Case Study Gerrity 1 Case Study: Emotional Disturbance “Joey” – Ninth Grade Student Michelle Gerrity The Pennsylvania State University Professional Development School 2010-­2011 State College Area School District Case Study Gerrity 2 Introduction During the course of teaching experience thus far at State College Area High School, I have had the opportunity to work closely with several students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in English 9 classes. One particular student, however, interested me more than others did. This student, who I will refer to by the pseudonym “Joey,” is 14-­‐year-­‐old young man who is a part of the eighth period English 9 class I co-­‐
teach with Danielle Kubrak. While six of twenty-­‐six students in that class have IEPs, Joey seemed to struggle more than others, to require more redirection, and—most interestingly to me—to exhibit a notably, and perhaps unnaturally, consistent general attitude and emotional state. As the school year progressed, I became increasingly interested in getting to know and understand Joey to better help him in the classroom. For this reason, I chose to complete this case study on Joey. Because I had did not start co-­‐teaching with Ms. Kubrak until four weeks into the beginning of the school year, I met Joey after he had already been in the ninth grade for approximately one month. After observing Joey’s behavior in class daily for about a week, I began to wonder whether he had an IEP for a learning disability; he seemed to have a short attention span that appeared to impede his ability to concentrate and focus on class work. When I looked at his IEP, however, rather than finding that he has a specific learning disability, or even Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder, as I had expected, I instead learned that Joey’s primary and only “exceptionality,” or special need, listed on his IEP is “Emotional Disturbance.” Curious as to what, exactly, this term means, I turned to several resources to learn more. Overview of Emotional Disturbance “Serious Emotional Disturbance” is a term used to define one of many federally funded categories of disabilities of “special needs children,” or “students who require special education and related services in order to develop to their full potential” (Ruban 1209). Aside from Serious Emotional Disturbance, such categories include Specific Learning Disabilities, Speech or Language Impairments, and Mental Retardation, among others (Ruban 1209). Emotional Disturbance is the fourth most prevalent type of disability, and male students typically outnumber female ones in this category (Ruban 1210). Federal legislation defines Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) as “a condition affecting learning, interpersonal relations, behavior, and feelings… [that] must be exhibited over a long period of time and to a marked degree while adversely affecting education performance” (Center 335). Additionally, the condition “cannot be explainable by intellectual, sensory, or other health factors” (Center 335). The fact that certain intellectual factors or specific learning disabilities cannot be present for a student to be classified primarily as SED helps to explain certain extraordinary skill levels that Joey exhibits, such as high reading comprehension skills, which I will address later in this case study. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), federal language more specifically defines SED as a condition including one or more of the following five characteristics: Case Study Gerrity 3 1. An inability to learn, which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; 2. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; 3. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; 4. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or 5. A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. (Landrum 726) After observing and reflecting upon Joey’s daily behavior in class, of which I will later give more complete details, I believe that he has exhibited the first three of the above five characteristics. Because there has been some debate over the label “Serious Emotional Disturbance,” certain states and organizations have adopted the alternative, more descriptive and inclusive label, “Emotional/Behavioral Disorder,” or EBD. Additionally, difficulties manifested in children with EBD are categorized into the following two groups: conduct problems, and emotional problems (Center 336). Children with emotional problems are characterized by anxiety and avoidance behavior, such as depression, hypersensitivity, and self-­‐consciousness, among others. Conduct problem, on the other hand, are broken down into the typical behaviors of three types of students: 1. Undersocialized aggressive children are characterized by “fighting, disruption, argumentativeness, destructiveness, selfishness, and defiance” (Center 336). 2. Socialized aggressive children exhibit characteristics similar to those of undersocialized aggressive children, except that “problem behaviors usually represent adaptive behavior that takes place in a group context” (Center 336). 3. Hyperactive children typically “have problems associated with high activity level and inadequate focus of attention,” which is often manifested as “restlessness, nonpurposeful motor activity, and impulsiveness” (Center 336). Though Joey’s behavior can occasionally be argumentative, from my observations, he most appropriately fits into the category of “hyperactive children,” and he displays all three of the specific behaviors that are mentioned above as common to that category. SED/EBD can be measured using either a qualitative approach, which determines SED classification based on clinical tests, or a quantitative approach, which uses statistical procedures to determine SED classification. Problems observed in SED/EBD students include the domains of academic learning, social behavior, and emotional behavior (Center 335). Factors that influence the behavior of SED/EBD students include biological influences such as genetically transmitted predispositions, like temperament; environmental influences, like culture; and self-­‐agency influences, such as “choices made to achieve consistency between behavior and personal values and goals” (Center 336). Teacher expectations fall under the category of environmental influences and play a large role in the development of behavior (Center 336). When I observed Joey in classes other than English 9, I was able to see him interact with other teachers; this led me to contemplate the influence that the expectations of those teachers had on his behaviors. Case Study Gerrity 4 Observations of Student General Observations: In order to better understand Joey, I observed his behavior and academic progress daily. As SED problem behaviors are typically broken down into the categories of academic learning, social behavior, and emotional behavior, I have attempted to separate my observations of Joey into those classes, with the added group of “general behavior” (I do not claim that all of my observation are accurately classified according official SED specifications). General Behavior: Since the beginning of the year, Joey seems to have trouble paying attention during class and focusing on his work. He sometimes appears to be very easily distracted, and he often requires teacher redirection. He frequently moves around in his seat, switching positions from sitting on his knees to sitting conventionally, from hunching over his desk to resting his chin in his hand. He often draws in class (he sometimes gives pictures he draws in class to various teachers), and, in the beginning of the year, he occasionally made paper airplanes. He constantly seems to be doing something with his hands, and, as the year progressed, I noticed he has a tendency to pick at his skin, particularly a specific spot between his eyebrows, which sometimes begins to bleed as he picks it during class. Generally, he displays the behaviors of “restlessness, nonpurposeful motor activity, and impulsiveness” typical of hyperactive SED students mentioned earlier. At times, Joeys behaves in a mildly manipulative way. In the beginning of the year, Joey would ask Ms. Kubrak and I the same question at different times, presumably hoping to get a different answer. During another incident, students were directed to read their Antigone character analysis essays aloud to listen for awkward wording, and Joey refused to read his essay. I attempted to help Joey find a way to comfortably read his essay aloud in order to hear any errors. I suggested moving to a more secluded area of the classroom, and I offered to read Joey’s essay to him rather than having him read it aloud himself. He took my first suggestion, denied my second, and began asking why he had to read his essay aloud at all. At this point, Ms. Kubrak walked by and Joey immediately turned to her and said, “She’s bothering me! She won’t leave me alone!” As Joey and I were calmly discussing his essay just seconds earlier, his exclamation surprised me. Ms. Kubrak reinforced my intentions of helping him work on his essay and reminded him of what he needed to complete that class period. Understanding that Joey was not going to work on his essay while either of us was nearby, Ms. Kubrak and I both walked away. Joey completed little work on his essay that day. Despite these incidents, Joey appears to be typically honest in class. When Ms. Kubrak and I taught the class how to format quotes for during our character analysis unit, I noticed that Joey had correctly formatted a quote that did not come directly from Antigone. When I asked him where in the play he found that quote, he informed me that he put the quote into his own words so that he would not be committing plagiarism. After I explained to him what a direct quotation is and how quoting something correctly and citing it is, in fact, not plagiarism, he quickly and unabashedly found the actual quote in the play and changed it in his paper. Case Study Gerrity 5 Academic Learning: Joey is not a particularly loud or talkative student, though he occasionally answers questions in class. At times, he asks questions without raising his hand, and he keeps asking his question until he receives an answer. Joey occasionally does not complete his class work, and he does not seem at all troubled by receiving a low score on incomplete work. When he does complete assignments, he often finishes his work much quicker than other students do, fulfilling the minimum requirements and rarely expanding upon his work when prompted. For example, when reading The Outsiders in English class, students were to write an obituary for one of three characters that included a sketched picture of that character as well as a few paragraphs containing the reason for the character’s death, details of the character’s life, and the character’s personality traits that the student wanted the world to know. Students had one class period to complete this assignment, and, while most finished during that time, some had to finish their work at home. Joey, on the other hand, finished his obituary within the first twenty minutes of class. He included minimal details fulfilling each requirement. When he showed me his obituary, I prompted him to add more to it, asking him specific questions about the character he had chosen. He worked for another five minutes before showing me his “finished” obituary that now contained a few more details than before. It was written in bullet points rather than paragraphs and contained minimal details for each of the categories required, but Joey appeared to be satisfied with his work and when I again prompted him to add more, he took his paper back to his seat and began making paper airplanes. Joey tends to score higher on smaller assignments that require recall of information and, therefore, little time, than larger ones that require more time, thought, and effort to complete. In short, when assignments are mainly knowledge, comprehension, and—
occasionally—application –based, Joey completes them, usually correctly. When assignments are analysis, synthesis, and evaluation –based, requiring more time, Joey often does not complete them, at times attempting the assignment but refusing to continue working on it after he has achieved a simplistic and incomplete product. However, Joey shows high level reading comprehension skills and an apparent enjoyment of reading. When our English class read the first 200 lines of Antigone by Sophocles aloud, Joey sat quietly and appeared to be following along as we read. At the end of class that day, however, he approached me and apologized for reading “the whole book.” The book that we were reading Antigone out of contained two more of Sophocles’ plays, along with copious notes on each play, so I was confused when Joey told me this. Eventually, I came to understand that Joey read the entirety of the play, Antigone, that day in class. Skeptical, I asked him what he thought of the ending of the play, and after hesitating and saying that it was “okay,” he elaborated, demonstrating not only that he read the play, but that he understood the complex relationships in it. Before we read Antigone in class, we read The Outsiders, a text that was Joey was previously familiar with. While the rest of the class read the novel in class over a period of three weeks, Joey reportedly reread it several times and moved on to read S.E. Hinton’s sequel, That Was Then, This Is Now. Joey’s study skills teacher informed me that he enjoys reading in her class as well and that he has already read several of the books available in her room thus far this school year. Case Study Gerrity 6 Joey also shows appropriate problem solving skills. During his lunch period one day, Joey sat on a bench in the main lobby as I walked from the English office to the cafeteria. He called me over to show me how he could wiggle the screen of his Nintendo DS because he dropped it and part of a piece that attached the screen to the base broke off. He quickly identified why the screen wiggled, and after searching very briefly on the floor, we found the missing piece together. He immediately saw how the piece used to fit on his DS, and he quickly (and by what I could tell, correctly) concluded that it would be difficult to fix. His study skills teacher also reports that he has an aptitude for mathematics. Social Behavior: In English class, Joey talks occasionally with classmates, but he rarely disrupts the class by doing so. He does not seem to have many friends in class, although he appears to get along with a few select students. Whether these students enjoy Joey’s company or are simply kind to most other students, I have not distinguished. Ms. Kubrak and I often use group work in our English class, and more than one student has reported a preference for not working with Joey because he distracts other students and does not participate in the group assignment. Typically, when students work in groups in Joey’s English class, Joey asks to be his “own group,” saying that he prefers to work alone. Often, he declines to work with the rest of his group, and he sometimes refuses to sit near them. In a small number of class situations (that generally do not involve group work), Joey has reported being teased by his classmates. I do not know for sure if this is true, as I have not observed such occurrences, and when questioned, other students deny teasing Joey and usually explain that he misunderstood them. Joey’s attitude toward Ms. Kubrak and I remains consistent: he is neither negative nor positive towards us, and he often speaks to us with raised eyebrows, wide eyes, and mild excitement over whatever topic he is speaking of. His attitude toward his class work and classmates is similar, he is neither negative nor positive, and he generally tends to be more interested in topics of his own than in topic discussed by the class. Emotional Behavior: Joey occasionally displays emotions that appear to be inappropriate for the given situation. For example, he often smiles when there appears to be no reason to be happy, such as when talking to me or Ms. Kubrak about a low grade he received on an essay or an injury he incurred while playing “bloody knuckles.” In both of these examples, something negative happened to Joey as a result of his own actions or choices. Perhaps his inappropriately positive appearance in the regaling of these experiences is a defense mechanism used to protect himself from feelings of guilt or depression; however, I do not know enough to make any conclusive remarks about the reasons behind these behaviors. On the other hand, when an injury is done to Joey by another person, his emotions appear to be more appropriate. For example, I happened to walk next to Joey on the way to English class one day, and he showed me how one of the straps on his backpack had been cut. He took the broken strap as a personal attack against him, and he showed me how the cut was clean and so could not be an accidental rip. He said he didn’t know who would cut his backpack, he didn’t have another backpack to use, and he didn’t know how he would fix the strap. As he said all of this, he appeared to be upset, hurt, slightly confused, and frustrated. Case Study Gerrity 7 Period-­by-­Period Observations: A Day in the Life of a Ninth Grader – Friday, December 17th, 2010 Observations Overview and Synopses: The day before I planned on observing Joey, I told him that, as an intern, I was required to observe a day in the life of a ninth grader, that I had been given a copy of his schedule to follow, and not to be alarmed if he saw me in several of his classes the following day. Initially, Joey rejected the idea of being followed for the day, saying things like, “Aww, why me?” and “Why did you pick me?” However, as he said these things, he smiled in the way he typically does when informing an adult of something that is not necessarily positive. Joey’s attitude about my following him appeared to continue to be negative for the first three periods of the day. By the start of Joey’s fourth period class, he seemed to have accepted my presence in his schedule that day, and by the end of fourth period, he was asking me if I was going to eat lunch in the cafeteria as he does during the next period. In his sixth period class, he invited me to sit next to him in class, and before seventh period, he volunteered to show me the location of his next class (swimming) because I had never been to the school natatorium before. While his attitude about my observations of his typical ninth grade schedule seemed to gradually shift from rejection to acceptance and even to welcome, any bond that was forged throughout the day dissolved as soon as I became his teacher again in his eighth period English class. During this class period, he handed in a half-­‐completed essay well before its due date and refused to work more on it. In addition to observing Joey’s attitudes towards his classes, teachers, peers, schoolwork, and me, I also observed his teachers’ attitudes towards him. When I contacted Joey’s teachers to inform them of the case study I was completing on Joey, several teachers seemed to reply with the resigned mind-­‐set that Joey was a problem student that simply must be dealt with. Though I did not notice any of his teachers display such an attitude toward Joey in class, I began to wonder if Joey’s teachers had separate sets of expectations for him in their classes, and if so, whether or not these expectations affect Joey’s behaviors. However, on the day I observed, I did not notice any difference in teacher expectations for Joey as opposed to those for his fellow classmates. Joey has eight classes throughout the day, and four of them have more than one teacher in the room at a time. Of the ten teachers Joey encounters on a daily basis, only three are male, and the rest are female. Joey seems to respond slightly better to his male teachers, with whom he argues less and appears to get into fewer confrontations. Certain teachers appear to treat Joey negatively when he does not pay attention or do his work, and this negative attention does not appear to encourage Joey to complete his work. However, from my observations this day, it did not discourage him from completing his work altogether, either. Those teachers who, for the most part, did not pay Joey any special attention and allowed him to be independent seemed to be the ones towards whom Joey displayed the most positive attitudes. However, as a teacher, I understand the difficulty of letting a student who does not typically complete his work have independence. The question of how to further help Joey then becomes how to allow him to have independence while encouraging him to thoughtfully and thoroughly complete his assignments. Case Study Gerrity 8 Specific Observations: Period 1: World History I When I walked into the classroom to observe, Joey initially smiled and groaned, saying, “You really are following me!” There were no other teachers in the room at the moment, and several students asked if I was a substitute teacher. I replied that I was only there to observe, and Joey said, with what appeared to be a sense of pride, “She’s following me for the whole day; she has my schedule!” Soon the teacher, Mr. F., arrives and the morning announcements come on. During the announcements, Joey puts the hood of his sweatshirt up and his head down. The class consists of 17 students, 15 of which are boys, and 2 teachers, Mr. F and Ms. S. After the announcements, Ms. S. instructs the students to take out their maps, and Mr. F. begins to go over their assignment. Joey says he doesn’t have his map, and Ms. S. gives him a new one. The students are instructed to answer the questions that are on the back of their maps, but Joey sits with his head down, not participating. Ms. S. tells Joey to pick his head up twice, after which Joey does so and looks around for a book. Ms. S. hands Joey a book, and Joey asks, “Why do I have to do this?” Ms. S. explains that the class always starts a new unit with geography so that they know where the new region that they’re learning about is located. Joey responds, “I want to sleep,” to which Ms. S. kindly says, “So do I, but sometimes we have to get past the tiredness.” Joey seems to begin his assignment. Not long after this, Ms. S. asks Mr. F. what pages the class should be looking at and redirects Joey to go to these pages. Later, Joey begins to color his map, part of the assignment that should have been started yesterday. Most other students appear to be labeling parts of their maps. Joey leaves his seat to get different colored pencils from time to time. Mr. F. asks the class if they are done completing their maps and gives them some time to finish. Mr. F and Ms. S. converse across the room about taking attendance, and Ms. S. surveys the room and says, “We’re just missing Bob.” Joey quickly adds, “and me! You’re missing me!” Shortly thereafter, Ms. S. says to no one in particular, “It is so hot in here,” to which Joey adamantly replies, “It is NOT hot in here!” Ms. S. simply says, “Sorry” in response. As Mr. F. begins to go over the map assignment using the overhead projector, Ms. S. quietly addresses Joey: “Joey, are you listening? Because you’re going to hear the answers.” Joey responds, “I know longitude,” to which Ms. S. replies “Okay.” Joey looks at the map on the projector and does not seem to mark anything on his own paper, but he continues to color. At one point, he informs Ms. S. that he will turn his map in late. Joey sets his colored pencil down and looks from his book to his map. He retrieves a new colored pencil from a box in the front of the room and sits back down in the seat in front of his. Joey sits near the door, near the back of the classroom but relatively close to Ms. S.’s desk. All four seats around Joey are empty. Joey continues working on his map, looking from it to his book, and flipping his map over to view the questions on the reverse side. Mr. F. begins to go over the questions on the back of the map sheet, and most students turn their sheets over the check their answers. Joey, however, continues to color his map, occasionally flipping his map over, but never marking anything on the side of the sheet with questions. Joey then asks to see the map of a student near him. He compares their sheets, gives the other student his sheet Case Study Gerrity 9 back, does not mark anything on his own map, and looks between his map and his book. At this point, a new sheet is passed out to the class, who are told to stop working on their maps and start the new sheet. The following conversation then takes place between Joey and Ms. S.: Ms. S.: Do you need a book? Joey: No, I have one. Ms. S.: We need to stop working on the map now and start our vocab. Put your map in a safe place this time. Joey: I just wanted a new map to make it neater. I didn’t lose it. Ms. S.: You told me you needed a new one. Joey: I did. Ms. S.: I thought you lost it. Joey: I did lose it. The class period soon comes to an end, and Ms. S. asks to speak to Joey at the end of class. She talks to him about taking pride in his work and being more productive and organized in class. He does not appear to agree with her opinions of his behaviors in class. Period 2: Study Skills As I enter Joey’s second period classroom, he smiles and groans again, explaining to Ms. B., on of his study skills teachers, that I am following him. She smiles and tells him that he should be honored that he got chosen over all the other ninth graders, but Joey merely groans again. She tells him just to ignore me and pretend I’m not there if it bothers him, and he replies, “She’s too big to ignore!” Ms. B. says Joey’s name in a reprimanding voice, and he smiles and explains that he mean too tall, not too wide. The interaction between Joey and Ms. S. carries over into Joey’s second period, as his study skills teacher, Ms. C., addresses Joey’s behavior the previous period with him. Sometime before second period, Ms. S. reported to Ms. C. that Joey did not do his work in World History; instead, he was sleeping and spent the entire period coloring. When Ms. C. confronted Joey about this, he denied it and said that he had some work completed and that he was not sleeping. When Ms. C. said she would check back with Ms. S. about this, Joey said that she should check with Mr. F instead. Ms. B, the other teacher in the room, then asks Joey about his science homework. He says that he does not have it and while looking for it, decides to clean out his binder. This class is much smaller and contains only three boys, including Joey, and two teachers, Ms. C and Ms. B. All of the students sit at separate tables, and Ms. C soon begins to go over their progress reports with them. When she reviews Joey’s report, Ms. C. again comments on Ms. S.’s remarks from the period before. She reveals that Ms. S. talked to Ms. C. near the beginning of first period, and Joey says this is the reason Ms. S.’s report to Ms. C. is wrong—he did more work later in the period. Ms. C. and Joey finish review his progress report, and Ms. C. sets a goal for Joey: he needs to work on putting more effort into his history and science classes. Joey returns to organizing his binder, and he takes a new binder from the classroom supply. In his old binder, he finds a crumpled drawing, which he gives to Ms. B., who thanks him for it. Ms. C. then reviews Joey’s goal sheet and checks his assignment book. She suggests Joey write “organize” on his goals sheet, because that is what he is doing and is it useful—especially before a break. Case Study Gerrity 10 Joey sits down and fills out his assignment book using the chalkboard-­‐sized calendar in the room, and he asks Ms. B. about the science homework for today (I later found out that Ms. B. co-­‐teaches in Joey’s science class). Ms. C. checks Joey’s assignment book and reviews what he needs to complete over the weekend. She prompts Joey to work on his history map, but Joey says that he has the whole weekend to do it and that he’s not doing anything this weekend. Ms. C. prompts him to do some kind of work, and Joey decides to work ahead on his math homework, which he calls “easy.” After a few minutes, he realizes there are problems he cannot complete because the teacher has not yet gone over the concepts in class. He tells this to Ms. B., and she suggests he simply take a look at the problems to become familiar with them before his teachers explains them in class. Joey says he’s simply going to complete the problems he understands. When Ms. B. later check on Joey, she notices some errors and points them out to Joey, telling him to pay attention to details and pointing out the “help” section of his math book. Joey responds that it only helps for some problems. Joey packs his belongings up to leave at 9:49, nearly ten minutes before the end of the period. He has had a pair of swimming goggles out on his desk for the entire period. He asks Ms. C. where in the classroom he could store his books, and he is allotted a specific spot where he places his history and science books, along with his binder. Joey says to Ms. B.: Now I can life my backpack with my finger!! It’s much lighter. He then asks to get a drink, but agrees to wait until the end of the period after talking with Ms. B. Ms. C. asks Joey why he is standing up, ready to go, and then she asks him why he is smiling. He responds that he doesn’t know, and Ms. C instructs him to read for the rest of the class period, noting that it does not matter how much he reads as long as he reads something. Joey then sits at a table near a bookshelf, selects a book, opens it to the middle, and appears to read, continuing to do so even as other students pack up to go. Period 3: Algebra I In Joey’s algebra class, Ms. M. begins class by handing back graded work, and students check their work against the correct answers projected on the overhead screen while she takes attendance. In this classroom, the desks are arranged in groups of two facing the projector and whiteboard in the front of the room. Joey sits in the back right hand corner of the room, next to a female classmate. Joey appears to be copying something off her paper; he then points to something on her paper and asks her about it, and she explains. As the students continue to check their answers on the overhead, Joey asks Ms. M. to scroll back up because he has not finished checking his answers, and she does. Ms. M. soon asks the class to hand in their homework and begins to pass out graphing paper. Joey attempts to finish his homework before passing it but, but Ms. M. notices, tells him that it should have been completed before class, and takes it from him. Ms. M. instructs the class to fold the graphing paper a certain way, which Joey does. He then proceeds to draw on his paper using a ruler while Ms. M. introduces a new problem; at this time, no other students are drawing. Joey stops drawing and looks toward the front of the room, where Ms. M. is using the overhead to explain the new problem. She soon instructs the class to draw an “x” and “y” axis, and Joey returns his attention to his graphing paper, where he draws his axis, using an eraser periodically. Case Study Gerrity 11 The class then completes a problem together, and Joey appears to follow along and complete the problem. Joey then turns sideways on his chair and appears not to be paying attention. He then looks at Ms. M. and asks, “Wait, what are we converting?” She does not answer and moves on to the next problem. Joey then stops writing on his paper. Ms. M. instructs the students to work on a set of problems independently, and while most of the class appears to begin working, Joey appears to stare into space. Ms. M. circles the room and prompts Joey to begin working on the problems, and he appears to start working on them. Joey remains very quiet while other students talk about the problems together, and he writes and draws on his paper. He then starts poking his paper with his pencil, perhaps making dots on it, and he appears to begin coloring or shading part of his paper. At this point, he sits back in his chair in a nonchalant manner. Soon Joey sits up a little straighter and talks to the girl next to him. He then briefly lays his head on his desk before picking his head up and sitting on his knees, hunching up over his desk, and looking down at his paper. Ms. M. walks by Joey and asks him about what he is doing, and Joey looks up at her and smiles. She responds very seriously, “This is not funny; this is graded. You haven’t done anything.” She walks away, and Joey looks around the classroom and then looks down at his paper. He begins writing on his paper and then looks intensely at the paper of the girl sitting next to him before asking Ms. M. and question about the problem and talking briefly with her. When they are done talking, Joey asks the girl next to him a question, but she does not respond. Joey soon shouts out that he does not understand question number four (other students in the class periodically call out for help as well). He asks what certain words in problem four mean, and Ms. M. clarifies and walks away as Joey appears to try to complete the problem. As the rest of the class begins to get noisy, Joey remains quiet and draws on his paper using a ruler, stands up, sits back down, and continues drawing. Ms. M. announces that the problem must be finished for homework, and Joey shouts out, “I don’t know how to do this,” to which Ms. M. does not respond. She then instructs the students to put their rulers away, and the period ends. Joey turns his attention to packing up his things, and he leaves the room without asking more about the homework. Period 4: Woodworking I Joey’s fourth period class is Woodworking I, taught by Mr. W. The class consists of 11 male students ranging from grades 9-­‐11. The students move freely around two large rooms filled with various pieces of equipment, machinery, and supplies while they work on their projects. Joey has already finished his major project for the marking period (an Adirondack chair), and Mr. W. is currently trying to get him to begin a new project. Mr. W. informs me that it is often difficult to get students to begin a new project this close to a long break (it is four days before winter break begins). Early on in the class period, Joey decides that he wants to make a wooden bowl. He writes on a worksheet that appears to be used for planning new projects, and he appears to complete some calculations on his phone that he writes on the paper. Throughout the class, Joey gathers several pieces of wood, some of which he measures and some of which he cuts into smaller pieces. At one point, he attempts to use a power saw, and he encounters trouble, so he asks Mr. W. for help. Mr. W., who was close by, tells Joey that he needs to plane the wood before cutting it, and he shows him the Case Study Gerrity 12 proper way to use the saw he was experiencing difficulties with. Joey then waits for a student to finish using the planer, and he planes a few of his pieces of wood before Mr. W. instructs the class to clean up. The entire class is expected to clean the two rooms regardless of whether or not an individual student was a part of making the mess that period. The older students seem to take a lead role in making sure all surfaces are cleaned and all materials are put away. Joey puts his materials away and helps to put different tools back in the places they belong. He explains the names and purposes of a few different tools to me as he puts them away. Soon the bell rings, and Joey gathers his things and leaves to go to lunch. Mr. W. explains to me that because of the spread out and independent nature of his classes, as a teacher, he needs to be very attuned to the sounds of the classroom to make sure students are working safely, since he cannot always see his entire class at once. He knew Joey was incorrectly using the power saw simply by the sound it was making. Period 5: Lunch Regrettably, I did not observe Joey for his entire lunch period. However, I noticed that after he ate lunch in the cafeteria, he spent the rest of the period outside tossing a football around with a few other students. His face was still red from the cold winter air as he sat down in his sixth period class. Period 6: Earth Systems Science Joey’s science class is taught by Ms. P., with the help of Ms. B. from Joey’s Study Skills class. When Joey comes into the classroom, he asks both teachers about an assignment of his. Ms. B. reiterates that he needs to be responsible and keep track of his materials. She also explains to him that it is important to ask for help when he needs it, and she encourages him to remind teachers of things he notices they forget. Joey then signs out to leave the room in order to get his homework from either his locker or his Study Skills room. He comes back with his homework in hand. The teachers collect the homework, and Ms. P. announces that the class will be watching a movie in class that day about earthquakes, which they have been studying. Two walls in the room are lined with sinks, and a third wall is lined by a long table, behind which Ms. P. sits. Lab tables sitting two students per table serve as desks in this classroom, and they face the fourth wall, lined by windows and an overhead projector screen. The tables are arranged in four rows with six students in each row. Two tables in each row are touching, creating an aisle running through the row so that four students are on one side of the aisle and two students, along with the teacher’s desk, are on the other side. Joey sits alone at a table in the front right corner of the room, in front of the projector screen. When the movie starts, Joey appears to be distracted. He plays with something that looks like a twist tie that he is twisting into a shape. Soon, however, he turns his attention to the screen and appears to watch the movie. He switches positions often throughout the class period. For example, he rests his head on his hands, puts his hood up, picks his head up and rests it on his elbow, sits up, stretches, looks around, takes his hood off, sits on his knees, leans over his desk, sits down in his chair, puts his hands on his head, and generally seems to move restlessly while watching the movie. In the latter half of the period, Ms. P. hands back student work. Joey briefly looks at his work when it is handed to him, puts it Case Study Gerrity 13 with the other papers on his desk, and turns his attention back to the movie. Soon Ms. P. stops the movie, Joey packs up his belongings, and the bell rings. At the beginning of this period, Joey invited me to sit in the empty seat next to him. I explained that I did not want to distract the class and chose a seat in the back of the room near the sinks. At the end of the period, Joey asks if I am coming to his swim class and if I know where the pool is. I don’t, and he offers to walk me show me where it is. I tell him I have to get my coat and I don’t want to make him late, and he replies: “I can’t be late (for swimming). One time I left after the 2nd bell and I still wasn’t late!” We then agree to walk to the pool together. He goes to his locker to get his swim bag while I go to the English office to get my coat, and we walk from the South Building to the North Building. On the way, Joey tells me that he enjoys swim class, but that it is almost over. Soon he will be starting archery class, which he is looking forward to. During our walk between buildings, Joey also mentions that someone used to follow him around last year, too, but that person followed him every day, and he did not like it. Period 7: Physical Education 09 – Swimming In Joey’s swim class, his teacher, Mr. V., explains to me that the students were tested on the different swimming strokes earlier this week, and that today, class is a little more relaxed than usual, and the students will be playing volleyball. Mr. V. briefly tells the students about the rules for volleyball, and they begin playing. There is music playing in the pool, and some students sing along with it. Joey plays volleyball with his team, talks with his peers, and seems to enjoy himself. There are two games of volleyball occurring simultaneously between four teams of students. The students rotate positions after every serve, and Mr. V. periodically instructs the students to switch sides of the pool, so that they play against different teams. In addition, he switches the sizes of the volleyballs used in each game as the student change sides. In between the different games, Joey splashes other students. Some laugh and shrug it off, but others become annoyed or angry and splash back with force. The students continue playing volleyball until Mr. V. instructs them to get out of the pool and go change. Joey follows instructions with the rest of his class and appears to be happy and having fun. Period 8: English 9 Joey comes into his either period English class late after walking back from the pool. As he comes into the classroom, he hands me an opened bottle of Ibuprofen, still in its box, explaining to me that he found it in the middle of the street as he was coming from the North Building, and that no students are allowed to have medicine in school. His eyes are wide as he tells me this, and he appears to be very concerned about this matter. I tell him that I will take care of it and thank him for turning the bottle in. In class, Ms. K. and I have our students look more closely at their papers for the use of claim, data, and warrant as we had previously discussed it in class. Ms. K. instructs the students to look at each of their body paragraphs and to highlight their claims in their papers in yellow, their data in red, and their warrants in blue. Ms. K. then tells the students that the amount of blue in each paragraph should approximately double the amount of yellow and red combined. She tells them their task for the day is to edit their papers so that they have an appropriate amount of writing for the claim, data, and warrant in each paragraph. Case Study Gerrity 14 Joey highlights the claims, data, and warrants in each of his paragraphs with the rest of the class, but when given time to edit his paper, he makes little progress. I approach Joey and ask him about his paper, and we edit his first body paragraph together. Joey moves some sentences around in order for his paragraph to make more sense, and, upon my prompting, he adds more explanation to his warrant. I tell him to edit the rest of his body paragraphs like this one and let him know that I will be back to see how he is doing. When I check on Joey later in the period, he has fixed some minor grammatical errors, and he says there is nothing else in his paper that he can change. When I try to look over his paper with him and ask him about areas that could be worked on, he continues to say there is nothing else that he can make better, and he refuses further help, claiming to be finished with his paper. I let him know that his paper as of that moment is not the well developed essay that Ms. K. and I expect from any student in this class, and that he has until Wednesday, December 22, to work on it before he turns it in. Just before the end of the period, he prints out his paper, which is still highlighted in different colors, says he is done, and hands it to me. I tell him I will hold onto his paper for him over the weekend, and in case he wants to work on it next week. Joey reiterates that he is done with his paper, gathers up his belongings, puts on his coat, and waits for the bell to ring before leaving the classroom. Student Growth and Learning After speaking with Joey’s Emotional Support (ES) teacher at the high school, Ms. M., I learned that Joey’s middle school ES teacher said that Joey had “no chance” of making it to the high school because he was in a poor emotional state, was being uncooperative, and was doing poorly academically (Joey came to State College Area School District in ninth grade from a different school district). This teacher constantly monitored Joey, and, according to both what Ms. M. told me and what Joey mentioned to me at one point, he did not like being followed so closely. Ms. M. also mentioned that in middle school, Joey also used to pick at his skin quite incessantly, to the point where he was carving things into his arms. Ms. M. reported that Joey has shown a tremendous amount of maturity from eighth grade to ninth grade, and he is doing very well in the high school compared to his behavior in the middle school; he is now making both academic and behavioral progress. Ms. M. also revealed that Joey has been shuffled from foster home to foster home, he has suffered abuse at home in the past, and he has always been fighting for acceptance, both at home and at school. This year, however, he seems to have a supportive home environment and a kind and caring foster father who is strict but very fair, as well as loving. This home environment has appeared to help Joey progress significantly in his attitudes toward school as well as the ways in which he deals with conflicts. Though he does not often show it in class, Joey is a very kind young man. Ms. M. showed me a Monopoly card game that Joey particularly enjoys. She and Joey play the game together while she talks to Joey, and he seems to be more honest and open with her while he plays. He also is very attentive to the game and catches every mistake she makes—and lets her know she is making them. Ms. M. promised Joey that she would buy him his own Monopoly card game if he tried harder to behave appropriately and complete his work during the weeks before winter break, and he agreed to do this. His foster father Case Study Gerrity 15 actually bought him the card game before winter break arrived, and Ms. M. offered to buy him a different game for which to work. He declined, however, saying that he still wanted to win the Monopoly card game to give to his brother for Christmas. Joey has a biological brother whom he is excused from school to visit every other week. He goes to a mobile therapist in order to see his brother, and he occasionally has to go to court to continue seeing him. He looks forward to visiting his brother, and he handles the court visits that accompany these visits maturely. Joey had a second biological brother who passed away in January of 2011. Joey showed no noticeable signs of distress in English class after this death, and both his emotional support teacher and his study skills teacher reported that he handled the death well and acted composed and adult-­‐like when they encountered him after he suffered this loss. His study skills teacher revealed that Joey appropriately wanted to call his minister about his brother’s death (Joey is part of a youth group which is very important to him). In other areas, Joey shows improvement as well. In the beginning of the school year, Joey was being monitored for his computer usage because he had been inappropriately using both school and home computers. When students would use computers in English class, I noticed that Joey was often off task and looking at websites that had no relation to the assignment. Now, however, Joey computer usage is not being monitored as heavily, and when he uses a computer in English class, he appears to be on task and doing his work. Also in the beginning of the school year, Joey frequently asked Ms. Kubrak and I if we had any spare change we could give him; sometimes he would ask for a quarter, and at other times, fifty cents. I would also sometimes see him checking the vending machines outside our English classroom for forgotten change. Ms. Kubrak and I never gave him any change, and Ms. Kubrak emailed his foster father to make him aware of the situation. He replied that Joey should have more than enough money for his needs for the school day, and that he should not be asking anyone for money. He continued to occasionally ask for money as well as search the vending machines for several weeks, but this behavior eventually appeared to fade away, and he has not recently asked Ms. Kubrak or me for change. Joey has also recently improved in his willingness to work with others in a group. For an assignment in which students compared Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” to William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Joey anticipated the coming group work and told me that he was going to be his own group early in the period. I explained to him that the purpose of group work is to share ideas with others, and I told him that he has many valuable ideas that others probably do not have, and that he should share his unique ideas with them. At first, he claimed that he did not want to share his ideas because he wanted to get a good grade while his classmates got a poor one. I told him that was not very nice and explained that his classmates have many good ideas that they could share with him, as well, and I walked away from his desk. When the time came to get into groups, Joey sat with his group and completed the assigned question set with them. Part of his cooperation here may be because he did not have to move from his seat in order to sit with his group; his group happened to be assigned to move to his area of the room. Joey has become less argumentative than he was in the beginning of the year as well. According to his study skills teachers, Joey often responded to conflicts presented to him about school by saying, “Well, that’s fine; I’m going to quite school anyway when I’m 15.” This phrase was a frequent mantra of Joey’s in August and September, but since then, his Case Study Gerrity 16 study skills teachers have heard it less and less, and the last time they recall him saying it was in October. Recommendations for Future Teachers One of the most important recommendations I can make for future teachers of Joey is to keep and open mind and attitude and to try not to develop negative feelings towards Joey. He can be very difficult to deal with at times, but he truly is an intelligent, kind, and caring student, though he does not always show these qualities in the classroom. During my first few months of working with Joey, I admit that I was often frustrated with him, and I felt as if I would never understand how Joey operates or what makes him “tick.” I still cannot claim I know these things, but I now realize that Joey is a talented and pleasant young man who is not being spiteful or lazy but who thinks and feels differently than most other students do. When dealing with Joey, it is important to try to develop a relationship with him by letting him know that you care about him, that you are working with him, and that you want to help him succeed, but by also giving him space and allowing him to have independence; he does not respond well to overbearing authority. Additionally, always be honest and fair with Joey. If he asks why he has to complete an assignment, explain the purposes of the assignment to him in a clear and rational manner. Joey enjoys earning good grades but is not a “people pleaser,” so it is crucial to let him know the importance of the assignment. It is also essential to stress the positive aspects of his behavior and skills as much as possible, and try not to show negativity to him. If he begins to argue about completing the assignment, calmly and clearly reiterate the purposes of the assignment, and walk away from him, giving him some time and space to think about the decision he is about to make. Never engage in an argument with him, as his resistant behavior only escalates. Be firm, fair, and consistent with Joey as well. Hold him accountable for his actions and choices, and create fair consequences for his actions. Let him know these consequences if he behaves inappropriately, and enforce them when needed without exceptions. When Joey behaves inappropriately, have a conversation with him about why his behaviors are not appropriate. If he considers you genuine, fair, and rational, he will typically accept that his behavior is inappropriate, and, usually, he will not engage in that behavior again. Finally, SED officials note that “A particular obstacle to truly effective services [for Serious Emotional Disturbance students] is the extreme difficulty in coordinating services from multiple agencies and fostering collaboration among schools and numerous community, family, and adult service providers” (Landrum 727). Because of the significant impact of home life on any student and particularly on a student with SED, it is vital to keep parents informed of students’ progress. In Joey’s case, his foster father provides encouragement to succeed in school and positive support to behave appropriately, and it is crucial to communicate with him about Joey’s performance and behavior at school so that he can work with Joey at home to reach his full potential as a successful individual at State College Area High School and beyond. Case Study Gerrity 17 Works Cited Center, David. "Emotional Disturbance." Encyclopedia of Educational Leadership and Administration. Ed. Fenwick W. English. Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference, 2006. 335-­‐337. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. Landrum, Timothy J., and James M. Kauffman. "Emotionally Disturbed, Education of." Encyclopedia of Education. Ed. James W. Guthrie. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 726-­‐728. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. Ruban, Lilia M., and F. Richard Olenchak. "Special Needs Children." Encyclopedia of Human Development. Ed. Neil J. Salkind. Vol. 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Reference, 2006. 1209-­‐1210. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.