1

Impact on Student Learning

Study

Kate Pagano February 24, 2015

I.

Introduction and Analysis

The student I chose for this case study is a fifth grader at an

elementary school. I will call him C.C. His parents are divorced so he splits
his time between both homes. Sunday-Wednesday C.C. stays with his mother
and Wednesday-Saturday he stays with his father. C.C. also has a younger
brother who follows the same schedule. Between both residences C.C. has
eight dogs and talks about them frequently in school. He does not share a
room and also does not have a bedtime or lights off policy in either of his
homes. C.C. has a television in both of his rooms that is mainly used to play
video games. Outside of school C.C. spends most of his time playing with his
dogs and his video games.

I chose C.C. after

observing him in the classroom and talking to his general education teacher
and his inclusions teachers. Among a class of 22 fifth grade students, he is
the only one who seems to have difficulty sitting in his seat and interacting
with other students. C.C. can be extremely interruptive and argumentative
with other students. After speaking with his teacher and two inclusion
teachers (who push in for math and reading) they stated that they have had
a very difficult year with C.C. In the mornings C.C. spends his time walking
around the classroom bothering others and ignoring his homework
responsibilities and morning work. He rarely has a night where all of his
homework is completed at one hundred percent. His teachers have

conferenced with both of his parents several times and his academic
performance has still not improved.

The work

C.C. does complete is usually rushed, incorrect or copied off another

classmate. His teachers feel like he has the potential to do so much more in
the classroom because when giving oral responses, he understands the task,
but fails with the written work.
Besides having inclusion teachers
push in for math and reading, C.C. does not have an IEP or any other kind of
written individualized program. An IEP is a written education plan, designed
by school professionals, to meet a childs learning needs. Ive been told that
the IEP team and C.C.s parents have met and concluded that he is not in
need of any special education services in order to learn the general
education curriculum. His general education teachers main concern is with
C.C. and his classroom behavior: remaining in his seat, completing
independent work, and his organization skills. The second concern is with
him constantly disturbing other children. In addition to those two concerns,
C.C. also rarely completes his homework or in class assignments. C.C.s mom
has made it clear to the teacher that she rarely sees his homework and that
could be the reason why it is not being turned in because he is not brining it
home.

I gave C.C. a

questionnaire asking him a few questions. They included the following:

1. I complete and turn in my homework. always, -almost always,
-sometimes, -rarely

2. I try my best when my teachers give me work. always, -almost

always, -sometimes, -rarely
3. I listen when the teacher is talking. always, -almost always,
-sometimes, -rarely
4. I am organized and ready to work in class. always, -almost always,
-sometimes, -rarely
5. I am respectful to my teachers and my classmates. always, -almost
always, -sometimes, -rarely
After each question C.C. circled a response to the question. He seems to
be aware of
the areas he is deficient and defiant in. We talked a little about the questions
after he answered them. He says he sometimes completes and turns in his
homework. I asked him why? and his response was that he usually forgets
because he is busy playing with his dogs and video games. He also said he
sometimes trys his best when teachers give him work but only because the
work is boring. After talking to C.C. for a while after he answered these
questions, I have determined that he is very aware of his behavior in school
and how he doesnt necessarily give himself enough credit or opportunities
to excel. C.C. is a student who has the potential to excel academically inside
and outside of the classroom.
II.
Intervention
To attempt to address the problems, I have talked with C.C.s teacher,
inclusion teachers and parents and we come up with a few strategies to fix
these problems. The first problem being classroom behavior; we have
decided to try and shorten the length of the assignments in order to keep
C.C. motivated to finish his work. Instead of expecting C.C. to read for 30

minutes we have cut that in half to 15 minutes, and instead of writing for 20
minutes straight we have also cut that in half to 10 minutes. We believe that
changing these expectations will allow C.C. to see that he can complete
these tasks. Our main goal is to show C.C. that he is capable of sitting in his
seat and completing these assignments. Having C.C. see that he can sit still
and complete these assignments will hopefully lead him to challenge himself
to sit for longer periods of time.

We have

also chosen to give C.C. the choice to sit in the back of the classroom, while
completing his independent work, to allow him to have more room to focus.
C.C. gets distracted very easily and then tends to distract those around him,
so we felt this would not only benefit him but also those classmates.
In addition to addressing his behavior
concerns we have also reached out to his parents and made them aware of
our intentions for motivating and making a homework plan for C.C. to
complete and turn in his homework. I started by finding C.C.s agenda book,
which has never been written in, and sat down with him and explained how
to use it. I believe with my help and monitoring his agenda book he would be
more likely to turn it in. I also came to the decision that I would also use
extrinsic motivation by offering C.C. if his homework was completed one
hundred percent for the week, candy. C.C.s parents also made the decision
to reward him if his homework goal for the week was completed. I know that
extrinsic motivation can often interfere with intrinsic motivation but I want to
try and build any motivation before we can really focus on one over the

other. Any kind of motivation for C.C. would be an improvement.

C.C. and I discussed a homework plan
and let his mom and dad know that he would be a few minutes late for pick
up every day (they pick him up) while we went over each assignment so he
understood what was expected of him. We both agreed to sign the agenda
book, so I knew I had met with him and explained everything in detail, and so
he knew that he understood what was expected of him. After completing his
homework, C.C.s mother and father also agreed to sign the agenda to help
with the monitoring process. The next day C.C. knew he was to report to me
as soon as he stepped into the classroom with his homework and agenda
book signed and that we would discuss any difficulties he might have had
completing the work.
III.

Data/Findings
C.C. has made the largest improvement with his homework.

During the five week period we worked together he only missed four
assignments. Whereas before the intervention, C.C. was rarely completing
and turning in his homework. I think by his parents and I monitoring him and
the added extrinsic rewards really motivated C.C. to complete his homework.
After the first few nights of completing his homework successfully I think he
began to see how intrinsically rewarding turning in his homework was. He
was extremely proud of himself for completing the assignments and often
boasted about how much time and effort he put into his work. C.C.s new
routine and constant motivation from teachers and friends has changed his

attitude and outlook on completing his homework.

There were also

some improvements with his behavior and performance inside the

classroom. C.C. seemed to respond positively to the shortening of classroom
assignments. He worked for the time expected but once he was done
became a distraction to those around him. We tried moving C.C. to the back
table and giving different tasks to complete when he was done his allotted
reading and writing time but that still has not seemed to work. While he is
completing the new allotted classroom tasks his behavior after is still a work
in progress. We are still determining a plan of action on how to fix this
particular problem.
Given the amount of time I had to work with C.C. I
believe that the progress he has made has been remarkable. Coming from a
fifth grader who rarely completed and handed in his homework and is now
completing his homework ninety percent of the time, and bragging about
it(!), is more progress than I could have ever imagined. I know with constant
motivation from teachers and parents and a strong persistent routine, C.C.
will excel academically. C.C. still needs help with his self-discipline and
improving his classroom behavior, but I know with the right encouragement
and plan of action he will learn how to fall out of these bad habits and
successfully interact with those around him.

IV.

Reflection

Working with C.C. was one of the most challenging experiences I have
taken on in my teaching career thus far. I am used to working with preschool
students who love learning and completing work, so working to come up with
a plan to motivate and change behaviors was a new territory for me. The one
thing C.C. had in common with the preschoolers I am use to working with
though was his attention span. This was an area I am very familiar with so I
was able to relay my messages and expectations to C.C. briefly and to the
point before I lost his focus.

Overall,

although I found working with C.C. challenging at times I really enjoyed the
time we spent together. After C.C. began to trust me and see that my only
intention was to help him he became to open up and listen to what I actually
had to say. I am grateful that I had the chance to work with C.C. and help him
develop new learning strategies and coping skills. C.C. has taught me what it
takes to become an effective and impactful teacher and I look forward to
continue working with him and other students in my future to develop my
skill set even more.