Portrait of a Learner: How to Develop a Lifelong Love of Learning

Carlos can employ his developed cognitive skills in everyday life in Elementary school. He demonstrates his curiosity using the following skills: 

Classification – Carlos can classify, match, sort, compare, and connect objects. During choice time he would always gravitate to the puzzle section. Trying to divert his attention to something else is somewhat impossible. He displays his ability through solving the puzzles in class and notices if a piece is missing and asks for it. He’s also at his best self during story time/circle time. 

Imitation – Carlos can imitate the behaviors of those around him, be it, other children or his teacher. For example, he can stick his tongue out if another child does it at him. He also has a tendency to call out in the classroom although he had been constantly reminded that it’s something that was not allowed in the classroom. 

Questioning – Carlos asks why to determine the reasons and ask to follow up questions to know what will happen next to clarify his understanding. 

Memory – Through COVID-19 the kids were not allowed to be in large groups. However, the teacher was able to put them in groups of threes where Carlos got a chance to explore with building blocks. It was amazing to view because it seemed it was right within his element. Once circle time with his group was over, Carlos committed to his memory about which area of the class the teacher needed him to place the blocks as he continued to learn about his daily routine. 

Carlos is very inquisitive from our interactions in class and generally curious about the world around him. 

Carlos is not a shy child and is very curious. He once asked, "why aren't there any more dinosaurs?" I told him that about 60 million years, the asteroids collided with the earth, and everything changed. The climate changed, and dinosaurs could not adapt, and so they died out. He proceeded to ask, "what is the climate?" I replied, "climate is the change of the weather over a long time in a region. 

Carlos, like many of the other children, likes to be told a story numerously. So, he asked again what happened to the dinosaurs, and due to his developed cognitive abilities, he was able to narrate the story to his friends. 

His ability to seek information is a description of how curious he is about his surroundings. He once asked about a homeless man he sees on his way home and what happened to him to not live in a house like his mom and dad. I asked, "why do you think he is homeless?" He replied, "Because he is poor and dirty." To which I replied, "Yes, because he lost his job or became sick to take care of himself, and he should study hard not to be like him." He is a bright boy, with much memory to ask that after observing the homeless man after a while, not many kids would notice or even understand the homeless man's situation. 

According to Piaget’s theory on the cognitive development, he believed that one’s childhood plays an active role in their development. This is known as the developmental stage theory which deals with the nature of knowledge and how humans use it. With that being said, he believed that children develop an understanding of the world around them, and experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment allowing them to adjust their ideas accordingly. It’s very clear to me that Carlos comes from an environment where he’s allowed to express himself and more importantly learning takes place. 

Carlos Rodriguez is an intelligent five-year-old who has sharpened his problem-solving techniques by observing his peers, teacher, parents, and siblings at home. For instance, Carlos, and his friends, had their coat stuck in the closet, they first decided to pull it, and to no avail. They pulled it, and when both failed to budge, they decided to close the closet one more time and re-opened it. They tried again, and they were successful. 

In the class activity of reading the book "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, what did you see?" he seems very keen and excited in the lesson to cut out the animal pictures and stick them on the construction paper. Further, he can narrate the story from cover to cover in the right sequence showing signs of a higher order of thinking and retention. Since the activity is recurring, but with different books, Carlos can efficiently reproduce the learned skills by cutting and sticking other animal cutouts entirely with the glue and proudly showing his work. When he fails to recall the sequence, he always refers to the provided textbook for confirmation. 

After reading out loud, the Panda Bear book, a YouTube video is used as a visual aid to help children comprehend the story better. Carlos gets very cheerful and motivated when this happens and gets engaged when the video plays while pointing to every animal shouting its name, showing his working memory capabilities. Furthermore, he will go home and request to view the video again from this mother's iPad. I can only presume Carlos is good with gadgets since he brags about the iPad games he played on his mom's iPad. 

Carlos is an adventurous child with problem-solving abilities and shows more patience by applying various solutions to solve his problem. 

When practicing a new skill, Carlos responds well to be guided step by step to achieve the task's objective. Anything he has a challenge doing, he always asks for guidance but will employ his problem-solving capabilities with his best friend, James. 

Carlos can be jumpy and is more focused on lessons that involve activities. 

Carlos always completes his homework and delivers it first thing in the morning when he comes to class. It is a requirement to have them submit as a way to nurture responsibility. 

Observational learning equips children with the ability to learn from behavior rather than mimicking. The teacher's challenge is to provide the best environment where children can learn the best behaviors to develop problem-solving skills. Carlos is a self-driven child who is generally curious about his world around him and mimics others' behaviors to solve the issues he is facing. However, if he happens to stumble upon a hurdle he cannot overcome, Carlos asks for guidance, which he uses to solve the issue nicely. As educators, it is advisable to guide them but not solve the problem. 

According to Piaget's Theory, his work displays graphomotor skills produced from his written homework. His organizational skills are not yet impeccable, but when it comes to tests, his thinking order is relatively high, shows simultaneous and successive processing in his quizzes or activities. He presents information just as any five-year-old for praise when interacting with a teacher. Lastly, he presents his oral homework in front of the class without any problems. Carlos comes from a home where he's allowed to express himself and learn more importantly. 

With the countless interactions between the children and teachers, positive social and emotional development is influential to a child's self-esteem, empathy, team spirit, and lasting friendship. Further, their ability to develop social and emotional development influences other development areas. Teachers and parents need to observe the children offer consistent relationships and experiences. 

Carlos Rodriguez likes to play with the different children when he is in class and outside class. He mostly enjoys playing dexterous games in class, and his favorite are puzzles and Lego bricks. However, when he is outside, he enjoys running, dancing, climbing, and playing tag with some of the other children. This week we had a couple of gorgeous days so we took the class out to the yard. It was such a joy to see Carlos in his element. 

Carlos is not timid in the slightest. If a piece of a puzzle or Lego piece is missing, he will go to the corner to look for the piece, and if it is not there, he will come and enquire for its whereabouts. 

From my observations, Carlos likes to share when assembling Legos; he likes to make towers with his close friend James. This kind of sharing is a display of his character as a team player. Another instance is when they were playing tag, one of the kids fell and Carlos quickly ran to that child’s aid. This showed me that he’s full of empathy and looks out for his friends. 

Carlos is a confident, curious boy. He is comfortable with his routine and knows where to go when it's time for activities. He can be hesitant with a new child or group but gets assimilated quickly. 

Carlos does not require much attention nor redirection since he is acclimated to the routine and is quite self-sufficient, and interacts well with his peers. 

Teachers are tasked with promoting social and emotional development by creating trusting relationships of mutual respect, affection, and warmth. With the help of evidence-based strategies, teachers can intentionally promote these skills to encourage positive behaviors. For instance, Carlos enjoys our interactions and is very responsive to the praise as he looks to improve and participate in other class activities. However, Carlos shows no interest in adult visitors. He is much reserved towards adults as most kids and keep the interactions to a minimum if he has to interact with them. Carlos stands out due to his confidence and very inquisitive nature about the world around him. 

As a preschooler, Carlos displays high signs of exploring the world around him independently, which stems from higher self-esteem, strengthening his learning skills, impacting his communication skills, and developing healthy cooperative relationships with his peers. He expresses his affection and frustrations openly and still shows stranger anxiety. He may, once in a while, throw a temper tantrum, which does not last long. 

According to Piaget’s theory, children are like little scientist and their neeed to explore, interact, and experiment is what helps them gain knowledge about the world around them. He believed that caregivers and educators should use this theory as a way to provide opportunities for children like Carlos to explore their environment. It is quite clear that Carlos comes from a home where he's allowed to express himself and more importantly, learning takes place.