Chapter 3 QTC

(3.1) Personal and social development can have a major influence on both individual student

learning and the learning environment as a whole. Identify a case from the CSEL guidelines*

that you would like to address in your paper. Then, examine the possible developmental

factors that could be influencing your target student(s) or classroom in the case study. Consider

all dimensions of personal and social development, including cognitive, language, social,

emotional, and moral development.

Elementary Case
You engage your third grade students in cooperative learning activities at least twice a day, changing heterogeneous group members once every four weeks. You have agreed upon routine procedures that your classroom community uses within their small groups, including the roles and responsibilities of group members. Lately you have noticed that one small group always seems to have difficulty grasping material and completing their project in an acceptable manner.  You observe this group carefully and find that Lisa seems to be the catalyst for their problems.  She gets angry with others if she does not get the job she wants and refuses to do her part in contributing to the group’s learning.  She constantly interrupts others in her group.  She does not pay attention when her group prepares for class presentations.

One of the first things I notice is that Lisa is definitely struggling in her social development.She isn't getting along with her peers and this obviously means there is a social problem going on. One thing I can think of would be that she may be acting out in a group to receive attention. She may not be getting attention at home and so she acts out. This ties into emotional problems as well as social. She may also not feel comfortable in a group setting with others and is used to getting her way. I think she may be used to being the one in charge and can't quite handle letting others take the control. I think there are a few ways that I can implement a plan to help her cooperate with her peers better. I think that I would take her aside and talk through what is maybe going on outside of the classroom to try to help the situation get better. If that doesn't work then I will try to work her into a smaller group and take it one step at a time. 

(3.2) Check out tables 3.1 (p. 75), 3.2 (p. 83) and 3.3 (p. 91) with particular attention to the age

ranges you are interested in teaching. Identify your personal favorite ways that an educator can

promote a child’s sense of self, perspective taking, and moral reasoning skills.

The ages I think I will be most likely teaching would be K-2. For Table 3.1 it says that children at this age have "Self-concept largely limited to concrete, easily observable characteristics." It is important to challenge these students to grow their already limited self-concept. It says to encourage students to extend their abilities by tackling challenging tasks they think they can accomplish. This is very important in allowing them to grow and not have such a limited self-concept. I would challenge my students to tackle things that I know are within their reach but may be a little challenging. For example, if I have a student that is always reading a certain series, I may challenge them to step outside the box and encourage them to challenge themselves to read something a bit harder. For Table 3.2 it says, ask questions about thoughts, feelings, and motives during storybook readings;encourage them to share and compare diverse perspectives and inferences. I think that this is vital for children at this age to do. Asking questions allows them to build their comprehension of the material presented and also about their own lives, and the other students. It also allows for the students to understand the different perspectives of their peers. For Table 3.3 is says, Make standards for behavior very clear. This is an integral part of my classroom. If I want respect then there must be rules. I will make sure that my children understand these rules up front. Having rules will help develop the children's moral reasoning skills. They need to know that rules are to be followed and will make the classroom a productive learning environment. Once they begin to understand this, their moral reasoning skills will grow.