What do you think?
I really enjoy the prompt for this week. I read the "What do you think?" piece before I read the articles for today, and I am glad that I approached this assignment this way. I was able to gear my thoughts towards each of these students, and while I was reading, think about how each article applied for the different students.
In looking at Lupita first, it is clear that there is a language barrier holding her back. What I would do right away is make a home visit, or set up a conference with Lupita's family. Maple's article, "Opening Quality Lines of Communication: Seeing My Students through the Eyes of Their Parents" really spoke to this topic. By getting feedback from Lupita's family about her strengths and weaknesses, the teaching in the class can start to be tailored to meet Lupita's needs. Obviously there may be communication difficulties, so working with a translator may be necessary. This will help to find out where Lupita's strength lies, so she can start helping her students (much like in the puzzle scenario, she may be very cognitively gifted), or where her weaknesses lie. I believe that partner work in Lupita's case would be extremely beneficial.
Looking at Jonathon's case, I really think fostering his literacy development would be beneficial. In reading Carlisle's article, she really had a lot of great ideas that I think Jonathon would benefit from. I think that giving Jonathon choices would help him out as well. If a "free reading" time was made, Jonathon could pick a book out of his choice, even making this a partner reading activity could benefit Jonathon. Another idea was to have journal writing. Having a prompt could work, but also having a free write could work as well (within given parameters). I'm not sure if Jonathon sees any fun in language arts, so Carlisle also suggested word games. I think that by giving Jonathon choices, partner work and making it seem fun, Jonathon will begin to strive in language arts activities. These are all ideas that can be implemented throughout the day as well.
In Eddie's case, his story reminded me a lot of the article about Marcus. I really made the connection when Marcus would leave the classroom just to walk around, much like Eddie goes to the bathroom just to move. Eddie may have a small form of ADHD. Eddie needs to stay focused. Just like Marcus, reminders could work for Eddie (10 more minutes...five more minutes...so on). Having a visual set up of how the day is structured could help keep Eddie on task. Breitfelder's article had many good ideas for visuals to set up around the classroom to help children stay focused. Eddie could have a mini schedule set-up as well that shows him when a task starts and when it ends (Breitfelder).
These are all tasks that will not take up too much time away from the average day. Getting to know your students and families should be done at the beginning of the year, as well as setting up a clear visual schedule for the students. Learning should be fun in all aspects, and then of course, tailor different activities to meet different students needs.
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