathed in deep breaths. She then walked back into the kitchen and asked Noah why he did so badly if they had studied for two hours the day before the test. Noah shrugged his shoulders with a confused face and looked very innocent. His mom said, “Okay, whatever, lets just go do your homework and we will worry about this later.” They went to sit down and I followed them into the den. Noah opened up his maps and graphs workbook and said he had two pages for homework. He leaned his full body over the table and his mom said in a weak voice, “Read the directions Noah.” Noah started to read in a monotone. Noah’s older brother walked into the room with his iPod playing a music video and Noah got up to see what was playing.
His mom raised her voice and said, “Get back here Noah. Sammy, please leave the room because we need some quiet.” Sammy walked out singing and Noah quickly ran back to his seat and sat down, again leaning over. This time while he read he was taping his hand on the table in a beat (the usual). His mom said firmly, “Noah, come on, you are giving me a headache. Lets just finish this!” so Noah continued his homework. When he got an answer correct, his mom said, “great job, see you are a smart little boy.” And they smiled at each other. Sometimes Noah interrupted and makes a joke to make his mother laugh. It seemed to me that when he did this it calmed her temper.
After the session before I left, I sat down with the mom and asked her to describe what a night would be like when homework was successful with Noah. She told me that they work best together when he comes home and goes straight to his knapsack. She said it is great when he is really focused and does not fidget and move all around. I asked her how she felt when it went well and she replied that she felt less stressed and happy for Noah that he was able to accomplish his work in an efficient way. She claimed this is how his confidence is boosted.
I then asked her to describe a night that was unproductive during homework time with
Noah. She put her hand on her head and said, “You mean like tonight??” and smiled. She continued and said if Noah is distracted when he comes home he can ask her a million questions before they even start the homework. He fidgets a lot, taps his pen, moves around, and sometimes has a hard time focusing. She said it is extremely hard to help him when he doesn’t understand and also when she doesn’t understand it either. I asked her why she reacts the way she does in situations like these. She responded that after a long day of work and life’s stresses, it is hard sometimes to come home to a distracted child

and have to get his attention. Sometimes she screams at him and loses her patience even though she doesn’t want to. I reiterated by saying that when Noah is distracted or tired, it’s harder for her. Also, when she has had a hard day, even if Noah is good it is still hard for her. She agreed with that. I asked if Noah is ever aware of her moods. She said that when she is cold and harsh he knows that she is upset and. When this happens sometimes he pays attention more and sometimes not. I assumed that if he sees his mother is not in a good mood, he tries harder to please her, or maybe because he is afraid.
Some setbacks that occurred during this observation:
When I walked in to the session with the dad, Noah was upstairs playing basketball and not ready to study.
Also during that session, his older brother asked his dad a question, which caused Noah to lose attention.
In the session with Noah’s mother, his older brother came in with his iPod twice, playing the loud music and Noah went over to see what was on it.
After going over my first conceptual memo I tried to make my question a little more specific. Based on a student’s homework habits and “norms,” the student’s ability, and the parent’s attitude, I came up with a new guiding question that focuses in on the topic.
How does a parent perceive and experience his/her role as a homework facilitator with an elementary school student? Based on what I have seen it is possible that the parent’s facilitation can be affected by the student’s participation. When Noah had a resentful attitude, his mom and dad had a tendency to get more frustrated. Noah’s habits completely affected his homework ability in my opinion. This could be because he was not interested in it or because he didn’t understand, or wanted to be elsewhere at that moment. It could have also been because he was distracted. These occurrences probably had a major impact on the way his parents acted towards him. When I asked his mother to describe two different scenarios, she explained that her reactions were based on Noah’s actions and reactions to the homework. She also added a case when Noah received his test back and he did not do well. In my opinion these habits directly affect the parent’s facilitation. But there are also outside factors including the parent’s attitude and mood before they start the homework, based on the kind of day they had. When his mom was stressed to begin with, she had a harder time facilitating and helping him. Furthermore,
Noah’s parents were harsher with him when he would not pay attention and got distracted. When another child distracted them, Noah would also lose attention and focus.
It became a theme for his parents to repeatedly tell him, In a harsh tone, to focus. When he was paying close attention, they had an easier time facilitating and helping him with his homework, which in turn created a positive attitude.
Analytic point: Noah’s mother tries to keep him upbeat and give him confidence so he can improve his academic skills.

Excerpt: He said in a very quiet voice, “I got back my math test.” His mom had a worried look on her face and when Noah said that the teacher didn’t even grade his test, I knew why she had that face. He said in an excited voice that he could take a retest and his mom said, “Give me a minute.” I watched as she walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room. She put her hands on her face and breathed in deep breaths. She then walked back into the kitchen and asked Noah why he did so badly if they had studied for two hours the day before the test. Noah shrugged his shoulders with a confused face and looked very innocent. His mom said, “Okay, whatever, lets just go do your homework and we will worry about this later.”
And
I sat down with the mom and asked her to describe what a night would be like when homework was successful with Noah. She told me that they work best together when he comes home and goes straight to his knapsack. She said it is great when he is really focused and does not fidget and move all around. I asked her how she felt when it went well and she replied that she felt less stressed and happy for Noah that he was able to accomplish his work in an efficient way. She claimed this is how his confidence is boosted.
Colin Tran
Conceptual Memo #2
Topic: What is the experience of the Remedial Student in college?
Overview/Summary
It was 4:43 pm and I was a bit late to the class this time around. As I walked in, I had noticed the professor wasn’t there, to my surprise. Most of the students were chatting amongst each other while texting. Three to four students had their subject notebooks and writing utensils out, looking eager to start the class and uninterested in conversation. As I was observing, I overheard one student say, “Oh let me get last week’s homework real quick!” The male wore a New York
Yankees cap, a bubble jacket, and was about 5 foot 6, Hispanic and was sitting on top a desk requesting the assignment from a female seated next to him. This time I had seated myself in the right hand corner as opposed to the left, to get a vantage point from another view. The classroom was bare, like the last time, contained 3 large rectangular blackboards, containing jottings from what seemed as work from the class prior. (Suppose f(x) = x-3 and g(x) = x + 3. Find f(x) x g(x) was what it read.
As the time reached 4:50 pm, the professor had arrived expressing a look that implied she had rushed to class, panting and short of breath. “I’m sorry class, I was caught up in traffic, I hope

you all have your homework out, and I’m glad you guys waited,” she said. She glanced at me and gave me a smile along with a wave while unpacking her bags. The class had turned a 360 and was now silenced. It displayed her authoritative presence and obedience of the students. All almost immediately took out books from their bags, seated, and were focused to te teacher
.There was no longer any chatter however 2 or 3 students were still texting behind their bags as well as under the desk. The chairs were brown, and had grey desks which unfolded when lifted.
The walls were pale off white, and contained a projector in the ceiling pointed at the middle which had a sheet that could roll down.
The attendance was lower this class missing about 6 students from the class which I observed last Tuesday. She announced that the final would be on December 16 th , and a midterm the coming Thursday. Then giving almost an incentive and lure, she said, “Whoever comes this
Thursday will receive a 5 point bonus as well as the review sheet so do yourself a favor and don’t miss it. It’s only for your benefit, and not mine. If you have any friends that are not attending today, please notify them.” After the announcement, she gave out handouts to a student in the front which as was passed by all around. I had received one and had noticed the work was sufficiently simple having multiple subjects but many problems within each subject.
The students quickly got to work however she had told them to stop, and to take out their homework in which she would go over. She first would ask the class how the homework was, resulting in a few mixed responses, from “It was so long miss,” to “I couldn’t understand it,” and
“it was okay.” Then a student asked, “Can you go over number 17, I don’t know how to remove the root.” She thoroughly went through it, and the student let out a “OOH, so that’s how do you do it.” An answer I’ve experienced before. After going through a few more problems, she had collected it and asked a student, “Juan” why he hadn’t done it. This to me portrayed and gave me a true insight on how the classroom worked. In the short time, that I’ve been through college courses, the professor did not seem to care much about the individual and thus showed me the difference between the two worlds of remedial and regular.
As the class concluded, she announced tutoring sessions and her office hours. One student stayed back and chatted with her over a problem. After they conversed, the student left with a grin saying thanks. I left after, thanking the professor as well. I plan on interviewing a few students in which I feel would provide sufficient insight to my ethnographic paper. A few middle aged people, ones that seemed to participate much, and as well as my friends.
Problems/ Setbacks
I really had no setbacks or problems. My tape recorded this time was working fine, as I replaced the batteries, and freed up space. Everyone in the classroom had paid no mind or attention to me as I believe they were comfortable and aware of the project I was conducting.

Patterns, Insights and Breakthroughs
This time around, I noticed the Teacher – student breakthrough which allowed me to acquire a broader insight on my qualitative question. The patterns between the students and teacher, that I observed was a tone of more colloquial language and also that the professor seemed to care more for the individual student asking and checking if assistance was necessary in comprehending the lesson taught.
Analytic point: A remedial student in college gets the help they need for the course professor.
Excerpt: She first would ask the class how the homework was, resulting in a few mixed responses, from “It was so long miss,” to “I couldn’t understand it,” and “it was okay.” Then a student asked, “Can you go over number 17, I don’t know how to remove the root.” She thoroughly went through it, and the student let out a “OOH, so that’s how do you do it.”
Ray Morfe
Topic: How do teachers help students’ who have disorders catch up to their peers?
I arrived to the preschool at 2:30pm when most of the students were learning basic math skills. Most of the students were struggling and would often ask the teachers for help. My mom was helping Brian, a 5 year old Hispanic kid who, like most of the kids in the class, suffers from ADD. While my mom was trying to explain to him how to use his fingers to help him count, he would often look away or run to other kids. My mom told him “You’re always going to have trouble counting if you’re not going to pay attention” and after that it seemed that he put in more of an effort to pay attention even though he occasionally became distracted. Before class I asked my mom how she goes

about teaching the kids and she told me “You have to be patient. They get easily get distracted but if you keep them focused they’ll understand it eventually.” As I watched the class, I noticed that the teachers often had to tell the students to “pay attention!” and keep them focused.
After the math session was play time. Most of the students retreated in groups to their favorite toys, the girls would play with dolls while the boys would play with figures or run around the classroom. I noticed Andre, a 4 year old Black child, was sitting by himself drawing while everyone else was playing. Ms. Sampson, a teacher, told Andre
“Go play with everybody else! They’re all having fun!” while Andre just shook his head.
When Ms. Sampson left, I went over to Andre and asked him “Why aren’t you playing with the other kids?” He replied by saying “I’m too shy”. Ms. Sampson came back and told him “Brian is asking for you, he wants to play with you!” Andre seemed happy because he smiled and ran towards Brian. Ms. Sampson told me “You have to give Andre a little boost of confidence sometimes” as she smiled.
It was around 3-4 that the students were getting picked up. The person had to sign-in on the sign-in sheet and a teacher would check if they were authorized to pick up the child. The teachers would clean up and the rest of the students would offer to help them out. After all the children left, the teachers would hangout in the hallways for a little bit before leaving.
Problems and Setbacks
I would have liked it if I could to the class earlier so I have more time to watch the class but other then that I have no problems.
Patterns, Insights and Breakthroughs
I noticed that a lot of the students needed someone to keep them focused in order for them to pay attention and fully understand the classwork. The students were dependent on the teachers for help with everything from classwork to helping them out with their problems.
Analytic point:
Excerpt:

Nicole Rizzo
Professor Zino
English 110
30 November 2010
At 11:30A.M on November 30 th 2010, I went back to P.S.49 to observe the 6 th grade class. When
I arrived I sat in the back of the classroom and the students were in chorus class. There was a different lady assistant in the room this time. The students again practiced their holiday songs on their recorders and singing. As they stopped singing one of the songs the male teacher said,
“Okay. We got some people sitting in the wrong seats still.” He went up and down the classroom and changed a few seats. Then they continued on to singing the next song. The assistant went up to a boy that was talking to his friend and pointed to the front of the room (as if to tell him to pay attention). The teacher looked at one boy and said “Try to get the words Freddy, let’s do it.”
Freddy began to sing louder. When the teacher put on a new song he said, “Sit up straight.
Loud.” The music started and so did the singing. Two boys started fooling around with each other, hitting each other. The assistant mouthed, “Can you stop” without saying it aloud. When the class was over the girls in the front of the room left first, then the boys in the back of the room followed. The student’s next class was science and started at 12:25P.M, 5 th period. When I sat down I saw the male teacher walking around. He stood in front of the class and said,
“Christopher, I don’t know why were still talking. Brianna, why are we still dancing around?”
Both Christopher and Brianna stopped what they were doing. “Two more minutes,” the teacher said to the class. They were finishing up doing a drawing of an experiment in their notebooks.
One boy said, “Oh, were supposed to draw?” The teacher looked at him seriously and said
“Brandon, what’s it say on the board.” Brandon smiled and started drawing. The teacher then explained to the class how last week he didn’t have balloons for their experiment, but now he did. He added that they were going to re-do that experiment today. I heard some of the

students say, “Yay!” One boy said to the teacher, “Can you pop it?” (about the balloon he was blowing) and the teacher replied, “What’s with you and all the destruction?” The boy shrugged and smiled. The teacher did the experiment with two balloons to learn about air having mass and the students drew what was going on in their notebooks. He then told the class he was going to do another experiment. “I have two containers with things you could find around your house. Citric acid,” the teacher said and the class gasped. He added, “And sodium carbonate which is baking soda.” The class said, “Woahhh.” He mixed the two together with water and he said, “Pay close attention to what’s happening.” A boy in front said, “Oh I am.” Fizzing started when the two mixed and one boy said, “Ginger ale!” The class started laughing. After this lots of talking started to erupt in the classroom. The teacher looked up from what he was doing and said, “Shhhh.” A boy tapped his friend to try to talk to him and the friend ignored him. His eyes were focused on the experiment the teacher was doing. The class went on to talk about the atmosphere of earth. When it was time to leave the teacher said, “For the next three days I won’t be here.” The class said “Awww.” The students had frowns on their faces. He added, “I have a field trip with the 7 th grade. You will things you will be working on when I’m not here.”
The class then got all their things from each of their desks and they went to lunch. After lunch was 7 th period, social studies. The teacher from last time was not there. The assistant was going to teach instead. They all sat on the floor in the front of the class and she asked them, “How was shopping?” They all engaged in a conversation about what everyone got (the black Friday shopping). Then they started talking about fiction and nonfiction books. The teacher told them to go back to their tables and separate fiction from nonfiction books in their groups. I noticed that the teacher went around while this was happening and would go up to random students to help them one on one. Then when they were done they all sat back down in the front of the classroom on the floor. There was a poster in the front of the classroom and on the poster were two lists. One list said fiction and one said nonfiction. Every time a student gave a correct answer about what fiction or nonfiction was consisted of they would get to write it on the corresponding list. While this was going on one boy was laying down instead of sitting up straight. The teacher looked at him and said, “Do you think that body language is telling me that you’re eager to learn? Nope.” The boy sat up straight and the teacher said, “Much better.”
Another boy gave an answer to the teachers question and the boy sitting next to him said, “We both gave that answer.” The teacher smiled and replied, “Good job back there.” The two boys looked at each other and smiled and gave each other a high five. The next thing the class was doing was listening to a song to try and see the author’s purpose. The class was chatting and the teacher rang the bell to capture everyone’s attention. Everyone stopped the talking. When the teacher asked the class what the author’s purpose of writing the song was, many students raised their hands and gave answers. She then called on a boy and said, “Justin what did Liana just say?” The boy was looking down and said “Ummm.” The teacher said told the boy how his classmates had great input but he was too busy chatting to hear them. She said that was not good. “Sorryy,” the boy replied while looking down again. The teacher then told the students to pack up their stuff because it was time to leave and everyone left at their own times when they were done getting their belongings together.

2.
:
There seemed to be no problems or setbacks in my observation today. The three classes I attended I was on time too and I got all my notes down well.
3.
:
Certain actions and interactions seem important if I want to understand how these 6 th graders academic ability is affected by their experiences with interacting with their teachers because these clues and signs on things teachers say, how they say them, how students reply to them, etc tells a lot about how students are going to act in reflection to that. When the teacher asked a question in social studies class and a boy answered, another boy sitting next to him said, “We both gave that answer.” The teacher smiled and replied, “Good job back there.” The two boys looked at each other and smiled and gave each other a high five. When this occurred, it seems valid to say that the students were happy that they both got the answer right and got good feedback. The interactions between students and teachers tell me about my relationship to one another that there relationships tend to be more on the serious side to be learning, but teachers seem to know when is the right time when they can talk to their students on a more personal level. For example, this is shown when in social studies the teacher asked the students before class started how their shopping went. Clearly this didn’t have nothing to do with anything they were learning in class, but she talking to them on a more person level to share stories from outside of the classroom with each other. During this session the science teacher seemed to capture my attention the most this time because he seems the most serious with his class. This may be because when the students come to his class they are coming from chorus class and are very chatty. Despite this, he just seems to be more assertive when it comes to his classroom.
Students are chatty in the chorus room too, but that teacher seems to still balance out his being lenient with his firmness. Student and teacher interaction communication is how it looks. The teacher enforces something and the student simply listens. My central research question is going to be broader. The question is going to be: How do 6 th grade student’s experiences, interacting with their teachers affect their academic ability?
Analytic point:
Excerpt: