EDC 21 Critical Incident Reflection Paper

Nicholas DePalo

Fall 2012 Semester

EDC 21-01

Field Site Supervisor: Shirley Pinero

Field Site Address: P.S. 225(Shorefront Y)

1075 Ocean View Avenue

Brooklyn, New York 11245

Identify The Specific Experience

            The specific experience that I will be exploring is the time when I had to resolve a fight between a group of children playing a board game. The children are allowed to play board games after they finish all of their homework. There was a group of four kids who wanted to play a board game called “Sorry ™”. The children argued because there were only 3 game pieces (the fourth one was missing) and they didn’t know exactly how to play the game. I had to intervene and try to calm the children down. First, I had the children calmly explain to me what was going on. To solve the problem, I explained to them exactly how to play the board game and how to take turns. I also had them substitute the fourth missing game piece with an eraser. After this, the children played the board game for the remainder of the day with no problems.

Critical Incident Reflection Method

Step 1 – Gathering objective data from the concrete experience

Describe the experience focusing on issues such as:

1. What did I observe in this experience? Answer: What I observed in this experience is a group of children arguing over how to play a board game called “Sorry”. The children were sitting at one of the tables in the classroom with everything set up to play the game. They were arguing over things like how to play the game and that some of the game pieces were missing. The children were not getting physical, but they were getting a little loud. What I also observed is that the group of children spent more time arguing than actually learning how to play the game. They wasted some of the time that they could have been playing the game, instead of arguing.
2. What did I observe about the physical surroundings? Answer: The place at where this experience took place was in a classroom at the After School Program at P.S. 225(Shorefront Y). The classroom was on the second floor and was filled with many different things that could help the children learn better. For example, the classroom had a library, a computer, and a table where the children can work on activities in a group. The classroom also had tables arranged around the room for which the children would use as their desks. The brightly colored walls were decorated with a lot of inspirational posters and some of the children’s artwork. The classroom also had a big easel where the children would learn some new vocabulary words and how to use them in a sentence. In general, the classroom was correctly designed to be a place where the children can better further their education.

Step 2 – Reflecting

React on a more personal level to the experience focusing on issues such as:

1. How does this experience touch upon my own values? Answer: This experience touches upon my own values because I was taught to talk it out if I had a problem. All the time as a kid, my parents told me to never argue with someone because arguments could turn into something bad. When I saw the group of children fighting over the board game, the first thing that I said to them was “Stop arguing and tell me what happened.” And then I told them to talk it out with their inside voices. This experience also bought the golden rule (Do unto to others as you would like to be treated.) to mind. The golden rule was also reinforced throughout life. So when I saw the children arguing, I kept thinking about the golden rule fits into the situation.
2. How do I evaluate my own effectiveness in this experience? Answer: I evaluate my own effectiveness in this experience because I believe that I was able to stop the argument before it got out of hand. I also believe that I was able to take control of the children. The argument allowed me to use my leadership skills to solve a problem. This experience showed me that to be effective in resolving the argument between the children; I would have to know what I am doing. What this means is that I would have to know how to calm the children down and anger them anymore. Basically, I believe that I was very effective in resolving argument.

Step 3 – Identifying relevant knowledge

Examine academic knowledge which might be applicable to the experience focusing on issues such as:

1. What principles, concepts, theories, skills or information have I learned relates to this experience? Answer: There are a lot of principles, concepts, theories, skills, and information that I have learned that relate to this experience. One of the major principles that relates to this experience is “Teaching is never neutral”. It relates to this experience because if I was neutral in the argument, it wouldn’t have ended. Another concept that relates to this experience is that the teacher has to act a facilitator. This concept showed me that I need to intervene in the argument, so something could be done about it. All in all, this experience brings forth a lot of principles, concepts, theories, skills, or information that I have learned in class.
2. How does this experience relate to what I learned elsewhere? Answer: This experience relates to what I learned elsewhere because it brings up some important life lessons. One of the life lessons that this experience brings up is that I have to take some leadership in my life and my surroundings. What this means is that the experience allowed me to take some leadership over the group of children and direct them to a solution. It also allows for me to take some authority in my surroundings. Another life lesson that this experience brings up is that I need to resolve problems or they will lead to even more problems. What this means is that if a problem escalates to the point of no return; it can cause more problems to occur. Basically, this experience allowed me to discover some of life’s many lessons.

Step 4 – Examining and reconciling dissonance

Examine more closely points of discomfort, disagreement or inconsistencies in your experience. As you reflect on point of dissonance in your experience also explore ways in which this dissonance might be reconciled. At times, however, you will find that dissonance cannot be resolved. Learning to live and work within ambiguity, conflicting tensions and paradox is sometimes required. When addressing Step 4 focus on issues such as:

1. What, if anything, do I feel uncomfortable about this situation? Answer: What I feel uncomfortable about this situation is that the children were arguing over things that could have been easily fixed. For example, the group of children could have read the instruction pamphlet that was in the box. They didn’t need to make big deal over it. I also felt uncomfortable about what he children were saying to each other. They were saying things like “We don’t want to play with you.”, “Go away.”, and “Nobody wants you.” I never knew that children that young spoke that harsh to one another. This situation made me feel uncomfortable in numerous ways, but they have helped me enhance my ability as a teacher.
2. What conflict is there between what I “should” do and what I “want” to do? Answer: The conflict between what I “should” do and what I “want” to do is that I need to know exactly what to do to take control of the situation and solve the problem. What I “want” to do is not always the right thing to do. But what I “should” do is what I have to do to solve the problem. For example, I wanted to tell the children “STOP!” because they were getting a little too loud. But I would have been wrong if I had done that. I knew that I should talk to the children to get to the bottom of the argument. Basically, I did what I should to take control of the situation.

Step 5 – Articulating learning

Remembering that learning is tentative and needs to be tested in subsequent experiences, respond to issues such as:

1. What are the major lessons I learned from this experience? Answer: The major lessons that I learned from this experience were that people will always argue, people don’t always get along, and that knowing how to resolve a conflict could be a good thing. First off, I learned that people will always argue because not everybody can keep themselves calm and talk it out. The experience also showed me that people don’t always get along. The proof is that the children who were having the argument were good friends but they still disagreed on something. The experience also taught me that knowing how to resolve a conflict could be a good thing. Knowing how to resolve a conflict could be a good thing because it shows that a person knows how to take control of a situation. It also shows that the person is confident in what they do. All in all, this experience has thought me some major lessons about teaching and life.
2. What skills did I acquire? Answer: I believe that I acquired some skills from this experience. For example, I believe that I acquired some leadership skills. Outside of the experience, I am not really that outgoing. The experience showed me exactly how to act as a leader. I also believe that the experience helped me acquire the skill of acting like a child. This skill is important because it’s like I am putting myself on the kids’ level, in order to get their perspective on the situation.

Step 6 – Developing a plan

Consider the question “here do I go from her in both my work and my learning”? Answer this question responding to issues such as:

1. Base on what I have learned, how might I modify my own approach, methods, or behavior when I encounter a similar experience in the future? Answer: Based on what I learned, I would modify my own approach, methods, or behaviors when I encounter s similar experience in the future. For example, I will know that I will have to have the children talk it out instead of arguing it out. When you talk something out, you’re able to get more information on the event from that one person. I would also modify the fact that I will have to do certain things to solve the problem and that I just can’t tell them to “Shut up” or anything. All in all, this previous experience will be considered as the building block of similar experiences in the future.
2. How should I proceed in my learning? Answer: I believe that I should proceed in my learning and continue to study to be a teacher. I can’t let just one little experience stop me from doing something. This experience can always be considered part of my learning process in becoming a teacher and a well rounded person. What this means is that knowing the right thing to do when resolving a conflict is a nice skill to have. Also, this experience is just one small part of my learning, so I can always just dwell upon it in the future. Basically, it just helps to further my education because it helped me to achieve some important things in learning and in life.