Moving Forward with Observation project

I have decided to work with Tammy, Anne, and Ana on this project. We are going to come together to work on a Prezi presentation so that we learn how to incorporate newer technology into our classes.

We are going to meet during class today to go over our notes and what we have individually noticed during our observation. Hopefully, we can synthesize our information together so that we can concentrate on looking for certain attributes in our last chunk of observation.

For instance, Tammy and I have already agreed that we are going to go back to Rivertown Mall tomorrow at 5 pm to observe. I think that Tammy wants to concentrate on the type of clothing the learners are wearing and where they like to shop.

I know that I will be at Muskegon in the Fall so I hope that some of this will relate back to what I will be seeing.

The main objectives that I would like to concentrate on when I go back to observe at Rivertown Mall are:

1. Are Caucasian youth primarily by themselves or with a parent or do they seem like they are taking care of their younger siblings? If they are by themselves, it could suggest that they have more free time to be with just their friends and that they do not have as many outward responsibilities to their families.

2. Do Latino youth go to the mall with their family and are they expected to take care of their younger siblings or friends of their parents? How will this make their school experience different? How can I meet their needs in the classroom when they might be focused on family issues?

3. Do I see any other instances of boredom in middle school youth? If so, what might be the cause of the boredom? This can relate back to my classrooms because I will know what boredom looks like. The goal would be to have classroom activities that change their boredom into interest. (This goes back to what Jacque Melin talked about in her class when she said that middle school students can concentrate for around 15 minutes before they need a different activity.)

4. Are middle school learners more active then high school learners? This is very important to notice so that I can foster a classroom environment where they feel like they are active and can channel their energy to classroom activities.

Hopefully, each of us participating in this group (Anne, Ana, and Tammy) will bring different perspectives to the table and we can work together to make our Prezi presentation showing the natural environment of our learners and how we can take what we learned in our observations and apply it to the classroom.

I would also like to go back to Muskegon this weekend and see if I notice anything different than in Grand Rapids because I will be in Muskegon.

I have three hours left to observe and am going to concentrate on those points that I stated above.