Behavioral Case Study

The Helpless Handraiser

There is a girl my 1st grade classshe will be referred to as Jane for purposes of keeping her identity anonymouswho has a serious problem. When I first met her she came across as being sweet innocent and an eager student. !s I got to know her howe"er I disco"ered she has a debilitating problem that disrupts her learning and the flow of the classroom# she is a helpless handraiser. $he is the ultimate and "ery definition of a helpless handraiser. I didn%t see her problem at first& it was not ob"ious to me. The more I spent time in the classroom the more I saw how she was indeed a helpless handraiser and an e'tremely draining whiny one. $he is constantly asking for help. (r. )red Jones talks about this type of student in Tools for Teaching. *e describes them as those who constantly demand the teacher%s undi"ided time and attention a natural enemy of working the crowd. I must admit I fell into her greasy little trap in the beginning. I was the gullible teacher (r. Jones talks about as I ga"e her a sympathetic response each time. I thought she hungered for knowledge and legitimately needed help when really she +ust did not want to do any of the work herself. $he is a professional strategist playing clueless claming she doesn%t know what to do. I did not know in the beginning that I was encouraging learned helplessness and enabling her beha"ior. In the few short months I spent a lot of time around Jane. I carefully obser"ed interactions with other teachers classmates and myself. $he doesn%t listen or follow directions "ery well. $he has a hard time sitting up straight in chair& she is often

3 slouching and lying down on her desk as if bored or completely unmoti"ated. !ll too often her name is called out in class to get her attention and as a reminder to focus. ,ost of her time in the classroom is spent stalling and a"oiding work. The following phrases are all too common for Jane# I don%t get it. I need help. What do I do- What does this say- I can%t do it. I don%t want to. I ha"e heard a ridiculous amount of grunts groans and sighs from this girl. *er body language says to me I couldn%t care less about e"erything she does in school. Jane is always mo"ing fidgeting sprawled out rocking in her chair scooting back and forth and lounging. ."ery time I ha"e talked to a pre"ious teacher about this girl she simply says Jane is la/y and additionally comments that her older sibling was the same way. $he also let me know this beha"ior in Jane gets worse any time there are other adults in the room. With parent "olunteer helpers reading inter"entionists principle "isits substitutes during teacher trainings and myself Jane has a plethora of adults to beg for help. $he has adults wrapped around her finger and they usually gi"e in unknowingly enabling her learned helplessness. I ha"e not had any classmates "erbali/e the effect Jane has on them but through careful obser"ation I can conclude that it is "ery draining. 0ne day the students had gone out to recess. I stayed behind for a few minutes to finish grading some assignments before heading out. Three minutes after the class had left to go to recess Jane came bounding back inside. Will you come play with me- I responded that I would be out shortly. I asked her why& where were her friends- I don%t ha"e any friends she responded. I asked who her friends were in class. Jane said she had only one friend whom she named. I asked why she wasn%t out playing with her. Jane%s response# $he has another friend so I don%t ha"e a friend1I don%t ha"e any friends. 2ontinuing the

8 con"ersation I asked how that made her feel and she said sad. When we went outside I disco"ered part of the reason Jane wasn%t playing with that friend was because she was being bossy and selfish demanding her friends +ump rope. When the friend again said no to the hasty demand Jane turned to me and said $ee she won%t gi"e me the +ump rope4 Jane is a cute girl but has certain negati"e social beha"iors that affect her peers% attitudes and feelings toward her# she is often bossy domineering defiant whiny and ta'ing. 2lassmates end up ha"ing to shoulder the burden of her schoolwork and carry her in a sense. I was happy to see when her desk was mo"ed from sitting by her friend who she always copied. That was not fair to that student who was too timid to say anything to the teacher or to Jane. 5ot only is she a problem to the classmates in close pro'imity she is a disruption to the entire class with her relentless unnecessary pleas for help. I feel the energy drain from the room and how it affects the rest of those present. The classroom uses the card pull system and Jane often gets her card pulled for being disrupti"e incompliant and off task. *a"ing her card pulled seems to moti"ate her and sets her straight for a few moments but not for long. Jane%s desk has been mo"ed se"eral times in an attempt to handle the negati"e beha"ior and problems that stem from her issues. *er desk was originally by one of her friends but it was soon disco"ered that she was ne"er doing her own work& she was only copying her friend%s papers. The front row has been Jane%s home in the classroom in an attempt to keep her as close to the teacher as possible at all times. The intent was to try to keep her on task and continuously monitor her beha"ior. Jane has an I.6 and recei"es assistance for speech. $he is identified as a lower7 le"el learner but the more time that goes on the more I belie"e it%s not her intelligence or learning ability that is low. I belie"e it is her will that falls short and is lacking. This

< negati"e beha"ior significantly affects her learning because she spends more time complaining and saying she can%t do it than trying or working. I wish I could follow her home and see what home life is like and how the family dynamics work. I ha"e limitless 9uestions about her beha"ior. !s an outsider looking in there is so much I ha"e to assume. $he is always dressed "ery nice leading me to assume she comes from a mainstream middle class family. I asked her about her family and found out she does ha"e a few siblings. :ased on her beha"ior I assume she makes the rules runs the household and gets her way. I would not be surprised one whit if I found her to be babied and controlling at home. Jane%s mannerisms are "ery distinct when asked to do an assignment or told ;no% for any reason# head tilt widened eyes as if shocked by what has been asked of her blatant disgust and widened eyes when told no hands on hips with attitude crossed eyebrows innocent face of supposed ;cluelessness % a smile and ;baby talk% trying to play cute and stomping of the feet. !ll of these beha"iors I ha"e obser"ed time and time again are incredibly immature and childish. Jane is also blatantly defiant disrespectful and appears to lack structure or boundaries in her life. (r. Jones asks a 9uestion in his book that resonates true to me in relation to this student# *a"e you e"er had students in your class who thought they could skate through life +ust by being cute- 0b"iously it works for them at home. When I first read that I knew it described Jane. That is e'actly how she acts4 If it didn%t work for her she wouldn%t do it. 0ne of the main goals I%"e set for myself o"er the past couple of months has been to try to wean Jane from her problem. The one strategy I ha"e learned about that I ha"e tried to use in response to her constant pleas for help is the praise prompt and lea"e

@ approach as discussed by (r. Jones. 0ne day I felt I had a break through and it worked4 The students were doing centers and had worksheets to complete. Jane immediately began with her usual I don%t get it1I need help1this is too hard. I followed the praise prompt and lea"e protocol. It took multiple times of repeating those three steps& I kept lea"ing only to come back and find she had not done a thing. I repeated the process again and again determined to stick with this strategy. !t one short interaction I said to her =ou ha"en%t tried or e"en looked at it yet. =ou are smarter than that I know you are. 6lease read the directions and do the first one. I will be back to check on you in one minute. !s I walked away she started up again. I told her to repeat after me I can do it4 I had her repeat that phrase again and again. $he finally started to do her own work. ,oments later an aid stopped to help her. Jane looked at her and said I can do it4 $he >pointing to me? said I can. I was thrilled to say the least4 !t least it was a step in the right direction. I belie"e her regular "erbiage of I can%t do it leads to a self7fulfilling prophecy. The more she says it the more I think she belie"es it despite its falsehood. I know it affects her self7 esteem as well. !nother day I sat with Jane in her reading group and helped her along. I need help she began *elp me. I told her no she did not need help to look at the page and sound out the first word. I will sit here and do nothing. What really shocked me was what came at the end of that e'change# =ou ha"e to help me because I%m +ust a little girl. I was being commanded and she was making e'cuses for herself& I could not belie"e what I was hearing. It was clear to me that was something she has heard before& it was also ob"ious it was not the first time she had said that to an adult. 0ne day I was checking homework folders. $he was supposed to read to me the assignment she took

C home. When I asked her to begin reading she yelled 5o4 $he would not budge until I told her the conse9uence of her not checking off her homework was to ha"e it sent home and do it again. )ine4 she said with all the attitude she had in her. *ow about you say all the words and then I say all the words. I told her it was her homework not mine. $he didn%t like that I wasn%t obeying her command and doing the work for her. I ha"e done my best to be conscious of Jane e"ery week during class and think about how to best help her. There are a few other strategies I%"e tried or am trying to implement# instill confidence modelAscaffold BI6%s >Bisual Instructional 6lan? and fulfilling promises and following through. If I say I%ll come back and check on her I do. ,y main goal is to wean this helpless handraiser to be a confident and moti"ated student. It%s unfortunate that I only ha"e an opportunity to try to make a difference once a week. I suppose it is making a difference& if nothing else I am learning a "ery "aluable lesson that will benefit me in the future when I ha"e my own classroom.