This where you will begin posting your documentation for your Case Study. Remember you are responsible for 10 days of documentation concerning your Case Study student; and responding to five others in regards to their Case Study student.
Remember, if you have to document profanity, for the case of this "Blog" remember to use: #?*!. Are you singing the song now? Country fans probably will be.
Dr. Hill
Good Luck, and if you wrote your posts last week on paper, remember to transfer it to the blog and just date the day of the documentation at the beginning the post. Remember to give us a little background on your special student.
ReplyDeleteDr. Hill
All children are special; however, some students really catch your attention. They not only catch it, but they grab it, monopolize it, and love it! I have one of those really special students in my classroom this semester. We will call him Johnny! I chose this name because just like Johnny Carson, my students commands the attention of the audience aka his classmates.
ReplyDeleteJohnny is 8 years old. He has blonde hair, blue eyes, and the sweetest smile. He reminds me a lot of my son. His mannerisms, facials expressions, and the silly things he says. My son is almost 3 years old. Maybe that will help paint a picture of Johnny for you.
Over the next few weeks I will be observing Johnny, as I usually do, and blogging about his day! This should be an adventure!
My first official observation day was Tuesday, March 20, 2012. I walked into an empty classroom and waited by the door to greet all of the students as they arrived. Johnny came in a little late that day. He didn't get to drink his chocolate milk like he usually does each morning. He was distracted by his classmates lining up for PE. I felt bad throwing away the unopened carton he had on his desk but those are the rules.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if this was going to set his tone for the day. Was he going to have a rough one? Only time would tell because soon they would be back from PE and the day would be beginning. I wonder if it is hard on Johnny to have PE so early in the morning. There is no other break in the day for him, aside from lunch.
He arrived back from PE is great spirits. He must have had a fun time or played a game he liked. We went straight into the day's lessons. Math was first.
Let me give you a little background on how Johnny acts during lessons. Johnny is never in his seat. I think this semester I have only seen him sit in his chair twice. He normally sits at the back table with me if he sits at all. He likes to hang out in the back of the room on the floor doing flips or playing with the dinosaurs. If he is not doing that, he is drawing. He does a lot of drawings.
Don't let this fool you though! Johnny is listening. That is why he gets away with the things he does. The teacher knows he is participating even when you think he isn't. It is better to let him sit in the back and not bother him than to have a power struggle about him sitting in his seat. He can answer any question you give to him even if you are not even sure he has heard a single word you have said. Academics are definitely not this student’s weakness.
Math was getting underway and Johnny was exhibiting his usual behavior. I notice that the teacher makes sure to call on him and give him praise when he spouts off the correct answer. Johnny needs as much positive reinforcement as possible. If not, it’s not a happy time. Johnny will cry and say negative things about himself when he gets a problem wrong or is not the winner. The teacher works well around this behavior to avoid any outbursts. She calls on him a lot, or makes it to where he and another student are the winners in a game.
A few times today I did have to encourage Johnny to come sit with me at the back table to work on a few of his worksheets. I can always get him to come sit down and work by telling him, "Johnny, can you come help me? I am not sure what we are doing." This always gets him to focus on his work so he can show me how he knows what is going on!
He loves to finish first and to make 100's. He runs up and tells me that he made a 100 on his accelerated reading test. I love to see him smile. He was beaming from ear to ear. The teacher said casually while giving me a wink, “It must have been that magic dust I sprinkled on you yesterday! I knew it would work!” He was having a rough time the day before and the teacher sprinkled “magic dust” on him so the rest of the week would get better.
Before I knew it I was time for me to go. I told the students goodbye and stuffed the many drawings that Johnny gives me each day in my book bag. I am looking forward to seeing my students, especially Johnny, next Tuesday.
Stephanie, I really enjoyed reading your case study about Johnny. It really makes me happy to see people like you caring for him. I am glad the teacher is able to understand how he learns best and gives him a lot of praise. I think it is awesome how you can also find ways to interact with him by asking him to help you. I am impressed with how much you care about the students and how dedicated you are. Keep up the good work and I hope I will hear more about Johnny soon.
ReplyDelete03-22-2012
ReplyDeleteI have always noticed this young man since the first day of class. Let’s call him Billy. Billy is African American around the age of 15. I chose to write about him because he has always interested me from the beginning of Field Base.
Billy is different from other students in the class and I have always watched him very closely. He walks a different way. It looks like a limp or some kind of other walking disability. He talks with a higher pitched voice then most males and usually spends his time sleeping in class or not talking at all. I have noticed he really likes to draw. He does not like to interact with other students and many of the other students make fun of him. This hurts me because I can just tell he is harmless, but he still gets picked on. Every day I make sure to say hello and try to start a conversation with him. Sometimes he will not answer me or look at me. Other times he can be very talkative.
Thursday I taught my second lesson. Billy was sitting in the front today and to my surprise was doing the assignments I had given to the students. This is unusual because he never wants to do his work and is always asleep. He seemed alert and was listening to everything I was saying as I taught about the “Human Body Systems”. While working on the independent practice, I told him he could draw the organs for me if he wanted to (since he likes drawing). He was more than willing to do just that. As the bell rang, all the students got up from their seats to move on to their next class. Billy sat there and was asking me questions like “why can’t we live without our heart” and telling me facts about movies he had seen. I had never seen him so talkative.
I picked up his work and took a look at everything he wrote.
He wrote down that his favorite organ is the “heart” even though the heart is an organ that is a part of the circulatory system and is not an organ system itself. I thought well at least he is thinking and trying to learn instead of falling asleep or not paying attention. He also put that he cannot live without the heart because that is like a football game without overtime. I laughed when I read this. Not a mocking laugh but a good, happy laugh.
I assume he talks to me now because I have stood up for him in the past when other students were picking on him. This is something my cooperating teacher never does. It really upsets me because my cooperating teacher never includes Billy in any of the group work. He just leaves him out as if he is non-existent. I am more the sure this makes him feel really horrible.
Thursday was a good day for Billy. He did all of his work and had a conversation with me. I am still working on how he learns best however, it is evident to me that he has some type of learning disability and/or has social disabilities as well. I hope to observe Billy more these next few weeks to see how things will turn out!
I loved reading your blog too Annisa! I am so happy to hear how you stand up for your students when others, like your CT, fail to! You WILL make a difference in this little boy's life. I be he will always remember you and the kindness that you are showing him! Keep up the great work and hopefully you will rub off on your CT.
DeleteIt is so awesome that he participated in your lesson. I bet that made you feel good. I chuckled too when I read his response, "...he cannot live without the heart because that is like a football game without overtime." You should ask him to explain that to you! I bet it would be a great conversation!
I too am looking forward to hearing more about Billy. Hope all of his days are as awesome as Thursday was for him!
It is great that you are able to talk with him and connect with him. You seem to have the patience and heart that he needed. Over time, I bet you will be able to reach in ways that other teachers cant. That is special!
DeleteThis is awesome how you have noticed a difference in Billy and that you have been able to reach him in a way that engages and includes him. This is what a good teacher should do. One of my CTs is quite exclusive as well, if a student is in need of some sort of alteration she just kind of lets the student do what every they want as long as it does not hinder the learning of the overall class. It bugs me cause I feel for the excluded student. Keep doing what you're doing!
DeleteI liked reading your blog about Billy. I like how you let Billy draw the organ systems since that is what he loves to do. I enjoy how you really care for him and ask him how he is doing each time you see him.
DeleteThere is a student in my classroom that I have noticed from the start. He has a good heart and great smile. Bobby is always at school but obviously does not want to be there. The kids pick on him and he picks on them.
ReplyDeleteOne day I was grading papers and noticed that the teacher had modified his social studies assignment. I was saddened though when I realized he had only answered one question correctly even with modifications.
I have managed to engage him in my lessons. He raised his hand to read aloud and to answer questions. In my observation he never does that. These were proud moments for me.
That is great that he responds to you. Those moments that you connect to a student are ones you dont forget. It is amazing how great it feels to see your students be successful!
DeleteThat's got to be an awesome feeling that you got him to participate in your lessons! The second lesson I taught was in my class that seemed to have more behavior problems so I was a little nervous. I was surprised, though, when many of the students who usually don't participate at all would answer the questions during the lesson. I was really excited to see that they were engaging in what I was teaching. I just loved seeing them show how much they really knew and understood!
DeleteI love the feeling of getting through to a student, or having them participate with the rest of the class, when they are usually defiant to do so.
DeleteTuesday, March 27th: What a great day Johnny had today! He came in this morning in good spirits. He grabbed his usual chocolate milk and sat down to listen to the morning announcements. I was in the back of the room preparing for my lesson on grams and kilograms so the students were off to PE before I noticed.
ReplyDeleteThe class came back from PE and before I knew it the lesson was over. All of the students behave so well during my lessons and Johnny is no exception. He is always engaged when I am teaching. Why you ask? Well, because all kids have a price and theirs is Easter goodies! I always bring the students something cool they can earn during my lessons.
I spent a good part of the late morning with my professor, but finally I was back in the classroom and ready to see what Johnny was up to. As soon as I got back, the teacher handed me a thick folder and told me it was all the work that my little Johnny wouldn’t do. Oh my! I knew it was my responsibility to get him to get this work done.
I called Johnny to the back table to speak with him; “In just a few minutes we will be going to the resource room to finish some work. I have a really cool stretchy bunny that I would like to share with you if you work hard and do a great job.” I had not given out the Easter prizes yet so the idea of him getting one first was motivating to him. He was now very eager to do his work.
Just before we headed off to the resource room he brought a Goosebumps book over to me; “Look at this mask in the book. I wish I could have that mask.” I took a look to see what he was talking about and there was an insert in the book that you could tear out to make a werewolf mask. He was so sincere. He really wanted that mask. I told him that after we finished our work we could make a color copy of the mask and I would cut it out for him. He liked that idea and off we went.
Johnny is so smart. A large folder of papers was finished in minutes. I didn’t have to reteach a single concept. He read the directions in a flash and does almost perfect work. His handwriting, however, is still pretty rough. He holds the pencil well and tries to stay in the lines most times, but sometimes you need a decoder to decipher what he has written.
On our way back to the classroom we stopped by the PST room and I made a color copy of the mask in the book. You should have seen his face when I pulled out the copy! A smile beamed from ear to ear. He was so thrilled it worked! I guess he didn’t expect much. I grabbed some string from a drawer and we headed back to class.
The class was beginning science and I asked him to grab his book and sit at the back table with me. I didn’t want another stack of incomplete papers to pile up. He sat in the back and tried hard to focus on his work while I cut out the mask. Once assembled, I let him put it on. It took everything in me not to laugh! He looked absolutely adorable. I made sure to tell him that no matter what happed to the mask I could always make him another one. I didn’t want any meltdowns to occur if anything happened to it. Good thing too because later when he tried to put it on another little boy it ripped. I told him right away that I could make him another and he simply smiled and said, “No, we can just tape it.” What a smart kid!
Johnny sat and did every bit of his science work with me. He even copied his glossary words, which I am thinking is his absolute least favorite thing to do. While he was writing his definitions, he started writing the vocabulary term vertically on the paper and then the definition horizontally. I leaned over and asked him to put the next word on the line. Nope. He didn’t do it. All of the rest of them were vertical. Again, someone call the decoder. I guess it wouldn’t be fair if only one vocabulary word got to be vertical, right?
DeleteBefore I knew it, everything was done and the kids were pack up to be dismissed. It was such a productive day for Johnny. He did about a weeks worth of work in one sitting for a werewolf mask. How fabulous is that! He even left the classroom still wearing it. I just love how today worked out.
That is great that you were able to find a way to connect and get him to get excited. It is fantastic how small things like a mask can get a child to do anything. Good job!
DeleteI agree with Carrie, we've learned over and over again to try different things with our students. No one learns or can be motivated in the same way!
DeleteMarch 20,2012
ReplyDeleteToday is my first day to blog about my case study. As soon as I was told about this assignment, I already knew who I was going to study. This child is always fidgeting and his concentration is always focused anywhere but where it needs to be. Just today he got his color moved for not listening, which is very usual from him. Today we were measuring rice in cups and just could not stop playing with the rice. My CT called on him countless of times and still he continued messing with it. Every time you ask him to do something, he always takes as long as possible to do it. When we were doing our math lesson today we had to do a worksheet after. Well this student as soon as he gets his paper, rushes through it and goes to turn it in. I asked him to let me see it and when he gave it to me, I told him that half of his answers were wrong. As I tried to coach him through his work, all that I heard was, "This takes too long, and I do not want to redo it".
March 29th 2012
DeleteSo today was actually an ok day for my case study student. I never gave him a name so I think that I will refer to him as Benard. So Benard is defintely one of "those" students. He is not lacking intelligence or anything, he just doesn't want to listen and likes to act out in foolish ways. Today though was a rather good day for him. He only moved his color once today for talking. In fact I have been rewarding good behavior in the classroom with tickets that the students turn in to me at the end of the day to get a treat. Well today I actually was able to give Bernard a ticket! Believe me he was very excited and really I was excited to give it to him. Well all was going well but at the end of the day he turned his color to yellow for talking three times and I have a rule that no one is allowed to get a treat if they have changed their color, so unfortunatly, I had to take it back from him. This really upseted me because I thought today was an amazing improvement for him but this is one of the rules that I gave to all of the students to follow, and I knew that it would not be fair just to give him a treat. But all in all, Bernard really had a good day today.
April 3,
DeleteToday was once again another great day for Bernard. Usually Bernard has to sit in an "island", a nice way to say by himself. But today we let him be part of a group and surprisingly he did fantastic! I mean it is not like I am not happy that he is doing well but, it is like he knows that someone has their eye on him. This past week his attitude has totally gchanged which is such odd behavior for Bernard. I am not wishing for him to be bad or anything, but usually I see some interesting things from him. Today the only thing he did wrong was stay up at his desk. Still a good day for Berdard.
Isn't it funny when you are expecting certain behaviors from your case study and they turn around and prove you wrong. Mine has me second guessing myself all the time. It sure is great that he was good this day though.
DeleteApril 10th
DeleteOh poor Bernard! Today was an "orange" day if you know what I mean. Bernard just could not be quiet or keep his hands to himself today. Well, see all week he as actually been in a group instead of in an island and hands to himself. I noticed today that he also has a nervous habit of biting his nails. I thought that was interesting because I have never seen a student that age bite their nails. Anyways, Bernard was given multiple chances to stop his talking. He carried on talking to his peers the whole morning until finally he did not just move his color once, but twice.
April 12th
DeleteLast Thursday Bernard started acting up again. He was not able to be quiet all day long! He was constantly getting in trouble and had his color changed twice. This day me and the other psts were out in the hall way decorating it, transforming it into the rainforest , when my 2nd grade class came walking down the hall. Mrs. King told them all to watch out because we had decorations all over the hallway. Well Bernar just had to step on one of our leaves and when Mrs. King saw it she yelled at him and made him apologize to all of us psts that have been working so hard on it.
April 17th
DeleteOhh my little Bernard has been acting up again. This student can just not stay quiet or still. I personally think that he might have ADHD. He is always getting distracted and he never ever sits down. When he is at his desk, he is always up leaning on it,notsitting on his bottom. I asked my ct if she thought that he was ADHD,and she does too. She said that a long time ago she had a meeting with his mom and as soon as she walked into the classroom, Bernards mom said, "I know my child has problems, but I am not putting him on medication, so if that is what we are going to talk about, you can forget it!" wow.
April 19th
DeleteBernard had a good day today. Yes he was still very active but he did not have to change his color once. I was very proud of him. This moring he was talking while instruction was going on and the teacher told him to please be quiet and he said "yes maam". I was very impressed with this behavior because he has never replied to us in such a way.
April 24th
DeleteSo Bernard finally did it! He got in school detention for a week. My teacher told me that on friday he hit and kicked another child (who has adhd) and that child hit him back. The consequences of their mistakes have now landed them in a week of in school detention. So I did not have the pleasure of seeing him in class today, but I can tell you that today was a very pleasant day in class, and the class was not at all disrupted!
When I first walked into my classroom and met my students, there was this one student that stood out from the rest. When I first met "Joe", I could tell he was the hyper/class clown student. He is a white, 10 year old male student of mine. The first day with my students, they all told me the top 10 things that I should know about them. Joe's response was that he "thinks student teachers are awesome" and he gave me two thumbs up. I couldn't help but smile and tell him thank you. I chose Joe as my case study because he has always stood out to me in class. He always has to be moving. He goes from sitting in his chair, to standing and then tries walking around the classroom and sitting at the front table in the classroom. For the most part, my CT lets him do it so that way she doesn't interrupt teaching. Joe doesn't always act this way. Just like everyone he has good days and bad days. The other students have gotten use to his behavior and it really doesn't distract them too much. From the way he is, I would have thought that he struggles in the classroom, but I was wrong. Joe is a very bright student. He's always wanting to read aloud or answer questions. He is always willing to particpate in the class and is also a great writer. I am looking forward to having him as my case study and hope to learn from these experiences.
ReplyDeleteYou know maybe he is just getting bored with what he is doing because he is a bright student. Or maybe he has a touch of ADHD. What do you think?
DeleteI've been thinking the same thing. Some days he has me thinking that he just isn't being challenged enough, where as other days, I think he has a slight case of ADHD. My CT hasn't told me anything about him being ADHD.
DeleteYou know I think that's pretty cool the teacher allows him to move around. I find a lot of teachers try to absolutely control every student and have them quiet and concrete in a desk every day and some kids just need to move around. Its less distracting to the others to just let him move around then to have the teacher stop the lecture every 2 minutes to correct him.
DeleteI agree with Parker that is is neat that the teacher allows him to move around. These students really need to be able to move around and get some of that energy out. It is always very hard for the teacher when they are being interrupted by their students because they are hyperactive.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThursday, March 29th: Today began a lot like the other days. Johnny acted in the same manner as he always did. He was up out of his seat and drawing instead of working. The teacher asked Johnny to get out his social studies work and all of a sudden there was an outburst. Johnny grunted loudly in frustration. He really did not want to do his work. All he wanted to do was draw.
ReplyDeleteOn his way to get more drawing paper, Johnny tripped over his shoe laces and began to cry. I walked calmly to the side of the classroom where he laid on the floor and asked, “Johnny, are you okay?” “I’m just going to stay down here. I’m no good at walking!” he stated in a huff. “Well look Johnny! Your shoes are untied! No wonder you keep falling!” I said with a smile trying my best to break this mood of his before it got any worse. I reached down and tied his laces in triple knots. I asked him to come help me find his social studies work.
Johnny couldn’t find it anywhere so I decided to take a look in his desk to see if I was in there. Whoa! What a mess! There was so much paper shoved in there! I yanked everything out of the desk as Johnny watched from behind. I didn’t know how he was going to react to me doing this but it needed to be done. To my surprise, he seemed to be happy that I was cleaning his desk. I made sure to put all of his drawings in one pile for him to take home. I turned my back for a moment and he was shoving his drawings back in his desk. I told him that he needed to put them in his backpack so he could share them with his family. He could have cared less about what I did with all of the class work I found in the mess.
After all that, the teacher had his work the entire time. I finally got Johnny to sit down at the back table with me to work on his social studies worksheets. He definitely didn’t want to do it. I took one look at it and told him how easy I thought it looked. That made him show me how fast he could do it. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to get him to do his work because he rushed through it. He did get the answers right.
We moved on to science. Now I needed to get Johnny to do his glossary words. I mentioned to him the book that had the mask in it from last Tuesday. I told him I could make him another mask. I was hoping this would work. It got him to do his work, but I had to coach him the entire way. “Come on Johnny! Look! You are almost done! You have only one more word to go!” It was exhausting.
I spoke last time about Johnny’s penmanship. I thought on his glossary words he did a great job staying in the lines on regular ruled paper. After a few words the writing did get messier and he started writing the vocabulary words vertically. I kept asking him to put the next word on the line but once he started that trend he didn’t want to break it. I didn’t think it was necessary to push the issue.
The day was finally ending and 5 minutes before the bell rings Johnny reminds me about the mask I promised him earlier. Wow! I forgot but he didn’t. I ran down to make a copy of the mask so Johnny wouldn’t lose his trust in me. It was important to me to follow through with my word. He appreciated it. I was rewarded with a big smile and a thank you.
Wow! Johnny seems like he needs a lot of extra attention to do good in school, right? Do you think that he gets bored with the things he does in class?
DeleteI don't think it is boredom at all. I think he gets frustrated with the amount of work that he is required to do. I think that he should definitely have assignment modifications. He is a smart kid that hates busy work!
DeleteI understand. You might be right. It is very possible that he is getting frustrated with his work. I bet assignment modifications would help him a lot.
Delete04-03-12
ReplyDeleteToday was not a good day for Billy. I thought he wasn’t going to show up to class but he ended up coming in late. Some kids made some remarks under their breath when they saw him which made me feel bad. He spent most of his time sleeping in class. He sleeps frequently in class and the teacher blames it on him playing video games all night long. It is very obvious to me though that he does have a learning disability. I realize that when the teacher loses his attention, this is when Billy falls asleep. He hardly is engaged in any of his work however; sometimes he will complete part of his assignment. I asked the co teacher If he had any disability. She really didn’t know what his disability was exactly but she knows his tests are a lot shorter than the rest of the class.
I have noticed he has hardly any communication with anyone in the class. He mainly keeps to himself which tells me that his disability may have to do with his socialization skills. I try to talk to him to get to know more about him and his personality. Sometimes he will be very talkative and others he will not even make eye contact with me. When the teacher assigns groups for a project he always leaves him out of the group. I feel like he is just being ignored in the classroom when the teacher should be more attentive to him and his needs.
Even though today was not a great day for Billy, I will continue to observe him as much as I can throughout these next few weeks.
I do not like that the co-teacher has no idea what is going on with her student. You would think that both teachers would be informed on the students disabilities and modifications that need to be made for the student. I wonder if they ever tried or if they gave up on him from the very beginning?
DeleteI like to hear that you try to communicate with Billy. It is better that ignoring him like the teacher does. Learn from this CT what NOT to do!! Hope Billy gets an great teacher like you soon.
I agree! Both teachers always need to be informed about their students! They are resposible for the students too! It is good that you do try to communicate with Billy, and not shove him to the side.
DeleteIt's good that you tried communicating with him, sometimes it just takes someone that is an "outsider" or someone that isn't there all the time to try to connect with those students who don't always get positive attention.
DeleteI have not posted in a while but I have since seen Bobby three more times. I will post all three times. Thursday March 29th I spent all day in my classroom. In my classroom we have three rotations of science. Bobby is in my home room. He has his good days and bad days. On bad days the teacher sits Bobby right by her. This day he was having a good day because he was sitting with the others. He mingles well with others this day. Then I hear the other kids making fun of him. He shrugs it off but I can tell it bothers him. I have asked the teacher previously if he has been identified and she said yes. She did not tell me what he has been identified for. He gets modifications on work and is sent out for tutoring. On bad days she asks him if he took his "vitamin". So I am assuming he is ADHD. I can't help but have a soft spot for Bobby.
ReplyDeleteTuesday, April 3 our grade went on a field trip to the art museum. The kids were so excited. We load up on the buses and take off across town. When we get to the art museum I am assigned the first half of my class. I had the well behaved girls and the rowdy boys. You can imagine the thoughts going through my head. Haha! We ended up being in a room all together talking about science and electricity. Bobby was one of the brave ones and touched the ball that gave off electricity and shocked you if they got near. After we did our sections we were assigned we were then allowed free time. This is where we split up. Bobby was in my group. We decided to sit down and watch a short film on native Americans. The group decided that we wanted to move on. So Bobby just got up and took off running through the museum. I was so baffled by this I did not know what to do. I called after him but knew I could not leave my other students. My CT found him and made her walk with her. I have no idea what caused him to that and was really upset that he did that. I later asked my teacher how was I suppose to handle a situation like that. Thankfully she said I handled it just fine. Hopefully she let him know that this was not acceptable behavior.
ReplyDeleteI bet that was a heart dropping moment. You can't drop everything to run after one kid, but you have to watch over him too. I am glad there were other teachers there to help. Safety in numbers right? Were there any parent volunteers there to help out?
DeleteNo one was there to help. It was a difficult situation.
DeleteNo kidding what a spot to be in while in a museum where things are very valuable and very easy to break. I don't know what I would have done I probably would have had one student take charge of the group and searched for him.
DeleteYesterday, Thursday, April 5th was an easy day for my students. It was their Friday therefore they had to take their weekly vocabulary quizzes before they could play. In fifth grade they do not get the luxury of a party like the younger grades. They did have the opportunity to sit and visit with their group though. Bobby seemed to be in good spirits. He took his science quiz and handed it to me. I was in the process of grading their quizzes. I got to his and graded it. To my surprise it was a passing grade. I was impressed and happy at the same time. There were no modifications made to his quiz either. I was so proud of him. Later after lunch they had a quiz in social studies. They had to match states with their capitols. When I graded Bobby's paper he had passed again. He had a really good yesterday. I was really proud of him. I hope he has a good week next week.
ReplyDeleteI had the same feeling with one of my students during tutoring. His classwork was all wrong, but in tutoring he did awesome. That proud feeling is the best feeling. I had to hold back my tears!
DeleteIt's crazy how some students can act COMPLETELY different in two different situations or enviornments. It's great though that there is an environment for him to work in and get things accomplished.
DeleteTuesday, April 3, 2012: I wanted today to be a good day. I had brought 2 dinosaurs for Johnny to take home. I had mentioned them to him when getting him to do his work the past few weeks and I wanted to finally bring them to him. I planned on showing them to Johnny and putting them away until he had finished his work. Just as I thought I was going to spend the day working with Johnny, my fellow 2nd grade PSTs and I were given the task of turning the 2nd grade hall into an Amazon. Wow! This is going to take some time. I didn’t get to spend much time with Johnny.
ReplyDeletePeriodically I would go into the classroom to gather materials for the project. One time I went in to find Johnny crying. The teacher told me that she had to take the dinosaurs away from Johnny. I had put them away when he went to PE but he must have gotten them out of my bag while I was working outside. Oh my! What I thought was going to be a good thing ending up causing a great deal of trouble for my teacher.
Later on that day I saw Johnny step out of the classroom. I asked him where he was going. He was off to the library to check out a book. After a while I noticed he had been gone for quite some time. I went into the classroom and asked the teacher if she wanted me to go to the library to find him. She said he was fine and that she wanted to let him spend some time in the library. It must have been a rough day.
The next time I saw Johnny everyone was getting ready to go home. Everyone had their backpacks and were lining up at the door. Johnny was crying again. The teacher did not know that I was going to give Johnny the dinosaurs that I had brought. She had given them back to him at the end of the day to play with and he had put them in his backpack. She asked him to take them out and give them back to me. I felt horrible! I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries with the teacher so I just took the dinosaurs and put them away.
One of my students came over to Johnny and asked him if he wanted him to draw him a picture to make him feel better. This got the crying to quiet down a little. What a great idea! I decided to draw Johnny a quick picture too. I asked one of the students to get me a piece of paper and I traced my hand and turned it into a turkey. It was the first thing I could think of and it worked! He really liked the turkey. He stopped crying and left the room for latchkey.
I felt so bad the dinosaur thing went sour. I went over to the teacher and told her that I really had brought the dinosaurs for Johnny and I was sorry for not telling her sooner. I asked her if I could go check on him in latchkey and give him the dinosaurs and she said it was fine.
I walked to the cafeteria and found Johnny sitting at a back table drawing hand turkeys. They were so cute! He must have liked my drawing. I explained to him how the teacher did not know I had brought the dinosaurs for him and I pulled them out of my bag to give to him. His eye lit up. It was sweet. He showed them to his friend sitting at the table. He gave me one of his hand turkeys for me to “remember him by.” I hung it on my office wall.
This gave me a lot to think about. Incentives are good but it seems some can turn bad. I feel like it would not have been a problem if I had been in the class with Johnny, but then again maybe the dinosaurs were more of a distraction than an incentive.
Thursday, April 5, 2012: Today I only spent a short part of the day with Johnny. My class did not meet at the elementary campus today but I went up for a few hours to teach a lesson plan. Johnny arrived to class in good spirits. It looked like it was going to be a good day.
ReplyDeleteWe sat down at the carpet to read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Before I began reading, I called on a few students to ask them what they thought the book was going to be about. I tried to move on without calling on Johnny because I had already called on several students and as soon as he realized I wasn’t going to call on him I could see the tears in his eyes. I quickly asked him what he was going to say. He perked right up and shared what he thought the book was going to be about. Of course it was a mini synopsis of the book because he has read it before. Johnny listened well during my story.
After the story was done one of the boys in the class said, “See Johnny! You guessed right!” I think the students or at least that student noticed Johnny had gotten upset earlier because he thought he was not going to be called on and was trying to make him feel better by pointing out in front of everyone that he was right. My students are so awesome.
I could tell I was going to have to include Johnny as much as possible in my lesson plan. I was not going to get away with not calling on him. I had to make a special effort to watch him. Well, the next activity Johnny wandered off. Man it is hard trying to teach AND redirect a student constantly. He didn’t finish the pasta butterfly life cycle the students were making. He started but went and sat at the back table to draw very hungry caterpillars. I asked him several times to come work on his activity but he said he was too far behind.
I had to move on to the next activity. The students were now going to draw the butterfly life cycle and label the stages. Again, Johnny didn’t want to do it. I felt like I was not able to reach him like I did when I worked one on one with him. Then Johnny brought me one of the pictures he was drawing. It was the butterfly life cycle. This was perfect. I can definitely use this as an assessment. I told him what a great job he did. The lesson was ending and he came up to me. He was upset that he did not do his work. I reminded him of what a great job he did drawing the butterfly life cycle. He smiled and walked off.
This situation I encountered today helped me to understand why students need assignment modifications. This student should definitely have modifications on the amount of work he needs to be responsible for. He was able to prove to me that he understood the content we learned in the lesson without doing all of the activities. I feel like I spend a lot of my time in the classroom focusing on getting Johnny to do his work that he doesn’t do in class because it needs to be graded. This makes me curious to see the modifications this student receives. I am going to ask my teacher to look at his IEP if possible.
April 2, 2012
ReplyDeleteToday was a really good day for Joe. He was very mindful and attentive in class. During my lesson over idioms, he paid attention and asked questions when he didn't understand. I had asked the whole class if they knew what idioms were and he was the first one to raise his hand and try to answer. His answer wasn't correct but I could tell he really tried to answer it correctly. Even though he got it wrong, he still was involved and asked other questions during the lesson. The activity I had them do was to draw a picture of an idiom that they chose from the list. We worked in rotations and Joe was the first one in all the rotations to finish the activity and he did such a great job illustrating his idiom!!
sounds like he's at least trying this i think is a good sign. Positive reinforcement! yay
DeleteI am glad that he had a good day! My student has been doing better ever since I have started watching him!
DeleteI love going to class, somewhat expecting a certain student behavior, because they always act a certain way, and then you get a completely different behavior from that student. For example, if you have a student who gets his card flipped to at least orange everyday and then he/she has a day where he doesn't get his card flipped at all, or receives a purple card, it's a really great day.
DeleteApril 9, 2012
ReplyDeleteToday when I walked into my classroom, I saw that Joe's desk had been moved to the very front next to the board. I asked my CT what had happened and she said that his desk was moved until he can show her how to control himself and his talking. Apparently monday was a bad day for Joe. He was very talkative with his neighbors and not listening in class. Today however he had a good day. He only acted up once and that was during our math review. He was standing up at his desk and acting like he was a baseball pitcher/martial arts fighter. My CT didn't see him acting this way but I did and i just looked at him from across the room and shook my head no and told him to please sit down. He looked at me and just smiled and sat down. That was the only incident he had today. He did really well in his reading assignment. My CT took him to the tutoring room so he can concentrate on his work without any distractions and when he came back, he finished his work and made great grades.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012: Today I was only in the classroom for a short period of time so I was unable to work directly with Johnny. I was able to observe him in short periods periodically throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteThe few times I saw him during the day he was on task. He was even sitting at his desk doing his work. Towards the end of the day, I observed another student helping him finish his science work. It was really nice to see another student reaching out to help him.
I remembered to speak with Johnny’s teacher today and ask if I could see his IEP. To my surprise, she told me that Johnny was not on one. He did not receive any modifications because he was successful in school. I agree that he is successful but it takes a tremendous amount of effort to get him to do his work.
My student does have an IEP but to my surprise my teacher told me she does not modify his work. She said she believes he can do it. If he shows that he can't she let's him redo the work. To me this is confusing. Why wouldn't you start the child off with modifications so he can succeed instead of fail.
DeleteI have a couple of students who are the same way. They have trouble completing their work or doing it correctly, but they are not on an IEP. I was shocked.
DeleteI know a couple of students in my class that have IEPs and should have modified work, but my CT told me that she does not modify their work because she know that they can do the same work as everyone else. I too was shocked when she told me that but she believes that her students are capable of doing the same work and they prove they can do it as well since they get good grades on their work.
Delete04-05-2012
ReplyDeleteToday Billy was his normal self. He seemed to pay attention a little more to today’s lesson although; he was flipping through his books a lot. Today we reviewed the organ systems for their skills check coming up. I noticed that the teacher changed the seating arrangement and he sits in the front. All students have assigned seating and he is always assigned to sit in the front of the classroom. It is apparent that he has a social disability but some observations lead me to assume that he may have ADHD. He is always distracted by other things and not usually paying attention to the teacher. However, this may be because the lessons are not engaging enough for him. I tried talking to him today and he seemed pretty talkative. I caught the kids in the class throwing something at him when I turned around. I got really upset about this and confronted them. Billy seemed angry that they were bullying him but he never really stands up for himself. I will continue to see how Billy reacts to certain situations and make more observations.
For March 20th: I have a sweet little girl in my class, but from day one I knew something was different about her. Lola is a Hispanic, 6 year old, who is full of life. I wanted to focus on her in particular because through out the day, I see that she just is completely gone from the room, like she has left the building. She is a sweetheart, but just doesn't have a clue what is going on. On this particular day, I walked into the room and she was waiting quietly at her table, eating her breakfast. She kept quiet and ate her breakfast and took care of herself. Throughout the morning, she was able to perform the tasks and sat still. When she returned from PE, her day went down hill.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as she returned, she had lost all her attention span. I was shocked to see what a different student she was from before PE. We went to the carpet to get our math lesson started and the entire time the instructions were being given, Lola was playing with her shoe laces. My CT was able to get her attention, but Lola had no idea what the class was even talking about.
The rest of her day went like that. She eventually had to have her card flipped because she was playing around during the instruction and was not on task.
March 22: Today I decided I would work with Lola one on one to see how she responds with help. She and I worked on a math assignment in a separate room. I thought pulling her out might help her no be so distracted by everyone else. We get into the room, and she does very well for the first 5-7 minutes. She was on task and was able to complete the work, but after that short window of time, I had lost her. She then decided that she no longer was interested in math, that she wanted to look around the room and tell me all about the signs in the room. I then took her back to the room with everyone else. She went back to her seat and started to work. But as soon as she picked up her pencil, she started talking. Everyone was finishing up and Lola was still there, not being productive. I went over to check her work and I saw that she had not done anything more than what we had worked on.
ReplyDeleteMarch 27: Today was a very good day! I was teaching a lesson on time and how to differentiate between more and less time. I was concerned if Lola would be able to grasp the concept as well as a few others. I was prepared to pull a small group and reteach the topic. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that Lola was doing very well with the time activity. We were working on directions on the worksheet, and she was able to not only pay attention, but she followed directions correctly. She was a bit talk-a-tive but what 6 year old isnt. I was very happy with her behavior and she managed to not have to flip her card.
ReplyDeleteMarch 29:
ReplyDeleteLola had a tough day. She came into the class extremely tired in the morning so her day started off on the wrong foot. She was very lethargic, which made her unable to pay attention at all to the morning message and she had to be moved to the very front row on the carpet. The entire morning she was yawning and just was fighting to keep her eyes open.
She came back from PE tired and agitated. Apparently some of the students had been mean to her so her mind was wondering to that through out the morning.
I taught as lesson in the afternoon. I felt like the lesson I had was very engaging and because it had movement, it would be great for her. Well, all it did was get her into trouble and she eventually had to flip her card. She was very upset by that and cried about it. Overall, she has an emotional roller coaster of a day.
I don't know what I would do with little ones. The older ones just give attitude versus the crying.
DeleteAw poor kid seems like she just wanted a little nap. I know sometimes I do
DeleteMan... I feel for Lola, but it's nice that you had an active lesson! I remember, to this day, having to flip my card in kindergarten ONCE. It was the worst day of my life!! :)
DeleteApril 3:
ReplyDeleteLola seemed to be in a good mood when she walked into the room this morning. She went to the carpet well and participated with everyone else. But later on that day, we were working on "scribble writes" and she was totally lost. She had no idea what to do and she was very insistent that she not do the work. The rest of the class had moved on, but she and I worked together at her table. She struggled greatly with spelling her sight words and was very frustrated. She was acting as if she hadn't learned anything this year. She became too frustrated and eventually just shut down. The rest of the day, she was very uncooperative and had no interest in anything we were working on. We were reading a book as a whole group and there is a certain procedure we follow. Lola just started blurting out answers and just speaking out of turn to cause a distraction. The rest of the day, she had to sit by herself at the table.
April 5:
ReplyDeleteToday was doomed for the start. We were going to be very off schedule. Any time Lola is off the schedule, she struggles the rest of the day. We had a day full of fun planned for all the kids. We had an Easter egg hunt planned and that was all the kids could think about. That was to be expected; it was fun and exciting. Lola wanted to talk all day and today we were flexible with her and allowed her to just have more fun. I think that might not have been the best for her, but everyone else was being chatty too, so it wouldnt be right to single her out.
When it came time to do the egg hunt, there were specific directions to pick only 12 eggs. We sent the kids out and they were to come check with us once they had 12. I went and found Lola sitting on the edge of the playground. In side of her basket, I found 32 eggs. She completely disregarded the instructions and then was very upset that she had to give some of the eggs back. She did not seem to get that everyone got 12 so it would be fair. She struggled to see that her taking more wasnt a good choice.
April 10:
ReplyDeleteLola came into class practically asleep. She had missed school the day before, and when I asked her why she missed, she told me she was too tired to come so her mom let her stay. She was unable to keep her head up during breakfast and she was on the verge of tears. She was inattentive to the lesson and basically sat on the carpet during the entire morning message. She seemed to improve her energy level, once she got back from PE, but she was still struggling to pay attention. She played with her hair, shoes, the carpet, and more. I eventually went and sat beside her to help her stop playing around. It seemed to make her calm down for a few minutes, but even me sitting there did not stop her.
April 12:
ReplyDeleteToday my CT was working on TPRI testing all day, which meant our class had a substitute. Oh boy... ALL the students had a hard time today. They all struggled with staying on task and keeping somewhat quiet.
Once the students went out to recess, I noticed that Lola was sitting by herself. Often times she takes a break and then keeps going. But today she was sitting for a longer time, so I went over to talk to her. She was sitting there with her head down. We talked for a few minutes and I found out that some of the girls didnt want to play with her so she was alone. We talked and managed to get Lola up and playing, but the rest of the time outside, she was quieter than normal. Her feelings must have been hurt more than I knew.
It's amazing to see how students react when their is a substitute. My kids always have a difficult time staying on task with a sub in the class. They try and see how much they can get away with. I'm glad to see that you went over there to talk to her. It's never good to see a child sitting by themselves suring recess...a time where they should be having fun. I'm sure she really appreciated you coming to sit and talk with her. :)
DeleteTuesday, April 10, I gave my last lesson for my professor. Yay! When I walked into the room I noticed that Bobby was back in the desk closest to the teacher. I was bummed because I knew that it meant he had been misbehaving again. I began my lesson with a book. We were talking about metamorphosis. After the book we began an activity on a life cycle of a butterfly. It involved coloring, cutting, gluing and taping things together. Bobby was really into designing his butterfly! He seem very engaged with his activity.
ReplyDeleteI did a lesson about the life cycle of a butterfly as well. It involved a hands-on activity just like yours. I noticed my reluctant students liking this better than just reading from a textbook. But who doesn't like that better?!
DeleteThis really helps the artistic/kinesthetic learners. I'm that type of learner so I know the kids must have really enjoyed this lesson. Sounds like fun!
DeleteThursday, April 12. When Bobby came into my classroom I did not notice him at first. My teacher had me teach for the day. So I had them finish up their activities they had been working on the previous Tuesday. Then I did a social studies lesson with them. We read aloud together. I asked Bobby if he wanted to read and he shook his head no. Usually he says yes so I thought maybe he was having a off day. As I am going over the lesson my teacher is discussing all of his papers that he has failed and needs to redo. There were many papers. She let him take them to lunch and work on them. When he got back from lunch he was still working on them. I felt for him. I wish it was easier for him to get his work done.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what caused him to have such an off day? For him to say no and then failing all his papers. Did the teacher say anything about his behavior that day?
Delete04-10-12
ReplyDeleteWhile in class I noticed Billy had not shown up to class yet. That was odd. he usually is always in class. He ended up walking in late and of course the students in the class started making fun of him as soon as he walked in. My CT did not say anything about their bullying and the Co teacher shook her head and said you would think they would learn from everything that has happened in Flour Bluff. Again, Billy does not say anything to the students.
In class, he just stayed in the back and listened to his headphones. The teacher did not say anything about this. I wonder if it may be one of his accommodations; listen to music. He always likes to be alone and not talk to anyone. He did not want to do his work today. I tried to motivate him by telling him to draw pictures of the different body systems since he really likes to draw. He didn’t say anything but he did start drawing which made me really happy. I observed him while he was walking down the halls. He moved along without talking to anyone and just kept his head down. He walks slower than the other students because he has a limp. I am not exactly sure why he limps but I wonder if it has anything to do with his learning disability.
I feel really bad that Billy hardly has any friends and that many of the students his class make fun of him. I try to find different ways to motivate him to complete his tasks. Using art helps a lot because he likes to draw. At the end of class today he was very talkative and was asking me questions about the movie Thor. This is the first time I have seen him be so talkative in a while. It was awesome to have a conversation with him. He makes me laugh.
04-12-12
ReplyDeleteToday I observed Billy in one of his other classes. This class is PE. While the other kids were playing basketball he was just sitting on the steps. He wasn’t dressed out either. I asked why he wasn’t playing with everyone else and he said because he is tired. He is always tired. I wonder if any medication that he takes may cause him to have drowsiness. He did not participate all class and I wondered if this is a normal thing for him. When we aren’t in class and students are not around to hear, Billy gets so excited to have a conversation with me. He always talks to me about super hero movies or vampire movies. I have noticed also that he tries not to walk as much and tries to avoid anything that requires effort. My CT mistakes it as “laziness” but I think it is more than that. I have said in my past observations that he walks with a limp. I think he may try to avoid walking because it is uncomfortable for him or he feels embarrassed. The more time I spend with Billy the more interested I become with him and his disability. I can’t wait to observe him next week.
I like how you are patient with this student and try to get some understanding to the way he acts. I think just like your CT did, many teachers may be quick to judge a student as just lazy when there may be a reason behind their actions. I know it may be difficult because there are so many students, but I think it is extremely important to take time with the students and try to get to understand them.
Delete04-17-12
ReplyDeleteToday I was walking to my biology class and I happened to run into Billy on the way to our class. I stopped and asked him how he was he doing and he said good. I asked him if he was on his way to class and he said “no… well yes I have to make a pit stop thought.” I asked him where he was going and he said “to the restroom”. I said okay and I would see him in class. I wonder if he goes to the bathroom every day before that class because he always comes in late. Today he came in class late and as usual put his head on his desk and fell asleep. By the end of class he woke up and I started talking to him. He was telling me about the avengers and some other super heroes. I felt really great that he was becoming more comfortable around me. When the bell rang and all the students left, he was more talkative. He becomes more talkative when other students aren’t around. He was being silly and asked if I could carry him to the gym. I laughed and asked why. He said because he was tired and didn’t want to walk. This makes me feel bad because I know he doesn’t want to walk because of his limp. Thankfully, none of the other students were bullying him today and just let him be himself. I hope students will eventually learn to leave him alone and I hope he will learn not to listen to them.
I look forward to reading your blogs about Billy. You paint a picture well. He sounds like a funny kid! Too bad the other teachers will never know him like you do. I am kinda wondering why your teacher is a CT. Why would someone want to model such poor behavior to a new teacher?
DeleteI am curious too why Billy is late every morning. I am also curious what the other students say to him. Could you share an example? Do you think it is bad enough to report it? Here is a link to the website where you can report bullying in CCISD. You school should be listed. http://www.reportabully.com/
Here is another good website for resources. http://www.stopbullying.gov/
Stephaine that is really great of you to suggest these websites. I didn't even know about them. I haven't experienced any bullying but these are goos to know websites. I also enjoy reading about Billy. He really does seem like an interesting kid and I also wonder why he becomes so talkative when other kids are not around? I also agree that the CTshould be doing something else besides brushing his behavior off to the side. It is very poor role modeling skills for new teachers.
DeleteTuesday, April 17. I have 5th grade so we are not doing much in our classrooms except reviewing for the science staar test. I walked into my classroom and found Bobby still sitting by the teacher. This is his third week of being isolated from other students. I have noticed that he does not talk as much and does his work when put next to the teacher vs being in a group. I graded papers this day and he is doing a little better but is still not passing most papers. This is his first year to be identified so not all of his work is being modified yet. He seems shy at times and other times very outgoing. I hope that he does well on the staar test.
ReplyDeleteOn April 18...I have observed how the other kids pick on Bobby. Do you remember when we were kids and we played mash? Well my class has discovered this and everyone is playing. They think they are cool and that they are the ones who discovered this game. Lol...little do they know. Anyways, they use Bobby as the one kid that nobody wants. They also play a game that is similar to the quiet game. For example the next person who talks likes so and so or has to kiss so and so. They use Bobby as the one they do not want. I do not encourage this at all but sit back and listen. To me this is a form of bullying and it should be stopped but how would I approach this? This kid or any kid does not deserve to feel so worthless that nobody likes him. At the same time am I overreacting?
ReplyDeleteYou are definitely not overreacting!! I stop random kids in the hall if I think they are being mean to other students. I would encourage you to bring it to your CT's attention and ask them what they would do. This will give them a good opportunity to model how they would handle the situation. Maybe the teacher is unaware of the bullying or is just ignoring it. Either way, if you bring it up hopefully the teacher will do something about it. You can also report bullying in CCISD on this website. http://www.reportabully.com/
DeleteYou arent overreacting at all! This isn't a behavior that should continue. That is cruel and so hateful. It should be something that either you or your CT should talk to the children about. It should be stopped, but talk to the counselor or someone who has dealt with this before.
DeleteThis is horrible! Especially if he knows about it. His feelings must be completely hurt and shot down. I definitely think something needs to be done. Some type of punishment should be given if you or CT sees or hears anything about either of these games. This is usually how my CT stops things from happening or continuing in her classroom. These games are just not appropriate for the classroom.
DeleteThanks for your opinions!! It really helps to hear them.
DeleteI see this in my class as well. Not as bad though. I have one student that is the one that nobody really likes. Whenever we grade each other's papers and they receive his paper, they always sigh and try to trade with someone because they don't want to touch his paper. Why they act this way, I am unsure of because he is a bright student but just doesn't get along that well with everyone.
DeleteYesterday, April 19 was one of my last days in the classroom due to STAAR testing next week. My teacher had me teach all day. We read over some handouts and then answer the questions. I then graded these handouts. When I got to Bobby's paper he did well until he got to a certain spot. I think he must struggle with comprehension because he did not do well on the part we read aloud together. We had read aloud and discussed what everything meant. I was a little disappointed. I then got to take my kids out for recess. This was exciting for me because my teacher never takes them outside. When Bobby got to go outside he was running wild and free. I could tell he really enjoyed getting free time. He actually was playing with other kids as well. This put a smile on my face.
ReplyDeleteIt is really great to get to watch the children outside and play. It shows us their true selves and it helps them to de-stress. It is great that you were able to give him some one on one time. That is so valuable.
DeleteRecess is huge for me. It's not only a break for the students, but also for us. I'm glad you both got time for relaxation and enjoyment!
DeleteTuesday, April 12, 2012: Today was a good day for Johnny. When he came into the classroom this morning, I noticed that he had a new haircut. I told him how good it looked. Then some of the other students started telling him how good it looked. It is amazing how students follow the actions you model so you have to make sure you are a good role model.
ReplyDeleteThe students were off to PE and Johnny bounced out the door. He is never still. He is never in one spot more than a few seconds. If he is sitting down, his hands or feet are constantly moving. He stands up. He sits down. He sits on his foot. He puts his foot down. He does this over and over again.
Again, I was in and out of the classroom all day so I was only able to observe Johnny during the last part of class. The students were working on language arts. They had read a story about cowboys and were reviewing vocabulary from the story. The students had 3 worksheets to finish. Johnny didn’t want to do any of them. He said he was tired. This seems to be a popular excuse. He sat with me at the back table and I encouraged him to start his work. He finally did one and I turn and told him, “WOW! When did you do that one? Man, you are so fast! I wonder how many you could do before I look up again.” He did 2 more and I looked up. He was finally focusing. He was enjoying me being surprised by him doing his work. Just then the teacher called me to her desk. I made sure to mention that I wanted to see how many he did by the time I got back. I ended up talking to the teacher for a few minutes and by the time I got back Johnny was done with his work. He really enjoyed my surprised reaction.
He soon moved back to the rug area and played with his paper dinosaurs. To me they just look like two crumpled up pieces of paper but he can play with them all day. It is really cool watching him use his imagination. The day ended well. Johnny wrote down all of his homework in his folder and backed his backpack. The students were out the door and the day was over.
March 27, 2012
ReplyDeleteFrom my first time in my CTs classroom I already had my eyes on one little boy who I will call Steven. He caught my eye from the first day and I knew I had to keep an eye out for him. Later I did find out he had a LD and I could see that from my observations. He is in the 7th grade and he is hispanic and has a trademark, his mohawk. On March 27, Steven was overall good. He sometimes distracts his group members while they are working on thier classwork and my CT has to go over and talk to him. Sometimes I walk over to his side of the room and stand them next to his group to make sure he stays on task. I also had to help him with his work that day because he knows how to get the correct answer but he does not know how to justify his answer. This day has been a good day for Steven and he was actually doing his work unlike other days.
March 29, 2012
ReplyDeleteToday Steven seems to be having a good day. He was a little late to class, but seemed to get his classwork and get to work right away. He did turn in his homework even though he was late today. I always keep an eye on him to see if he turns in his homework that day because I have noticed he does not turn in his homework often. Steven did well on his classwork and he even justified his answers! When I went to check on his work he did well and I was proud to see he justified his answers since he never does. He is the jokster in the group so he usually gets his group off task and jokes around with them. Today he did not distrupt his group members and they were all on task and did thier work. Oveall great day for Steven.
I, too, have a student that likes to get his group members off task. How do you or your CT deal with that?
DeleteThe student I am doing my case study over acts this way as well. It seems he feels that he has to draw attention to himself by either making jokes about other kids, talking to everybody around him, or just being loud. My student does have his good days as well. It makes me wonder what it is that determines whether a student will have a good or a bad day.
DeleteThe way I deal with is that I go over to his group and ask him to get to work nicely. I usually stay around his group so I can keep an eye on him and make sure he is working on his assignments. My CT really does not do anything so I think that is why he distracts his group members because he knows the teacher will not get mad at him.
DeleteI wonder that too Laura. My student does have his good days as well but then a couple of bad days. I wish I knew why he has a bad days and what makes him have good days so those days can happen more often.
Ok I hope this is how I do this I've never blogged before but I have observed someone for quite awhile. This child we'll call Lenny is a 3rd grader. I noticed the first time I met him he seemed to be disgruntled about something or another. He allegedly called another student (Sid) a knuckle head for going to the front of the line, typical breach in elementary ranks I know.
ReplyDeleteWhat Lenny didn't know was that my CT told the other student to go to the front of the line because he was having a problem with another student. So when Sid came to the front the two of them got into it. I pulled Lenny aside in the classroom cause I noticed he started making negative comments to yet a 3rd student so I took him aside at the back of the room and asked what was wrong and was everything ok. He looked down at the floor and shook his head no. "Well then why is it you're not playing so well with the other kids" I asked. He replied "Because they just frustrate me."
I asked him what he meant. He said Sid cut in line and Fonzie was being "stupid". I explained to him what happened between Sid and coincidentally Fonzie in the back of the line. He just said "Oh". So I asked him "Now don't you feel silly for getting all worked up over a simple misunderstanding?" He said yes. So I told him "I'm not going to make you go apologize I think that's useless to force a student to apologize to someone else but if I were you I'd feel pretty bad that I called someone a name and hurt their feelings cause I didn't understand the circumstances." So I sent him back to the class to play the games and a few minutes later I see him approach Sid and talk to him he then reaches out his hand and like a man shakes his hand. It made me smile for quite a bit that even 3rd grades can act so civil when made aware of their faults. This was day one of my observation.
This must have been an amazing feeling! I love to watch kids do good things on their own. It does give you that helpless smile.
DeleteApril 17th:
ReplyDeleteLola had a really great morning! She hasn't been able to get past her 3rd 6 six weeks sight words, so I pulled her out to work on them with her one on one. We went outside the classroom and worked on them in the hallway. I used stickers as a way to get her to play a game with me. We just played with the sight words for about 15 minutes and I felt like she was ready to be tested on them. So we went inside and got the teacher, tested her, and she made a perfect score. We all gave her lots of praise and to see her face light up was incredible.
April 19th:
ReplyDeleteYet again we had a substitute and Lola has a long day. She does not do well when the schedule is changed or anything out of the ordinary. She was given a task color a picture, cut the picture out, and glue it into the workbook. Instead of being on task, she was playing a piece of string. When I went over to keep an eye on her, she got straight to work. However, when I left her, she went right back on playing around and ended up cutting a piece of her hair off.
Oh my goodness!! What did you do about her cutting her hair? That's a good thing to experience now, so you know how to handle it if it happenes in your future classroom.
DeleteA lot of the students in my classes act the same way. If I stand next to them, they will get their work done, but as soon as I move away or check on someone else, they are back to being off task. I'm not really too sure what to try to keep the students on task when I'm not standing right beside them.
DeleteMy second encounter with Lenny was pretty good I had recently learned I would be his mentor. I hadn't told him I would be mentoring him but I did now see him in a new light. I spoke to him asking how his day was. He looked stressed out which to me was strange because a 3rd grader i don't think should be stressed. He looked irritated and tired and replied to me that he wasn't getting along with Fonzie again. The student Fonzie has a disciplinary plan so he carries around a folder with his discipline problems and consequences. I asked him what happened he said that he scored a goal in soccer but Fonzie said it wasn't a good goal that Lenny had cheated. I told Lenny it was just a game and he shouldn't let it get to him. He just said yeah i guess and continued on with class. I started mentoring him that Thursday.
ReplyDeleteDay 3
ReplyDeleteI went to the councilors office to have my first session with Lenny as his mentor.It made me happy that he smiled when he realized i was his mentor. I had planned on just getting to know him. I asked just some basic things about his favorite food and favorite things to do. He opened up some it was pretty cool. He talked about his mom and dad they own a little shop (I forget what they sell) but they seemed nice as he described them. He told me about about his dog and brother. I asked how things were in school. He said pretty good it was just that some students would aggravate him. I asked if they would pick on him but he said no he just hated how childish they would act. I found it strange that a third grader would find other classmates to be childish. He gets mad when the others bug him. That was about all we talked about the first day of our sessions
Day 4
ReplyDeleteThe next week Lenny and I had another session we had a good time playing a few games of connect four. As I got to know Lenny more I realized he isn't an angry child he just seems so mature for his age he doesn't like conversing with the other kids. This puts him in a bad spot when it comes to interaction with the students. I learned Lenny had a good family and enjoyed playing outside and with his brother who is a few years older than him. Now in retrospect I wonder if he is just used to playing with an older child and not with kids his own age. I was glad he opened up to me about some of the problems he had at school. I began to realize maybe he wasn't as difficult of a child as i originally thought.
Parker,I think it is so awesome that you took the initiative to interact with Lenny. We really need great teachers like you who care about the students and care about getting to know them more. I noticed in your previous comment you said Lenny was annoyed with other students because they were acting childish. This really interested me. Maybe Lenny is exceptionally bright? I am very impressed with your compassion for Lenny and I look forward to hearing more about him.
DeleteDay 5
ReplyDeleteI observed Lenny interacting with some of the students in the music class when we were writing rhythms in teams of 2. He was paired up with Fonzy and I was afraid this was a bad idea. After a few minutes I realized Fonzy was playing around with the popsicle sticks we gave them to make the rhythms and Lenny was trying to do the work and Fonzy was frustrating him. So after warning Fonzy to stop disrupting Lenny he continued to so I asked him to go write his name in the discipline folder and have a seat. Its a form of punishment my teacher uses. He smiled at me and said thanks after he got to work alone. He didn't make a single mistake afterwards and was excited about the lesson.
Day 6
ReplyDeleteLenny had a great day he walked into class saw I was there and came right over to me and told me about how he scored the winning run in kickball or as he so lovingly put it "I won kickball today". He was playing well with the other kids in class and was trying to the best of his abilities to answer questions and raising his hand. I asked him if I could see his discipline folder and smiled really big and handed it right over.
I was really happy to see he had all good comments and marks I told him that was great and that I looked forward to our next session to see what he was doing different.
Day 1
ReplyDeleteWhen I first observed the child for this case study, I had not known we were even doing a case study yet. He caught my attention the first time I saw him and has continued to make sure that our eyes are on him. He is a Hispanic boy, about 8 years old. He is a stocky, dark boy who acts very immature. He has been diagnosed with OCD and that is what caught my attention right away.
The first time I saw the OCD kick in is when the class was making a matching card game and they had to make their own rectangular cards out of paper. While everyone was already finished cutting theirs out and playing the game, this OCD student was still cutting out his cards because they had to be perfect and exactly the same. He never got to play the game because it was time for lunch and he spent all his time cutting the cards.
Roszella, I really enjoyed reading your blog. It really interested me that a child who is 8 years old has already been diagnosed with OCD. I was really impressed by you already observing this child even before we started the case study. This shows how much you care about students and that is very important when becoming a teacher. I look forward to reading more about this child.
DeleteDay 2
ReplyDeleteI noticed that the student I am observing is very slow with most of the things he does. Not because he is slow, but because he gets so distracted with other things and takes his sweet time to do anything. When I observed my CT reviewing for a math exam, she was going over each number and before she could finish with number 2, this student was yelling "Don't forget about number three! Don't forget about number three!" She told him to wait because she would eventually get there. He was anxious and I figured the OCD caused him to make sure that number three was not skipped. Even though he made sure she didn't skip number three, he was still not even paying attention to the review and he continued to look around the room and at what other students are doing while sitting at the carpet.
Day 3
ReplyDeleteOn the third day of observing my student, I was teaching a social studies lesson. Like most days, every time he has a question, it takes very long to spit out what he is trying to ask. Most of the time he will just say "Uhhh I forgot" after he raises his hand. I have to let myself be very patient to wait for his question. He helps me with patience! During the same lesson, I had the whole class use fact and opinion sticks to check for understanding. All they had to do was raise the "F" if they thought it was a fact or raise the "O" if they thought the statement was an opinion. Before this student would raise his, he would look around the classroom and make sure that his answer was opposite from everyone elses. He was always the only one with a different answer and I could tell he was doing it on purpose because he would smile and wouldn't answer when I asked him why he thought that was the answer. He is generally very silly and is all over the place or not paying attention. I wonder if the OCD causes all this or if there is something else to it.
Bradley is a 7 year old boy. He is of Hispanic descent. Bradley is the kind of boy that doesn’t care what anyone says to him or thinks of him. He sleeps in class, and he never does any of his school work or homework. I could tell from the minute I stepped into the classroom that HE was going to be the one student that I have a problem with this semester. I knew for a fact that he would be mean and disrespectful to me like I see him being to his classmates. It turned out to be the complete opposite. Bradley and I got along so well. I have yet to have a problem with him (knock on wood). Still, he doesn’t complete his school work or homework, but from what I’ve seen lately, his attitude has changed dramatically. (That could be from the medication, but I like to think I may have something to do with it!) I hope that over these next few weeks of getting to know Bradley a little bit more, we become friends, and he becomes more involved with school. I’m so excited to see how this goes!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this student feels that way with you. Seems like a good sign to changing his attitude. I'm sure he'll look up to you and hopefully you can help!
DeleteMarch 27, 2012
ReplyDeleteI taught a science lesson today. It didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Although this is my 4 lesson I have taught this semester, there was a different person observing/evaluating me. I had just gotten comfortable with teaching in front of my CT, and I had done wonderfully on me CT2 lesson. But none of this matters for the topic of Bradley. Bradley is constantly sleeping in class these days. I don’t know what it is. I think it is the new medication that he is taking for ADHD. He wasn’t engaged in this lesson at all. He didn’t even play at recess. He just sat on the sidelines, and watched everyone play. I tried to go up and talk to him, but he just walked away. I didn’t want to force him to talk to me. His attitude got a little better towards the end of the day. I guess that’s a good thing! Maybe Bradley was just having a bad day, we all have those days. I know I do.
My student has days like this. Most of the time he was involved with my lessons but there were a few he did not want to do anything as well. My student is ADHD as well so it could be his meds.
DeleteMarch 29, 2012
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how different this young generation is compared to how I was when I was younger. They are so blatantly defiant. Not even just defiant, but MEAN. I don’t know what it is, but they know so much more than what I did at that age. Some of the stuff they say or ask me is just gross. I don’t know where they hear it from, but I didn’t know about some of these “terms” or “phrases” until I was in HIGH SCHOOL. Maybe they hear it around the house? I have no clue. It makes me sad though. Anyway, to the point. Bradley was suspended today. He cussed out my teacher, calling him a stupid mother f@#$%^, and telling him to go to H-E double hockey sticks. He did this in class, in front of everyone, yelling at the top of his lungs. I’m surprised other teachers didn’t run into the room. The look on my teachers face was filled with disgust, anger, and hurt. He had been so nice to Bradley, even when other teachers just passed him off to the next grade. My CT truly cares about this little boy, and to hear those words come out of his mouth made him so sad. I hurt for him just thinking about it. Imagine spending so much of your time and effort on someone who just blows it off. Yeah, he is only 7 years old, but there is no need for that kind of language or disrespect. As far as I know, he is only suspended until the end of the week. So I should see him Tuesday. I wonder how that’s going to go…
April 3, 2012
ReplyDeleteBradley was back today. He seemed to be in a good mood. He was laughing today! First time I have seen him laugh in a while. He was even joking around with me at recess. He walks up to me, and says “girlfriiiiend” with his hand on his waste, and acting like little Miss Prissy. To say the least, I started cracking up. That was pretty much it for the day. I will definitely be bringing up that girlfriend thing again! So funny.
April 5, 2012
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then, I will see Bradley stick his tongue out at someone when they turn their back. It kind of makes me giggle because he acts so tough to everyone else, but when he thinks nobody is looking, he does the most childish things. You know he knows they’re childish because he sneakily looks around before he does it. I don’t say anything because I know he has anger issues, and if that’s the worst thing he does, then so be it. But, if I think anyone else has seen him do it, I will say something. I don’t want anyone to get their feelings hurt. Now that I’m typing this, it seems really unfair that I do that because he is no different than any of the other students in my classroom. What do I do?? Any suggestions? I don’t want him to just act up more if I call him out on it, but I also don’t want him to continue being rude. If no one else sees him do it, should I continue to just ignore it? HELP.
April 10, 2012
ReplyDeleteBradley was absent today, not because he is sick or anything, but because he got suspended…AGAIN. I really hope things change for him. He is such a smart young boy, and could have everything in life if he just applied himself, and controlled his anger. I didn’t ask why he was suspended this time. I just let it go, and prayed he would behave himself for the field trip on Thursday.
April 12, 2012
ReplyDeleteThe field trip went great! We all had so much fun, even Bradley. He didn’t get angry at all, or at least the time that I was with him. We went to the botanical gardens. For the first part of the tour, we stayed together as a class. During this time, we went by the herb section. The tour guide was handing out leaves, and berries for the students to try. A mint leaf came around to Bradley, and I was watching him this entire time. He bit into the leaf, and immediately started gagging. It was HILARIOUS. He spit it out, and said “umm, EW”. I laughed so hard. We went to a few more sights together as a class, and then we split off into 2 groups. I took all the girls, and my CT took all the boys. From then on, I hadn’t heard anything about Bradley, so I’m guessing that he behaved!
April 17, 2012
ReplyDeleteI taught my last lesson today. Bradley was pretty good. He participated in all of my activities, and even answered a few of my discussion questions! I am so proud of the way he has been acting. He’s done so much better since the beginning of my semester there. He and my CT have been getting along so much better since when Bradley cussed him out. (I don’t think I mentioned before, but Bradley apologized the day he got back from being suspended for cussing at my CT). For this lesson, I was teaching Independence Day. I had the students get into groups to make their own flag that represented them as an independent group. The group that Bradley was in was making their flag for my CT. It was so sweet, and Bradley’s idea! They decorated it with his favorite football team and favorite football star. It was awesome. They didn’t even want to stop working on it!! So cute. I am so blessed, proud, and happy to be a part of this classroom. Every single person in this classroom is an amazing individual, especially Bradley.
April 19, 2012
ReplyDeleteToday was… different. My CT had to leave around 10am because his daughter was sick. A substitute order was put out, but no one called in to take it. So, the students in my class were split up between the other 5 second grade teachers (4 in each class). I was going back and forth one of the second grade classrooms, and a first grade classroom that I was observing. One of the times I was switching classes, Bradley decides to run out of the room, and take off down the hallway. I am walking after him, and he just starts running faster. Then, he turns a corner (this corner is headed towards the front exit). I see him do this, so I start walking FASTER. I turn the corner, and he is gone, nowhere to be found. I see one of the counselors walking down the hallway, so I tell her he is missing. I thought he had just run out of the school, and was never coming back. All I could think was “Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to run after this kid outside. Is this going to be blamed on me? I hope not. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH”. (There may have been a few cuss words in there, but nothing too bad). Then he comes walking out of the nurse’s office, laughing, like nothing happened. I couldn’t help but laugh nervously, too. I’m sure it was hilarious watching me walk back and forth down the hallway that he’d disappeared in. I felt like I was looking for a lost contact on the floor (you never seem to find them). Needless to say, from that point of the day, I didn’t take my eyes off of him. I didn’t go back to the first grade classroom; he didn’t leave my sight.
April 24, 2012
ReplyDeleteThis week is my last week in my CT’s room. Though I am sad to see it come to an end, it was an amazing experience. Bradley made this experience one to remember, THAT IS FOR SURE. My CT informed me that Bradley, once again, cussed him out yesterday. He told him to suck his d!@#. I am disgusted just thinking that let alone typing it. Where do these kids learn these kinds of things at such a young age?! It makes me so sad. I am assuming Bradley apologized because my CT didn’t say anything more than that. Bradley was good today. He was cooperating during math, and answering questions. He kind of faded off towards the end of the day. During science, I could see that he was ready to be done with school today. He wasn’t paying attention or reading along with his peers. I don’t blame him though, today felt like a long day, even for me. I hope to see Bradley next year, and I hope he is successful.
I know it is crazy we had a fifth grader tell a teacher yesterday that she was a stupid, sh!#* teacher! What do you say to that!? No respect but I guess we should get use to it but not tolerate it!
DeleteI have been observing high school students so I guess you might expect cussing more out of my students. My students cuss all the time but not necessarily towards the teacher. They mainly cuss when they are talking among one another or when they are frustrated. I have noticed at times, it seems like they cuss really loud on purpose just to grab the attention of the teacher or another adult in the room.
DeleteDay 4
ReplyDeleteToday as I watched the student I am observing, he continued with most of his behaviors. There hasn't been a day that he is not "noticed" by something he has done in the classroom. Today he was moved to a different spot in the room, his desk in between two very well behaved girls. In the middle of the day he came to my CT and said that the girls next to him had all their stuff all over his desk. I walked with my CT to check his desk and an end of one of the girls' books was passing the line from her desk to his. He obviously had over exaggerated, but because of his OCD we had to ask the girls not to have anything touching his desk at any time. I guess what seems like no big deal to us is a huge deal for him. He stopped his independent work just to come and report this. I couldn't figure out if it was really bothering him much, or if it was his short attention span that made him just want to get out of his seat.
Day 5
ReplyDeleteMy case study student was having a bad day today. He was misbehaving more than usual and his classmates were upset with him because he was causing them to lose extra recess time. On certain days, he gets pulled out for tutoring. When he was coming back from tutoring, I happened to be standing out in the hall way. When he gets to the classroom door he looks in the window then turns to ask me "Where is the class?" Asking where everyone was. I was puzzled because he had just finished looking through the window so I told him "They're in there, you just saw". He always asks questions he already knows answers to and I can't understand why. After I told him that his class with in the classroom, I very SLOWLY opens the door, stands there for a few seconds, then decides to walk in also very SLOWLY and just staring at his classmates. I thought it was strange, but it was definitely not surprising. At the end of the day when it is time to pack up, the whole class goes to the carpet when they are all packed up. If the whole class is not at the carpet before the bell rings they have to stay extra minutes after school. The whole class was at the carpet of course except for ONE student. My case study student was at his desk just staring at his classmates. They are all yelling his name and asking him to please get to the carpet so they don't have to stay after school. Well, he gets his backpack SLOWLY and walks to the carpet SLOWLY while staring at his classmates again as if he is taunting them with looks alone. I believe he knows that he is ticking them off, and he does it even more because they yell at him. Once he gets near the carpet he sits down on the tile, not directly on the carpet. I think that day was bad for him because all his classmates were against him. It's not always that way, but I feel like he really doesn't have friends probably because of his actions.
Day 6
ReplyDeleteToday was one of the many days that I had observed my case study student during a lesson at the carpet. Everyday my CT does a lesson at the carpet. It is usually for reading or language arts. On the days I observed, the student always sits at the very back (not on the carpet) on the tile. He is not listening at all. He is usually looking at what his classmates are doing if they are not paying attention either, and he is constantly opening and closing the teachers work drawers through the entire lesson. In all this, he will still raise his hand to answer questions and surprisingly gets them right most of the time! He is a smart boy, but he just cannot focus and cannot stay still. Like always, he has trouble spitting out his answer like if it takes a long time to figure it out, but I really think he knows what he's doing.
Day 7
ReplyDeleteToday I noticed something else that my student does all day throughout the day, every single day. He is constantly tattle telling on all his classmates. It started when the girls "had their stuff all over his desk". Then he came and told me that one student was laughing, and expected me to get after that student. I said "It's okay if he laughed, he isn't laughing at you. Did it bother you?" He replied "Yes". SO to please him, I went and asked that student to please stop laughing because it was bothering this student and he couldn't work. Another time he said one student had been tapping his pencil. I asked the other student if that was true, I do ask most of the time and their answer is always no. However, I still ask them not to do it so that the case study student can drop it and get back to work. He gets up from his desk at least 4 times a day to come and tell on a student and it is generally not a big deal at all, or not true. The smallest things are the things that seem to bother him the most. For this day that I had observed him telling on his classmates so much, I thought of the mailbox strategy that Dr. Hill mentioned for tattle telling. I thought it is great idea especially because I hear it so much in 2nd grade with everyone. Something to think about...
Day 8
ReplyDeleteToday I was very excited because I was able to observe my case study student doing his TPRI end of the year testing. I was told by my CT that he is one of the lowest test takers in the class. I thought it was strange because when I do centers with him, he reads words better than the other two boys in his group. He also understands assignments if you push him to focus and work on them, so I was eager to see how he did with this test. I observed while he was reading his two short stories. At the same time, we were int he technology room and all the other students were quietly working on computers with headphones. He began reading and read extremely slow. He knew most of the words but just read at a very slow pace. He would also look up and look to the side when there was a tiny distraction. My CT had to put a privacy folder around him and he would still look over it or to the side of it WHILE HE WAS READING! Any little thing can easily distract this student. Suddenly about 5 hands go up at the computers and since my CT is testing him, I have to go up and help all five students. I help them all, come back to the testing desk, and he is still reading. He was about halfway through the story. Once he was finished, he did okay with comprehension, but it took some time to get answers out of him. I have no idea why if I know for a fact that he is a smart boy. He didn't do so well on his testing but I am glad I was able to observe something like this for the case study. It showed me a lot about him and what he does while testing.
Day 9
ReplyDeleteToday I got to work with my case study student one on one for a long time. My CT usually asks me to sit at the back and help the ones who are having trouble. I was asked to sit with a dyslexic student who needed help reading. Once I was finished, my special student came to the back and asked if he could sit with me. Of course I told him he could and he had his work, nothing completed yet, so I decided to help him because I know how much trouble he has with focusing. I thought maybe if I did it with him we could just get him to quickly complete it. I worked with him, and had him read each question to me. He would say for each problem that it was too hard or he didn't get it. So I would use the least amount of scaffolding possible and he would answer it with no trouble. He knew these answers. Maybe he just wanted that one on one attention. By this time, the class is done with their assignment and we are still on number 4 so I push him a little to get on the ball. Together we did the whole assignment and he did know those answers. He did admit that it was too much or that his hand was hurting, but I used all the encouragement I could and he did just fine! This was a happy day for me.
Day 10
ReplyDeleteToday was my last lesson with my 2nd grade students! Not my last day, but my last lesson. I had never been more impressed with my case study student as well as the rest of the class. They did absolutely amazing with their behavior and also with their thinking skills! We did a multiplication lesson and I had a bonus question for my closure. They were to figure out how many student shoes were in the classroom using a multiplication problem or grouping, or repeated addition. During the lesson, the case study student was very good with behavior. He did speak without raising his hand a couple of times, but it was not a big deal to me because it was always a question about the lesson. While most students were having some trouble figuring out the bonus problem, I had a couple who figured it out right away, but they had to SHOW me how they did it. When my special student came to show me how he figured it out, I was completely shocked! He used a method that not even a boy in class who is on a 6th grade level used! Not even a method I would have ever thought of! It was amazing! I was so proud of him for really using his thinking skills on another level. He loved the lesson and his work showed me that he was paying attention and comprehending everything I taught up there today. It was one of the happiest moments I've had with this class. I know my special student has problems in some areas and that it affects his learning, but I have so much faith in him. I was told that he may be held back next year and I feel like he should be given more attention by someone to try and figure out if there is something else going on. I wish the best for him and I know he will end up just fine in the upper grades. He is definitely one that I won't forget.
I love the moment when you connect with a student! It makes you realize you really are a teacher. And even better a student with learning disabilities. Yay for you!
DeleteYesterday, April 24, was my last day with my students. I did not to be in my classroom all day due to me helping out with STAAR testing. I did notice that Bobby got a hair cut. It made him look like a brand new kid. My teacher and I commented on it and he said he was Bobby's twin and he had replaced him. Haha...he obviously had quite a few people comment on it. I was sad to tell my kids goodbye. When I was leaving he sought me out to give me a goodbye hug. He melted my heart!
ReplyDeleteTuesday, April 17, 2012: Today I noticed something special about Johnny. He is a lefty! How have I not noticed this before? I do so much work with him. Maybe since he has always sits across from me it wasn’t as noticeable. Since he sat next to me today, I realized that he was using his left hand. How neat is that? I hear left-handed people are very creative.
ReplyDeleteAside from this exciting discovery, it was a hard day. Johnny again did not want to do his work. I sat at the back table with him and offered him everything under the sun to get him to focus on his worksheets but nothing worked. I told him I had something special for him. Normally this would peak his interest but his reply today was, “I have plenty of special things.”
Wow! This kid was wearing me out today. I finally looked up at him and said, “Will you do it because I love you and I am asking you too?” I hadn’t thought about what I was going to say. It was how I felt and came out that way. He looked me right in the eyes and said, “Okay” in his best “if I have to” voice. It made my heart melt. He liked me enough to do his work. He sat at the back table quietly working. He finished his worksheets and showed them to me proudly.
Johnny drew for the remainder of the day. He drew me several birds that I now have posted by my desk in my office. Even on hard days like this one, Johnny manages to make me smile. Being a teacher is definitely a rewarding career.
Thursday, April 19, 2012: Today must have been a hard day for Johnny. I was not in the classroom very much but I did go in at the end of the day to see the students. Johnny was happy to see me and came right up to say hi. Right away the teacher came over to tell me how Johnny didn’t listen all day. Just then Johnny run by and throws himself on the floor saying, “I can’t control my hands!” Oh my! It sure must have been difficult for the teacher to have to handle that all day long. She must be worn out. She walked to the door to dismiss the students. She hugged each one as they walked out. Johnny flew by her and instead of letting him run off she called out his name. He walked back and she told him, “Did you think you were going to leave without a hug?” He wrapped his arms around her and she gave him a big hug. Johnny then bounced down the hallway to latchkey.
ReplyDeleteMy teacher showed me how important it is for the students to know that even when they have hard days you still love them the same. This is a great lesson to learn especially when working with students like Johnny who can push your buttons some days.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012: Yesterday I taught my final lesson to the class. I introduced multiplication to the students. Johnny absolutely loved multiplication. When I came into class early this morning, I noticed that Johnny’s desk was covered in a pile of papers. After my lesson, he must have made sheet after sheet of large multiplication problems he could solve using addition of equal groups. I love that instead of doing his usual drawing, he was doodling math problems.
ReplyDeleteHe really had a great day. He started sitting at a large table that the teacher had to move to the back of the room when she got her new SMART board. He seems to really like it back there. I think the change was good for him. He participated so well in class today. This has shown me that this is one accommodation you can provide for students with learning disabilities or other needs. They may focus better in different areas of the classroom at different times. Johnny now has 3 different places he can sit in the class and he uses all of them.
The teacher also moved the carpet to the front of the classroom so students will be able to sit in front of the SMART board. This took away Johnny’s space where he did most of his playing. Surprising, this caused a lot of the playing to stop. Johnny no longer had a large space in the back of the room to play around in. He instead has a new table to sit at and do his work. Classroom arrangement is obviously important to consider when you are accommodating students. The large space in the back of the room was irresistible to Johnny and he had to play. Now that the space was moved to the front of the room his play space is gone and he has to sit at one of the tables. I feel this is going to help him complete a lot more work.
The entire day went so well. He sat in the back and did his work. When the day was over, he stayed behind and told me that he had to stay after class since he didn’t do his spelling words. The teacher was walking her students to be picked up so I had him grab a piece of paper and a pencil. I sat down with him and all of the tutoring students and they began working on the worksheet the teacher had left for them. Just then the teacher walks in and asks, “Johnny, what are you doing here? You were supposed to go to latchkey.” I had told her what Johnny told me and she said that he didn’t need to stay. He grabbed his backpack and flew out the door. I think he just wanted to hang out in the classroom. I am really going to miss him when the semester ends.
Jack Frost is a fifteen year old African American male in the 6th period algebra class that I field base in. He immediately caught my attention in the classroom. Jack continually ignored the teachers’ requests and proved that he has been a behavior issue and will continue to be. Although, he would attend class, Jack would very rarely pay attention or interact in the classroom. Jack chose rather to play on his Ipod or cell phone and would get removed from class rather frequently.
ReplyDeleteLaura, I liked your blog about jack. I noticed you saidhe does not pay attention and is a big distraction to other students. Maybe he has ADHD or some kind of emotinal disturbance. Maybe there are other things going on at home that nobody knows about?
DeleteOn March 22nd, Jack was rather active in the class, and not in a positive day. He very rarely sits at his desk; rather you can find him sitting in the back at the lab chairs. Jack spent most of his time talking across the room to Justin Boots a fifteen year old Caucasian male. Justin is also known to have behavior issues in this class. He and Jack tend to act out mostly when they are both in class. These students seem to feed off of each other in a negative way. Towards the end of class today he had continued to act out. The teacher decided to have a discussion with both students after class.
ReplyDeleteOn March 27th, we were taking a test in the classroom. Jack was to sit in his seat and not at the lab chairs. I feel like there is a since of calmness with Jack today. It just coincidently happened to be on a test day. Even though Jack was very calm and chill today, I could tell while watching him take the test that he was struggling. He seemed to be writing and scratching stuff out over and over again, but then again he only took thirty minutes on the test. I will be interested to hear how he did on the test, but overall today was a good day.
ReplyDeleteToday is March 29th, the day after the test and Jack came down and sat in his chair for the second day in a row of observations. The teacher is letting the students work on make-up work, and if not they are doing test corrections. Jack is being disruptive for the students around him. I even walked by to try and get him on task and all he was looking to do was make conversation with me. I am hoping to gather some more productivity from him next week.
ReplyDeleteIt’s Tuesday, April 3rd, Jack is in the back of the room playing on his Ipod. He is in no sort paying attention to the lesson. The teacher has asked repeatedly for him to put it away. It is Justin’s first day back in the classroom in a few days of my observations. I am finding that Jack acts out more on days that Justin is in class. They are more or less feeding off of each other. I feel that the teacher is very lax with Jack. It could possibly be that she is tired of repeating herself all the time.
ReplyDeleteOn April 5th Jack was feeling sick. He spent the majority of the class coughing and putting his head down at his desk. He probably wasn’t even awake for half of the class. Justin spent a lot of time trying to call on Jack or talk to him, but Jack was completely ignoring him. It is tough to say much about today. Jack was very unresponsive and was not active in any part of class. Hopefully he is feeling better tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteToday is Tuesday, April 10th and the teacher is having the students work in groups to complete a review. The first group that Jack was in was with Justin and they shortly after were separated and put into different groups. Once Jack was in another group he was actually working very well with the others. I believe that he wasn’t called out the entire rest of class, and his group completed their review in time. Today was a good day for Jack.
ReplyDeleteWell now it is Thursday, April 12th, and Jack came in the room really mad about something that had happened in a previously in the day. He was being very loud and disruptive and continued to play on his phone. Two different times the teacher tried to get him to quiet down and pay attention and neither time he listened. Following the third time of telling him, he was kicked out of class. I’m noticing more that his behavior is affected by how others are acting in class and by others throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteIt is Tuesday, April 17th, and Jack is not joining us in class today. I don’t know the reasoning for why he was absent.
ReplyDeleteIt’s April 19th. Jack came in the class and was again sitting in the lab chairs. Although he wasn’t sitting in his actual desk, he was not being a behavior issue. He was caught off task a few times throughout the class while playing on his phone and texting, but for the most part he was very quiet and not creating a problem. When it was time to do a worksheet in the classroom, Jack continued to stay in his seat and work on the worksheet, without creating a problem. I think him sitting at the lab chairs is a good thing for him.
ReplyDeleteIts awesome that you can tell what seating arrangement works for your student. Is his texting and phone distraction a normal distraction for him? i have noticed it in my student as well.
DeleteApril 3, 2012
ReplyDeleteSteven came to class energetic and ready to begin class. It seems like today he has been having a good day. He actually turned in his homework as soon as he came into class and then grabbed his warm ups and sat at his desk waiting for class to start. I did notice that he was getting off to a good start and class had not even started yet so that made me happy. I always go over to his group and ask him how he is doing and makes sure he stays on task. His group worked well today and I believe it was because Steven was having a good day and his group members saw that as well.
April 5, 2012
ReplyDeleteToday I did not see Steven in class. I know I had saw him earlier during the day but once 6th period came he did not show up in class. I am not sure if he was sent to another room for some reason or if he went home.
April 10, 2012
ReplyDeleteWell another week has started and was excited to see Steven's face when he came to class on time. I did see him turn in his homework when he walked into class, but he did continue to walk around the class and start distracting other students and not starting on his warm up like he should. The whole class did come to class acting pretty wild so maybe that is why Steven was acting like in the beginning of class. Once the class got a talk on being wild and crazy, they settled down and so did Steven. He worked well with his group members and they stayed on task most of the time. I did notice that he kept going to the bathroom and when he would come back he would walk around the class trying to start a little trouble, but then he got "the look" from my CT so he went to his seat and stayed to hiself. Steven did have a little trouble today but he ended the day better than when we walked into class.
April 11, 2012
ReplyDeleteI went in today so I could do a lesson. Steven was in class and when I walked in class he was working quietly and by himself which made me happy to see that. Once I started up my lesson Steven participated well in my lesson and always volunteered to answer a question. He did work well with his group members on the handout I had for them. I would walk around each group to make sure they understood the problems and offer any assistance. Once I got to Stevens group, he was having a little trouble on a problem and I could see that immediately. I asked if he needed help and he told me yes so I explained what he had to do and what he was doing correct and pointed him to the right direction. After I finished helping him, he continued to work quietly and finished his handout. This was the first time he actually finished the handout I gave to the class during all my lessons so that made me smile. Today was a good day for Steven and was happy to see him on a day that we dont attend class.
Kimberly, I really liked reading your blog about Steven. That is so awesome that he was engaged in his work and collaborating with his peers. It's great that you took the initiative to assit him with his work.Im glad to see how much you care for the students and i look forward to hearing more about Steven.
DeleteKimberly, you really seem to have developed a personal relationship with your student(s). It is awesome that he had a good day and stayed productive! Hope he continues to have good days.
Delete04-19-12
ReplyDeleteBilly was the same today. He was very tired again and did not feel like doing any of his work. We had a substitute today so of course the other kids were wild and crazy. He looked at me when he walked in today and I said hello and he said “Hi”. He seemed excited to see me. I think every day I try to talk to him, I gain his trust more. I hope once I leave he does not let the other kids get to him. It really hurts me that so many students in the class like to pick on him. Besides there being a substitute today was a very interesting day. I turned my back for one moment and turned back around to see other students throwing paper wads at Billy. I looked at those students and was so angry with them. I told them not to do that again and nobody would confess to throwing the paper. After that Billy kept his head down and was only talking to me as I walked around the room. As I was helping another student, I noticed from the corner of my eye the other students were starting to pick on Billy again and before I could say anything, Billy punched the boy in the side. Needless to say, they did not make fun of him after that class. I knew they felt Billy was really hurt by everything they were doing. Billy was talking to me like normal after that and he was talking to me again about his super heroes. Today was very surprising for me and I am sure for Billy also.
Its awesome that you stood up for billy, often times that is the only thing that teachers can do. Hopefully all of the teachers react the same way to that form of interaction.
Delete04-24-12
ReplyDeleteToday Billy was very quiet. He was not talking to anyone today and kept his headphones in his ears. He must have had a bad day. For him to be the quiet, was not normal. I continued to watch him throughout the period, and he just put his head down and went to sleep. The teacher embarrassed him in front of everyone and tapped him on the shoulder and told him that he needed to wake up. I really felt horrible for him today. I followed him to his next classroom and asked the teacher if I could observe. This was an English class. He sat in the back and did not bother talking to anyone. The students in this class just acted like no one was there. I took a look at some of his work he has done these past few weeks and he has hardly completed much work. Most of the work is shortened for him. I hope to observe Billy again soon.
04-25-12
ReplyDeleteToday Billy was more talkative than usual. I guess today was a good day for him. He was talking to me about what he did over the weekend and the types of things he drew. One thing I have observed over these past few weeks is that Billy really likes to draw. Today he drew a big shark on his paper. I asked him if he was going to do his work today and he said he didn’t have a pencil so I went to go get him one. After that he started working on his assignment for the day. I have noticed he always asks other people to get him materials. For some reason he does not like to walk and I guess this has something to do with the limp he has. Maybe other students also make fun of him for his limp also. He sat at the back table today and was just listening to his music. He is so smart in his own way. I feel like he knows so much about certain things. He amazes me every day. I hope students will come to realize how great of a student he is and start interacting with him more.
04-26-12
ReplyDeleteSince this is my last day observing Billy, I tried to talk to him as much as I could. Today the other grades were testing so the schedule was different than normal. I saw him walking to one of his classes and I caught his attention. I said “Hi Billy How are you doing” and he said he was doing good. He tried to avoid me at first and was not making any eye contact with me. He was walking by himself today in the halls like usual. I saw him trying to talk to some people but they just looked at him weird. I feel so horrible for him because the other students treat him like that. Anyway, through passing period I saw him walking again and I told him to come sit by me and that I wanted to talk to him. I asked him how he was doing and that I wanted to check to make sure he was doing okay. He said he was fine just really bored in class. When I first caught his attention he asked me if I had seen his zombie. This made me laugh. He is so silly sometimes. He wasn’t very talkative today and some of his teachers told me he was sleeping a lot in class. I would have talked to him more but passing period was about to be over so I let him go to class. This will be one of my last encounters with Billy and even though it makes me sad that I won’t be seeing him again, I know with the right teacher he will be able to succeed.
April 12, 2012
ReplyDeleteToday Steven walked in class quietly and quickly sat at his seat waiting for class to start. The students agenda for the day was to work on thier science project and finish it that day to turn it in at the end of class. The students worked in groups in which they sat in. Some groups were able to go to another classroom across the hall and one of the groups was Stevens group. I decided to go over to the other classroom since it was only the students in there. When I went over there Steven was just sitting at the table doing nothing. I went over to him and asked him what was his duty in the project and he did not even know. The other group members were working on thier parts and he did not know what to do. He even did not have his papers for his project so he could not do anything without them. I told him to start working on something to keep him busy. My CT came in the room to check on the students and she saw that Steven was not doing anything so she asked what was his assignment for the project and he said he did not know so she told him to ask his group and get something to work on. She left and then came back like 30 minutes later and still saw him doing nothing so she got mad at him and sent him to the other room to work on a handout that she was going to give him to do. I am not sure why Steven was acting like that today and did not want to help his group with thier project. Today was a little rough day for him and I know he could do better.
April 17, 2012
ReplyDeleteToday Steven came to class late but went straight to his seat and began on what the class was working on. This week they are going to be reviewing for the staar test. Steven was on task today and seemed to be having a good day. He worked hard on all his handouts and I made sure to visit him to make sure he is doing good and assist him with any questions he may have. He did call me over to help him on some problems that he was having a little trouble justifying his answer. He did get a little wild at the end of class, but he did finish his handouts.
April 18, 2012
ReplyDeleteI went in today because I was going to do my ARD observation so I went a little early to be in the classroom to see what they were doing. Steven was in class and was doing great. He was working well with his group and was having a good day from what I saw. I did not get to observation him for the whole class period since I had to go to the ARD meeting. He seemed a lot calmer today than when I am there and I noticed that right away. I am not sure why he looked more calm today than all the other days but I liked the way Steven was today. The way he was acting today lets me know that he can act better and have good days.
April 19, 2012
ReplyDeleteThis is my last observation I will do with Steven. He was in class and participated in the class discussion and contributed to his group work. The class was still doing reviews for the staar test so I would continue to walk over to Steven to make sure he was on task and checking his work to see if he did it correctly. I always make sure to go over to Steven even when he does not ask for my help because I know he struggles a little when he needs to justify his answer on why the wrong answers are incorrect and why the answer is that choice. I did notice he is starting to improve on his justifications so I believe he is listening to what I tell him.
So...I have been keeping track, in a notebook, of the days that I observed the little boy that I am doing my clinical study on. SO I will now blog about it!!!
ReplyDeleteDay 1-March 21st
I chose to do my case study on a 6 year old hispanic boy that I will call Arnold. He is such a sweet little boy, but he does have trouble sometimes in the classroom, talking out of turn, getting a little roudy sometimes and with his learning.
On the first day that I observed Arnold, I was giving a lesson on a Wednesday, so I wasn't there the whole day, but I will describe what I observed during my time in the classroom.
Arnold seemed to be attentive throughout my lesson. I used the name sticks to call on different students and when I drew Arnolds' name, one little girl sitting beside him said, "Arnold doesn't know very much." She said it quietly so the entire class didn't hear her, but I knew I needed to explain to her that it wasn't ok to say something like that. So I explained to her that it wasn't ok to talk about people like that. I asked Arnold a question, and he really couldn't answer it, so I simply said, "Would you like some help?" and he said yes, so I moved on. When they went back to their seats, after I had explained that the students were going to write three facts about the sun, after putting their first and last name on the table, I realized that Arnold was having a hard time, or he was reluctant to get started. I monitored him for a little while, and he finally "half way" wrote his name on the paper, and he only got one fact about the sun written down.
Day 2-March 27th
ReplyDeleteOn this day, Arnold had his card flipped from green to orange. He wasn't really "bad" just lots of talking throughout the day, not paying attention, interrupting when the CT was talking, not working on what he was supposed to be doing,etc.
He started out the day ok, but sitting on the carpet, which happens throughout most of the day in kindergarten, he was very restless and couldn't seem to pay attention. He got his card flipped during the morning message, because he was acting silly and talking to those around him. He did ok from then on, although he couldn't pay attention, until the afternoon during the math lesson when he would not stop talking and interrupting the CT he got his card flipped again and had to go back to his seat. I feel, that for some students, it helps them realize that they can't interrupt or talk while the CT is talking, when they get sent back to their seat. However for others they don't see that and they continue not paying attention, and this is what Arnold did. He found something on his table to play with and didn't pay attention at all.
Day 7
ReplyDeleteLenny had some trouble today he was in an argument with Fonzie again today I have learned they do not play well. Fonzie has ADD and tends to be a bit hyper. He moves around a lot and is very silly and obviously as a 4th grader very immature. I am extremely impressed though that Lenny is mature enough to know this he just gets annoyed with it. I have told him to just keep his cool because soon enough other students will understand why things annoy you as they mature.
Day 8
ReplyDeleteI actually saw Lenny at his house by accident of trying to find my way from they high school using back roads. I happened to end up down a wrong turn and I looked up and saw a child playing with a few toy cars on a second story balcony and I realized it was Lenny. He looked down and saw me and waved I smiled and waved and kept driving. I saw him the next day in class and he couldn't wait to yell "Hey Mr. Pendergraph I saw you drive down my street the other day." He claimed he was having a good day and he hadn't had any problems with any of the students. I really think he is starting to understand how to keep his cool.
Day 9
ReplyDeleteI met with Lenny again for what I thought would be the last time I would see him. I had about 30 minutes with him and asked him what he would like to do. He noticed some puppets in the councilors office and said he wanted to play with them. So I allowed him to toy around with them. He liked this little rabbit in a hat. It was a hand puppet. He was surprisingly good at controlling the puppet and making it lifelike. He just played around for awhile and I asked how his family was doing he said they were great and he got to go to his friends house. Then he told me he actually snuck into his friends parents car and went to their house. The parent called his mom and let her know and she just told him not to do that again. I told him his mom was probably very worried about him. He understood why she would be. This was our last official meeting.
Day 10
ReplyDeleteThe last time i saw Lenny I went back to the elementary school to teach one last lesson. He was happy to see me and his face lit up when he saw me. I asked him how things were going and he told me things were good he was staying out of trouble and was getting along better with his classmates. I told him I was very proud of his attempt at getting along with them. In the end I learned that Lenny was not a troublesome child he was simply misunderstood by his classmates and probably hadn't talked to any other teachers about why he was having problems with other students.
Its awesome that you have developed such a positive relationship with yours student! It is even better that he is interacting better with his peers and other teachers :)
DeleteDay 3- March 29th
ReplyDeleteOn this day, Arnold did fairly well throughout the day. Near the end of the day, about two o'clock my CT asked me to test the students on their sight words that they had learned so far. When I would point to the word and the student would say it if they knew what it was. When I got to Arnold, I'd point to the word and he would say, "Uhhhh...uhhhhh...uhhhhh, I don't know." He did this for most of the words, but he did know "I". He confused my for me, but most students did that. I only got two answers out of him, and only one was right.
Day 4-April 4th
ReplyDeleteThis was a Wednesday, and I went to teach a lesson. Arnold was not at school on this day, so I thought I'd write about the dynamic of the group without his presence. Although Arnold doesn't cause too many distractions throughout the day, I wanted to note the difference. I noticed that there weren't as many interruptions, and the students that sit at the same table as he did seemed to get their work done more quickly than on days that he is there.
I can definitely agree with your observation. On days that my student is acting up the students around him do not do well on their daily work. The class he is in is primarily busy work kinda stuff so it does hurt the class sometimes.
DeleteMarch 20, 2012-TOday was the first day i observed my student, i had always assumed that this student had a disability. He was very very quiet today, which previous to today is out of his character. He sat in the back of the room and remained still for much of the class. He seemed to be in a bit of a trance.
ReplyDeleteMarch 22, 2012-Today my student was very much so himself. He was walking around the room and being very sociable. Although he was out of turn when talking he continued to do so. The teacher told him to sit down and be quiet, but he continued to walk around and talk. This behavior is much more like this student.
March 27, 2012-Today he was much like he was on tuesday, only he came in very calm and he became very reactionary to other students. He sits in the back of the room to avoid a lot of this distraction, but the other students do like to associate with him.
March 29, 2012-TOday was another quiet day for my student. He sat in the back of the room and remained fairly quiet. The difference between him and other students is that when he is quiet he is focused on nothing. He doesn't do work, or even seem to be responsive for the majority of the time.
April 3, 2012-My student did not attend class today.
April 5, 2012-My student did not attend class today.
April 10, 2012-My student did not attend class today.
April 12, 2012-My student did not attend class today.
(I asked my CT today what was going on with my student because i had not seen him in over 2 weeks. He wasn't sure, so im assuming that there had been no phone call to the school or anything.)
April 17, 2012-My student did not attend class today.
April 19, 2012-My student came to class today! However, he was having another very quiet and self contained day, it was nice to see him in class again. He was actually fairly responsive, but just remained quiet through class.
I was going to observe another student, but my CT suggested I choose another student which I chose Steven because the other student is hardly in class. I wonder what the reason for them not coming to class much.
DeleteDay 5-April 5th
ReplyDeleteOn this day, Arnold started out the day very well. I started with the class, doing the morning routine. Arnold was singing along, giving good answers and overall participating very well. He got his card flipped once in the morning during the science lesson for interrupting. Around 12:00pm, the Content Mastery teacher comes to get three students, Arnold being one of them, and during this time, the rest of the class works on their stations. I was helping one table write sentences and I asked one student to scoot over and sit in Arnold's chair so I could sit in the middle and help everyone. When Arnold came in, He saw that someone was sitting in his seat and ran over from the door and shouted, "That's my seat, that's my seat." My CT made him flip his card right away and explained to him that there is no reason to yell across the room, or run across the room.
Day 6-April 10th
ReplyDeleteOn this day, Arnold did not have a good day. Talking, interrupting, not working, etc. He distracted other students and couldn't focus on his work. I went to sit in and observe their Content Mastery class on this day for one of my observations, and Arnold did not behave well. The Content Mastery teacher took him back to the room to explain to my CT what he had been doing, and she made him flip his card. So, on this day, Arnold ended up with a blue card (three cards flipped), which means he got a call home.
Day 7-April 12th
ReplyDeleteOn this day, I got to work one on one with Arnold. He started out with an okay day. He got his card flipped during morning message for continued interuptions, but that was it for the rest of the day. In the afternoon, I got to help Arnold with a paper for math. The worksheet had a vertical addition problem with the exact number of bugs beside it, that is the answer to the problem. Arnold had trouble right away, as he does with most things, and so my CT asked if I could help him. So, I did. I started out asking him what the written number was, he answered that question correctly, so I asked what the next number was and when he answered that correctly we moved on. Next, he was supposed to use two different colors and color the bugs to represent the numbers that he was adding together. Arnold picked green and blue and we got started. I would count the bugs as he colored them so he would know when to stop. He colored six blue and four green. Next we counted the bugs together, Arnold pointing to each as we counted. He counted the bugs correctly, and when we got to the end I said, "Ok write down the number 10." He said, "I don't know how, can I trace it?" I had seen my CT do this for him several times, so I wrote the number 10 down with dotted lines so he could trace it. After doing about 4 problems, Arnold got into the routine of the what he was supposed to do. And when the answer 10 came up again, Arnold told me he could write it by himself. He did an awesome job, and I love working with students one on one.
Day 8-April 17th
ReplyDeleteI was not in the room on this day much, because I was working on the hallway decorations for the last six weeks thematic unit. So, I asked my CT at the end of the day how Arnold did.
She was happy to report that he did an awesome job throughout the day. He stayed quiet when it wasn't his turn to talk, he raised his hand to answer questions, and although he didn't complete his assignments entirely correct, he got to work, and worked til he was done. She was very pleased with his behavior and work ethic for the day.
Day 9-April 19th
ReplyDeleteOn this day, Arnold was havning an ok day, just like most of his days, but he did get in trouble in the cafeteria. Arnold would not sit still and kept yelling across the table. So, when he got back to the classroom he had to flip his card. He didn't have to flip his card for the rest of the day, and because of good behavior, he got to flip his card back from yellow to green. At the end of the day, the CT tested them for their sight words again, and reported back to me that he improved greatly from the last time I tested them for their sight words!
Day 10-April 24th
ReplyDeleteOn the day of my last observation, I taught my last lesson, and Arnold left school early. So I only got to see how he did in the morning til about 10:00 am. Arnold seemed tired and withdrawn from the class. My CT explained to me that his mother was picking him up to take him to the doctor because he hadn't been feeling good. So not much happened.
I feel that I really learned a lot from observing Arnold. By reading my observations, it might not seem like there was much to go off of, but I did learn a lot from him!
April 12
ReplyDeleteToday Joe is still sitting at the front of the class alone and I really believe that he does better concentrating on his work this way, rather than being in a small row/group. Today I noticed that he also doesn't get up from his seat as often either. He had a really good day today.
April 16
ReplyDeleteWhen I walked into class today, I noticed that all the desks had been seperated and each student sat individually. My case study Joe was sitting in the front row in the middle of the class. Seeing him there in the middle of the room, didn't seem like a good idea to me because he likes to get attention from everyone. I was right. The whole day he kept getting up from his chair to stand. Even though he kept doing his work, it kept distracting his classmates. This is the most active that I have seen him in the class. He was moving around the class or standing at his desk and act out like he was a ninja. He was having a bad day today. My CT didn't really get onto him. All she did was go over to his desk and stand by him or she would just shake her head "No" to him and he would stop for the time being. I asked my CT if there was anything different going on with him and she said that she wasn't aware of anything.
April 19
ReplyDeleteToday I was sure that Joe's desk was going to be moved back to the front of the desk. I walked in and the desks were arranged the same way but Joe's desk was in the back row. I was interested to see how his day was going to be. He started out doing really good in the morning. He completed all his work and followed directions. It was until the afternoon came, after recess, where he started misbehaving. I'm not sure what happened at recess but when we got back into the class he was rude to a few of his classmates and kept disrupting the class. I asked him a few times what was wrong but he just kept telling me that he was fine and nothing was wrong. When the bell rang, everyone got to leave first while Joe had to stay an extra minute. I know a minute isn't very long but when it's the final bell ring of the day, I know that a miute can last forever. I felt bad for him because he usually doesn't act this bad to where he has had to stay but I could never find out what had actually happened at recess time. The minute passed and as he left he told me goodbye and he even apologized for the way he acted. This showed me that he knew he was in the wrong and that maybe the next day wouldn't be so bad.
April 23
ReplyDeleteToday we had class in the library in the morning since my CT is getting her librarian certification and the regular librarian was out on a field trip. I was in charge of the class while she was at the main desk up front. I had the students complete their morning math assignment and then we moved onto our reading selections. Joe was sitting at a table alone and next to his table was another student that sat by themselves. The whole time during math and reading the two of them kept bickering at each other and tattling on each other. I finally had to them to stop and separated them. The other student started crying because she couldn't concentrate because Joe was annoying her and wouldn't stop. I didn't understand what was going on but later found out from my CT that this behavior was a continuation from last week. Apparently the two of them got into and have been acting out towards each other. She hasn't figured what exactly went on but both of them have been ugly towards each other lately. Besides that, Joe has been doing good in the class and his work.
April 26
ReplyDeleteSTARR testing so I wasn't able to observe Joe in the morning. In the afternoon, I was helping decorate our hallway for the end of the month curriculum theme so didn't get to see him today but my CT said that he had a good day today.
March 22
ReplyDeleteFor the past couple of weeks at Miller HS, I have take note of one particular student as to whom I’m going to do my Case Study on. His name is DeMarco, he is a freshman, 15 years old, and is an African American. I chose DeMarco because his negative behavior seems to constantly be a problem. I have the opportunity to actually observe DeMarco in 3 periods of the day. I have him in 5th&6th period which is a cooperative English/Geography class as well as in the 7th period freshman football class. Of course I have noticed that DeMarco has more interests in the football athletic class then in the English/Geography class. One of the negative behaviors I witnessed today was the he had his head down while the teacher was up front lecturing.
March 27
ReplyDeleteToday in 5th&6th period I noticed DeMarco was not doing his work. He seems to get off task and tends to daydream. What makes the situation worse is that he sits way in the back, on a table with 3 other boys who have the same behavior problems as DeMarco. It was later in 6th period that I caught DeMarco and two of his tablemates making handguns out of paper and pretending to shoot each other. I walked over and without saying anything I put my hand out. DeMarco with a big smile along with the others placed their “art work” in my hands.
April 3
ReplyDeleteToday was a good productive day for DeMarco. Today there were a few absences in class, so DeMarco was told by the teacher to move to another table to work on a new class project. He was assigned to sit at a table with two girls and a one boy. These other three students are actually AP students who are mixed in the class, so they take their work seriously. At first DeMarco was quite I could sense he was uncomfortable sitting with the three other classmates. After the teacher explained the directions and told the class to begin, one of the girls looked over and said a few words to DeMarco. Once this happened I could see from the distance that he was going to take part in the group project. Watching DeMarco throughout the period was great he was finally getting work done, and he was interacting well with his peers.
April 5
ReplyDeleteToday DeMarco did good in class. The students were reviewing for there geography end-of-course exam. They had a packet that was to be filled out, and then was to be used as a study guide for the test. To search for answer students could use prior knowledge, their textbooks, or the encyclopedia. DeMarco who was moved to the front of the class at the computer station joined a group of girls to complete the packet. I witnessed him working and actively searching for answers. Today in football class it was a different story. Usually in this period when I observe DeMarco actions, I can tell he is just lazy. He walks on the field, and when lifting weights and exercising he does the bare minimum. DeMarco is a wide receiver and when watching him running routes, you can tell he gives little effort.
April 10
ReplyDeleteToday because the projects are done, DeMarco was sitting back with his old group of boys in the back. It was the same routine unfortunately. This time DeMarco was listening to his IPOD, and not getting work done. I went over to DeMarco to try and push him to do his work along with the others at the table. Before I even mentioned anything about the worksheet, I wanted to ask him how his day was; I did this so maybe he would be more open to listening to me. I ask him if he was going to participate in the upcoming track meet, he explained to me that no he wasn’t because of his grades. He told me he had a 66 in Geography, a 57 in English, and a 59 in Math. I asked him why he has such bad grades, the only answer he could give me was, “he didn’t know.” I sat with him the rest of the period and helped him and the others at the table get their worksheet done.
April 12
ReplyDeleteToday DeMarco was sitting up in the front of the class where the computers are. I found out that he was permanently moved here. It is good that he was up front, but he is facing the wall. Once class began he was just sitting there day dreaming. I came up to him and asked him if he needed help, he said, “no”. I asked if he was going to get his work done, and he said he said to me, “he didn’t feel like doing it, it’s to much work.” By observing DeMarco for the past few classes I have came to realize that it’s really not so much of a behavior or learning problem he has, its that he is lazy. Today’s English assignment called for searching for literature terms in the dictionary. The students had to then create their own definition and illustrate a picture to its meaning. DeMarco was going nowhere with the assignment. Towards the end of the period I caught DeMarco at another table copying the definitions off a girl’s booklet. I asked DeMarco if he was cheating and he replied, “no, I’m just getting help.” In football period DeMarco got hurt while running passing routes. The football team is now in spring training so the can actually run plays and go at full speed. DeMarco was running a route as fast as he could, when another player going full speed collided with DeMarco. You could actually hear the impact. DeMarco laid on the ground in pain, he banged up his hip. Once he was able to walk a little better, I had to slowly help DeMarco walk to the trainers office.
April 17
ReplyDeleteToday I really didn’t get to observe DeMarco well. I had to sit down and help another group of students with an assignment. I would periodically glance over at DeMarco who was sitting with a group of girls. It looked like he was getting his work done. He was in 5th & 6th period, but when it was time for 7th period football he was not there. I thought maybe his parents picked him for a doctors’ appointment or something. At 4:00 p.m. the final bell rang and I went in to the coaches’ dressing room and got my stuff. I then made my way over to my truck in the parking lot that faces the side of the school were most kids wait to get picked up. As I pulled out of the lot I saw DeMarco pushing another boy around and playing around with a group of students. DeMarco had skipped 7th period.
April 19
ReplyDeleteToday I had to teach my third and final lesson. The topic was on Imperialism and Colonialism. It had really nothing to do with geography, but my CT wanted to teach this to prepare the class of their social studies EOC exam. Since I was going to teach, that meant that I was only going to be able to help DeMarco during guided practice which was to be about 10 minutes total. So between those 10 minutes, I was also going to have to spend time helping other students on the assignment. One of the requirements for us at Miller is to video tape are last two lessons. Even though I wasn’t going to be able to observe DeMarco as much as I wanted to, the video allowed me to do that. I actually positioned the camera on one of my CTs desk as to where the video had a full view of DeMarco. I didn’t do this on purpose, the camera is supposed to be position to the front of the class were we are to be teaching, and it just so happened that DeMarco’s new permanent seat was right in front. So as I reviewed the video I could see DeMarco took little interest in my instructional input or lecture. Since his seat up front is at the computer station, he was facing the wall for most of my lecture and he was sitting so low in the chair, that I’m surprised he didn’t fall off. Later when it came time for guided practice, I told DeMarco that this was a group activity and he could work with a group. He said to me he could do it on his own. I could tell DeMarco was having a bad day, and he seemed upset. At the end of the period when I was doing the conclusion I called on students give out the answers. For one of the questions no one volunteered, I looked over at DeMarco and he was point at one of the girls. He wanted me to call on her, but I pretended to think that DeMarco was raising his hand to answer the question. I told that class ok DeMarco wants to answer the question, he yelled out “no, what”. The class got a laugh out of this. I said come on DeMarco lets hear it. He got a big smile and was a little shy at first, but he read his answer. It was actually a good answer, and after he read it his classmates started clapping.
April 26
ReplyDeleteToday Miller HS was taking the STAAR and TAKS. One grade level was taking the STAAR, another was taking the TAKS and the freshman were reviewing for there end-of-course exam. All of us PSTs had hall monitoring assignments throughout the school. I was assigned the hall on the 4th floor were the freshman were going to be studying for the EOC exam. Students would rotate classes by content throughout the day. Since they were not testing they had more freedom to go out of the class and use the restroom. The classroom doors in this particular hallway have large windows. Right near my post was one of the classrooms were DeMarco was in. I was able to improvise and observe DeMarco through the window in the door. He was not paying attention to the teacher, and he was playing around with another student. When classes would rotate, DeMarco would talk to his friends rather then get to his next class.