SPSE 6712 #4-Reflecting on Case Study and Ethnographic Narrative

The class I observed for the case study was rather small, and the students were doing a typical reading lesson. The student I chose to observe was the same student that I talked to for the Ethnographic Narrative. I always enjoy watching class and how the students interact with each other and the teacher. Even though the lesson was to cover everyday work the teacher did an excellent job utilizing the time to thoroughly talk about reading, vocabulary, comprehension, types of words and how to plot a story. I like watching her because I can see how she interacts with the students and how sensitive and respectful she is to the students. Other students in the team even are comfortable to come in to her room and ask for materials they need.

Case study is important because you can observe a student without the student being aware and possibly acting different because of that. Teachers are always observing their students, but it is hard to observe a particular student all the time without being noticed. I was able to observe the class and one student without him noticing. I think case studies will be very useful if I have a student that I am having problems with or that needs extra attention. By doing a case study things that cause distress, anxiety, disorder, or distraction could be noted. This could help a teacher know if something he/she is doing positively/negatively affects the students.

I really enjoyed doing the enthnographic narrative because the boy I talked to was very sweet. He is very close to his family especially so with his little sister, who is disabled, and he helps her a lot. The narrative gives a much more in depth look at the student and what they are going through or have gone through. My student is not particularly close to his cousins who live in TN, and has never met any of his grandparents because they live in Mexico. This will help the current teacher and future teachers understand and be more sensitive towards this student. He may not always have the family support other students have or he may have more responsibilities to help with the family.