In reflecting upon the observations that I conducted, several key elements kept

emerging as I looked at my notes and findings. First, as someone who has not been in an

elementary school in 15 years, I found the joy and enthusiasm that the students had

refreshing and hopeful. As someone who has been primarily at the middle school level,

we often find students who have been relegated labels like underperforming,

remediation, or those kids. In the elementary school, it was about what students

wanted to do, and how enthusiastic they were to be coming to school each day. It

reminded me that at the middle school, we need to be the keepers of that flame, and to do

all that we can to prevent it being snuffed out in the never ending search for higher test

scores. At the elementary school, I also noticed the impact of having smaller class sizes

would be a benefit and a requisite for each teacher being able to know the developmental

level that they would on. Our elementary teachers need to know how each child falls on

the developmental scale, so that they can best know how to instruct them and allow their

growth academically. If a teacher had 28 or 29 students in their classroom, or taught 100

students over the course of a day, as can happen at the higher levels, it would be difficult

to truly know each child.

My second element that I found prevalent throughout all of my observations lied

in the importance of understanding where students are developmentally is a fluid and

fluctuating scale. Teachers that operate on a continuum of knowing where their students

are cognitively, physically, and emotionally allows them to best meet their needs. For

example, fourth grade teachers that know they have certain students who arent

physically on the level of a fourth grade student, that they will fidget in their seat and

have a need to move around, and will adjust their educational sequence to best fit their
needs. Teachers who are aware of the developmental levels of their students will

recognize that certain behaviors are not purposefully malicious, but rather a manifestation

of their current developmental level, and work to find alternate means of success.

When I was working through this project, I found myself analyzing some of the

children that I work with and found myself seeing the value of having practiced protocols

and norms in place to limit undesirable behavior. I think that it is important to note that

some of the behavior that we see kids doing and reprimand them for is a developmentally

acceptable behavior! Younger children are not hard wired to spend 30-45 minutes

sitting in rows, listening to a teacher deliver a lecture. If an educator is going to use

direct lecture to provide instruction, it would be a good idea to have designated breaks

and periods of action built in to compensate.

Finally, in conducting my interview, I noticed a side of my interviewee that I had

never seen before. Avery is a girl that I have known and coached for four years. When

we are at practice, she is tough, funny, and is never afraid to speak her mind. However,

once I asked to interview her for school, she became nervous, fidgety, and afraid to

give all of her answers. I think that speaks to the power of developing relationships with

students. In a coaching context, Avery and I are very familiar and are able to higher

levels of conversation about best practices. However, when I became a school

administrator, she reverted to more base behaviors that one would expect from a child

on a fourth grade developmental range, as we didnt have a relationship in the context of

the interview.