Abby Soltis
ED 227
Dr. Furuness
April 4, 2011
Word Count: 997
Shadow Study
For my shadow study, I spent the school day with Antonette, who is a 7th grader. I
approached the shadow study with the framing question: How does Antonette interact with her
peers? Through this observation I was able to identify several developmental characteristics.
Physically I would describe Antonette having definitely entered puberty. She is taller the
majority of her male peers and some of her female peers. It is also pretty obvious that she is
aware of this because she hunches over when she walks. Intellectually, I would say that Antonette
is still very much in the concrete thinking stage because she has difficulty in thinking abstractly.
For instance she had a lot of trouble in her science class understanding evolution, but understood
when she was given a specific example. I would also describe her as very critical of both her
peers and teachers (Vatterott, Chapter2). Emotionally, I would describe Antonette as going
through the identity versus confusion stage (Erikson, ED 241) because her behavior is different
when she is around her peers, her teachers or me. This leads me to believe that she still isn’t able
to confidently define herself yet. She also focuses mainly on herself instead of others. I also
noticed that when I asked her questions about herself and what she likes to do most of her
answers were centered around her friends, which shows me that her friends are very high on her
priority list. Socially, Antonette is much more focused on talking with friends than paying
attention in class. I would describe Antonette as even-tempered. She never got angry or upset
when I was with her. It seemed like she controls her emotions well (Vatterott Chapter 4).
For Antonette, school life seems very important. When I asked her what she does outside
of school she gave me vague answers like, “I watch T.V.” While, I’m sure she does more than
just watch T.V. outside of school, her answer tells me that what she does at school is more
important. After watching Antonette for a day, I realized that the social aspect of school is most
important to her and learning is secondary (Vatterott, Chapter 3). This was clear throughout the
day, for instance she spent most of the classes talking to her friends and not paying attention to
the teacher.
It was difficult to judge Antonette’s level of participation in class because I got the
impression that she was on her best behavior because I was watching her for the day. I observed
Antonette in 4 different classes throughout the day and I noticed that the majority of the time she
was only engaged enough to get most of the work done she needed to turn in. The first two
classes were substitute teachers and it was clear that none of the students were paying attention or
engaged. This manifested itself through most talking. The students were noisy and talked to each
other, played games on their computers, or ate food in class. Antonette talked to her friend and
rolled her eyes whenever the substitute spoke. The third class, the students took a test and
Antonette was very focused. She worked on a test and read her silent reading book. The fourth
class Antonette was not engaged at all; she slept for most of the class.
The main reason why Antonette was disengaged in her first two classes was her lack of
respect for the substitute. She understood that as long as she was being “less bad” than the other
kids in the class she would not get in trouble. This was also true for the Mr. Frame’s class.
Antonette told me that she loves science, but hates Mr. Frame. This tells me that she doesn’t
respect him enough to pay attention. She also slept through the class because she drank 5 cartons
of chocolate milk for lunch. Also, in three out of the four classes the students either did work
sheets or watched a movie. Antonette was bored. The class that she paid attention in the teacher
managed the classroom well. Almost all the students were working and Antonette told me later
that she liked the teacher. This shows me the importance of building strong relationships with
your students (Vatterott Chapter 4).
Physically, Antonette’s need for nutrition isn’t being met. While she does get free food,
she is not eating well during lunch and it is affecting her attention span. I think that more
education about eating healthy might help her make better choices. Her needs are being met
socially because she has lots of time to talk to her friends during class, passing, and lunch. I think
the teachers realize this and are not so strict about talking during class, however, I worry that this
is at the expense of learning. Emotionally, I feel as if Antonette’s needs are not being met. She is
an average student who turns in her work, so I think teachers don’t pay much attention to her. She
doesn’t seem to have any real interaction or positive relationship with her teachers. The entire
day, I’m not sure she spoke more than two words to a teacher. Lastly, Antonette’s needs are not
being met intellectually. She is bored during class and is not asked to think. She mostly just has to
spit out answers she memorizes (Vatterott Chapters 2 and 3).
This shadow study has really helped me make the needs of students less abstract and
more concrete by seeing an example. I’ve also seen how the relationship between the teacher and
student can be the most important thing for learning (INTASC principle 10). I’ve also
experienced how boring school can be. Students need to know why it’s important that they learn
content (INTASC principle 1). I’ve also learned that this is much harder than it looks as a teacher.
I thought that Mr. Frame’s lesson was good, but his students hated it. Overall, I’ve realized how
difficult it is to be an effective teacher.