Early Childhood and Special Education - Case Study Example

Early childhood and Special Education. A Disruptive Child Dealing with a disruptive child can be very hard both in school and also at home. This is due to the fact that the behavior patterns of a child who is disruptive is not only annoying but also hard to cope with. Furthermore this child is causes havoc to both the teacher, the parent and the people he associates with. Most of the time, this kind of child craves for attention; be it negative or positive and when that is not given to him/her, the reaction they give out is an undesired one. In school, this kind of child will disrupt the class through behaviors such as tattling, complaining, blurt out and chatter among others. Handling of a disruptive child is different from one child to another. By that I mean that the strategies applied in dealing with one disruptive child is not always effective when applied to another child. Case Study In this report, we are going to handle a case involving Andrew Magenta, a 2nd grader from Hills Academy. He is a male student with perfectly good health and rarely misses school. In addition to that, he is an intelligent child with bright ideas in class and outside. The only problem that he has is that he is a disruptive child and causes more disruption than any other child in the class. Even though he can behave well when he decides to, more than often he is comfortable when attracting attention to himself and in most cases it’s a negative one. Teachers at Hills Academy have tried to help by staffing him to the resource room where the goals set for him were to improve mathematics skills, bettering himself and encourage better social skill. Incidents Even though Andrew does a lot of disruptiveness, there are incidences that suggest he needs help now more than ever. One of those incidences is 1. On 27th January this year, when he was prompted by another student, he pulled his shirt over his head oblivious of the fact that there was a teacher at the hall way. In more than one incidences in class, he laughed and shouted comments unnecessarily and also instead of raising his hand like other students when answering a question, he would shout them out. 2. In more than one incidents, when Andrew is at recess, it was a norm seeing him striking other kids with his fists or sometimes with a stick he comes across around the playground. In the process, other children are undergoing a hard time when he is around hence the student have been opting to avoid him at all times. Through the various incidents, I had discovered that Andrew’s greatest problem appeared when he is placed in less structured settings. We are referring to recess, the vocal music classes, the art classes, physical Education classes among others. Before dealing with a student like Andrew, it is important to understand his weaknesses as well as strengths both academically and socially. In addition to that, it is important to consider other areas that affect him for example: how is he motivated, how is his personal discipline, what are some of his personal characteristics and lastly, how well does he follow instructions? Academic First and foremost, Andrew is an intelligent student. I can personally grade him a top five student in the class as his academic performance is excellent to say the least. Apart from that, when doing his assignments, he does it with a lot of concentration that is not evident to other student in the class. In his first grade, he got an A and performed exceptionally well in mathematics. In fact the class teacher has enrolled him in the math resource room due to his abilities. Other another that he is great is the science classes His weakness however is his inability to concentrate in class. This is evident in classes that demand a lot of attention and contribution in terms of answering questions and participation. It has been discovered that during the language classes and computer skills classes, Andrew would shout unnecessarily, answer questions sarcastically and even laugh when there is really nothing funny to laugh about. To top it up, Andrews’s concentration in Physical education classes is a mess to say the least. He does not follow the routine demonstrated by the teacher nor perform the routines in unison with others. Contrary, he pokes other children around him or even crack jokes as long as the class goes on. In more than one incident, he has been made to walk out of class so that other students can learn. During other classes less structured classes like music and art, Andre is at his worst. In these sessions he has been notices to ignore instructions and routine. Even though his strengths and weakness are in extremes it is very hard to ignore the flaws in him and new teachers find it hard to cope with him. The teacher and student relation in his case is almost nonexistent. Teaching Andrew is not easy. Considering the fact that a teacher has to ensure that all students are treated equally, in this case it is not easy to single out Andrew. Miss Elyot, her grammar teacher has had a hard time when teaching that class. In this case she has sent Andrew out to detention in more than one incident. This way, she is able to teach other students and afterwards call Andrew to her office and discuss the lesson personally. Although this is an effective method and effective especially to other students, personally I would have started a reward system like Miss Maria, her mathematics teacher. She provides sweets to those who answer her questions correctly and Andrew has been getting the reward more than once. In fact his grades in math can attest to that. Socialization Socializing for Andrew is not easy. He is a great kid but in he has the constant urge to demand for attention. Evidently this has led to him making fun of other students even when that clearly pisses them off. On top of that, his constant fisting and striking of other children makes him a no go zone to other kids of his class. His communication skill is surprisingly good. He can reason and argue with the teachers with ease and more often than not win the debates. The problem is that he always wants to win his arguments either in class and outside and when that does not happen, Andrew disrupts the lesson in more than one way. In group activities, Andrew has a hard time coping with the rest. Most of the time he demands being the group leader and single handedly do the tasks at hand therefore deny other students the opportunity to work as well. Mr. Edwin his computer skill teacher has been one of the victims to this behavior. During his classes, arguments are hard to avoid and therefore at times he has to agree to disagree with Andrew so as to continue with the class. In my opinion, the best way would have been prompting arguments that are clear and factual. In arguing with him, I would I would demand facts of which if he can produce, other children can also learn. In this case, it will not be a case of trying to catch up with time but reasoning with the child and in the process other children can also get involved. Motivation Andrew is a sporty kid. He loves playing soccer to the bone and being the youngest student in the first team, the potential is high. He is enthusiastic about soccer and in class during his arguments he will involves famous sports names like Wayne Rooney and Clint Dempsey. To him soccer is a passion and there is no way he can miss training. This enthusiasm has earned him admirers in school and a good start for a disruptive kid. In one occasion, Andrew came to class with a football and wanted the teacher to allow him to go and play even though it was a PE class. Of course he didn’t get the permission but that demonstrated his passion and self-motivation towards an activity. It is easy for any coach to work with a self-motivated student like Andrew and therefore these teachers are supposed to give him support and encouragement towards soccer. By doing that, Andrew will find something to focus on and involve himself with. In my case, when teaching, I would explain my concepts to him using examples from soccer and that has will get his maximum attention. Behavior Andrew is not everyone’s favorite in terms of self-discipline. He has been a constant disturbance to other students. In addition to being a noise maker, he is abusive and deceiving. In several occasions, he will intentionally throw other student’s books to the ground just to start an argument. These is one of the reasons why some student despise him. Even at that level, Andrew has managed to be always punctual to school and lessons. He has never once arrived to class late even when sick. The problem is that he comes and instead of doing anything constructive, he disrupts other students. Teachers that have noticed his punctuality have congratulated him in more than one occasion In my case, Andrews’s punctuality would be an important device in capturing his attention. In this manner, I would have assigned Andrew some work not necessarily class work to keeo him busy when he arrives to school. One of them is drawing; his pet, or whatever he has seen on TV the previous night and rewarding him after that. Personal Characteristics Andrew is mature for his age. His sense of reasoning is above the rest and evident during his arguments. In any case, when describing answers in class, he has been able to form logical conclusion that is not possible to others. Despite that, his shortcomings are that he does not follow what he says. He might bring in great ideas about behaving well but his disciple is an issue. In addition to that, Andrew personal hygiene is not up to standard. Since he has been brought up from a poor background, he has neglected some of the common personal hygiene like combing his hair and trimming his fingernails. His class teacher Mrs. Ann has been paying attention to that and has been checking on Andrew everyday just to make sure such hygienic practices like combing and nail trimming have been carried out. In my case, buying him a com and a fancy nail cutter is the way to go. This is because children his age fancy things that are delightful and the possibility of him forgetting to use it will be less. Instructions options In school, Andrew has been receiving support from the peer counselors who have come to understand that he needs help rather than discrimination. Though the process seems slow, there are developments as in these past few days he has gone by himself to talk to the peer counselors. The school has established a parent to teacher association where parents are encouraged to phone to school during evening sessions and find out how their students are doing. In this case, many parents have been active in this session except of course Andrews. Sometimes the problem he portrays can be associated with this type of parental neglect and maybe that is why he craves for attention from teachers and other students. He may be looking for a place to belong of which is not easy to find especially due to his disruptive behavior. In a personal level, it is necessary to give Andrew support in his activities and encouragement in a way that is easy for him to understand. In class and outside school if possible give him the rewards when he deserves and an advice when necessary. Important discussion There are notions to consider when dealing with classroom teaching. 1. The educator is concerned with classroom management before the student can learn. Classroom studies requires the teacher to interact with his/her student. In this case the educator should familiarize himself with the surrounding and be able to identify different children and their challenges in class (Olsen 2001). Before the educators starts his operations, he is supposed to establish clear expectations and consequences. That manner, the teacher should make some rules and regulations in regards to the lesson. This way the student understand what is expected of them by the teacher and the before, during and after the lesson. Research has stressed that the classroom behavior, equipment and material use, the order of seating by the students and the session time are important factors to consider before the educator can start teaching his/her class(Olsen 2001). To achieve this, the educator should use a variety of verbal or physical reaction to students who misbehave like pointing out the misbehavior and in a stern tone condemn it. Important methods of classroom communication should also be brought forth. These are behaviors like expecting the students to raise their hands before answering a question(Olsen 2001). Further management include the use of rewards to students who perform well and those who are trying. Tokens of appreciation have been found to be effective when teaching children that are both normal and those that are disruptive. The educator is also encouraged to exhibit assertive behavior like maintaining an erect posture and using appropriate tone when teaching. These forms of classroom management establish an authority that the students will recognize By learning their boundaries and expectations, students are able to interact with the teacher inn an amicable manner. In addition to that a disruptive student will understand their boundaries and therefore disciplining them becomes an easy task. Through this therefore the learning process is enhanced a great deal(Olsen 2001). 2. Student self-esteem is affected by his poverty stricken environment and does not think well of himself as do children from middle-class environments. Several research have been carried out in response to this notion. Of all the researches the point brought up is that poverty affects a child’s education(Vandsburger 2010). Dr. Ruby Payne stated that not only do poor students suffer the economic disadvantage but also self-esteem. In his view, those children from poor backgrounds are not able to socialize well like those form the middle class thereby making it hard to learn. Since schools are operated from the middle class riles, those from form poor families are not able to adapt well as those from more stable backgrounds (Vandsburger 2010). Further damage to self-esteem brings about poor performance by the student in class since they feel disadvantaged in every way considering their backgrounds. In our case, maybe Andrews’s poor background is the aggravating factor to his disruptive behavior. Conclusion A disruptive child sometimes need to be understood early enough before the problem advances. Therefore when the teacher decides to help the children and punish the child in an equal and stern manner, the child is able to understand that he has not been discriminate. This way, as long as there is no grudge between the student and the teacher, the disruptive child would be able to come around sooner rather than later. Work Cited Olsen, J., & Cooper, P. (2001). Dealing with disruptive students in the classroom. London: Kegan Page Vandsburger, E., Duncan-Dalton, R., Ackerson, E., & Dillon, T. (2010). The Effects of Poverty Simulation, an Experiential Learning Modality, on Students Understanding of Life in Poverty. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 30(3), 300-316. Read More