"Diane Delaney is eleven years old and is in the fifth grade at Woodburn Elementary School. Diane is currently being treated for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer. Diane began her chemotherapy treatments immediately after diagnosis and had her external catheter put in shortly thereafter. About a month after her first treatment, Diane’s cancer went into remission because of the chemotherapy she received. She is now able to return to school. However, she will continue to have treatments for about two years to make sure that the leukemia doesn’t come back. Sometimes, these treatments will mean that she will have to miss school because of side effects. Diane has been receiving and will continue to receive additional instruction from a tutor to help her keep up with the other students in her class. She is quick to explain, though, “I don’t want to be treated any differently just ‘cause I have leukemia.”" http://ezzo.pbworks.com/w/page/24278324/Diane%20Delaney
Student Support: Thankfully Diane is in remission which actually makes things a little less complicated. However, I had a family member who went through this cancer and I have seen what the side effects of chemo are. Diane will probably continue to miss school and may be late regulary. She also may become sick during school and may need to sit or even go home. One of the most important things that I would like to remember for my lesson is that Diane does not want to be treated differently. If she was present for my lesson I would make sure she had a chance to speak right from the beginning. This would give me a chance to see if she had the background knowledge to understand what my lesson and what the book was all about. If I got the feeling that she did not have much background then I would go into more detail about the story I am going to read and what the idea of the lesson is. However, I would not make it seem like I am only doing this for Diane, just that I want to give the class enough information to grasp my lesson.
If Diane missed my lesson I would try and talk with her tutor and see if there was a way she could read the book with Diane and have a short discussion with her and try and complete the worksheet together. However, if this wasn't possible I would try and get some one-on-one time with Diane. During this time I would discuss the ideas behind my lesson and still try to get her to tell me what she knows about it and if she has any stories she can recall. I would then ask her to take the book home and read it with a parent or older brother and complete the worksheet as homework. I would give her ample amount of time to do this (about a week) because I know her home life is probably a bit hetic.
I really like your idea about going into a lot of detail in the description of the book and the lesson itself, but not making it seem like it's just for Diane's benefit. Her life and what she deals with outside of the school environment are probably hard enough, it makes sense that she doesn't want any extra attention placed on her in the classroom. This may also benefit other students who are having a hard time with the concepts discussed.
ReplyDeleteI think a really important thing to focus on is not to make any of the assignments or expectations drastically different for Diane. Like you said, giving her plenty of time to complete homework is understandable because of how busy her home life likely is. But as long as she knows that she is doing all of the same work as her classmates, just possibly at different times, she will feel like she is being held to the same standards and isn't seen as "different".
In regards to differentiation, it's really important to realize that in most cases, a teacher's decisions to make adaptations for a particular lesson will not only benefit the specific student, but the entire class as well. This is the case in the support you have described for Diane, and it makes sense. There's no reason to call attention to Diane, as she just wants to feel normal. So any type of support that can be presented as a whole group format is exceptional for this type of situation. From what I have experienced with childhood cancer (one of my gymnasts was diagnosed a couple years ago and has now been in remission for a year), and as Chelsey explained, there will be a lot of "unexpected" circumstances. This is important to keep in mind in regards to lesson planning, perhaps to the point of deciding what is and what is not important to add to Diane's plate if she is repeatedly absent or late. The teacher and the tutor should have a close relationship as to determine what is best for Diane's learning. I also wonder if the tutor is ever present in the classroom when Diane is absent? Perhaps this could be beneficial in allowing the teacher and tutor to collaborate on key learning instances that Diane should be caught up on. Just a thought!
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