Student Observation and Interview

I decided to interview two students in my class: one was a struggling student and the other was high performing. I spoke with my host teacher to figure out which students would be most willing to talk to me and answer my questions. We agreed that one boy and one girl would be good.

The first student I talked to was a struggling student. Generally speaking, he has a few behavior issues in class as he tends to pick on other kids and annoy them which gets both parties in trouble for disrupting class. He sometimes has difficulty sitting still, but almost comes off as lazy. Here are his replies to the questions I asked him in an interview.  

Q. Do you enjoy school?
S. yes

Q. What kind of student are you?
S. good

Q. What do you do for fun outside of school?
S. play with friends

Q. How would your classmates describe you?
S. Good. Everybody describes everybody as good.

Q. Who are you friends with and what do you do with your friends?
S. Mason, Nick K., Nick H., Tanner, Jacob, Kassalyn.... we run around, talk, play on swings...

Q. Tell me a good memory you have about school.
S. work

Q. Tell me a bad memory you have about school.
S. People picking on me.... when people argue with me

Q. Describe a "good" teacher or tell me about a favorite teacher you have had in the past.
S. She helps you and tells you some of the answers. 
Q. Who was your favorite teacher?
S. Mrs. Butler... she was nice and she helped you. She lets you use her stuff.

Q. What is something you wish your teacher knew about you?
S. (Has no answer for this question. He does not understand the question and shrugs his shoulders)

Getting answers out of this student proved quite difficult at times. He gave short answers and acted as though he did not understand some of these questions. When I observe this student in class and with his peers, he is playful and likes to pick; however, he is quiet and often has difficulty communicating.


The next student is higher functioning. She is pretty quiet and frequently has the right answers and incredible penmanship! Here are her answers to the interview questions:

Q. Do you enjoy school?
S. yes

Q. What kind of student are you?
S. *giggles* quiet

Q. What do you do for fun outside of school?
S. Play with Katie (classmate)

Q. How would your classmates describe you?
S. friendly

Q. Tell me a good memory you have about school.
S. *thinks... giggles* Mrs. Bennett is here!

Q. Tell me a bad memory you have about school.
S. Doing work.

Q. Describe a "good" teacher or tell me about a favorite teacher you had in the past.
S. Mrs. Cantrell because she's nice

Q. What is something you wish your teacher knew about you?
S. I'm hyper at the end of the day.

This student is pretty quiet, but when she speaks it's something you want to hear. She isn't the type of student that has to tell you a bunch of random stories, unless it is relevant or important. When she's at recess or in class, she has one or two close friends that she hangs out with.