Case Study

University of Puerto Rico at Humacao English Department

Case Study Juan Ponce de León Bilingual School Humacao, PR Cooperating Teacher: Sara Troche

Joany Morales Fiol 842-08-5346 Dr. Aníbal Muñoz Claudio Edpe 4006-001 Practice Teaching Secondary Level February 24, 2014 Table of Contents

I.

Introduction

……………………………………………………1

II.

Demographic Information

……………………………………………………1

III.

Justification

……………………………………………………2

IV.

Hypothetical Account

……………………………………………………3

V.

Work Plan 1

……………………………………………………5

VI.

Analysis of Student’s Situation

……………………………………………………6

VII.

Work Plan II

……………………………………………………8

VIII.

Final Reactions

……………………………………………………8

I.

Introduction This case study serves as a tool in order to observe, gather information, plan and investigate on a particular situation a student could be passing through that is affecting his/her academic achievement. This case study has the purpose of identifying a student from my practice group in the Juan Ponce de León Bilingual School in Humacao, which is not in the same academic pacing as the other students.

By doing this case study, I will have to investigate and gather specific details of the student’s background information such as hobbies, extracurricular activities, home address, and parents’ information. I also will justify why I selected that particular student. I will also present a hypothetical account in which I will analyze the student’s behavior in the classroom and I will develop a hypothesis of possible causes and relationship with situations in the classroom. I will design a work plan in which I will plan how I am going to gather the information necessary to prove my hypothesis.

This case study was created to facilitate the student into keeping up with the other students.

II.

Demographic Information The student I selected for this case study is a twelve year old girl named Jessica. She is enrolled in the Juan Ponce de León Bilingual School where she courses her seventh grade. One of her hobbies is listening to music. She is a fan of One Direction, a group of teenagers that sings in English. She also likes to navigate in the internet. She has an account on Facebook, on Instagram and on Twitter. She also likes to sleep. As an extracurricular activity, Jessica participates in a tutoring program at the school. The tutoring is given by a group of teachers in 1

compliance with three tutoring companies working for the Department of Education. They are giving the tutoring because the students did poorly on the “Pruebas Puertorriqueñas de Aprovechamiento Académico”.

Jessica lives with both of her parents in Urbanización Villas del Río, calle Río Portugués at Humacao, PR. Her father is Michael. He is 39 years old. Michael is a police officer of the Puerto Rico State Police. In order to be a police officer he was required to do bachelor degree in Criminal Justice. Jessica’s mother is Laura.

She is 41 years old. She works at the Town Hall in the finances area. She has a bachelor degree in Business Administration. Jessica also lives with an older brother. She has never lived in the United States.

III.

Justification The first week I got to the school and started observing, I saw that Jessica was very shy. The students had an oral presentation and when it was her turn she did not delivered very well. Then I started to teach the group. I gave them an assignment where they had to write a narrative paragraph on any experience they have had. When I was correcting their paragraphs I noticed that Jessica is not very good on the English language and doesn’t have any idea of the structure of a paragraph. After I corrected the paragraph I called her individually to try to scaffold her into making a better paragraph by giving her clear guided questions. I realize something was wrong when she couldn’t answer them in English neither in her first language. I tried to guide her the more I could but still the paragraph was way below average than the paragraphs of her classmates. Then I decided to

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observe her and try to get her involve in class discussions. She was not able to answer a question that has been answer in the same class three minutes before by the student that sits aside her. While in the discussions in the classroom, she looks absent. I talked to the cooperating teacher and she told me that she was always in her own world. I got really concerned about her because she is the only one in the classroom that is not performing at the level expected. I decided to select her as my case study because I think there could be various factors affecting the learning development of this student. It could be difficult to gather the information necessary because according to the information I gathered from the group profile, the parents are not involve in her education. I know this will be a challenge but I am really sure that Jessica needs help in order to at least perform better on my class.

IV.

Hypothetical Account In the classroom, Jessica is very shy. She always talks with the classmate that sits beside her which is a very good student. I have noticed that she doesn’t ask for any help, but her classmate tries to help her the more she can in order to help her at least understand what they should do. She often takes her cellphone out and starts navigating in the internet. I have told her to put it away but she always tries to convince me to let her use it in the classroom. I first thought using her cellphone will help her in assignments such as using apps for translation, but instead she was on Facebook. When discussing information orally she never pays attention. She is always mind absent and seems like she doesn’t care of what is 3

happening in the class. After given specific directions on any task, she doesn’t understand. When dividing the class to work in groups she always wants to be part of her friend’s group. She doesn’t interact with other classmates.

According to Jessica’s behavior in the classroom and her academic achievements in my class, I think she should be enrolled in the Special Education Department. From what I have observed, I think she could have a specific learning disability. Having a specific learning disability means that the student has difficulty in understanding and using written and spoken language. People with this difficulty could present problems with reading, writing, speaking, concentration and math alterations. They could also have memory difficulties, organization difficulties, time management difficulties and even depression. Other reason for which the student is not working at the same level as her classmates could be that her parents are not involve in her education. It is seen in her assignments that they have not been revised before handing it in. I gave the students a letter for their parents in order to invite them to a Facebook page I created for them to be acquainted with what is happening in the classroom and to answer any question they could have on any assignment. Jessica’s parents did not sign the letter. I could say that they don’t check Jessica’s notebooks to see if she has any assignment or test.

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V.

Work Plan 1

Date

Activities

Purpose

February 27 & 28, 2014

Interview Jessica’s teachers

Gather information on her academic development in all her classes to ensure that she is having the same problem in all her classes.

Persons Involved -

-

March 7, 2014

Interview with the Special Education Teacher Mrs. Rebecca González.

March 10-12, 2014

Interview with Jessica’s parents

March 2, 2014

Interview the student

Mrs. González will observe Jessica’s behavior in the classroom and will observe the written work Jancy has done in class. By observing the student, she will be able to see if indeed the student could have a specific learning disability.

I will inform them on the purpose of the case study and why I selected their daughter. I will discuss with them the information I should have gathered by the interviews done to the teachers and special education teacher. I will also interview them on her development and behavior in their house and in her previous school. I will also ask them if she has any health conditions that could affect her academic development.

I will explain to the student why I selected her. I will ask her on her future plans and interests. I will also set some goals with her in order to challenge her academically to see if she could higher her expectations.

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Mr. Santiago (Soc. Studies) Homeroom teacher Mrs. López (Spanish) Mrs. Ocasio (English) Mrs. Santiago (Mathematics) Mrs. Morales (Science) Mr. Rodríguez (Physical Ed.) Mrs. Toche (Conversational Englis) Cooperating Teacher Mrs. González (Special Education Teacher) Jessica (student)

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Jessica’s parents Michael and Laura

-

Jessica (student)

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V. Analysis of Student’s Situation In order to gain data that could helped me to know why my case study student, Jessica was not doing well on my class, I interviewed informally some of her teachers such as the homeroom teacher, Mr. Santiago, Mrs. López the Spanish teacher, and Mrs. Troche my cooperating teacher. When I asked them how was Jessica in their classes they just looked up at her grade from last semester and told me she had good grades that she was doing fine. They agreed that Jessica was a shy student that never participated in their class and that she acted like if she mined absent. Then I interviewed her English teacher Mrs. Ocasio. The first thing this teacher told me was that Jessica was having problems at her house because her parents were separating. Mrs. Ocasio also told me that she thought Jessica had problems of low self-esteem because she never brushed her hair and didn’t care for her appearance. She also told me that Jessica didn’t have good grades in her class. Mrs. Ocasio told me that Jessica only participated in class if it was required, if not she would not participate at all. After talking to Jessica’s teachers I could say that the majority of these teachers don’t take in consideration the students’ needs in order to help them success in their classes. They don’t care if the student is passing through a tough time, they just care that the student is having good grades on their classes. At least one teacher saw something was wrong with the student. Also, this teacher was willing to help me out with whatever I needed in order to help the student.

After interviewing Jessica’s teachers, I interviewed the Special Education professional, Mrs. Rebecca González. I asked her to go and observe Jancy in order to see if she could have any special education problem that could be hindering her academic achievement. After observing her and some of Jessica’s written works she told me that it was very important to interview her parents first because she did not had any problems in other classes according to her grades. Mrs.

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González told me that before she could evaluate her she had to discard any emotional problems she could be passing through.

Then I interviewed Mrs. Laura, Jessicas’s mother. It was an informal interview because she came by quickly at her lunch hour. I explained her why I had chosen her daughter for my case study and she told me she was willing to help me because she knew her daughter needed help. She told me that her separation with Jessica’s father affected her daughter a lot. She told me that at first Jancy was very depressed and stopped eating and got sick. She also told me that because of her depression she had dropped her grades and didn’t study anymore. I told her that I was going to do the best to help her daughter. She told me she was willing to help me whenever I needed her. Therefore, I asked her to help Jessica on her assignments in order to see if she improves.

After interviewing Jessica’s mother, I interviewed the student informally. I told her why I had selected her and that all I wanted was to help her. First I changed her seating to somewhere in the classroom near me in order to be sure she is coping and paying attention. After I talked to her she was more opened towards me. She came and asked me if she didn’t understand and what things could she do to improve her grades in my class. Changing her seating was the best thing it could happened to her. She was participating in class and doing much better on the assignments.

After improving in her grades I have seen a difference in her. Now she brushes her hair, she has more friends, and she did excellent in the last test. I am sure that I did my best to help her and I succeeded.

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VI. Working Plan II Dates

Activities

April 11, 2014

April 11, 2014

Send a letter to Jessica’s Mother

Interview student

Purpose

Person Involved

Inform Jessica’s mother on her daughter’s improvements and to thank her for helping me with my case study.

Ask Jessica how she is feeling with her improvement.

Mrs. Laura (Jessica’s Mother)

Jessica (Student)

VIII. Final Reactions After working in this case study I realize that a teacher’s job is not merely teaching. It is knowing each student’s strengths and weaknesses. If a student is not performing as the others, the teacher should investigate what is going wrong. By this the teacher can help the student be better and therefore the teacher could also make a change in the child’s life.

I selected my case study student because of her low level of performance in the classroom. She never participated but was always talking to her classmates. I thought that she was always talking because she was trying to understand what was being taught. The first thing I did was changing her from her seat. This was a huge progress because I realized that talking with her classmates was distracting her. After I changed her of seat she started working better. After that I realized that she wasn’t doing her homework. Because of this situation I talked to her mother. Her mother told me of her recent separation with my student’s father. Her mother also told me that the situation had affected a lot my student. She was depressed and she had lowered her grades. Her mother compromise with me that she was going to help my student in anything she could.

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Through all these months I have seen the development of this student. She has been doing so much better in the classroom. I am very proud of her because now she looks happy and is working hard to be a better student. She has been working so good that she even signed up for a writing competition I am organizing with my practice teaching partner. This tells me that she is moving along out of her depression.

After investigating and looking at the difference between the first week of classes and now I can say that I am proud of what I did. I helped a student to improve her performance in school but also to get out of her depression. I know she appreciates what I did because she demonstrates it every time she comes and talk to me with a huge smile on her face. I have helped her by just paying attention to her and letting her know that I was there to help her. She just needed to feel that someone cared for her in order to cease her sadness because of the situation she was experiencing with the separation of her parents.

In conclusion, this has been an enriching experience for me because it made me realize the importance of knowing the students. There are many teachers in Puerto Rico that are just in the classrooms to “teach� without taking in consideration the needs of the students. I know we are not psychologists, social workers, etc., but we should be able to help in the way we can those students that need it. Sometimes they just need what my student needed, some attention. They need to feel that someone cares for them because we don’t know if they are passing through a rough time at their homes. We as teachers should get involved in any activity that will help us know our students. By helping our students to be better students in the classroom we also contribute to help them be better citizens that will be the ones who will transform our society into a better one.

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