HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING - Essay Example

Human Development and Learning [Insert Here] [Insert Your s Here] April 11, Table of Contents Introduction 3 Discussion on Identified Problems 3 Sleeping in Class 3 Easily Frustrated and Giving Up 4 Poor Reading Comprehension 4 Possible Teacher Interventions 4 Sleeping in Class 4 Easily Frustrated and Giving Up 6 Poor Reading Comprehension 7 Human Development and Learning Introduction The case details several in-class observations of a thirteen-year-old seventh grader. Instead of paying attention, the student is constantly drawing, sleeping, or daydreaming, and has a hard time sitting still.

The student is reported to read at a second-grade level, with poor comprehension of what he has read. Becoming easily frustrated with academic tasks, he or she tends to give up quickly. The student is regularly late to school and lives in a single-parent household, with a parent who was recently divorced. While the student is friendly, he or she has only a few friends. As the thirteen-year-old seventh grade student’s teacher, three problems to be addressed include: sleeping in class; becoming frustrated easily and giving up; and poor reading comprehension.

Discussion on Identified Problems Sleeping in Class Sleeping in class is an obvious sign the student is not getting enough sleep at home. While a student is sleeping in class, they are not fully participating, if at all. Thus, when a student sleeps in class, he or she is missing out on the curriculum that is presented. Falling behind in class because the child is too tired to remain alert and focused can lead to academic frustration. If the child has not been getting enough sleep for several years, leaving him or her unable to pay attention to fundamental concepts early on, it could also be the cause of poor reading comprehension.

Additionally, other students may see a fellow classmate sleeping in class, with no repercussions and feel that it is acceptable for them to sleep as well. Easily Frustrated and Giving Up The frustration a child is facing, which often leads to them giving up, can develop from not understanding the instructions the teacher has provided, poor reading comprehension, a lack of interest, or a medical issue. When a child is frustrated, they become argumentative in the classroom. Behavioral issues can be a sign of frustration, as the child is too challenged and has given up on learning the material presented.

When a child becomes frustrated and gives up on the academic task, he or she is creating gaps in learning, which will only lead to more frustration down the road. A child must be encouraged to persevere and know that he or she has a support system, namely teachers and parents, who he or she can come to when a task is too complex or a concept is too difficult to grasp on his or her own. Poor Reading Comprehension Poor reading comprehension may go along with both the frustration and sleeping issues.

The student is reading at a level five grades lower than what he or she is expected to be capable of. Meaning, somewhere along the line, the student missed out on five years of reading instruction. In order to be successful on other assignments, the student must be able to read and understand instructions, research, and other reading materials related to the course curriculum (Rodriguez, 1998; Wright, 2001). Possible Teacher Interventions Sleeping in Class Initially, the teacher should meet with the child, one-on-one, to attempt to find out the causes of the student’s sleeping during class.

Based on the student’s response, a strategic plan can be created together—student and teacher. If appropriate, a contract can be drafted so the student recognizes accountability for his or her participation and focus during class. Throughout the remainder of the school year, from the point the contract is drafted, consequences, such as lost recess or other privileges, outlined in the contract must be enforced to underline the accountability. For some students, the written contract will lead them to make decisions to help alleviate their tiredness.

If the reason they are sleeping is because they were up late playing video games, knowing the teacher is going to enforce consequences the following day for sleeping in class may make the student think about whether the extra hour or two of video games is worth the consequence. In addition to consequences, the contract should also be used in conjunction with a reward system. However, if a reward system is going to be used, it may be best to sit down with all students and design student-specific contracts focusing on what the teacher has observed as well as what the student wishes to work on and develop.

Making the reward system available to all students will eliminate feelings of favoritism within the class. In actuality, the student should not be able to sleep during class. The teacher should be calling upon any student with his or her head down, or showing any signs of a lack of participation, such as daydreaming or drawing. Perhaps after the student is called upon in front of his or her classmates, and has not been paying attention, he or she will remain alert. While simply calling on students during class is an expectation, intentionally calling on students, who appear to be sleeping, to test participation and comprehension is an intervention.

Once students recognize being caught off-guard is a possibility, it is likely they will pay more attention. Perhaps, the student is frequently sleeping in class because he is not engaged or challenged enough. Another intervention the teacher can use to deter the student from sleeping is to provide him or her with special tasks that will keep the student awake. Such tasks can include standing in front of the class, writing certain words down from a teacher reading, or listing questions asked, by other students and the teacher, during a teacher’s presentation so they can be transferred to the entire class at the end of the presentation.

Giving the student special tasks may make them feel like they are more involved than the other students and give them an incentive to stay awake. The student will not want to sleep during class, as the student will feel he or she has an important job to do. Easily Frustrated and Giving Up Evaluating the child using a placement test designed to identify strengths, weaknesses, and perhaps thought processes and interests, may help determine whether the child is prepared for handling the curriculum at the seventh-grade level.

Some students require a little extra attention, and that is acceptable; not everyone learns in the same way (Wright, 2001). Identifying tasks the child is giving up on, such as missed assignments, tests and homework that are incomplete will help the teacher in developing appropriate dialogue for a one-on-one meeting with the student. Once the student has been assessed, using group work can help to alleviate the student’s frustration. For example, if the student is having difficulty in history, which serves as the source of the frustration, during the history lesson, grouping the student with more proficient students in the class may help.

The student will gain more one-on-one time that perhaps the teacher is unable to provide. It is possible that the student will be more likely to grasp the concepts and the instructions through the eyes of his or her peers. Another teacher intervention for children who become easily frustrated and give up is to modify the way that instruction is given. For example, if there are several tasks or steps to be completed, give the students two or three at a time. Throughout the process, constantly probe the students for feedback, to gauge their understanding of the instructions.

Circulating the classroom also gives the teacher an opportunity to identify those who are having trouble, but may be too shy or intimidated to speak in front of the rest of the students. Research shows that at-risk students are successfully able to comprehend and follow instructions in groups of no more than three (Watson, 2011). This intervention can be successful for not only at-risk students, but for all students; though, the primary focus on providing instructions in pieces is on those students who become frustrated.

Poor Reading Comprehension Perhaps there are other students in the class who are also reading at a lower level. Under such circumstances, the teacher can break the class up into designated reading groups. This gives all students the opportunity to participate, but teachers are able to group students who are at similar reading levels together. Another way a teacher can help improve a child’s reading comprehension level is to sit down with the child, have him or her read a passage, and then verbally ask specific questions that are related to the passage.

Providing the student with mini-tests designed to challenge reading comprehension is a great exercise for development (Wright, 2001). In doing this, the teacher is an audience to the student’s comprehension and thought process for evaluating the reading material. This will help the teacher to interact with the child and focus directly on areas needing improvement. The third teacher-initiated in-class intervention for improving reading comprehension in students is similar to the sleeping in class contract mentioned, but it is based on a tier reward system.

Once it has been identified that the student is reading at a second-grade level, the teacher can provide a list of books at the third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, and ultimately the seventh-grade reading level. The student can progress by reading a designated number of books from the third-grade list to get to the fourth-grade list, and so on. Testing between grade levels could also be used to identify whether the student’s reading comprehension level is actually improving. References Rodriguez, G. (1998). Critical Issue: Meeting the Diverse Needs of Young Children.

 North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/students/earlycld/ea400.htm Watson, S. (2011). Intervention strategies for students at risk. About.com. Retrieved from http://specialed.about.com/od/teacherchecklists/p/interventiontip.htm Wright, J. (2001). The savvy teacher's guide: Reading interventions that work. Intervention Central. Retrieved from http://www.jimwrightonline.com/pdfdocs/brouge/rdngManual.PDF