Blog 7: Student Stories and Impact

●     Share anecdotes and stories about your students and the impact you've had on their education.

●     Reflect on your personal growth and lessons learned

I have just finished my 5th week at Howick College and have a solid relationship with the majority of the students I have been able to work with. I am following around a group of 16 students who have been identified with needs or scored low on their assessments. I am in their math class each day but have been alternating through their science, social studies, and English classes as well. The next group of students I work scored a little higher on their assessments. They are placed in an additional Math and English class twice a week to help them catch up to where they are supposed to be. I have been placed in both of these classes and did my first two lessons in the English class. The last group of students I work with are from when I work down in the Learning Support Center (LSC). This is where I get to do more one-on-one work and build stronger relationships.

Within each of these groups, there are a few students that stick out to me that I have built a relationship with and impacted their education. J,C, S, and H are all in the homeroom group of 16. I have gotten to work one-on-one with each of them during the whole class time. J does not have a diagnosis but is in this class because he scored in the level 2 range for each of his exams and is labeled as needing additional help with transitions. Year 9 is expected to be in the level 4 range. There are three sublevels with each number. He manages himself fairly well but is distracted by others and will mirror their behaviors. I am often asked to just be by him to help remind him to stay focused. C's notes include he has ADD, struggles with social situations, is overbearing in friendships, and may require additional prompting to remain on task. He also benefits from someone being nearby. He has started to realize that if he remains focused on the task he will finish before others, and will be able to talk while the others finish up. S has more of an attendance issue and participated in behaviors to avoid the tasks. He also scored in the 2 range on his exams. He likes to try to get teachers off task by asking about their lives and sharing relatable stories. He enjoys asking questions about America and how Ohio is different from Las Vegas. I have used this as a motivation where he can ask one question for every set amount of work he gets done. He is also aware that he can ask these questions when we are down in the LSC for lunch so I will ignore the questions in class if needed. H scored both 2s and 3s in her exams. She asks for help and seeks out the information needed for her to succeed. She has Generalized Morphea and En coup de sabre, a perforated eardrum, ADHD, and a low immunity system. She is very focused and tries to get her work done in a timely matter. She appears to enjoy school and wants to succeed. When in their classes, I help each student with their work, but these four tend to be the students who require the most one-on-one assistance. I have noticed through my time in this room, I have gotten better with wandering the room and helping as needed. For their math class, there are three adults in the room. By having me, an extra person in the room each of the students is more likely to get the assistance they need to complete their tasks.

Tr, In, Ta, and Ti are the students that stick out from the second group I work with. Since I am not with these students as often I haven't been able to see their documentation like I have with the 9H class above. Each student in this class has processing concerns and many of them have ADHD. I know that In has been identified with ADHD because she is very open about it. The lessons I taught in this class went well and I enjoyed working with the group. Tr has asked me each morning if I will get to teach in her class again as I pass her on my way to A block. Tr, In, and Ta all sit together and get distracted very easily. When I am working with them it is mostly just providing prompting to get back on task. Ti is also very distractable but is quiet about it. He will find other things to do on his device, making it a requirement to be wandering the room to ensure he is on topic. This class has helped me learn more about my own classroom management strategies. I enjoy the environment that is set by Mrs. Nairn and hope to be as calm and welcoming as she is while still maintaining the class. During my lessons, this is something we talked about and she gave me strategies to use in the future. After my second lesson where I used some of her feedback that was specific to this class, we discussed how the class was better engaged and focused when I took the time to address the issues while they remained small.

In the LSC I work with the students as they come in, but the two I work with the most are R and M. R comes to the LSC for his math and science classes currently but has just been told he is no longer allowed to come down for science. He is now just not coming to school or hiding in the bathrooms instead of going to science. Before this change was made to his schedule, he and I would work through the science material in a one-on-one setting since it is the size of the class that overwhelmed him, not the content. When we were able to do science together, I was able to see a direct impact since I could see him understanding the content and moving through the work. Their curriculum is all put into a website called Stile and R was keeping up with the material as the teacher posted it, putting him ahead of the class. R's case has made me consider more about the importance of the student being in their typical classrooms or just getting the content. I thought it was still better for him to be coming and learning the material independently than skipping the class entirely. This is an area I want to grow in over the next couple of weeks as I can see what their next steps are.

M struggles with anxiety and being in her classes as well. However, she is very self-motivated and can get the work done in the LSC. She normally comes in if she has been late to school and doesn't want to walk into her class late. The work I have done with her includes social lessons focusing on steps she can take to avoid feeling the overwhelming anxiety that forces her to shut down. She has been taking extra steps each morning to help her get to school on time. The worst days for her are when she's late and her mom has to bring her to school making her mom late as well which ends up stressing M out even more. She has been doing better getting to school on time and getting ready in the morning in time to make the bus. However, there are still some times that she comes down to the LSC during an anxiety attack and just wants to be in a safe space. During these times she talks to one of the LSC's or myself. During these times we focus on breathing and distractions to take her back to a calm demeanor. This has helped with my growth because I have been able to see what works for her and how to just simply be a safe person for students to come to. My time with M has helped me because it was not just the academic part of helping students.

I enjoy spending time in the LSC and have stayed down there for morning tea and lunch periods. These are when it is the busiest because any student is allowed at this point. M and I have discussed what schooling in America is like and more specifically which dissections I was able to do in my science classes. R and a group of other students spend time asking me specific questions about America and quizzing me on New Zealand items. During lunch, we spend a lot of time playing card games once everyone has finished eating.