Return to Normal: An Experiential Observational Account of Elementary Students Return to In Person Learning

Abstract

For my senior individualized project, I accepted an internship an Eastside Youth Strong’s Eastside Arts and Sciences Experiential Learning (EASEL) program. I served as an assistant to three educational professionals employed in various positions with Kalamazoo Public Schools. This internship allowed for me to gain numerous forms of experience working with children in a professional environment. For the project itself I focused on two main topics which occurred during my time working at EASEL. The first topic was observing a student with diagnosed ADHD. With that topic I reflected on my time with the student while connecting their behavior to the symptoms listed under ADHD in the DSM-5. From these observations the staff at EASEL attempted to adjust for the betterment of the specific student, and the group as a whole. For the second topic of the project, I discuss a potential issue which occurred over the course of EASEL programming. Discussing the increase in students removing themselves from lessons and activities I attempt to provide reasoning and explanation for this new and unusual behavior. Following discussions with the professionals on staff it was concluded that the most plausible causes for the behaviors were the extended time spent in virtual learning environments combined with the lack of in person educational experience held by the younger students in the camp. It is believed that during the pandemic, while in virtual classes, students were able to remove themselves from activities and lessons which did not interest them by turning off their microphone and camera. Due to the restrictions of the software being used there were few responses the teachers could use to prevent or resolve these behaviors. As seen with the behaviors during the EASEL program, the students have continued to remove themselves from lessons, physically removing themselves as opposed to virtually as they have done for the last 15 months