Observation:

This observation took place at the Pasadena City College Child Development Center in
the Early Primary class of Ms. Cassini. When I enter the class, all students are seated on the floor
on round, multicolored cushions in front of the Smartboard. Ms. Cassini is showing them a
calendar for the month of February and leading the class in counting days of the month. She
prompts them to join her by saying, Lets count to 28, and they follow along with her until the
point of 16 and 17 is reached, where most stop participating, except for Brandon, who names all
of the numbers correctly. Seated next to Brandon is Corbin who is bouncing on his cushion,
looking around the room. Ms. Cassini continues counting as the other children sit silently, either
looking around or gazing at the floor. Ms. Cassini asks for everyone to pay attention saying,
What are we doing, friends? Look up here!
Corbin interrupts her by saying, I already have a loose tooth!, and then quickly asks,
Whose birthday is it? No one answers, but Corbin continues, His birthday already passed. But
hes dead already. No one addresses or acknowledges Corbins remarks, and Ms. Cassini
shuffles through programs to move on to different lesson.
As she bypasses other lessons on the screen, the children become curious about some
math exercises and ask her to pause so that they may try them. One depicts a cartoon of a seesaw with a child seated on either side. A number is displayed on the bottom portion of the image
and another number is written in the upper right corner of the screen (the numbers can be
manipulated to fill in the blanks by moving the computers mouse). At the center point of the
see-saw is a space where a mathematical notation for greater than or less than (< or >)
sign is meant to be inserted. Ms. Cassini says to the class, See? No, no. This is gonna be too

hard. The majority of the students still want her to pause and let them try. Corbin asks, Hey!
What is that!? to which the teacher says, NO. This is too hard. Were not doing it.
Brandon disagrees saying, This is not hard, and Ms. Cassini says, OK then. Wait, do
you know what number this is? pointing on the screen to the number 82. Eighty-two, says
Brandon. Ms. Cassini responds pointing back and forth to the numbers quickly, Which one?
See? Which number is greater here then? Eighty-two or ninety-six? Ninety-six, Brandon says.
Ms. Cassinis response to Brandon is, Well what is eighty-two plus ninety-six then? but
Brandon says nothing and stares at her. See? Were not doing this-it is too hard she says to the
class.
Analysis:
My observation is that Brandon has strong math skills and an affinity for numbers,
allowing him to grasp material which goes beyond the Early Primary lessons for 4-5 year old
children. He counted without pause or hesitation, accurately identified numbers of various place
setting/values and had the correct interpretation of which numeric values are either greater than
or less than others. He was more familiar with large numbers and able to interpret what they
represent as compared to his peers.
I observed that Corbins participation and comments were not congruent with what was
going on in class; that his remarks were based on his internal thought process, not on the lesson
being presented. He was not acknowledged or engaged, but ignored by his teacher and
classmates when he remarked or asked questions to the group. His thinking formulated different
ideas than what may have been concrete or more predictable objectives/outcomes of the lesson,
but still could have been related. For example, a calendar prompted him to consider terms of

time, dates and chronological/biological events: loosening teeth, birthdays and even death. His
range of thoughts inspired by the lesson shed light on his unique thinking process.
Relevance to Class:
Brandons exchange with Ms. Cassini related to Carter and Curtis writings in Working
Together With Young Children as they describe how a teachers perceptions of particular children
can affect teaching and learning experiences. For example, In addition to teacher scripts and
commercial materials influencing your work, your images of children, conscious or unconscious,
control the actions you take (Carter & Curtis, 2008 p. 90). They suggest that a teachers
preconceived notions, conscious or unconscious, will dictate how the teacher operates within her
class. The approach taken by Ms. Cassini resulted in a limited or missed opportunity for learning
because of her expectation: that the children would not understand the commercial materials in
the lesson, that it was too hard for them, and therefore had no relevance. This is important
because Brandon demonstrated more understanding than Ms. Cassini had anticipated, surpassing
her perceptions of what her students may be capable of. It may have been an opportunity for
many children to learn something new, even though it may not have been concretely set into the
lesson plan of the day.
When Corbin wanted to discuss his ideas and thoughts, it related to Ballenger. She
describes how teachers can overlook the value and usefulness of a students thoughts, In the
routine practice of teaching it is often very difficult to see their strengths and how they are
relevant to academic work (Ballenger, 2009, p. 1). This mirrored what I observed when
Corbins comments were ignored without any nurturing or looking into his style of thinking, and
seeing how it related to the academic content of that moment. This is relevant because the

purpose of Ballengers book is to demonstrate how the experiences of teachers can demystify the
complexities of puzzling children. Ballenger says, I hope to show how the practices of teacher
research can help us to recognize the intellectual power that exists in forms of talk and
engagement that to many of us appear at first to be of little academic value (Ballenger, 2009, p.
2). Corbin was dismissed, his words seemingly of little academic value, therefore ignored.
Ballenger suggests that, Teachers can expand their own sense of what counts as useful thought
and participation in schooling, and thus challenge in a continuing process the array of
assumptions that constrain what school is, what learning is, and what it can be (Ballenger, 2009,
p. 2). Ms. Cassini was not allowing any potential for expansion on other levels, because Corbins
contributions did not fit into the constraints of her methodology, thus they were not counting as
useful.
The classroom served as an illustration The Microsystem in Bronfenbrenners Ecological
Systems. The Microsystem is defined as, the small, immediate environment the child lives in.
Childrens microsystems will include any immediate relationships or organizations they interact
with, such as their immediate family or caregivers and their school or daycare (Oswalt, 2008).
Bronfenbrenner believed that levels of different systems, [The Microsystem (as described
above), The Mesosystem, how the different parts of a childs microsystem work together for the
sake of the child. (Oswalt, 2008), The Exosystem, which includes the other people and places
that the child herself may not interact with often herself but that still have a large affect on her,
such as parents workplaces, extended family members, the neighborhood, et cetera. (Oswalt,
2008), and The Macrosystem, the largest and most remote set of people and things to a child but
which still has a great influence over the child, such as the relative freedoms permitted by the
national government, cultural values, the economy, wars, et cetera (Oswalt 2008)] will

all affect and influence children. The importance of The Microsystem as defined by
Bronfenbrenner is that it will have an effect on how the child grows; the more encouraging and
nurturing these relationships and places are, the better the child will be able to grow (Oswalt,
2008). This is important because The Microsystem in which Brandon and Corbin are living daily
in their Early Primary classroom is not necessarily providing a scaffolding which is supportive or
encouraging of challenging and engaging them beyond what the teaching staff has rigidly
structured into daily lesson plans. The students are guided to only do what is dictated by the
regimen, not to think more critically or branch off into other thoughts if they are perceived to be
irrelevant or of no value.
Reflection:
My reflection on this observation is that Brandon is a child who would benefit from more
advanced math work and nurturing his natural inclination for learning. He has a personality
which is quietly curious, without a sense of arrogance or aggression in terms of expressing what
he is familiar with and his desire to learn more. During my observation, Ms. Cassini did not
appear to see this as a positive, but seemingly shot it down seeing his ambition as something to
derail by proving him wrong on or unprepared for, when he did not know how to add larger
numbers. I cannot really understand how an adult can behave that way toward a child, especially
in what is meant to be a place that is ideally meant to serve as a nurturing, supportive
environment for learning. This early school experience is providing a reference point and basis; a
broad introduction, to academics and learning for all of these young children. Her handling of the
moment appeared to be a negative reaction to a potential opportunity that may have been
enjoyable and useful to all of the children-since the whole class really did share Brandons
curiosity. I do not believe that it would have been detrimental to take a few moments to teach

slightly beyond the concepts that were on the agenda for that day, whatever the outcome may
have been. I think it would have been positive and encouraged the childrens spontaneous
curiosity to learn new things.
My reflection on Corbin is that completely ignoring him is also a missed opportunity for
a brief conversation/discussion, no matter how seemingly off kilter his comments may initially
sound. It reinforced the concepts in Puzzling Moments, because Ballenger goes into such detail
of her own impulse to dismiss children when their input does not align with her automatic
thinking or lesson plans; how certain things that children say do not make sense to adults, but
upon further examination, can frequently be profound and useful. My observation of Corbin
indicated that his mention of a loose tooth, birthdays, and the passage of birthdays-which
ultimately and undeniably does actually result in eventual death for all-was of a depth and more
significant meaning than could have been apparent only on the surface. He is an energetic boy,
who fires off thoughts rapidly and it appears that the teachers, in their need to keep order and
structure, frequently dismiss him and do not have patience or desire to engage him, or modify
anything to work in teaching to his particular learning style. However, since I am not in the
classroom each day and I am not a teacher, I cannot know what Ms. Cassini strives for overall,
nor am I qualified to criticize her for anything at all. I am gathering my thoughts as compared to
the reflective teaching methodology that we are studying in class, and applying that knowledge
as appropriately as possible to what I observe. Our readings clearly demonstrate the benefits
which result when teachers (and other involved, concerned, influential adults) stay on a path of
continuing their education, self-awareness and examination, expand upon their own thinking and
glean awareness of their own potential biases.

References
Ballenger, C. (2009). Puzzling Moments, Teachable Moments-Practicing Teacher Research in
Urban Classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.
Carter, M., Curtis, D. (2008). Learning Together With Young Children-A Curriculum
Framework For Reflective Teachers. St. Paul: Redleaf Press.
Oswalt, A. (2008). Urie Bronfenbrenner And Child Development. Retrieved from
https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/urie-bronfenbrenner-and-child-development/