Teaching+Cases

I have read all of the current posts and replies on the situation with Jaque and Alex and I have a slightly different take. In the original case post, there was only 2 months of school left. What I would do is give both students a final project that they could work on outside of the classroom (i.e. at home). The project would demand research and inquiry (through books, the internet, the library, etc) and require multiple investigations each of which would cover in class content. These projects would the have to be presented at a neutral site (such as another classroom or the gym) to the chemistry teachers for evaluation. Of course prior to the presentations I would give the participating teachers a rubric on which to grade the presentations. If Jaques was not able to present his project at the end of the year I would because of the doctors orders I would then require a written refection on his process, discoveries, outcomes, etc. Also I would let him know that the reflection would be aproximately 30 to 40 percent of the grade as that would be the percentage for the presentation as well. Thus the reflection would have to be done quite well (not just a short write up). This is just another idea and not necessarily for sure what I would really do. Dan If I had to deal with this situation I would try to make it through the first day and then try to meet with the parents, counselor, and other relevent parties to discuss how to best approach this situation. Possibly using the internet and working closely with the mom and/or parents to work on a plan that would be most effective towards Andrews education in that particular class. This is definately a situation where the teacher is going to have to earn their money! Lots of thought would have to go into work at home projects and possibly class video sessions or even a live or recorded class video feed. Also I would look into one on one resources such as student teachers that may be able to help or other volunteers. I know this kind of thing happens all the time at the elementary level. Something could be worked out I'm sure. With the above stated,I feel this situation would be very difficult. It seems unreasonable that a student with these types of severe problems would be basically just droped on a teacher without some previous meetings with the parents, and counselers. I was under the impression that IEP's would be worked out collaboratively including the teacher not just minutes before a class period. Andrews best chance to receive proper instruction in this class would require the efforts of many people and not just the teacher! Dan First I would check into what resources my school had to help Dianna. Then I would also see how her parents may be able to help since they obviously are concerned about Dianna's success. Another good idea would be to see if a copy of the book was available in Dianna's 1st language (this may be very atainable). Also the internet may have some great resources to help with the language barrier. Another option is looking to any students that may speek Dianna's language that have a good handle on english as well. Also a proffesional translator may be possible at least some times through the school district. In this case I think the best course of action would be to set up some kind of lab at a local community college or high school. However I would start with contacting the chaiman of the physics dept at UCCP to see if he/she had any ideas of how we could resolve this problem. I'm sure that the chair could contact a school with the proper facilities and work out some kind of an arrangement for Gabriel to complete the neccessary lab assignments. If this did'nt work I would contact his mentor and see if he/she could help in this regard. Also checking into having the lab equipment loaned from some other outside source might be a possibility. The other option is some kind of home resources. Since this has to be hands on the internet is not an option, however maybe there would be a way of using everday stuff to do the labs. I'm really not sure on this since I don't know much about the physics courses. However I believe this is a realistic possibility. Tammy was a student in my Core plus 3b class that was doing really well through most of the trimester. She was always in class and very attentive and ready to learn. Her grades were a reflection of her interest in the class. In other words she was getting A’s on most of her work. However she had two major personal crises in her life that changed everything. First her brother, who was a few years older and very popular at school, committed suicide. To make matters worse a few weeks after that her father died of an ongoing illness. As you would expect she was having sever emotional problems due to these two tragic events. After these events Tammy was missing a lot of school and was not as attentive when she was at school. However she was working with the school counselors and professional psychologists to help her through this tough time in her life. Also she had communicated to me that she was going to be alright and she knew that her attentiveness was not as good as it used to be but she just couldn’t help it. Long story short she was dealing with the situation the best she could but her education was still being effected. How would you deal with this situation when you know that Tammy is capable of much better grades and now she is struggling just to pass the class? Keeping in mind that she is already dealing with her emotional state in the best possible way and suggesting counseling would not help. (She is already getting counseling.) Obviously this is a very touchy and difficult situation. I know Tammy is a good student willing to learn but she has had some major tragedies that have affected her school work in a negative way. I think in this situation the rules will have to be bent a little. I say this because we know Tammy is doing everything she can to get emotional help and her previous record in my class was very good until this tragedy happened. The last thing she needs is to flunk a fairly difficult math class. Thus I will go talk with the school counselors and get any advice they have to offer me in her situation. Then as far as bending rules, I think that the deadlines that I set for the other students in the class would have to be completely different for her. That way at the very least she would know that some of the pressure is off of her on these deadlines. Also I would offer any one on one help to make up for some of the missed time in class. I would let her know that I understand she is more important than the class. In other words I would convey my compassion for her situation. I think by taking the pressure off of her and working with her and letting her know that I care she would be able to get through the class with at least a passing grade.
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