University of Puerto Rico in Humacao Department of English
Case study Rufino Vigo Elementary School
Practice Teaching Elementary English
Shirlenne Peralta Benabe 842-07-6270
Dr. Nilsa Lugo Practice Supervisor
Table of Contents I.
Demographic Data ................................................................................................ 2
II.
Justification ............................................................................................................ 3
III.
Hypothetical Account ........................................................................................... 4
IV.
Work Plan 1 ............................................................................................................ 5
V.
Analysis of Student’s Situation .............................................................................. 6
VI.
Work Plan 2............................................................................................................ 7
VII. Final Reactions ...................................................................................................... 7
Part1 Demographic Data
The name of the student I chose for my case study was Alex Casanova, but I changed it very last minute and decided to choose Hector Rivera Ocasio. Hector is an eight year old boy who was born on March 1, 2006 in Humacao. He is in third grade in the first group (3-1). His favorite thing to do is ride bike and swim in pools. His favorite classes are English and Math. He likes to watch movies and cartoons. His favorite Sport is baseball and he belongs to a baseball team club as an extracurricular activity. Hector comes to school walking and he lives in a residential called Jardines de Oriente. Hector has two brothers. This student does not live with his father but his name is Johnny Rivera Audiffred. His mother is named Elizabeth Ocasio Gonzalez and she studied until the 12th grade and was studying Computer. She did not specify if she is working. She says she knows a little bit of English, and that her son Hector has difficulties reading, speaking and writing English.
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Justification
Choosing a student for my case study was not an easy task because the many cases that I could choose from. I chose Hector as my case study student because he has been giving me a hard time since the moment I stepped in front of the class and it has not improved. Hector
interrupts the class or demands my attention in the midst of my giving instructions. He makes it difficult for me to give the class because of this. When I look at Hector, I see that he can do better than he thinks. I don’t want to make this seem the wrong way and sound stereotypical, but sometimes you know when a child is from a residential because of the way they walk and talk. My instincts were right. Hector is part of the majority of students in my class that live in a residential. Maybe he is letting this stereotype determine his type of behavior. The third week of me being in the classroom, Hector’s behavior worsened. According to Gina, who has known him since kindergarten, Hector has always been hyper, but he always did his work and got good grades. Hector is currently not doing his assignments and not finishing his class work. I feel like if I can control Hector’s impulses and behavior in the classroom, the whole class will benefit because they will have less distractions and one less acting up role model to follow. I see I would like Hector to open up a bit more and act more like him and less like the rest. I would like to help Hector reach his full potential and do better in class; attitude wise and academically. Hector has a leadership potential and by modifying his behavior, he can develop his leadership to assist his classmates, reach greater things, and better grades.
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Hypothetical Account
Hector sits in the front of the class in the first row and third seat and is always talking back to me or talking and fighting with the child that sits next to him. Hector hasn’t been
writing in class either. He challenges authority and seems to care less when you call him out. Hector plays around in class and likes to play rough as in hitting his classmates. He interrupts the class a lot and does not finish his work in class or at home.
Hector to me seems like a smart child who is dealing with other problems that we are unaware of, most probably in his house. Hector was misbehaving so much in class that Thursday September 4, 2014, with Ms. Gina’s approval, I sent a behavior report to his mother. The mother came by today, Friday September 5, 2014 at first period in Gina’s capacitation hour. I was the one to greet her outside and speak to her at first because she came a few minutes before the bell rang and asked for the English teacher. When she told me she was Hector’s mom I introduced myself as the practice teacher and told her that I had sent the note. She told me she did not know what else to do with him and that he does not listen to her either. She told me that she was in depression because of him and that she was visiting a psychologist and so was Hector.
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Work Plan 1
Weeks
Date
Activity
Purpose
First Week
Thursday September 4, 2014
Send note to mother for behavioral report
To let the parent know her child’s conduct in the English classroom
First Week
Friday September 5, 2015
Meeting with the mother.
To verify her child’s conduct and explain her situation
Second Week
Monday September 8, 2014
Interview Hector
To know more about why he behaves this way. Try to motivate him to behave better.
Second Week
Tuesday September 9,2014
Speak with his homeroom teacher
Ask how Hector is doing in other classes.
Second Week
Thursday September 11, 2014
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Retrieve Hector’s Diagnostic Test
See if Hectors results match with his performance in class
Persons Involved
Mother
Mother, Ms. Gina
Comments
Signed the document as read.
Mother is overwhelmed and going to the psychiatrist with her son. She has two Special Education sons as well. Lately, Hector has been misbehaving more
Ms. Gina Hernandez
Homeroom Teacher
Ms. Gina
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Part 2 Analysis of Student’s Situation Concerning my initial hypothesis, Hector’s behavior were more justifiable after I spoke with his mother and she mentioned his conditions. Hector’s behavior has to do a lot with his conditions and not necessarily because he wants to behave badly. Hector’s mom had told me this in my interview with her. She showed me Hector’s test results given by his psychiatrist. Some of Hector’s conditions mentioned in that document were that he has ADHD and emotional disturbance. His mom told me that the psychiatrist said that no matter how hard Hector tried to behave well, he wasn’t going to be able to because of his conditions. Although I am not a specialist in human’s conduct, I disagree with this. I believe that it is best not to label something as irreparable. Maybe it is harder for Hector to behave well, but it is not impossible.
In my initial hypothesis, I mentioned that Hector was not doing his work in class or writing. After speaking with his homeroom teacher, I learned that Hector had the exact same attitude when it came to conduct, but that he was responsible with his work and sis well in class. In the classroom, I noticed that Hector’s behavior was worst when he was around his male friends. The chances that he was not doing his work in class could also be that he was being influenced or that since I was a new teacher to him, he was being resistant. Form my work plan I had written that I was going to interview Hector, but I didn’t. At least not in a formal way with interview questions. I didn’t think it was the best way to go because I didn’t want to bring any more attention to his conduct in that matter or way. He already thinks that he can’t change his way of behaving because this was said before him, and he probably gets interviewed enough in therapy and with his psychiatrist, so I decided to just observe and see what I could do to help him. CASE STUDY
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Work Plan 2 Weeks
Date
Activity
Purpose
Persons Involved
Sixth week
October, 2014
Not directly call him out when he misbehaves. Call him out when he behaves well or answers in class.
To reinforce good behavior
N/A
Sixth week
October, 2014
Encourage his participation in class.
To engage him in learning and increase his leadership skills
N/A
Seventh week
October, 2014
Change Hector’s seating arrangement.
To help him focus more in class.
Comments
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Ms. Gina
Part 3 Final Reactions I have to say, I was very afraid to choose Hector as my case study students because he was one of the most challenging students in the classroom. When I was choosing my students, I wanted to look for more options, and I did, but I was convinced to choose Hector and I wouldn’t change my decision. Hector is a very spontaneous child and every morning, when my students are waiting outside to come in, Hector grabs me and squeezes me with a hug. He is a really sweet child and all he needs is persons that can manage his personality and bring out his best.
In efforts to help Hector behave in class, the first thing I did was ignore as much as possible every time he was acting up in class or acting silly to call attention as long as he wasn’t disturbing the class or hindering others to learn. In my work plan, I also had intended to change CASE STUDY
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Hector’s seat. This was done various times, unsuccessfully. Since there are five boys in the classroom, and I had to separate all of them as well, I distributed them all around the classroom. It was only when I placed Hector between two girls, that he became more peaceful. At first, he fought not to sit in that chair and when he finally did, he started picking on the girls. The teasing lasted for a few minutes only and after that Hector has been much more at ease and is now working very well in class.
On the first test I gave, hector did not do well. After that one, Hector has improved a lot and he has an A in class. It was an amazing to see Hector’s performance in class, especially the day I had my second evaluation. Hector had his arm up the entire time to answer and was working really good in class. He really impressed me that day. Not every day has been this way. Hector has his ups and downs. I remember about two week prior to that moment, Hector was misbehaving like I never saw him before. I spoke with his homeroom teacher and she told me he has been behaving this way in her classroom too. The next day, Hector’s mom was in my classroom. She had told me that she had a problem submitting some documents and as a result, Hector has been a couple of weeks without his medicines and he wasn’t going to have them until the end of the week. The next week I did see a difference in his behavior.
Hector is a really talented student. He plays baseball and is passionate about it. He is very smart too. On one of the days I was not in the classroom due to an orientation the the Uprh, I left my students to present their Puerto Rico magazines in an oral presentation. The next day when I asked Gina how it all went, she expressed on how impressed she was that Hector did such an excellent job. She told me that he was speaking in a good volume and that he read in English well too. My recommendations to anyone helping Hector would be focus on his strengths and not weaknesses.
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Appendix (Interview form has not been attached due to privacy)
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