I am teacher assisting in a
kindergarten class, and I decided to shadow a behaviorally challenged student
that I will refer to as Kyle. I chose to shadow Kyle because he has often shown
behavior of being inattentive, hyperactive, and off task. He frequently
interrupts the class without raising his hand, shows defiance by refusing to
participate in activities, and is found messing around in the back of the room
when he is supposed to be at his desk. I followed him the entire day starting
with regular classroom activities, continuing with music class, and ending with
physical education class.
The day started with calendar taught in the general
classroom. I was given the opportunity to teach calendar. When I asked all the
students to stand up to move and count to fifty he purposely sat on the ground.
I repeated that everyone must stand up. He and another student remained on the
ground. Only when I began to walk over to the two students did both of them
stand up. He participated in the remainder of the activities, but I had to
remind him to raise his hand when he spoke up before the calendar song. My CT
took on the remainder of the class. She has a special spot for him at the front
of the butterfly rug. When he is in his spot with her lingering over him it is
much easier for him to remain attentive. However, a couple times during the
comprehension lesson after the read-aloud I noticed him playing with the Velcro
on his shoes.
The day continued with free-choice time, snack, and
writing. During snack time he traveled to the back of the room pretending to get
a drink but really just lingering next to his friends at the back two tables.
Students are not allowed to leave their seats at snack time unless they need to
use the bathroom. However, Kyle was very well behaved in free choice time. He
played with the toy cars with his friends and took a turn using the Ipad. He
remained on task during writing time and lined up for lunch time. I have noticed
that he always walks slowly to line up so that he is always at the back of the
line even if his table is called first for line-up. I also have noticed that
during morning activities he uses the bathroom several times each hour, more
often than any of the other students. I wonder if he has a very small bladder or
just does this because he is bored.
In the afternoon I followed him to music class. The
class started with a “good things” sharing time. Kyle was silent through the
activity as his classmates came to the front of the room and told good things
that happened this week, but he was chewing on what looked to be white paper.
Next, they played a stop and go game with music. The teacher reminded the
student to stand with both legs on the ground when the music stopped. He refused
to listen. When the songs stopped he slid on the ground and often fell over.
They played a new game called Bop till you drop. During the instructions Kyle
was blowing spit bubbles. When the teacher gave him a look he stopped right
away. As they started the new game Kyle began falling to the floor again. The
teacher said, “Did I fall to the floor, Kyle? No I did it safely.” After this he
only dropped to the floor safely. During the remainder of the class he
interrupted several times during instruction time by shouting out comments or
questions. However, during the song book he watched and listened intently
without interrupting.
The last class of the day was physical education.
The entire class entered the gym and sat on their numbers printed on the floor.
Kyle sat criss-cross apple sauce on his number. However, when the teacher began
taking attendance he shouted “Dakari!” to his other friend on the other side of
the room. He continued to talk to his friends while attendance was taken. The
teacher did not seem to notice or care. She said nothing to him. When they
started stretching he laid on the ground instead of sitting straight up and
reaching for his legs. Then he started talking to himself and zoned out
completely stopping stretching.
Next, they started playing a turtle tag game. If you
didn’t want to be tagged you laid down and became a turtle before the taggers
could get you. He seemed to really enjoy the game. He ran quickly and
strategized by quickly running from one corner to the next. His body was on
edge. He was always watching out for the taggers. Lastly, they played a “if you
have/are wearing ____” run to the other side of the room game. He showed really
good listening during the activity. He stood nicely and ran when the teacher
called something he was wearing (like a color). I was quite impressed until the
teacher called line-up. He was talking and giving high fives during line-up time
when he was supposed to be quiet.
All in all, Kyle has difficulty paying attention,
but he’s really a good kid. It seems like his behavior is the same in all
environments. I did not think his actions were much different with the other two
teachers. He’s smart, and I can tell he enjoys learning. However, he has so much
energy that I think he requires more breaks than the other students. It also has
to be considered that he is only in kindergarten. Distraction is common. I hope
that throughout the year his behavior will continue to improve. The music
teacher commented that his behavior was drastically improved from the last
session. I think that this is a good sign.
What can one learn from this study?
