Haylee Wilson



Haylee WilsonTE 803Case StudyStep 1: Propose and Describe Your Motivation and Your CaseThe main problem I am choosing to focus on is student engagement. I am going to focus on a female student who seems to be engaged but her grades indicate a disconnect somewhere, and a male student who has problems engaging appropriately with the lesson as well as myself and his classmates. They are both very different students, but focusing on how to better engage them each individually will hopefully help me to teach each of them better. I am choosing to write about students in my sixth hour focus class. Both students are seniors in high school. The male student, "John," will be attending college in the fall and the female student, "Jane," says she is undecided but is leaning towards not attending college in the fall. The class both of these students are in is an English 12 class and right now we are focusing on argumentative research papers. Previously in the semester we focused on art as an inspiration for creative writing, Siddhartha, many short stories, and Antigone. In the beginning of the class we focused on a lot of text, and then responding through different venues to that text. The students expressed mixed feelings about this, predominately expressing their dislike of reading. Some students said that they liked the texts we read and so were able to connect with the material, but other students said that they would rather do less reading. This next semester the class is going to be very project based. The lessons are going to be less literature based and will instead focus on student writing. The first thing we are going to start this semester is an argumentative research paper. The students will not be assigned their topic but will be able to choose something that they select and find interesting. Many students expressed excitement for this. The female student I am going to focus on, Jane, is less of a disciplinary issue and more of an engagement and learning issue. Her attention to me, the teacher, is engaged in that she seems to be paying attention and is well disciplined in class. She is very polite and pleasant to be around. She is shy and it is hard to get a word out of her, let alone enough words to participate/contribute something to the class. I recently connected with her on a subject that I had briefly mentioned. She was never rude, but chose not to engage me conversation. I mentioned that I have a cottage in Charleviox and she seemed elated. She went off on a long story of when she and her family were in Charlevoix because they take their boat to different port towns all through the summer. Through this conversation I learned much about her. I learned that she is very close with her family and that they mean a lot to her. This is a trait that I think can transcend other areas of her life, and I hope that I can use that to tap into her and help her to care about her grades more. She a sweet girl and seems to have her head on straight. She also seems to have a good home life. The reason I am choosing to focus on her is because I am interested to see where that gap in her grades is coming from. She barely skims by with D's, yet is always present in class and seems to be paying attention. I seem to make frequent eye contact with her throughout the lesson and she seems relatively engaged. But then she turns in her information or her work and there is a disconnect. Her engagement with other students is limited. She is quiet in class and does not socialize with many people. I frequently see her walking in the hallways with her books tight to her chest and looking into space or at the floor. There is another student in my class whom she seems to be good friends with. They talk a lot during the hour and always choose to be partners during group-work. She smiles a lot and laughs. She does not seem shy with him. The subject matter seems to be over her head. She does not participate in class verbally but always appears to be following along and on task. I have never heard her volunteer for anything in class. Interestingly, she is also in my 7th hour World Literature class that is primarily juniors. She is a senior. There are other seniors in the class and they too are repeating the class due to either failing it last semester or needing to make up the credit for a different reason. She behaves similarly in this class as well. The male student, John, is a student who receives predominantly As, and does well on his exams. I have spoken with other teachers who have taught him and they have said that he received good grades in their course as well. The reason I chose to focus on John is due to the fact that he is disruptive to those around him and disrupts the lesson I am trying to teach on a regular basis. John seems to be very popular and outspoken in the school. Many students pay attention to him and laugh at the things he says. He frequently blurts out pieces of information that are related to the subject at hand but do not directly answer my questions, but makes light of the material. One time when I asked if anyone had any questions over what we just read, he said, “What are we doing tomorrow?!” (an inappropriate time), or “Ok, now what do I do?” after I asked him to “grab” the door. He “grabbed” it and waited for the next direction. He is very loud and boisterous, and his writing and grades indicate that he is very bright. He makes several witty comments per class period that make the other students laugh. His attention to the teacher is very focused, yet in an unproductive way. He is very attentive to what I say and do and frequently calls out my verbal and nonverbal mistakes or pitfalls to the class. He has verbally said that he views himself as a “jerk” but said it with confidence and humor in his voice. During class when he announces my otherwise unnoticed mistakes, he has laughed and looked around to see who else is laughing. I have had a good humor about it and not “taken myself too seriously.” Overall, his attitude is sarcastic, witty, and disruptive. His attention to other students in class is very apt. He looks around frequently and makes faces and mouths words at other students in class. His actions get other students off task and unfocused. This tends to lead to the snowball effect and soon the lesson is out of control again. Other students are also very focused on him. Some respond in a way that supports his behavior, but others make comments like, “Guys, just pay attention,” etc. that indicate to me that they are irritated by his tangents and become frustrated with his behavior. Many students roll their eyes and shake their heads. Many of these students are ones that get very good grades and do not seem to be in his friend-group. John’s attention to the subject matter is high. He gets very good grades and seems to retain much of what I teach. His tests and essays show this. He understands the material and does not seem to struggle with the concepts. His coursework is well above average. The difference between the male student I selected and the female student, in terms of what other teachers say about them, is drastic. I hear a lot of information about the boy and how he is so sarcastic and funny, yet it is varied as to whether or not the teacher views this as a negative or positive thing. I have spoken with a few teachers, mainly women, who find him to be a huge obstacle to their lesson yet they are perplexed as what to do as well because he gets such good grades. He answers questions out loud correctly, yet says them in such a tone that gives off sarcasm, lack of interest, and attempted humor. I have not spoken with any male teachers about him, other than my mentor teacher, so I would be interested to hear their take on him. It would be interesting to find out whether or not he has an issue with me simply due to my gender or age. As for my female student, I rarely hear a single comment. Teachers have commented on her "sweetness" and poor grades, but really nothing else. I almost sense a touch of pity coming from the other teachers. Step 2: Interpret the Situation and Consider the StakesI have two hypotheses for Jane. The first one has to do with the way that she interacts with her peers and myself. My mentor teacher told me that he has never been able to get her to open up, and I have only had one personal conversation with her. I think she might have some social anxiety or self-confidence issues. I think this because of the way that I have seen her walk in the hallways and because of the ways that she is very shy in class and rarely speaks in front of the group. She does seem to open up to her previously mentioned friend in class, but this is the only student I have witnessed her behaving like this with. I think that Jane has a social problem. I also think that because of her potential social anxiety she might be holding back and not learning all she can. It has been said that students learn best when they feel safe and comfortable in their environment, and if she in fact does have social anxiety or confidence issues this could greatly impede her ability to feel comfortable. My first hypothesis about Jane has to do with social interactions as being the cause or part of the cause for her poor engagement with the material. My second hypothesis regarding this has to do with her learning ability. Because there seems to be such a disconnect with how she appears to be engaging with how she is actually engaging, it can be hypothesized that she has some sort of a learning disability that has gone undiagnosed. She appears to be intimidated in class, and perhaps I had previously interpreted this as a social intimidation when in fact it is an educational intimidation. Perhaps the material is simply too hard for her to understand due to an undiagnosed learning impairment. This could be an academic/cognitive problem (Teaching ALL Students). If this was the case it is no wonder that there is a disconnect with the coursework. In reviewing some of her past essays and other assignments, some of her answers simply do not make sense. The sentence structure and ideas are disjointed and inconsistent. Due to the description of her behavior in class and the other comments of people I have talked to, I think that my hypothesis about Jane’s potential learning impairment might be more accurate. This is troubling to me, however, because I do not know how I would go about dealing with this. My hypotheses for John’s behavior and engagement are a result of his social interactions. My first hypothesis is that John is attention seeking. I think that John still has a lot of growing up to do and currently thrives on the attention of his peers, whether it is positive attention or negative. I think that his immaturity is the cause of his need for attention and trouble with authority. This, however, poses a problem for me. I have a hard time blaming his actions simply on immaturity because there are scores of immature students in my classes, and not all of them act in that particular way. I think that in his case he has realized that if he acts out in class he gets attention, and he likes the attentionIt could also be that he is not getting enough attention at home and so he is seeking attention at school to combat that. Because I do not know John personally and have only interacted with his parents twice, it could be a possibility, but I do not think it is likely. John’s parents both came to the school open house at the beginning of the year as well as the first set of parent-teacher-conferences. They spoke very highly of their son and were visibly proud of him and his achievements. His parents also commented on his sarcastic and immature behavior, hoping that it would just be a phase. Because of these interactions with his parents I do not think that he is getting too little attention at home, but I cannot rule it out as a possibility.Whereas in Jane’s case I had more hypotheses than solutions, I feel that I have more solutions than hypotheses for John. The first thing I am going to try to do to combat his behavior is to try to harness it in a different way. I am going to first try to control the way that I react to him. A lot of the time the things he says are in fact funny, but I am not going to validate his behavior anymore. I am also going to attempt to limit my eye contact with him, and to actually hold eye contact with him when he is out of line. I think that if I try to focus on other students, John will lose some of his sense of control of the class. I am also going to try to put him off to the side with the seating chart. Proximity in the room is a big factor in students’ learning, and I am going to be strategic about where I place him. Another thing I am going to try to do is to put the responsibility to respond to his behavior back on him. Instead of immediately reacting and responding to things he says with frustration, I am going to pause and ask him to consider his own behavior. Lastly, I am going to send him out into the hall, potentially with his own desk. I can put him within sight of the door so he can still hear the lesson, but he will be out of the view of the class and I will have taken away his audience. Out of all of these options, it is clear that one of the most important things for John’s success in the class has to do with my reactions to him. It is very important that I change my behavior and get the focus off of John because I do not want the other students to continue being interrupted and influenced by his behavior. Other students’ learning is as stake here as well. I think that because John is such a witty person and has swift comebacks, my best option for him might be to simply attempt to place him in the hall. I think that if I take away his audience he will not have anybody to try to impress or make laugh. He will have to consider his behavior. I do not mean this to be a punishment, but rather a happy medium for his success and the success for the rest of the class. All of these options seem to be slightly disjointed and behavior based, but I think this will be the best option out of all of them. I will still attempt the other strategies as well. Step 3: Consider Alternative Courses of Action and Make a PlanJane seems to need more attention and help, so the first solution/action I can think of would be to treat her more like the way we treat other students with IEPs and 504s. I wonder whether or not she would benefit from an IEP where a teacher could work with her more closely on what she is understanding and processing, but for now it seems like this will be a role that I will try to fill as best as I can. I do not co-teach either of her two classes with a special education teacher so I will be alone in trying to monitor her engagement. Fortunately, there are other students in the class who do have diagnosed learning disabilities, so even if she doesn’t in fact have one, she would still be able to benefit from the differentiated instruction that I am working on incorporating into every lesson. I am going to focus on her more during individual and group work instead of focusing primarily on those students who consistently ask questions. Even though she doesn’t ask questions, it is evident that she still needs help. In the article “Ways That Teachers May Communicate Low Expectations,” it may be possible that I unintentionally “pay less attention to low achievers” in that I do not call on her (or others similar to her) for answers in class discussions or look to her for answers to questions that I pose to the rest of the class. Because she is so quiet, it is easy for me to become distracted by the more boisterous and vocal students and thus “show less attention and responsiveness, [and] make less eye contact.” I am going to talk to a special education teacher about her case specifically, and attempt to gain more insight into her past three years at OHS. I asked the special education teacher if she would be able to sit in on my sixth hour to help observe Jane and she agreed.In the Teaching ALL Students article, it is proposed that teachers can better reach students with cognitive problems by getting to know them better. I am going to try to find out what Jane already knows about the topic and what she thinks she is able to do with that. I think that the metacognitive part is important as well because I need to make sure the Jane knows what she is being asked to do. If she is in fact uncertain, I can help clarify these things for her. One way that I will execute this is by asking students to tell me what it is they are supposed to do, and why. It is my hope that Jane will be able to hear their answers and retain that information. Furthermore, I will individually address Jane once the class has gotten into the work. In this way I will not be singling her out, but will still be able to asses her interpretation of the assignment or work at hand. In response to Jane’s potential social problems, I could/am going to incorporate group work into the next unit. We will be starting a unit on propaganda and persuasion, and unlike the research paper that was an individual assignment, this will be facilitated by groups of three. Students will create a product, an ad/propaganda for that product, and will justify their choices by describing their vision’s target audience, purpose, and outcome. Because the students will be able to choose their own groups, Jane will have the opportunity to be with someone she is comfortable with, as well as one more student that she can get to know better. I do not intend this to be a way for her to simply foster friendships, but with the comfort of her original partner, she will be able to have the intellectual and social benefits of working with a third student with different opinions and ideas. The risk here is that I could put her in an uncomfortable position from which she could clam up even more. My plan of action for John’s potential problems begins with Mihaly Czikszentimihaly’s ideas of Flow. In his book, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Existence, he describes the correlation between skill level and challenge level. “Both skill level and challenge level must be matched and high; if skill and challenge are low an matched, then apathy results.” Due to the fact that John is a very bright and witty student, much above the majority of the class, it is possible that he is not being challenged enough. I will need to find a way to modify the assignment or his interpretation of the assignment in a way that will meet his needs. I could do this in a number of ways. I could actually type out a modified assignment for him, but I think that this would cause some turmoil with the rest of the class, but most likely with him. I could try to intellectually challenge him by asking him questions that would involve and require deeper thinking and results, but the risk in this is that those efforts could fall through the cracks or be ignored. The most likely thing I am going to try to do to increase his level of engagement and flow is by placing him with two other students that will challenge his level of thinking. If he is placed with students who are also high achieving, they will be able to challenge each other’s own intellectual thought. The problem I am concerned of with this solution is the logistics of allowing the students to chose their own groups and the chances/ramifications of having to change his group should the grouping not level out the way I would like it to. The second action I would like to take or will take with John is to change his social/special surroundings. Because he has been a distraction to the other students and group work has the potential to be a little more rambunctious than individual, I will physically move John and his group to a different area, away from the rest of the class. In the library, there are two sides, one of which I could place John and his group (or more groups) if there are available computers. I could also ask them to sit and brainstorm at a table and to use Jeff’s (my mentor teacher) or my iPad for technological work. Placing space between John and the rest of his peers has the potential to improve his ability to focus and maintain the “flow” that I will try to facilitate with selective grouping.In Step 2, when I hypothesized about John’s life at home, I proposed the interpretation that perhaps his need for attention of any kind in the classroom is present because of a lack of attention at home. Due to parent teacher conferences I do not think this is a likely factor. It should be noted, however, that I have only met with John’s parents once, so perhaps a phone call home would be a necessary and beneficial plan of action in getting to know this about him, as well as potential tips and information from his parents about how they interact, connect, and react to his behavior.Step 4: Implementation and AssessmentThe implementation of my plan to better teach Jane went well. One of the first things I wanted to do was to discuss with a special education teacher any possible hypotheses or pieces of advice she could give me. The teacher with whom I co-teach two other classes was able to come down and observe Jane. Though not on her caseload, she had co-taught other classes throughout the years that Jane was in. The special education teacher told me that she initially thought that Jane had a reading disability but that she believes that whatever disability she has it is not limited to reading. “She has a hard time recalling verbal instructions.” I have witnessed this first hand. She then went on to tell me that her poor verbal skills are coupled with poor self esteem. This was right on par with my hypotheses that I proposed in Step 2. She confirmed the same behavior in other classes that I was witnessing in my classes; that she rarely takes initiative to ask questions or ask for retakes of assessment materials such as exams or papers. I was able to use this information about Jane to implement my pan of action. I also spoke with my mentor teacher about Jane and his experiences with her. He told me about a time when Jane was told by a student a few facts about the plot of a story they had read in class. My mentor teacher said that Jane then asked him to read a paragraph that they were asked to write about the story. This is an excerpt from an email regarding Jane:“Once a student told her some “facts” about the plot of a story we had read in class. She asked me to read a paragraph she had written about the story. The other student had made up some nonsense about a dog going on an adventure, and [Jane] had tried to make the assignment fit the nonsensical story. She had no idea what was happening but thought it was funny once I told her. She was in class for the real story and was paying attention, but still bought the nonsensical story about adventurous dogs—when the real story was very serious and about family ties and drug addiction” (Barter, Jeff).This story confirms many of the episodes of disconnect that I have witnessed with Jane. My mentor teacher also told me that he believes that Jane enjoys herself in the classroom, especially during hands-on activities. He stated that she works well with others but almost never makes the decisions for the group. He told me that she is active in choir, but ponders whether it would be a challenge for her because of her low confidence and verbal abilities. He concluded with telling me that she seems to have become more outgoing this year, and as she communicates with him, he sees that she has a “wonderful sense of humor.” Lastly, he relayed the information that she still has no plans for next year, which he believes is likely due to education not taking priority at home. With this information from the special education teacher and my mentor, I was able to go ahead and address Jane with valuable background knowledge. While they confirmed hypotheses I had about Jane’s self esteem and confidence issues, I learned new information that was vital in my better understanding of her as a person and as a student.As the students finished writing their research papers, many students were at different places in the process. Because of this I was able to spend more time with those students who needed guidance. This was advantageous because while the other students were able to tie up their loose ends, I was able to sit down and work with the struggling students more closely. Jane was one of those students. When I was able to sit with her and conference about her paper. It was clear that she struggled with some of the basic things that most high school students who are reluctant writers struggle from. She was having a hard time getting her thoughts and research down onto paper in a way that was satisfactory to her. After questioning her it was clear that she didn’t take adequate notes in her annotated bibliography. I told her that the point of the annotated bibliography was to make the actual writing of the research paper easier. Also, that once they had researched their topics using four difference sources, they would have all of their information right in front of them on the annotated bibliography. This seemed to come as a surprise to her. Other students failed to utilize the annotated bibliography form, so she wasn’t alone in that, but even after talking about the document many times in class she still did not seem to understand the concept of it. Once she acknowledged the point of the annotated bibliography, she completed it. The next day I was able to sit down with her again. I asked her how her writing was going. She didn’t seem to be able to piece together the information in a cohesive and organized way. I realized this because her paper was disjointed and jumped around from idea to idea. The first thing I did to asses her understanding of how to organize her work was to go over a hand out that the students had received in the beginning of the unit. In the hand out there were multiple formulas and examples of ways to structure a research paper. I went over each of them with her and asked her which she felt would best fit her ideas and personal style. After choosing a model to follow she was visibly relieved and told me that she felt more comfortable with her course of action. At that point I left her to her work while I helped other students. I checked on her periodically and she told me that she did not need any help at that time. When she turned in her completed paper she seemed confident and proud of it. Her grade on the paper also reflected a good understanding of the writing and research process. I believe that I was successful in guiding Jane through her research and writing of the argumentative research paper. I believe that the one-on-one help I gave her was vital, in that she was able to ask me questions directly, I was able to ask her specific questions, and she did not feel the pressure of the class while doing it. It also helped her to have a visual guide (the structure layout) in front of her to help guide her. Through this I can tell that she is a much more visual than auditory learner. When I made the connection that Jane was likely more of a visual learner, I decided to give hand outs with direction, reminders, and tips during the next unit/project. Transitioning from argumentative research papers to a project on persuasive advertising and marketing techniques, I asked each student to fill out a sheet with their plan of action for their commercial. I was previously going to simply go around with a roster and write down the group names and their product idea, but I thought that adding something more concrete for them to focus on would aid their own reasoning and thought processes. This greatly benefited Jane. I gave directions orally, had them up on the board, and went over the written directions as a class. With the directions on the top of the page, Jane was able to reference them when she needed to. I frequently reminded students to reread the directions to make sure they were on track. That first day, I was able to make my way around the room to make sure that students were understanding the process and what they were supposed to do. Jane did well with this and did not need me to go over anything with her. As I mentioned in the steps above, this was a group project. I let most of the students choose their own groups. Like I suspected, Jane and her friend decided to work together. They did not initially want another group member but due to the numbers I was able to place a third student in their group. Upon observing them I could sense that Jane seemed comfortable. She was moderately talkative, yet visually engaged in their discussions. She even came up with the idea of their product and wrote down what they were planning to do on the hand out. Jane’s group was right on track with the rest of the class, and even a bit ahead. This might have been due to the other students she was working with, but through watching her involvement in their decision-making it was obvious that she played a critical role. There was a clear difference between Jane’s individual work and her group work. Her individual work was lacking in ways that her group work was not. I needed to help her by clarifying and monitoring her comprehension much more during her individual work. I did not need to do this as frequently during group work. This could potentially be due to her comfort level and ability to ask her group members questions. It could also be that simply listening to them talk and discussing the process with them made it easier for her to conceptualize the assignment and what she was supposed to do with it. I was able to carry out my plan in Step 3 for Jane quite well. I feel that I was able to better teach her by giving her more individualized attention and providing her with documents that aided my new hypotheses that she is more of a visual learner. I was able to work with her more closely and give her the attention that I believed she needed. Through clarification, repeated directions, and direct attention, Jane’s individual engagement was increased. As one of my goals, I believe I was able to better teach her in this way. My mentor teacher commented that she does not respond well to verbal directions, so this hypothesis turned out to be valid. Having visual aids, written directions, and one-on-one teacher-student time was helpful in not only gauging her comprehension and engagement, but in advancing her understanding and performance of the activities/projects at hand. Her ability to thrive in group work was in-line with my mentor’s information, but in contrast to his statement that she rarely makes the decisions, Jane was very important in the decision making process. This could be due to increased confidence and maturity, as well as increased comfort in the environment. It was clear that my goal of incorporating group work was successful and had the positive outcome that I was hoping for. My implementation for John was directly related to my own behavior. My hypotheses for John revolved around my belief that he was attention seeking, and so in order to test my hypotheses I was given the task of modifying my own behavior and reactions toward him. I followed my action plan very closely. The first thing I did to control the way I reacted to John was to reread parts of this case study either at the beginning of the day or before the class in which I had him. This gave me the ability to be goal oriented and deliberate in my actions. I began by limiting my eye contact with him. What made this especially difficult was the frequency of John’s questions. I was giving directions for an argumentative research paper, and John asked many questions. Many times his questions were relevant, such as “How many days will we have in the computer lab?” Or, “will we have this for homework or all in class?” I did not view these questions as distracting, yet John decided to ask those types of questions before I was done describing the assignment. In order to combat his urgency for answers I asked him to let me finish telling everyone about the assignment and he could ask me any remaining questions when I was done. Once I said this to him, he restrained himself, though was sarcastic in his tone when he responded, “Okay, great, Ms. Wilson!” I did not react to his sarcasm, but continued in my delivery of the assignment. From here, I limited my eye contact with him again. This seemed to be successful and he did not ask a question again until the end. I utilized minimal eye contact with him many times throughout the unit, and I had great success with it. Another thing to mention is the fact that out classroom was not used as frequently. We spent much time in the computer lab and having a computer in front of him with which he could focus some of his pent up energy was very advantageous for the rest of the class. The second thing I did, which I did not directly plan to do is Step 3, was to “kill him with kindness.” I was very conscious of how I reacted to him, and because he could tell that I became upset when he distracted the class, and myself, I decided to work on that. I began to laugh things off, ignore sarcastic comments, and smile and say hello to him in the hallway and at the beginning of class. I could tell that this was working because at the beginning of many classes he would greet me. While there was still reminisce of a sarcastic tone, he seemed visibly satisfied when I would greet him happily back. I believe that this was giving him needed attention that he craved. I was beginning to understand that he was feeding off of my negative energy, and when I emitted only positive energy he focused his attention elsewhere. It was not needed for me to take further steps such as sending him out into the hall. For one thing, we were in the computer lab, but his behavior did not become out of control like it was before. I believe this to be a direct result of my changed attitude towards him. I believe that he believes that I like and care about him. I do. This seems to have been a key component before. I did not see this before and so did not hypothesize about it in Step 2, but I believe that once he started to believe that I cared about him and was not constantly irritated or annoyed by his disruptive behavior, he stopped feeling the need to act out as much. He remains to be a very vocal student and still responds sarcastically to many situations and scenarios, but it is no longer mean spirited and as disruptive to the rest of the class. In order to keep John and his group focused, I took a part in choosing their groups. While I let most students choose their own groups, I felt that it would be best if I was strategic about who I placed with John. I wanted to increase John’s chances for “flow,” so I allowed him to be with his friend “Tim.” Tim is a very bright student and is one of the brightest in the class. Even though they fool around together, I believed that if they put their minds to it they would be able to challenge each other in a very productive way. I also placed a girl in their group who I felt would balance their personalities in that she was outgoing yet productive. This plan worked very well. While observing the other groups and reviewing all of their projects, it was evident that John’s group was challenging themselves appropriately. Furthermore, I put into action my plan to separate them from the group in order for them to stay focused. There are two sides to the library computer labs and I was fortunate in that I was able to send John’s group across the room. I was still able to monitor their work and behavior and they were able to work in a more secluded setting. Due to the outcome of their work and success of their project, my plan for John was successful. I was able to turn our teacher-student relationship from one of agitation to something more positive and productive, which made the rest of the class stay on track without being distracted, and I was able to challenge John by placing him with students that he could challenge, but better yet, that could challenge him. Lastly, I moved his group away from the rest of the class that allowed them to be more focused which aided them as well as the rest of the class. One of the things that I did not address in order to carry out my plan for John was calling his parents for more information. Because I had continued success with the beginning phases of my plan, it was not necessary for me to take more drastic measures. I found that changing my behavior enabled a change in John’s behavior. I purposely did not call his parents because I felt that calling them would send John and his parents the wrong message. I did not want them to know that I was studying John, and I did not want to alert them to a problem that I was finding ways to solve on my own. Furthermore, I was beginning to form a positive relationship with John and I felt that by calling his parents I would be putting that at risk. John seems to be a proud and confident person, and I did not want to damage what I have worked to build with him. While I could have gained valuable information from him regarding his behavior at home and the way that they deal with it, I thought that the collateral damage or repercussions of that call would outweigh the positives. One thing that is important to comment on in John’s case is the fact that the setting of our classroom will return to normal. We will no longer be spending as much time in the library. The aid of the computers played a role in limiting John’s disruptiveness, so I will need to closely monitor the difference that going back into a normal classroom will have. It may be that I will be required to resort to the more drastic methods that I described in Step 3, in which case moving his seat into the hall and calling his parents could be effective. I believe I was able to better teach both Jane and John as a direct result of this case study. I was able to focus on their individual needs as well as the resulting needs of their classmates. This experience was valuable in that I was able to focus on two students that I needed to teach better in order for them to be more successful in my classroom. It is important to realize that this method of study has benefited all of my students in ways that have been positive for their education. All of my students, not just the students in John’s and Jane’s class, will benefit from this experience because I believe that it has made me a more observant, tolerant, and patient teacher. I have seen improvements in Jane’s cognitive abilities and engagement because of the extra attention I have given her during individual work and the strategic way I constructed group projects. Likewise, I have see improvements in Johns appropriate engagement with not only me, but with the rest of the class, due to my changed methods of interacting with him. While I believe that both students will need continued efforts and attention, I am pleased that my efforts over the course of the case study were affective and resulted in positive outcomes. I was able to achieve my goal of increasing the specific areas of engagement for both students. ................
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