Field Blog Post 11/ West Geauga

Question I will be exploring:

In the Art of Awareness, Curtis and Carter assert that "immediately interpreting what we see limits our vision." During my observation, do I make any snap judgments that limit my vision? If so, I'm I able to practice self-reflection and dismiss such judgments?

      When I observed Mrs. O'Janpa's class, I was actually able to help and interact with the students. The students were working in groups on a grammar assignment. I walked around the classroom and helped students when they were confused about a problem. One student, in particular, needed my help more than others. He was working very slowly. He was only on problem 7 or 8 when most of his classmates were on problem 25 or so. He also spoke very slowly, with some kind of accent. I immediately made the snap judgment that he was less intelligent than his classmates. I was able to realize, however, that this judgment would limit my potential, as Ayers says, to truly see the student. I dismissed my judgment as rash and continued interacting with the student.

     While working with him, I found he was actually very intelligent. At first, he was having trouble figuring out where to place commas in sentences. Instead of giving him the answer, I taught him some tricks and skills he could use. I told him that it often helps to read the sentence aloud and listen for any pauses. I told him if he pauses when he reads the sentence, a comma will usually need to be where he paused. The first time he used my trick, he got the problem right. I then explained to him the actual grammatical reason why a comma was needed. When a similar problem came up a bit later, he was able to place the comma correctly and tell me the grammatical rule that was relevant. He picked up on what I taught him so quickly. I realized that I had been right in dismissing my snap judgment. Working slow doesn't necessarily indicate unintelligence. It could instead demonstrate diligence. Also, the way a person speaks should have no bearing on perceived intelligence. This is a common mistake that many make.