Teaching+Cases

In preparation for becoming a full-time educator my professors feel that it is important for me to study situations of other educators. Presented on this page will be a series of situations and my responses to the questions posed by the professor in their regards. My responses and thought are part of a classroom effort to this end. The full class responses can be found at ed341.wikispaces.com under the subpage called "V. Teaching Cases."

//1. Jaques and Alex//
//Narrative: Jacques was a senior in my 4th period chemistry course. He kept up with his work and was doing a pretty good job in class. On the weekend that fell 2 months before graduation, Jacques had the misfortune of getting into a fight and ended up being beaten so badly that he was hospitalized for 3 weeks time. He was in critical condition and was placed on a respirator. Needless to say, the least of Jacques worries was chemistry. As it turns out, one of the students who beat Jacques was a student named Alex in my period 4 Chemistry class. The same class! When Jacques returned to school to meet with me and to get "missing work", charges were filed against Alex and as a result, a restraining order was placed on Alex. I was ordered by our building police officer not to allow Alex in the chemistry room for the rest of the year. And, I was ordered by Jacques doctor to allow him to miss the remainder of the year because he would be undergoing reconstructive maxilofacial surgery. Both of these students have the right to receive an education even though they can not physically be in my chemistry classroom. That means they are held to the same standards, yet the conditions for their learning are much different than "typical".

Question: How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?//

The ideas presented by AJ are very good. I would have to say that I agree with the ideas presented by her. There are a few things that might be already in place for such extreme situations. In most high schools there are chapters of the National Honours Society. One of the great things about this group is their need and desire to reach out to others that might be struggling and assist them in their academics. This would be useful in classes where extra credit s not offered, like the class that I am observing in. Another item would be to audio record the lessons, adding emphasis on pages covered to help both Alex and Jacques to follow along better. The biggest problem in this situation is that a class such as chemistry is one where the class is designed for hands on learning and it is quite difficult, especially when recovering from sergury, to be able to do the things required. If these young men want to do it they will. It is important to sit with each and explain the expectations before the work begins.

//2. Andrew//
//Narrative:// On the first day of my 6th period chemistry class one of our school counselors //Bruce// entered my class with //Andrew// (student) his advocate //Jeff// and his mom //Sally//. I said //"hello"// to Andrew and noticed right away glazed-over eyes. Andrew couldn't hear me. He was listening to music from his ipod. Bruce began explaining //"Andrew has Schizophrenia and is taking psychosomatic "meds" for treatment.//" His mom chimed in //"As you might have noticed, he is under medication as we speak".// I held out my hand to Andrew and said //"welcome to chemistry"//. Andrew kind of smiled and looked down. Bruce then spoke //"Here is Andrew's IEP (individualized educaion plan)." "There will need to be major modifications made so that Andrew can be successful."// Sally said "Andrew might miss you class for weeks or months at a time. It all depends on his meds." //"One thing that helps him cope is his music.//" Bruce and Sally left the room and Jeff commented //"I'll come by after school to discuss further".// Andrew went over to a desk in the back of the room, sat down, looked blankly at the front of the room. He turned his music up - I could hear it from the front of the room. Shortly thereafter, Andrew had his head on his desk with his eyes closed, a hoodie pulled over his head. He stayed that way until the end of class. The next day of class, Andrew's mom called and explained that Andrew would not be in class for at least the next two weeks and requested that I provide the next two weeks of lessons that he would miss.

//Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?

This situation does pose many interesting items that need to be discussed. One of the major points that seems to be discussed is the order in which things are happening with regard to this placing. Is it not customary for the teacher to sit down with the advocate, the councelor, the student, and the parents to make certain that all accomodations have been met? As a teacher in this situation I would have spoken to the mother and the councelor the day that Andrew was placed in the class and requested a meeting to discuss his future in the class. The involvement of the parent is encouraging. By her requesting the assignments and being willing to work with her son in this regard. I would look into the development of PodCasts for Andrew so that while he was listening to his music he would also have available to him the ability to put the technology to work. In concert with this would work well a general class web site to help any and all students that were absent be able to have access to the entire content so that all might succeed.

//3. Dianna//
//Narrative:// Diana from Brazil not speak English. She entered my chemistry class 2 weeks after it started. She was a very successful student in Brazil, and her parents have met with me regarding their expectations that she do well in chemistry. The text used in chemistry is in english, as are all of my resources.

//Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?

This is an interesting situation and, actually, one that I hope to be in one day. The ability to adapt to a new language and culture is a great challenge that all people should experience. I know from my own efforts to learn a new language that the path can be hard and frustrating. The more resources that are made available in the work, the easier it will go. To this end there are many resources available at libraries and on the internet to facilitate the learning or translation of languages. Before diving into these resources, however, I would take a few steps as preparation. I would make certain that all of my class discussions and notes were prepared in type before the week began. It is far easier to learn with a written word than it is with a spoken language. By providing the notes in written format for Dianna (and possibly a translation into Portuguese), she will be able to review them on her own time and during any language learning courses of study that she has. The schools are designed with resources to help with the language aquisition and adaptation skills that students will need. I would look into those resources. At a more personal note, In just this area of Cheney I know three individuals that speak Portuguese, and they are always trying to use their language whenever they have the chance. I know that with my own second language that I take every opportunity to use it and speak to the dozen people in the county that can understand what I am saying. Finding local people or groups that can provide assistance will be great. It has been suggested by others that Dianna's parents might be able to provide translationary services to help their daughter, but I would not count on this. While they may have conversationary skills with English there are many words and phrases that are specific to each discipline in the academic world that are not part of normal conversation, specialists are needed for such work. I would encourage them to set time each day for the speaking of English only in their home as a way of speeding the process along of learning English. As they attempt to speak at home for two hours a day they will come to see the words that they need to learn and will then be better prepared with questions to ask.

//4. Gabriel//
//Narrative:// Gabriel was a student of mine who was taking one of my online AP Physics courses from the University of California College Prep. (UCCP), Santa Cruz. As per the accreditation for online science courses, it was mandated that the laboratory component be "physical", whereby students manipulated "real" equipment to study physics-related concepts. The students that I would have in the online AP Physics courses would be from all over the country and, in some cases, international. In fact, one of the reasons some of these learners were form all over the country and international was that many had exceptional talents above and beyond the AP Physics courseroom. For example, one learner was training to compete in the winter Olympics as a figure skater, while another was a world renowned pianist. Some students attended schools that did not offer an AP Physics course. And ever since a 1999 [|class-action equal access suit filed] against the state of California, students are to be guaranteed the right to access college-prep or AP courses, even if their school does not offer such courses. If their school does not provide such programs, it is the district's and/or state's responsibility to provide such opportnunities. Hence, online AP Physics. Now keep in mind the earlier statement that the labs for these courses were to be "physical". This meant that the school that the students attended was to have a mentor to ovversee the proper use, set-up, and safety of the physics lab equipment. Even if the school did not have the equipment, the mentor was expected to get creative and utilize similar supplies such that the lab could be performed. And get creative we did!

OK, so Gabriel attended a school that lacked "common" science lab equipment (e.g., voltmeters, ring stands, circuit kits, and so forth). And, he was to complete the AP Physics "physical" labs prescribed for the course. I received a call from Gabe's mentor regarding how the labs were to be completed without the necessary equipment. In essence the majority of the labs could not be completed because the host school did not have the requisite equipment. Technically, Gabe's hosting school (someone other than the Mentor) signed that they had access to all of the necessary equipment, so Gabe was enrolled with UCCP. And, Gabe enrolled 2 weeks after the course began.

//Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation? What should I tell the mentor?

The first thing that I would do is address the mentor. I understand that it was not the mentor that signed the paper stating that the equipment would be available, but the records should still be around. The person that signed the paper should be contacted so that the promised equipment could be gathered. Knowing that this might be a dead end, I would ask the mentor to assemble a list of supplies on hand or at the disposal at the school/facility and send it over in an email. As stated in the narrative there are often ways to make other equipment work so that the tasks can be completed to a satisfactory level. With a list of the items that are ready it would be far easier to figure out what can be done. For a person or group of people to sit around and dwell on the things that are not there or the things that cannot be done, little is ever done to move forward. An approach of success needs to be taken to make certain that this is possible to accomplish the work that is needed.

Since Gabriel is enrolled in this course through a state university/college program I would look into the availabilty of state college room time and proximity to use lab equipment that is otherwise sitting dormant. With the continued success of the Running Start programs across the country Gabriel's home school should have some sort of contact and relation with the local community college or university. Arrangements should be made to use their facilities. I know that the internet has many different simulators that can be used to do math and science (my favorite for physics is [|at this site] and it is great) but when the requirement is to have the hands-on experience, then a computer simulation just will not be sufficient to the cause. Beyond these few things I do not see much more that could be done to finish the work.

//**5. Mike**//
Narrative: Mike is a student in Precalculus with a 504 plan. He is an energetic young man that has a small problem paying attention but he can do the work great once he settles into it. Due to a few days of split attention Mike fell behind in his assignments and lost the flow of the class material. He felt that there was nothing that could be done about his grade for the quarter and has determined that he would wait until the grades reset before putting forth the effort to make an improvement. Mike's parents have been informed of the situation but they are limited on their ability to assist in motivating him. When Mike was informed that the grades would not reset at the quarter but at the semester he became even more limited in his efforts. The new quarter has now started and Mike's efforts have not improved and if they continue to fall like this he will not be prepared when the new semester comes around.

Question: What should be done to encourage Mike in his learning to help him prepare for the materials ahead?

Response: While this issue is still in the process of being resolved I do believe that I am on the right path. Mike seems to need a little extra encouragement. Over the last two weeks I have been calling on him and encouraging the class to help out when he (or any other student) is stuck on an answer. I am pointing out places where he is doing exceptionally well and finding extra opportunities for him to participate. I make certain that he is working on the math class' materials while he is in the room and not on another subject. He is now starting to add extra insights into the class discussion and is coming before school for extra assistance. It is a great thing to see and I am very hopeful for the future.