Sociogram Reflection

I observed my students during independent writing time for about 15 minutes. My

sociogram experience gave me insight to certain things about my classroom and students.
Before conducting my sociogram, I had some assumptions about who and what I would
notice. After the ten minute session, however, I made some realizations about student
behavior:

 Students lean over frequently: I noticed that students lean back and forth in their
seat. I had to create a new symbol for it during my observation. KP has leaned
back several times since this observation, and I now recall having to tell students
to move closer to their desks. I think they are not aware that they are doing this
habit, but I don't see this as a big detriment to their learning.

 There are those who stand, and those who don't: Certain students were
standing up next to their seats. They either stand to talk to their neighbors or stand
to look around the room. JM stood up once because she thought some students
were copying her. HV, however, stood up more frequently and for longer periods
of time. I was surprised by this observation, but in retrospect it made a lot of
sense. He is known for asking for help or claiming that he is finished working.
Here, however, I was not available to help. I think that those who stand are more
insecure of their writing. The students I marked on the sociogram also happen to
be the ones who like asking for me or the CT. I think this independent writing
session contributed to this.

 There is a subgroup of students who can stay quiet for long periods of time:
NO, CR, and LG are all together in a table group and hardly said a word during
the writing time. I consider these students to be a form of subgroup that can work
and write independently without much help or issue. Even JM counts in this group
because she was able to write without interruption for a period of time. This
doesn't mean that they are excelling in their writing. JM and NO need a lot of help
with spelling, finishing sentences, and remembering basic rules like name and
date. I think that while this group of students can stay still and work, they need
routine checking so that they are not looked over. Even the more proficient
writers in the class can have their mistakes ignored, which may hinder their
growth/progress.
  While CA confirmed earlier suspicions and assumptions, he may not be too
different from other students in the class: Earlier, I thought that I would be
seeing a lot of movement coming from CA, based on previous visits and
observations. In this case, he definitely leaned over to talk to MG and fidgeted in
and out of his seat. However, I am seeing that other students have idiosyncrasies,
too. AI looks around the room, and even took advantage of the teacher not
noticing to skip across the room. HV likes to stand up from his seat a lot. After
thinking about my time in this placement, I am redirecting where to prioritize my
concerns and teaching strategies. I am more concerned about students being aware
of their objective and the time they have during each segment. I think some
movement quirks will change over time, and some might be part of socializing
with each other. I do, though, acknowledge that some behaviors will inform me of
how classroom rules are being followed.

Overall, I learned that students show behaviors that are ambiguous at first, but will come
to mean something if or when they are repeated. From one sociogram, I can determine
what to look into or investigate further. It has more use than rearranging seating; it can
tell me that I need to use more reminding or encouraging language. This sociogram made
me see who I should spend more time with and for what reason (checking for
understanding, monitoring progress, etc).