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Assignment 4 – SVR Theory Implementation Plan

EDUA 5600

Kristin Withoos

685 3083
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Assignment 3 – SVR Theory Implementation Plan

Key Issue

While thinking about my SVR theory implementation plan one of my students came to

mind immediately I will call him Adam for the sake of the paper to make it easier to identify

him. Adam suffers from severe anxiety amongst other mental and social issues. He struggles to

attend class and does not have any friends in his class or outside the classroom. This student is

very behind academically but also socially and it is only beginning to get worse as he missed

more and more classroom time. I am concerned for this student to go off to high school next year

and be not only behind academically but also not have any friends or peers there to support him

and help him through his day. Without some motivating factor to attend class and complete

assignments he will simply fall farther and farther behind. It is also a concern for me that he is

lacking so many social skills because he is unable to ask for help when needed and he struggles

to find a partner in class or even to find someone to sit with at lunch. I would like to implement a

plan in order to help him not only catch up a little bit academically but also to hopefully build

relationships with peers.

My goal is therefore as follows: I will implement group work catch up periods three

times a cycle starting on April 9th and continuing until June 30th. I will offer these periods of

catch up time both during class work periods and at lunch depending on the day of the cycle.

There are many other students that are also behind academically that could benefit from these

periods of work time. I will personally ask specific students to attend based on their needs but I

will also open these up to any other students that feel as though they need to catch up on areas

that they are struggling with. I believe that the other students that are slightly behind are

wonderful students that could really help Adam out academically as well as be good friends to
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him. Hopefully in a setting that is focused on the academic side of things a friendship or even

just a closer peer relationship can be formed more naturally without me trying to push a new

friend on Adam or trying to push Adam onto them. From what I know about all the students I

have in mind they would get along very well together but due to the lack of class attendance they

have not had much time to form a bond.

Rational

Although I was already aware of the implications of this student being behind

academically on his future I had not thought of the implications this might have on how other

view him and the ways in which that could also affect his future. While reading Wolfensberger

(2013) I realized that it is not only important for him to have knowledge and be competent in

certain areas but it is also important that his peers see him as being competent in at least some

areas. He will be valued much more as a part of the classroom and as a part of society if the other

students can see what value he has to add to the classroom. By having this student spend some

time with other students in a smaller setting where he is more comfortable I am hoping that he

will be able to open up more and more easily demonstrate his skills in certain areas. He is quite

brilliant in Science however it is perceived but other students that he is not bright in any area

because of the comments he makes and the work he produces. He could actually be of great help

to a couple of student in some areas of science specifically, I think that him being able to show

these skills and offer help to other students would allow them to see him in a different light and

be able to value what he has to offer that they were not aware of prior to these group periods.

Wolfensberger (2013) talks about “The Good Things in Life”, here he lists many things that all

people should have in life, two of which are friends and opportunities. These periods would

allow this student some time to gain friendship with other students in the class as well as some
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opportunities to hon some new academic skills and show off some of the skills that he already

possesses but had not been able to show to the class. Race (1999) talks about the importance of

the size of the group and how a group too large might not offer enough intimacy and comfort for

the devalued person to open up and work on the social relationships. Adam student is interesting

in the fact that sometimes he enjoys being in large groups and is comfortable with that while

other times he is not. This will be something that I will have to work on gauging and ensuring

there is enough people participating on a given day and also not too many they he shuts down.

How is it relevant, steps to be taken?

This change is relevant in the fact that it is helping the student two fold; academically and

socially. The focus will be on the academic side of things and the social side will hopefully

follow once given the opportunity to open up and work more closely with a smaller group of

students. It is important for Adam to catch up on some skills in certain academic areas but also

for him to gain some peer relationships that will hopefully help him out in the future as he moves

on to high school. I am not wanting to force friendships on anyone but I truly believe there are

some students that would enjoy his company if they only knew what he had to offer them. The

steps that I will take are as follows:

1) Decide on the days of the cycle that I will be doing this and what subjects will be focused

on during each period.

2) Make a schedule for students so they are aware of what will be worked on and when

3) Speak with the class about this new opportunity

4) Speak with Adam about this and how I would like him to attend all sessions to help him

catch up
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5) Speak with a few other students that need the extra assistance and let them know that they

are also expected to attend

6) Speak with all parents about this new opportunity as well as speak more specifically with

the parents of those that I am wanting to attend regularly.

7) Start the sessions and make adjustments as needed.

Materials and resources

I will use the following materials and resources to implement this plan:

 Class notes

 Extra exercise/practice sheets

 Assignments to be completed

 Educational games to help with certain strategies

 Pens, pencils, etc

 Students IEP

Personal support plan

In order to help support my plan I will be reaching out to my team teacher for her input

on what Adam can be working on as well as some students that she thinks might be beneficial to

Adam as far as friendships go. I will also work closely with the school resource teacher because

he has spent a lot of time working with Adam over the last few year and knows him very well so

he can assist me with how best to organize these work periods in order to best help Adam. He

can also give some ideas on other students that might have similar interest and could benefit

from developing a relationship with Adam but will also be beneficial for Adam to have in his

life. It will also be important for me to reach out to my administrators to ensure their support of
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this plan. Lastly, I will reach out to Adams parents to let them know that this will be starting and

having a discussion on the reasoning behind it. I will also ask that they let me know if they are

seeing any changes in him at home either positive or negative.

Sharing plan

I will share what I have learnt in the following ways:

 Document during the work periods

 Track learning achievements of all the students

 Track social achievements of Adam

 Discussions with my team teacher, resource teacher and admin

 Reporting on my learning in the next assignment

References
Race, D. G. (1999). Social Role Valorization and The English Experience. London, England: Whiting & Birch
Ltd.

Wolfensberger, W. (2013). A Brief Introduction of Social Role Valorization. Plantagenet, Ontario: Valor
Press.