One step forward... two steps back...

Mike had really started to make progress academically and then we started a new unit and it was right back to how he was before. His social skills have also seemed to be going downhill as well. He has REALLY been zoning out these days – completely detached from any academic instruction and kind of standing back at recess. He still talks to the other students in the class but he will randomly start talking about another subject that the students were not talking about. When asked a question, he answers the question as though he knows the answer even though he is no where even close to the right answer. Usually his answer is on the same topic but it might be about something completely different from what we are talking about at that exact moment. The strategies that we have been using are still working somewhat but his inability to retain any information that was previously learned is becoming more of a problem.

We have been timing him in class and like I said earlier… sometimes he can accomplish the task and he is very happy and so are we but there are times that he cannot complete the task in the allotted time and he becomes very frustrated and defeated. The instances where he is completing the task in the allotted time have decreased and his frustration level has gone up a lot. He has also been lashing out against students recently. If someone says something to him that he does not like, his reactions escalate at an unnecessary rate and can sometimes end up yelling.

I really think that his behavior issues are the cause of his academic issues and something seems to be going on recently that has really changed his emotional state. His parents insist that nothing at home has changed and he rarely talks about his feelings. However, even when you can get him to talk about his feelings, he talks about a lot of nonsense and he rambles on. We are currently trying to get him to see the guidance counselor about his emotional issues and he has been recently tested for SST to qualify him for a learning disability so I guess we’ll see what that turns up but any ideas about what might be contributing to his recent behavior??

March Reading

While reading this article, it got me thinking about some of the students in my class. I tried to think of a student in my current class that would remind me – even just in the slightest – of anyone in my class and surprisingly… it didn’t. The students in my class do not have many behavioral or learning difficulties. There are four that I can think of out of my class of 27 that have severe learning disabilities that would require outside help or a lot of teacher attention. Only one of those has severe behavioral issues, the others truly try in class and their behavior is easily corrected with a teacher giving instructions to them.

I almost feel at a disadvantage that my class is so “good” and well behaved. Anna, I know your class is a bit… well… troubled… and I think I might go crazy with that class but at the same time, you have these amazing experiences where you get to see these behavior problems that you’re going to see later on in your teaching career and you have this experienced teacher that you get to observe handle these situations in the classroom. I think you’re going to be really prepared in the future for these students that you’re going to see. In my future, every student that does not want to read or complete their work, asking them to sit down and get focused is NOT always going to work.

This reading has a lot of great strategies and examples for teachers to read about. And reading about them is great, but I think I could get more out of them by having examples of them in my classroom and being able to apply these strategies from the readings in the classroom. However, I also don’t know how I would handle your class Anna where you see these students… and can apply these strategies… ugh.

Lets focus on Mike

So my case study student, let’s call him Mike, is a pretty interesting. He is not only struggling in academics but his behavior in class is odd. Mike will sit in class with this blank look on his face… like there’s no one home and then when you ask him to repeat directions, surprisingly, he can’t do it. In addition, Mike has this tick. You know when you’re hand is in your face and you shake your head to the side to get it out of your face?? That’s what he will do repetitively… however, he doesn’t seem to notice the tick and we’re not entirely sure what sets the tick off. Sometimes he’ll just be sitting in class and working on math problems or reading a book, sometimes he’ll be talking to the teacher and sometimes he’ll just be talking to friends. In addition to the tick, when he is writing (ignoring how bad his handwriting is) he’ll go over some random letters – almost like he is trying to put them in bold print – and they’re all over his paper. Any thoughts on what might be going on there??

We’ve tried a number of strategies with Mike so far, we’ve tried timing tasks for him to keep him focused on his work which works sometimes – he’ll get his work done and we’re all satisfied – however, when he cannot complete the task in the allotted time, he becomes incredibly frustrated and while he does not shut down and he does eventually move one, he seems very defeated in that moment. WE have also set up for him to receive tutoring at a local church which has done wonders for his homework! Not only is all of his homework completed on time, but he can explain what he did to get his answers and seems to understand that concept. However, while it is good that he can do his homework, he still does not participate in class and does not complete his class work and often misses out on new concepts that are being introduced. We have also begun sending him to the homework help in the morning, giving him check lists to complete tasks in addition to giving him one on one attention. He responds to these interventions at the time that they are given but he quickly forgets what was talked about during those times, the concepts that were gone over, and the sometimes even what we did during those times at all. He goes right back to zoning out and staring blankly off into space. Again… any thoughts on what to do to try and get Mike to focus and possibly even retain information??