Week 11- How's it going?

I thought I would write about how my new "assignment completion" system has been working with Ty these past couple weeks and what I have learned about myself and implementation of this system.

One assignment I tried focusing on as much as possible last week with Ty was a handwriting assignment. All she had to do was copy down some sentences that the teacher wrote on the board and discussed/ formed with the whole class. I noticed that Ty becomes distracted the most during this type of whole group instruction because it requires her to work on her own, at her own pace, address her attention to her own paper and handwriting and then back to the board…there is just a lot going on for a girl who already has difficulty staying on task. So, I sat right next to Ty in my own chair and began to help her. I reminded her that if she copied something down, I would give her a check mark for trying. But, if she copied just as it was on the board and did her very best, I would give her a smiley face. She seems to respond positively to this system because it is immediate and gives instant gratification and recognition for her work.

 I have been using a purple pen because, one, purple is her favorite color, and two, it is almost like getting a grade from a teacher and is something different from her pencil. She receives POSITIVE feedback from an authority figure, seeking approval and aiming to please. Although I want her to do her best because SHE wants to do her best and please herself, I think she needs this type of outward approval from an adult figure in her life. I honestly don’t know if she receives this type of attention at home or not but I think she is enjoying it in the classroom (especially positive, not focusing on what she’s doing wrong). 

Anyway, while Ty copied down some of the words, I would put a check mark or smiley face after each word she wrote, focusing on very small aspects of the assignment and encouraging her to take it one step at a time. I would also give Ty the chance to re-do her work if it was wrong or wasn’t her best, while still remaining positive. For instance, if she miswrote the word “have”, or didn’t make the stem of the “h” go all the way to the top line, I would reassure her efforts by saying, “oh, so close! You’re doing great and that is how you spell that word but a lowercase h looks like this. Would you like to try?” Most of the time, she would be very engaged and respond with an enthusiastic, “Sure!”, then trying again. When she wrote it right or fixed her mistakes, I would use a verbal praise (“That looks much better! Very neat handwriting!”) and then place a smiley face over the word or correction. 

Although we didn’t finish the complete assignment and get a chance to copy down all of the sentences, we did make it to the back of the paper which is the farthest I have ever seen her write correctly before. There were some marks and erasing involved but you could tell she was proud of her work and that it took more effort than what she was used to exerting during the handwriting assignment. 

Reflecting on this experience, I realized that I should have given her a sticker or some type of reward (maybe sit with me at lunch) for her hard work. But, the goal of me working with her was to encourage her to just simply finish an assignment and this one was much larger than what she is used to completing. Also, since I encouraged her to correct her mistakes and constantly monitor her progress, it took us more time than it would’ve if she had just wrote the way she wanted (i.e., with mistakes). So, I am still a little unclear about the best way to reinforce this behavior in a positive way. Additionally, that assignment for that day was, what I consider, overall successful but I was not consistent with her the next few days due to testing other students, teaching, or her being absent. I realize for this type of system to work, there needs to be:

1)      Clear expectations (and she should repeat them so I know she understands them)

2)      Consistency (to back up the expectations and create the positive habit)

3)      Effective reward system that is unique to her needs and wants to develop internal motivation

Week 10: Straight from memory

This week, I did not get the chance to journal. Coming back from our second spring break and getting back into the groove, my co-teaching partner and I had a lot to do to help our mentor teacher, such as distributing make up tests, re-organizing the classroom (including student work groups), and teaching whenever possible. Therefore, I did not have the opportunity to take such extensive notes as I did in the past and, when thinking about this, I realized that this shouldn’t be an excuse. If this week was just a fragment of what my responsibilities are going to be when I have my own classroom one day, I should try to develop a system that will make journaling a more systematic, and therefore easier, practice. For this week’s entry, however, I thought I might try to jot down ideas, thoughts, observations, etc. I noticed about Ty from my memory. Here goes nothing…

-         -  Ty seemed much more social this week. I’m not sure if it was from being out of school for a week and missing the other students around her but I noticed that she was much more vocal with her classmates. The times of the day I noticed when she was more interactive with her peers was during recess and fun learning centers (A.K.A. playtime).

-        -   This past week, I tried giving Ty more chances to speak up during whole group instruction, especially to answer questions. I thought that if she had an authentic audience (her peers), she might be better able to express her thoughts and share any of her ideas with the class. I feel that this was beneficial for her. However, she still experiences great difficulty trying to formulate complete sentences to answer questions. An example of a sentence she might try to produce: “Um…one time….one time….I saw………one time I saw….” Ty is very soft spoken already and when she tries expressing herself, her voice tends to trail off or she will begin to look around the classroom. One positive aspect of this engagement is that she is at least talking about something related to the topic. When she used to answer certain questions, she would try sharing a story that was irrelevant to what we were discussing.

-        -   I had to administer a test for alphabet, phonetic, and numerical knowledge with Ty in an one-on-one setting in the centrum outside of our classroom. I had her sit with her back to the door to limit the amount of distractions. I also allowed her to sit in the “big chair” while I sat in the little chair. I did this because it put us at the same level at the table physically and I thought it might show the same type of equality mentally, encouraging Ty to open up and not feel as if I am talking down to her. The test was one that she has experienced twice already this year, once every nine-week period to monitor her progress. I began asking her “what letter is this?” with a very positive attitude, keeping my voice cheery and giving her praise if she just even tried to give me an answer. This seemed to boost her self-esteem and she was more engaged and focused than I had ever seen her in an assessment setting. Although she made little progress with these aspects since the last grading period, her attitude and attention seems to be improving.

-         - Once I finished administering the test and giving Ty lots of praise (i.e., “I am so proud of you! You are really on the ball today! I can tell you’re giving me your best.”), I explained something to Ty that I want to try for my inquiry. I told Ty that for every problem on a worksheet that she finishes, she gets a check mark from me. If she finishes it and it’s the right answer, she gets a smiley face. I asked her if that was okay with her and she nodded yes but I think I gave that instruction rather poorly and not specific enough. 

There are many other things I could say about Ty but I wanted to get down what I can remember from this past week. Something about this week was different and I don’t know what it is but what I do know is…Ty got on purple and was able to choose something from the treasure chest. For any student in this class, that’s a big deal but for Ty…it’s a blessing to be recognized.