I
think that it is very possible for Mrs. Potter to tweak her teaching style and
methods to better suit these students without disrupting the learning of the
other children in her class or having to put in a ton of extra work. If she is willing to take some time out
of her schedule to do a few minor assessments and/or observations of these
three cases, she will likely be able to get a good sense of where their
strengths and weaknesses are and differentiate certain assignments based on her
discoveries.
In
the case of Lupita, I believe that Mrs. Potter needs to rethink her initial
assumption that she “lacks academic skill”. Not only is she finishing her assignments early, Lupita is
also displaying the cognitive ability to solve puzzles quickly and attempting
to share her knowledge with her peers.
It is very possible that she is actually a very bright student whose
ability is being hindered by a language barrier. One way Mrs. Potter could make her classroom more friendly
for Lupita and any future English language learners would be through the use of
visuals. As discussed and pictured
in the article “Quick and Easy Adaptations and
Accommodations for
Early Childhood Students”, creating easily accessible visual representations of
schedules, assignments, and expectations is a great way to improve
communication between teachers and students. Author Leisa Breitfelder explains that the use of visuals
can be an efficient way to improve transitions, behavior, and overall quality
of work.
Mrs.
Potter needs to consider making some adjustments in Jonathan’s typical daily
activities in order to give him more reading support. Additional time spent reading with him one on one or in a
small group setting will be a good way for his skills to improve. If she usually includes silent reading
in her schedule, she could use this time to work individually with him and
focus in on the specific problems he is having. Additionally, she could devote certain literacy centers to
reading improvement or time spent reading with her. It also sounds like Jonathan is afraid or embarrassed to ask
for help. Because of this, Mrs.
Potter should be sure to circulate the room while the students are working on
assignments, taking special care to stop by his desk multiple times. Another thing she could change would be
to create some sort of special signal for Jonathan to use if he needs help with
his work. This could be something
like a laminated card placed on his desk with one side displaying green if he
is doing well and the other side showing red if he needs assistance.
From
the sounds of it, Eddie may be suffering from some type of attention disorder
(possibly ADHD). His desire to
always be up and moving around is interfering with his learning but is probably
something that Eddie doesn’t have much control over. Because of this, Mrs. Potter should include plenty of
opportunities for movement throughout the school day. As I previously mentioned for Jonathan, the use of centers
might be beneficial in this case as well- not just for language arts, but for
all subjects. As mentioned in Literacy
for the 21st Century by Gail Tompkins, centers offer students a
wide variety of activities that can be engaging and interactive while also advancing
knowledge. Eddie and the other
students should be given the opportunity to choose, either daily or weekly,
which centers they would like to participate in. If Eddie is given the chance to pick what activities he is
doing throughout the day, he will most likely choose the ones that interest him
most, which will (hopefully) lead to a greater desire to complete the tasks and
pay attention to what is going on.
I agree with Emily that Lupita more than likely does not lack academically but instead needs some communication support. I know from my experience working with ELL students that most of the time the student is extremely smart but they are struggling with understanding what is being asked of them because of the language barrier. They may be just be able to complete what tasks they understand and will fall short on ones they are confused about. Having a lot of visual aids is a good idea because it will really help to clarify what the student is expected to do and they will hopefully be able to communicate better with the teacher and their peers that way.
ReplyDeleteAs for Jonathan, I also agree that one on one reading support will be very beneficial to him. He needs that individual support so he can gain the skills he needs to read on his own. If he was just sent to read on his own from the beginning then he won't be able to further his reading skills.
I also think that Eddie may have some hyperactive disorder. His constant movement and lack of focus definitely needs some special attention so he is able to learn and is not distracting others around him. Being able to move and change pace throughout the day will definitely help him. Something else that might work could be a stress ball or some other little thing that he can hold that is not distracting to others. This may help him relieve some of the movement and maintain focus.
After reading about Lupita, I was immediately sympathetic for the student as I feel this sort of situation happens all to often. Language barriers are treated as academic barriers, and this is not the case nor the correct approach. It is important to build off students' prior knowledge and prior academic endeavors as much as possible. The fact that the teacher never calls on Lupita is troubling because how can one involve a student in the classroom if they are purposely omitted? I agree with both Chelsey and Emily- communication resources are needed to reach this student. My main advice includes group work. Provide the student with as many opportunities as possible to interact with her peers. My thought is the quicker she can acquire language, the quicker she can express her academic competence.
ReplyDeleteAs for Jonathon, there are a number of possible underlying issues at hand. Perhaps individualized reading help or programs could be beneficial. Perhaps there is some sort of a dyslexia or learning disability affecting his ability to read words, but not affecting his reading of numbers. I would highly recommend a further analysis of this student's issues through some form of specilized testing to determine what type of intervention is needed.
Eddie reminds me of many students I have witnessed in various placements, especially of one student I currently work with. It's certainly frustrating when you know a student has knowledge that is not being tapped into through the typical schooling curriculum. I agree with Chelsey, perhaps something as simple as a stress ball could help, just to keep his hands busy. I also believe the large medicine ball may be a practical response to his fidgeting, simply to keep the student moving. I also believe the teacher may find the student more involved if more kinesthetic activities were incorporated into her lessons. Movement not only helps some students grasp concepts more thoroughly, but also may simply help to keep students engaged because they are not forced to sit completely still.