The last few weeks have felt like a single day punctuated by occasional naps. The combination of teaching all of my supervising teacher's classes, planning my unit (and navigating the murky waters of Kentucky Teacher Internship Program forms and documents), being actively involved in a handful of ministries at my church, planning for my leadership project, tutoring a student for my collaboration project, and holding down a part time job (so I can eat) have proved to be the perfect storm that has doomed my blog these last few weeks.
My approach to this blog from the beginning was for it to be primarily for sifting through my experiences and sorting out my thoughts on life and education (which are largely the same thing). In the thickest part of the semester, I have reverted to survival -- a crisis to crisis mode of living that typically excludes critical reflection.
Over the next few days I hope to highlight some of my classroom experiences that stick out from the otherwise muted landscape that has been my recent life.
In the meantime, here is my reflection on the results of my collaboration project.
Using the assessment data collected, describe the impact of the collaboration plan on this student’s learning and describe possible next steps.
The collaboration plan outlined above is actually the second I attempted this semester. My initial collaboration plan involved a student in one of my supervising teacher’s classes. My ST and I had been working on that particular collaboration for about two weeks when the student was removed from our classroom and placed in a full collaboration classroom. Because of that unforeseen turn of events so early in the plan, I felt it necessary to develop another; however, the time that I have had to implement it has also been short.
I spoke with staff members from Cumberland Valley Comprehensive Care (henceforth, CC) on October 26th, and set an appointment with Jerry for the following Thursday, the 29th. In my conversations with CC staff members, they gave me further information about Jerry, his struggles, and some ways they thought I would be able to help him.
In my and Jerry’s first meeting on the 26th, my initial goal was to get a feel for his attitudes and feelings about language and reading, and see what his interest in reading might be. Once I met him and sat down with him, I could tell that he has many struggles. Although not at all unpleasant, his disposition seemed nervous and unsure of himself and his surroundings. His speech was slow, and his vocabulary was closer to that of an early elementary student than a 14 year-old.
As I began asking the questions I had prepared for our first meeting, I realized that I was treating Jerry like a case study or an information source rather than as a person. I was sitting in front of this child, taking notes on his life and struggles. Right in front of him. Once I realized the insensitivity of my business-like approach, I put my notebook and pen away. And then I asked him, “Jerry, what do you like to do when you get home from school?” At this, he began to open up – he told me about his and his family’s horses and about how he recently broke a two year-old. So, for the rest of our meeting I asked him about horses.
Through our first meeting, I came to understand that before it is possible to “help” someone with any difficulty, struggle, or deficiency, one must treat that person like a person. An essential aspect of treating one as a person is understanding that beliefs, misconceptions, and subsequent behaviors are the natural overflow of one’s experiences, pains, joys, disappointments, and desires. Jerry’s struggles with language and reading have not developed in separation from any other aspect of his life; there are ways he has not been nourished and nurtured throughout his life that have led to, among other things, not being able to read. Thus, illiteracy is a symptom of a deeper problem. Addressing the symptom without first treating the root is narrow-sighted, ineffective, and inhumane.
When I came to the realization that Jerry needed more than another specialist offering a given service in his life, it changed my attitude about the collaboration project as well as my approach to it and also to Jerry as an individual. First, I began trying to treat Jerry as my brother (I do, in fact, have a brother his exact age); I ask him about his life, what has been good, and what has been not so good about his week. Beyond that initial dialogue, I do help him review class work (which at this point is working on basic phonics) and read with him. But it is my desire and effort to care about and nurture him as a person first and foremost; without that deeper context, he would be “my project,” a resource I exploit for the purpose of attaining a degree.
In addition to my meetings with Jerry, I have had the opportunity to meet with both of his language teachers, Mr. Struck and Ms. Perkins, at Whitley County Middle School. They have given insight into Jerry’s progress thus far as well as class format, curriculum, and goals. Both of Jerry’s language classes are designed to help with severe literacy deficiencies. Ms. Perkins also informed me that the format of the class is focused on mastery; thus, all students receive the same grade. In light of that information, it has not been possible to chart his progress through his grades in his language classes.
Although I will not be able to measure his application of internal progress being made nor numerically represent how much he has learned, I believe that this collaboration is in the process of being a success. I say in the process for two reasons. First, literacy is a process that varies from individual to individual due to a variety of factors; thus, one should not assume that steps A, B, and C necessarily lead to result D within a desirably short period of time, even if certain statistics indicate that it is likely to happen. Jerry may not learn to read better; he might not ever be “successful” in terms of academic achievement, which is not to say that it is not possible. On the other hand, I believe that by treating him with patience, care, and respect, his literacy will grow at its own unique pace; at the same time, I believe he (and I as well) will grow as an individual because more of his basic needs are being met. Furthermore, this collaboration in is in the process of success because I am not going to stop meeting with Jerry when I no longer need him to help me make a grade (which is not to say there is anything wrong or shallow about having such a project in a class; rather, a project is only as substantial as a student handles it, and it is my desire to continue the connection that has begun developing between myself and Jerry). Growth may not happen as quickly as I would desire, but with time and patience, it will.
