Week 7 - Harris (response)

I agree with Janine's opinion that reading the "What do you think?" noteblog entry prior to reading the rest of the articles for today seemed to be much more beneficial than it otherwise would. Approaching the readings in this way enabled me to maintain a more focused reading, and helped me to easily make connections between the students mentioned in the first piece versus students and situations that arose in the following articles.

In regards to Lupita, I agree that there is an obvious language barrier that is preventing her from demonstrating success in the classroom. The information provided shows that Lupita is struggling to communicate using English, which likely means she has difficulty comprehending the information shared with her in English. However, she was able to finish her assignment early, and independently complete a puzzle with ease. I agree with Janine that the first step to helping this child achieve success in the classroom is to meet with her parents, to obtain a better understanding of the child's typical behavior, her likes and interests, her abilities, and more. The knowledge obtained through meeting with Lupita's parents can be used to effectively tailor the teacher's instruction to meet the needs of the child. While I agree that integrating a translator into the classroom to help Lupita transition from speaking Spanish to speaking English, I worry that the child may only pay attention to the translation, and give up attempting to learn English. I think it could be beneficial for the child to receive one-on-one English language instruction outside of the classroom to assist her in learning to interpret and use the English language. I really like Janine's idea of incorporating more partner work into the classroom, to provide Lupita with more one-on-one exposure to the English language. This would also alleviate the anxiety that Lupita might feel about having to speak in front of the entire class.

Regarding Jonathan, the difficulty he is experiencing when it comes to activities and assignments that involve writing could be due to a lack of motivation in this area, or he may not have had the proper literacy instruction necessary to foster his development in this area. To help Jonathan further his literacy development, it would likely be beneficial to tailor literacy instruction in the classroom to somehow involve Jonathan's interests to increase his intrinsic motivation in this area. Along with this, I agree with the points made in the Carlisle article regarding the ability to make choices. Being able to choose the book he will read, or reading with or without a partner will likely aid in increasing his motivation as well. Often, when writing activities are overly-structured, student motivation tends to dwindle. Allowing students more freedom (within reason) with their writing will also help increase motivation. Collaboratively, with the incorporation of all of these points, Jonathan's motivation in regards to reading and writing should greatly increase, therefore, increasing his success in this area.

In regards to Eddie, it appears he is suffering from ADHD. Even when he is interested in the activities presented in the classroom and appears to be engaged, it is clear he still experiences difficult focusing on the content being taught. I agree with Janine that it could be beneficial to provide Eddie with visual (and possibly verbal) reminders to help him stay focused. I really like the idea mentioned in the Breitfelder article regarding providing individual children with mini-schedules to give them an idea of the time constraints for the various activities that take place throughout the school day.


As a future teacher, I plan to pay a visit to the families of each of my students before the school year begins. This way, I will be able to better plan my teaching instruction, and tailor my instruction to my students' interests and abilities. These visits will allow me to become better aware of students' development and abilities up to that point. It is also always important to assist students in developing an intrinsic motivation to learn through making activities meaningful and engaging to all.