Observation:
While visiting the Mississippi Children’s Museum in
Jackson, MS, I had the opportunity to observe a group of 15 middle school
students. The group was all dressed alike, in jeans and a purple and gold
t-shirt. The adolescents ranged in age from 11 to 15. I was able to observe students while they
were eating, and as they participated in various activities. The activity
center had events planned in 15 minute increments.
Reflect---Connections
with the Brighton book:
I immediately noticed
cliques. The boys wearing baseball caps were popular amongst their peers as the
other boys tried to be around them and the girls seem intrigued by them. Some of the boys were growing facial hair. There was also a popular girls group that had
their shirts tied up in the back; they were asserting their independence by
deviating from the rest of the group. These girls had developed breasts and widening
hips; they seemed pretty confident. There
was also a noticeable trend with the girls, they all had one ponytail or wore
their hair down. There was another group of boys who were less popular; they
seemed to be less sure of themselves. They seemed to try to gain social
acceptance from the popular group by joining in their conversations and hanging
just outside of their circle of friends. The group of male and female
adolescents showed formal operational traits as they appeared to behave more
adult like most of the time. It appeared that it was not cool to act juvenile
or to hang with the adult chaperones.
Due to the short attention span of the middle school
students, some of the students began playfully passing licks and joking each
other to pass the time. The clique of
cool kids merged with the less popular students when it was time to dance. Music seemed to break that boundary. These social creatures talked, danced, and
laughed while the music was playing, but when the music ended and it was time
to move to centers, the groups divided up again.
There were two less popular girls who seemed to be forging a
great friendship. This relationship was unfortunately fickle. Close to lunch
time they seemed to have become annoyed with each other. At snack time I noticed the children had
brought both healthy and unhealthy snacks from home. Some of these snacks
included chips, sodas, Gatorade, pretzels, popcorn, apples, raisins, candy,
cookies, beef jerky, and cheese sticks. Some of these snacks offered some nutritional
value, but most of them were not healthy food choices.
Future:
In the future I would
recommend the school providing healthy snacks for the adolescents. These
students may not be aware of the decisions that they make now pattern their
lifestyle for the future. As adults we
should encourage healthier eating and model it as well. I also think that if the cool kids had given
the less popular kids a real chance to interact with them, then they may have
gained some new friends. Both groups seemed to have a lot in common to me. One
group just seemed more confident in their abilities than the other. In this
scenario, confidence is equivalent to coolness. Isn’t coolness just a state of
mind?
Based on this observation I would assign students to small
groups. I would try to separate friends so that everyone is given the opportunity
to learn someone new. The chance to make
connections---socially and academically is a life changing event. Openness to
changes and suggestions show that you are capable of growth. As teachers we want our students to grow.
Guiding them in the right the direction is the first step.
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