Practice Teaching: Case Study
I- Demographic Information The following case study is taking place in the S.U. Pedro Rivera Molina at Juncos, P.R. The selection of this case was not an easy one, but finally I went back to my previous observations and decided that Lucky Star would be my case study. Lucky Star was born in January 5, 2009 and she is six years old. She is enrolled at the S.U. Pedro Rivera Molina School where she attends the first grade, section 2. Lucky Star’s group has been labeled as the slowest first graders, besides having behavioral issues. Her home teacher is Mrs. Yamilis Solis. Her mother’s name is Norma Maldonado and in the information provided she did not mentioned any academic preparation or occupation. Currently, Lucky Star’s father is not present in the students life, therefore I have no background information of him. She lives in B.O. Valenciano, Juncos P.R with her mom and six siblings. The student is fluent in English because it’s her first language, but unfortunately her least favorite class is English. Her favorite class is Spanish which is not her first language, but still she puts a lot of effort in it. Her favorite thing to do in the English class is to write even though she enjoys performing other skills as well like speaking, listening and more. Lucky Star demonstrates great capacity in many skills and abilities such as sports, languages and arts. She loves to play with her friends Peach and Pink. The student also loves to study and everything that has to do with arts and crafts. II- Justification Choosing this student as my case study has to do with her outstanding performance in the English class but also with her shyness and unsecure personality in the same. The intrigue of knowing why she is lacking confidence in the class awakens the fibers of my skin and the Miss. Clemente
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
neurons of my brain. This student always completes the task correctly, neatly and beautifully. She had a perfect score in the very first test I gave her and has continue to receive the same grade in everything she does. Lucky Star is a very independent student. Once the instructions are given she works perfectly well by herself. But, when I speak to her directly I feel she perceives intimidation and not a compliment for her work. She always brings her materials and she doesn’t know how to say no to others letting them take advantage of her. Lucky Star should be in a group that is more challenging because the group she is in is not prepared to be in the first grade even though she is and some of her peers. As a result the student stays at the same level and gets bored or does not grow in other areas that she can be dominating right now. Her peers are setting her back not only intellectually but emotionally because of their level of competence, understanding and behavior. Therefore I want Lucky Star to step out of her shell and start showing all her colors proudly. I want her to grow with more confidence so she can develop healthy social skills and succeed not only in English, but all the other subjects as well. I want to challenge her into doing more than what the class offers because she has the capacity to do so and I have to help her believe it. III-
Hypothetical Account
Lucky Star is a very quiet student. Literally I don’t feel her in the class unless I ask a question which she answers correctly mostly all of the time. I notice that even though she knows what she has to do, her lack of confidence sets her back. I don’t really have to check on her work, but since she notices how all her peers are always making mistakes or asking the same thing continuously she doubts of her own capacity and cannot see that her level is Miss. Clemente
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
above all of them. I believe that she has a good base at home because of her discipline and diligence, but still, she has not been engaged into challenging activities either in class or extracurricular. IV- Work Plan 1 Lucky Stars’s home teacher says that she really knows how to follow directions and that even though her Spanish has a different accent she manages to take ownership of the language. Mrs. Solis also told me that she has an A on the first and only test they have received in Spanish class. Regarding the other subjects the student completes her tasks successfully and without any supervision. The teacher is concerned as me of her insecurity which can lead to deviating her attention and progress towards her success academically and personally. This student is very compassionate and loves to share, but she is usually taken advantage of. What I want to reach is her hidden leadership so she can flourish and succeed. This student needs to understand that she has the capacity to do more even in her short age, so I want to awaken some endorphins in this bright little girl and see what comes out of that shell. Exposing her to other atmospheres and activities can help her start defining who she is and what she wants to do as she grows up. Month
Activity
September
Reading and Listening
Practice phonics; acquire new vocabulary and understanding of the same. Listening skills will also be measured.
Teacher Candidate and Student
October
Reading, Speaking
Combine the three skills and help her develop her very original
Teacher Candidate
Miss. Clemente
Purpose
Persons Involved
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
and Writing
November
December
Orientation of EcoSTEAM and Tutorial
The student will choose
story in order to present in front of the class Engage the student into a new extracurricular activity where she can optimize her knowledge in something more challenging even for her age. Develop leadership, creativity, practice diversity and see her transformation.
Gretchen Guzmán (Foundress of the Program) and Teacher Candidate
Mother and Teacher candidate
(I would suggest a dancing activity because she loves to dance)
V- Analysis of Students Situation After getting to know Lucky Star better and having different experiences with her I can be certain that she is a shy student, but not completely. Her shyness was more noticeable at the beginning of my teaching experience because it was about trust. As I gained students trust, her participation and security in class was constant and aggressive. She was always very eager to answer every question and all her activities were developed to the highest level of creativity and understanding of the topic given. Lucky Star has a higher understanding of the language above most of her peers. But, even though she is a bright student, she is at the right level and in the right group. Although the second group has been labeled as the worst, I would say is the best first grade group. In that group she is able to demonstrate her capacity and even help her peers with what they don’t understand. She has demonstrate that she is a natural leader. The student’s deficiency is Miss. Clemente
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
noticeable when sometimes without examples a concept (already discussed) is asked of her, but that is part of the level and it will get better with time. Towards challenging and extracurricular activities I may have confused her brightness with her interest. Even though this student has the capacity to do more, her interest is still growing and under development. She is inclined to everything that comes at her and she performs it well, so this means that she is discovering herself and what she likes to do best, even if it’s everything. There is also another factor that contributes to the lack of participation in extracurricular activities and that is her family. Since she has six siblings her mother has no spare time for her to participate in other activities. Some of Lucky Star’s brothers are in sports and her mother is always on the run. Even though every teacher has explained how good she is in everything she does, her mother tries to involve her in other areas, but it seems impossible and not only because of time, but money as well. The mother is under protection in Puerto Rico, so there is no one here to help her with all her children which is another factor. The student has become independent and her siblings are the ones that check her notebooks helping her with assignment if it’s required. VI- Work Plan 2 Because of the student’s location, I have made arrangements for her mother to experiment at the Esc. Municipal de Bellas Artes Angel L. Díaz Lebrón which is free and has different schedules and programs where the student can participate and develop some of her skills to a higher level. Even though time is not always in favor for this family, her mother has considered
Miss. Clemente
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
making time to enhance her daughter’s abilities. I will be monitoring the student’s participation (if any) in the school of arts. I have asked my cooperating teacher to engage the student into more leadership activities like helping her peers when her work is done and helping the teacher as well with materials and class. This student has a great level of understanding of the language and she reads a little, so more phonics and reading will be integrated to the class next semester.
Month
Activity
Purpose
Person Involved
December
Final Christmas Activity (helping with preparations, decorations and directing the chorus)
Use student’s creativity, and enhance her leadership.
Miss. Clemente Mrs. Solis Mrs. Torres
January
Select a Workshop from the School of Arts
Engage student into extracurricular activities and help her develop her abilities and talents
Teachers (School of Arts) Miss. Clemente
February
Reading and Listening
Practice phonics; acquire new vocabulary and understanding of the same. Listening skills will also be measured.
Cooperating Teacher
March
Reading and Speaking
Practice phonics and recognize the combination of letters (words) Expand her ability to think critically through questions when reading.
Cooperating Teacher
Expand her knowledge in the scientific area with challenging yet fun
Miss. Clemente
Critical Thinking (appropriate level)
April
Miss. Clemente
C3TEC Visit
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
experiences
VII-
Final Reaction
During the semester, the work plan that was created wasn’t fully met. A lot of activities changed because of different factors such as health, time, ideas, curricular maps, pacing calendar and more. Home Visits were constantly changed or canceled from the mother’s behalf and some when I got ill. They were also canceled and requested to be in school (school Visits) after the case study’s brother try to embrace a type of relationship with me. It was important to maintain distance, awareness, precaution and most of all professionalism. The mother felt upset because of the reaction and actions taken I took with the previous situation, but still, communication was present through text messages, exporadical and informal meetings. During the entire semester I dedicated my break hour not only to prepare material for the class, but to share time with my case study and some of her peers. I also sat with her and some of her peers in the classroom while I read to them and asked them questions while listening to their experiences and explanations. Letting them read helped me understand at what level of phonemic awareness they are. Lucky Star, seem to be on the right track even though there is a lot of ground to cover with all of them including her (despite her advantage of the language). When preparing material, or distribution of material for class (projector, exercise, handouts, etc.), Lucky Star was one of the students I would select to help me. She was always at the disposition of helping others. She demonstrated to be a natural leader. When students did assessments or exercise she usually help her peers complete their task. In one of the lessons there was a debate where students were divided into groups and each group had a buzzer. She was the leader of her group Miss. Clemente
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
naturally, not selected by me. When they didn’t know the answer she was always consulting and answering to help them. The activities of October were not entirely met because she couldn’t create her own story to present in class but in a lesson they did create a Friendship Picture Dictionary where she got to share her sentences based on the given words in front of the entire class. The orientation of the Eco-STEM tutorial (November) was met successfully. The student got to see what a 3D printer is and how it works. She also got to create her own rocket and launch it with higher level students. The student designed a flower which was later digitalized and printed out, so she could see the product of her idea. A mechanical hand (simulating a robotic hand) was created by the student with the help of others.
Lucky Stars didn’t understand the scientific concepts that were
explained even though it was simplified by another student that was helping me, but she surely enjoyed it and knew what was happening. Because of time limitations and cancelation of appointments, Lucky Star missed her opportunity for this semester to enter a workshop at the school of arts, but she will try for the next semester in order to involve her into more extracurricular activities so that energy is canalized correctly. During the semester other ideas like participating of the C3TEC in Caguas came along, but after explaining to the mother that every expense was covered she canceled several times and the activity was not possible, at least with my case study. I convince the mother to let her participate in the field trip I was arranging for the group in order to work on sequence of events and of course have fun through learning. It was a pleasure having Lucky Star
Miss. Clemente
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
as a Case Study, because not everything is what it seems and I learned a lot with her in this process. VIII- Appendix Pictures……………………………………………………………. A-B Design………………………………………………….……………C Student’s Profile (Questionnaire)……………………………………..D Student’s Teacher Evaluation of the Class………………………… E
Miss. Clemente
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Practice Teaching: Case Study
One of the participants of Eco-Steam was explaining to Lucky Star about the 3D Printer Pieces and how they were made.
Lucky Star using the 3D printer pieces to play and build. Embracing Creativity
Preparing herself to launch the rocket! Interacting with higher level students
Miss. Clemente
Designing a flower to digitalize (using the Sketchup Program) and send to the 3D printer. Creating a mechanical hand (simulates Page 10 a robotic hand) Message from her mother after the activity
Practice Teaching: Case Study
The student having fun at the field trip and working on her Friendship Picture Dictionary and Poster (Diversity)
Debates in class and the student as a leader of the group (in that debate)
Reading at noon and helping me prepare materials for class
Miss. Clemente
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