Paige White

Senior Seminar

February 24, 2017

Shadow Study

The student I chose to shadow for the day was an 8th grade

female. I initially selected this student for my project because of a

disciplinary issue that had occurred in my physical education class

earlier on in the semester regarding this student. However, after an in

service meeting about at-risk students, I gained further interest in this

student. I discovered that the student had recently been dealing with

serious social anxiety difficulties. She had also been recently put on a

new medication that was affecting her ability to concentrate and stay

awake. In addition, the student is identified as gifted and in the gifted

program.

The first class I observed the student in was my 8th grade girls

physical education class. From the first few weeks of having this

student in class, I could tell that she dreaded PE. The day that I

shadowed her was no different. During class the student refused to

participate. The class had just begun a warm up run and I noticed she

was the only student not running. I asked her to nicely to participate

and she just sort of shrugged her head down, jogged for about 10

seconds, and then went back to a walk. The student appeared tired

and sad.
 After that, we started our warm-up workout for the day. This

consisted of crunches, burpees, mountain climbers, and jumping jacks.

The student sat down in a corner and put her head down in her lap. I

walked over to the student and asked why she was not participating.

The student did not reply to question, even after I asked several times.

We then began our Pickle Ball unit and the student told me she did not

want to participate. In a final effort, I asked my cooperating teacher for

help. My cooperating teacher had a discussion with the student, and

then escorted her to the counselors office to discus what was going

on. Later that day, my cooperating teacher informed me that the

student would no longer be coming to PE because the atmosphere of

44 other girls triggered her social anxiety.

The next class I observed the student in was science. Due to a

change in her medication, the student had recently missed several

days of school and was behind in this class. The other students in class

were taking an exam, while the student I was observing was asked to

work on her make-up assignments. It appeared that during her in-class

work time, that the student was not fully utilizing this opportunity. She

seemed very distracted and was redirected several times by the

teacher. I noticed that the student was fidgeting around with objects

such as her bracelet and pencil.

Ive also noticed the student often crouches down into a ball or

lays her head down. She also doesnt sit in her chair wit her feet facing
forward. Instead, she sits on her feet, which looks uncomfortable. The

science teacher explained to me that the new medication the student

was on made her extremely drowsy. I felt sad for the student because

she was struggling to keep her head up at certain points during the

class. The student also seems withdrawn from her peers. While other

students were conversing, she tended to isolate herself. I think this is

partially attributed to the students social anxiety.

Once she started to do her work, however, the student seemed

to stay on task for the remainder of class. The student appeared to

enjoy science far more than PE. During class, the teacher informed me

that the student had reported that her hands were shaking because

she was hungry. The teacher then asked what she had eaten for

breakfast. She mentioned that she had eaten some gummy bears.

Then the teacher suggested that she go to the nurses office and get

some crackers to which the student replied, I dont feel like walking

down there. After this conversation, she laid her head down for

several minutes. Towards the end of class, the student left the room

without the teachers permission to leave for lunch.

The final class of the day that I observed was a reading class.

The student appeared to be working much better in this class. I think

part of this may have been due to the student finally being able to eat

lunch, but also because of the classroom itself. The atmosphere of the

reading classroom was extremely homey and inviting. The students

were more spread out and there were large, comfortable chairs for

students to take turns reading at. I think that this environment assisted

in my students higher levels of motivation and comfort.

During reading, the student still appeared to be withdrawn from

her peers. However, she listened very intently to the teacher. I think

this was partially because the teacher had a strong, personal

relationship with the student. It was evident in the way the student

spoke to the teacher that she appreciated her. As the teacher read to

the students from a book, she allowed them to color or draw. The

students seemed to like this and the student I was observing seemed

especially engrossed in whatever she was drawing. At the end of the

class, the teacher asked each student what is the best thing about

this class? and the student I was observing answered, I like how this

class is quiet. This statement did not surprise me because I already

inferred that the student enjoyed private and silent settings.

Overall, I think the shadow study was very interesting. I learned

a lot about the student I was observing in a very short amount of time

that I otherwise would have spent weeks trying to figure out. Initially, I

just assumed that the student was lazy and did not respect authority. I

learned very quickly that this student is going through several

extremely difficult obstacles at an already hard time. I think this study

just further proves that I have to make that extra effort to get to know

every student, especially the ones that are acting out or behaving
oddly. I look forward to using this information to help teaching students

in the future.