Saturday, February 16, 2013
What do you think? Noelle Reardon
What do you think?
Lupita: I really don’t understand why Mrs. Potter think Lupita is lacking academically. If Mrs. Potter’s reason for her lack of knowledge is due to Lupita being quiet in class and rarely interacting with other students I think that’s absurd. You can’t expect a child to adjust and do things she is not use to just because she changes environment. As we read in one of the readings how it is sometimes helpful to give students opportunities to show their knowledge in a variety of ways. Maybe Mrs. Potter could give the students an assignment where they have to make something or draw a picture. Lupita demonstrated her knowledge of figure out how a puzzle fits together and was able to help other students. Maybe it would be helpful for her to have more hands on activities. One way doesn’t work for every student and I think that is something we should keep in mind as future teachers. It’s hard for me to say exactly what she should do because the article gives very little information.
Jonathan: From the reading we discussed in class how it is beneficial for students to have directions on the board. It is helpful for students to know what to expect next. I think this would be helpful for Jonathan and for other students as well. When the students are confused they can refer back to the board. I think she should do a reading assessment with Jonathan that evaluates his knowledge in phonetics, phonemes, comprehension, etc.. The sooner Mrs. Potter finds out why Jonathan is struggling the sooner she can help him.
Eddie: I think Eddie would learn best with hands on activities or activities that involve movement. In the article it mentions how he will ask to go to the bathroom often, has trouble sitting, and doesn’t get his work done. If he can do activities that keeps his body moving the more likely he will stay on task. He probably challenging for him to finish assignments because he is forced to sit in a seat and not move. I think she could asses Eddie’s knowledge by having him draw pictures, make a project, or even act out plays would be beneficial. He is missing out on important information when he is constantly leaving the class or is zoning out. I think it would also be helpful for Eddie if Mrs. Potter to make lessons relevant to his life or give real life examples. As we talked about in a numerous readings that when a topic is relevant to a students life the students are much more likely to be interested and remember the material.
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I think Noelle makes a really great point about Lupita. As in Lenski's article "Assessing English-language learners in mainstream classrooms," teachers, such as Mrs. Potter, need to make assignments more accessible for English language learners as well as hold them to a high standard. Perhaps after Mrs. Porter implements strategies that may help English Language Learners in her classroom, and Lupita is still struggling, she may have reason to suspect that extra support is needed. From the information given, there is absolutely not enough to suspect a disability.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Noelle's suggestion of having Jonathon tested in areas of Phonics, Phonemes, and Comprehension. If Jonathon is showing low engagement and low confidence, it might be a good idea for Mrs. Porter to set up times to work with him one-on-one to assess his reading abilities and like/dislikes.
Eddie's case sounded very similar to the Marcus' case in this week's readings. Like Eddie, Marcus was having a difficult time sitting still. His active imagination and extensive vocabulary were developing far quicker than his fine motor skills, which kept him from completing much of his work. I think that Mrs. Porter can make adaptions to her classroom, as Noelle suggests, by using relevant curriculum, hands on projects, etc. If Eddie continues to struggle even with added supports, she could consider getting him tested for ADHD.
I found this article very interesting and Noelle's first paragraph really hits home for me. Lupita was a quiet learner. So she barely interacted with her classmates, and she wasn't always an active participant in class- that does not mean she was "lacking in knowledge." I, myself, was and still am similar to Lupita. Social situations make me uncomfortable. I do not enjoy being called on in class, or raising my hand to offer my opinion and depending on who I am working with I can sometimes feel intimidated by small group work. However, this does not mean I do not understand the material. Growing up, teachers always used to question if I was learning- I can assure you I was because when they would provide one of their little "I'm going to call on her even though she's not raising her hand to see if she's paying attention" tests I would always pass with flying colors. I was understanding the material, I was just apprehensive, for whatever reason that is still unknown to me, to express my thoughts. I had other ways of showing I understood, for example through my writing. Similarly, Lupita was able to show she was learning through solving the puzzle. I think as educators it is important to figure out what makes the student comfortable and what we can do to promote their learning and engagement rather than make them fearful about being active in the classroom.
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