another take

I spent a year in Ivan's classroom, although, i did not use recordings of participant observations in my data analysis. Rather, I used only a recording of interaction on one day in order to develop my analysis of the social organization of independent writing on just that day. However, post research i can reflect on my observations in that classroom.

Ivan was six. He was in the "bottom" writing group. He was often in trouble. The teacher often reprimanded him in front of the class for his way of speaking to her, for being cheeky or for interrupting her. When I look back on his supermarket comments now i can see how it might seem that he was cheeky, however, my analysis shows a number of things about his interaction that suggest otherwise. Ivan doesn't interrupt for example. His talk never overlaps the teacher, rather he shows a fine-tuned response that follows on from the teacher's talk. Importantly, in talking he shows his knowledge of classroom ways of talking about text and of interacting with the teacher. Perhaps, rather than being a naughty boy, Ivan shows the teacher that he is a student who does understand what counts as independent writing in his classroom.