Behavioral Observation Notes for May 1, 2016 11:30am • It appears recess or lunch break has begun, children are running and walking to the playground • This is a small private school, and I see fifteen to twenty children on the playground. • I see an adult male playground attendant who appears to be allowing children to facilitate their play. • The playground is entirely made of concrete; there are basketball hoops, jungle gyms, swings, red rubber balls, soccer and basketballs. My first personal observation is of an Asian boy, approximate age, 5-7 years old. • 11:30 I notice that the young male runs towards the playground, he immediately goes to get the red rubber ball. He kicks and attempts to dribble the ball for a minute or two, without regard for anyone around. • 11:32 He stops playing with the ball for a moment, runs to the fence and looks out onto the street, then runs back to the ball and starts dribbling. • 11:33am the playground monitor says something and the children respond by moving towards the monitor, the child I am watching continues playing until the playground monitor says something else. • 11:34 the children start dribbling. they lined up and passed the courtyard monitor, who handed them something. • 11:35 - 11:40 the young male sat on the floor near other students and appeared to be eating something. • 11.41am The young male stood up and threw what may have been rubbish into the waste bin and immediately went back to retrieve the red rubber ball. • 11:42 - 11:45 the young male was kicking the red ball as if it were a soccer ball and a female student approached him. It seems like he wanted to play with him. The little boy seems not to have listened to her request and continues to play.......middle of paper......interested in finding out if there may have been some language barrier between the young Asian male and the young Latina girl . Perhaps communication was a factor in the young male's lack of cooperation regarding sharing the red ball. I would like to know if there were family stresses in both families. The strength of the observation is that you get direct access, instead of using some means of self-reporting. The disadvantages of observation are: you have to have time and money to complete a proper study, and you have to be careful to record what actually happened, not what you wanted or expected to see. In fact, watching children in action was eye-opening for me, it reinforced that not only are we shaped by family interactions, but we are also socially shaped by our peers and friends, at home, at school and on the playground..