Running head: LITTLE MERMAID ABOVE THE SEA

Little Mermaid Above the Sea

Rigo Diaz
San Diego State University
Abstract
When I heard Little Mermaids story, I definitely wanted her to be my case study student because
she is going through so much and is so young and innocent. Her teacher reached out to my site
supervisor because she was concerned that the recent death of her mother will begin to impact
her in school. Although Little Mermaid showed no signs of that, Ms. Brown, her teacher, was
concerned because she raised her hand randomly one time and told her that she was sad because
her mom passed away. Before my initial observation, I assumed that event would definitely
begin to crawl up on her and she would not be able to compose herself. Since she is only 5 years
old, I know she does not fully understand what happened and does not know how to feel about it.
My assumptions were disproven when I went to observe her and interviewed her and her teacher.
She is a bright young girl who is very nurturing and always respects others. The only thing that
caught my attention was when I observed her in a natural setting and also when I did an analogue
observation. I noticed she would randomly shut down and isolate herself. This goes under the
radar because does not act up in class or performs low in her academics. My site supervisor and I
will begin a grief and loss counseling group to allow Little Mermaid feel validated and feel that
it is okay to feel sad or have a mix of emotions.

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I Want to be Ariel!
Little Mermaid was introduced to me by my site supervisor who had a meeting with her
kindergarten teacher, Ms. Brown, sharing her concerns. Little Mermaid, unfortunately, lost her
mother who was involved in a car accident this past summer. It was not until Mid-October that
Little Mermaid began to share her emotions explicitly to the entire classroom. Although Ms.
Brown has yet to see any change in her behavior or academics, she is concerned that she will
gradually begin to alter both and will then escalate to some problems and struggles. Meeting
Little Mermaid during and after my initial observation, filled my day with surprises and
information because I was able to see how she behaved in the classroom and talked to her to
begin on building rapport. Little Mermaid is a 5 year old girl who is Kindergarten at Olive
Elementary in Vista, California. Although I do not know her exact address, I know she resides in
the surrounding community near the school. She comes from a low income family and is taken
care by her grandmother, who is her legal guardian, who also takes care of her sister and another
cousin from the family. Her grandma, who is not fluent in English, has a difficult time
comprehending the assignments Little Mermaid has trouble with, yet always does well due to the
help of her 2nd grade sister and cousin. Little Mermaid and her family only speak Spanish in her
household, also making it difficult to ask for clarification when she needs it. Luckily, on a more
positive note, Olive Elementary is under a grant that has allowed them to have no more than 20
students in each class for teachers to be more attentive to the students and be able to manage
their individual needs. In addition, they offer many resources for parents and students to utilize
when they are in need of assistance. According to Borders, Gonzalez, Henderson, Hines, &
Villalba (2013), parental involvement is rare with families who do not speak English and the
schools need to be innovated and find ways to have more parental involvement from the

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underrepresented groups, such as families who have migrated here, do not speak English and do
not understand the school system here(p,187). Olive does a good job at getting their parents
involved and accommodating for their individual needs. Due to this, Little Mermaids
grandmother is involved in her studies and behavior at school, even though she cannot help her
with the work directly.
Hypothesis
After learning the dynamics of the school and the persona of Little Mermaid, I
hypothesized that Little Mermaid will not begin to perform low or misbehave. Having a strong
support system and being young to not fully comprehend the situation, made me to believe they
will not let her regress. I also was mindful that I have not done many observations, which are
needed to see patterns of her behavior and performance academically. Whitcomb and
Merrell(2013), say that a naturalistic observation is essential to have because the data will be
unobtrusive and will provide an insight of the students daily and regular activities and
behavior(p,100). I observed Little Mermaid in the classroom and in the playground. Although
she is not shy or does have any friends to socialize with, I did see that many times she was quiet
or alone randomly during recess and lunch. Naturalistic observation has helped me to see this
and generated many questions for me to find the answers out and see if there is something that
causes that and why. My hypothesis has not changed, but now I am concerned that Little
Mermaid does not want to face her problem and will slowly begin to take a toll on her physically
and mentally. When I saw this beginning to become a pattern, I then used the guidelines for an
analogue observation to see how often she is alone or stops talking with classmates. I set it up to
for me to check on her every five minutes and see what was happening. Whitcomb and Merrell
2013) described that using this in a natural setting, the resulting validity and usefulness of the

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observation data are enhanced (p, 103). What I began to observe was a common pattern; Little
Mermaid isolated herself in the middle of the activity, but never in the beginning or end of it. For
instance, when Ms. Brown assigns an activity, Little Mermaid, alike the other students, begin to
socialize and work on the assignment collectively. However, after a few minutes, she begins to
become quieter and eventually work on her assignment alone. Outside in the play area, Little
Mermaid is out and playing with her friends, yet stops randomly a few minutes as well. Due to
this not being alarming or disruptive behavior, it goes under the radar, yet feel it needs to be
addressed given the trauma she might be coping with or understanding it. Aside from this, I also
was able to tell that Little Mermaid is a good student who is attentive and engaged in the lessons
of the day, when Ms. Brown explains it. This can impact my case because Little Mermaid is
acting like this now, but can change every time I observe her. Also, her seeing me, might have
impacted her regular behavior in and out of the classroom.
CUM File
Having done observations and beginning to develop a better understanding of her
personality in an out of the classroom, I decided it was great timing to review her records on her
cumulative records and Aeries, the software the school uses to access her profile online.
Unfortunately, being in kindergarten, it was hard to get more information that will allow me to
get an even better understanding of Little Mermaid. In her cumulative file, it stated that she did
not attend Pre-K and has missed one day out of her 50 days enrolled. In addition, her profile
stated that and that she was sick two different occasions and was sent home because of her
stomach aches. Also, I was able to have access to her grades and overall she has exceptional
behavior and has met the minimum requirements for her classes. Also, there was no information
that stated she was given an assessment or any other tests, so this was helpful as well. Although

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the information was accurate and up to date, I was not able to find any additional information
that gave me a better understanding of her. I would have liked to see more information to
compare her current behavior in and out of class, but this is only her first year of school. With
that being said, she does fit the norms and is not showing any behavior or performing at a level
that differs from the majority of the students. With more time given, I will be able to see two sets
of grades and have something to compare them with. This can impact my case because I do not
have any data to use to see how I can implement an intervention and see improvement, other than
the 2 months that she has been in school. According to American School Counseling Association,
in order to take a social justice approach to counseling, we need to use a data driven program to
meet the needs for the students (p, 48). This way we can implement an intervention and record
the results to see if it is a program that is effective or needs adjustments. Nonetheless, it was easy
to access this information and still gave me a few more things I can add to her profile.
Little Mermaid Through Another Lens
After seeing Little Mermaids interaction and behavior in and out of the classroom, it was
time for me to set some interviews up to get additional information and a different perspective.
Whitcomb and Merrell (2013), emphasize that clinical interviewing or child clinical interviewing
is essential to do when we, counselors, need to gather more information regarding behavioral,
social and emotional functioning. Not only is interviewing needed, but by interviewing Little
Mermaids teacher, I am able to build rapport with her and let her know that I am here for to help
me and for me to help her (p, 159). I had a personal interview with Ms. Brown and asked her
about the current behavior and academic performance Little Mermaid is displaying. Aside from
explicitly expressing how she feels at times, I asked if she mentions her mother often or not. I
also asked if she is beginning to see the pattern of her shutting down in class and outside during

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recess/lunch how I noticed in the observations, but Ms. Brown did not. She did tell me that her
performance in academics was great and she has not had any problems with her (A.Brown,
personal communication, November 13, 2014). Also, since I was not able to attend the teacherparent conference, I had given some question to Ms. Brown prior, to ask the grandma. Those
questions consisted of how Little Mermaid acts in the house and if she expresses herself often or
if she shuts down as well. Her grandma explained that Little Mermaid was very nurturing at
home and also made sure everyone was okay and happy. She also mentioned that she always
listens to the rules of the house and completes homework as soon as she gets home. I learned that
Little Mermaid is under radar because she is not showing alarming behavior, but I did notice
another pattern; she always puts everyone before herself. When I interviewed Little Mermaid, I
vividly remember her telling me that she plays with her group of friends, but if she sees someone
alone, she goes and plays with them(B.Maciel,personal communication, November 20,2014). I
did not think much about this, but once I talked to my site supervisor, she had told me she is not
showing self-care. There can be something she is hiding and not expressing since she is
occupied with making others happy. Both the teacher and Little Mermaid were cooperative and
were able to give me any information I had asked. This challenges my hypothesis, but only in
regards to her behavior. Little Mermaid might be hiding her true emotions and is blocking them
by dealing with everyone elses. With that being said, if I asked her more questions I think it
would be in regards to showing her that expressing emotions is okay and needed to feel better.
Her mothers death can impact her performance in school in any given time, yet we do not know
when or if it will happen. Regardless, I can already see it is impacting her own emotions.

To Show or Not to Show

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After seeing Little Mermaid be so nurturing and caring to her peers and teacher, I
overlooked the fact that she is not dealing with her own emotions. My site supervisor determined
that she was going to start a grief and loss counseling group for Little Mermaid, her sister in 2nd
grade and two other students. Although we have not started it, I know this will be a great way for
little Mermaid to see how it is okay to express emotions and not bottle them up. With the other
peers there dealing with similar situations, she will be able to be comfortable. Overtime, I will
begin to see if she no longer shuts down and talks to school personnel when she feels sad or just
to talk about how she is feeling. Although her teacher is not part of group, I will continuously
update her and ask her if the change is making aligns with the classroom behavior. I do not
believe there are any ecosystem factors that can impact this intervention unless Little Mermaid
does not want to be part of the group.

References

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A Brown (personal communication, November 13, 2014)

American School Counselor Association (2012) The ASCA National Model: A Framework for
School Counseling Programs, Third Edition. Alexandria, VA: Author
B. Maciel (personal communication, November 20s, 2014)
Borders, L. D., Gonzalez, L. M., Henderson, A., Hines, E. M., & Villalba, J. A. (2013). Parental
involvement in childrens education: Considerations for school counselors working with
Latino immigrant families. Professional School Counseling Journal, 16(3), 185-193.
doi:10.5330/PSC.n.2013-16.183
Whitcomb, S., & Merrell, K. W. (2013). Behavioral, social, and emotional assessment of
children and adolescent (4th ed.). New York, NY; Routledge.