Students With Special Needs or Exceptionalities Background Profile/Reflections

Anna Clark

Skyline Middle School

Student A is a Euphonium player in 6th grade. Their profile is a fairly large size

considering this student is only a 6th grader. Student A is a English language learner

with Spanish as their first language. They are the youngest of 5 with an older brother

being diagnosed with a learning disability. Their mother has sole custody over them and

their siblings. Student A has been evaluated for ADD and other learning disabilities

since 3rd grade with routine testing, child behavior studies, and other various

evaluations. Despite multiple thorough child studies, it has been decided that this

student has no other learning disabilities his English reading scores are still

considerably low. Student A’s spoken English skills are quite strong as they are clear and

articulate. Through their writing it is apparent he speaks another language as his syntax

and grammar is often incorrect. There were several investigations of possible truancy

but they only ever got as far as a warning home to school. The most days missed by the

student were 10 days with 4 tardies. Their behavior in the classroom is very unfocused

and often has outbursts that disrupt class. Their outbursts include cursing, shouting,

rough housing, playing when not supposed to, and more. While they often have other

students that contribute to the distraction, they still won’t put in effort to be productive

and play when and how they are supposed to. This potentially is driven by their low

English reading skills. It is difficult to get this student to complete writing assignments.

They have not been in school for the past week so I have not been able to observe this

student. When they return to school, I plan on doing daily check-ins and trying to have
some one-on-one time to help with note reading and confidence in playing. I think

giving this student an outlet to be able to release his energy could be useful to help them

later control his behavior. This could include allowing them and other students who

routinely interrupt to run around outside for a few minutes before class, allowing them

to have a few minutes of “unproductive” time to release energy, as well as setting a

reward system to allow them to have obtainable goals and rewards.

Student B is a percussionist in 6th grade. This student is a first generation

American with both of their parents being from Iraq. His first language is Arabic and

their father preferred language home is English but their mother’s is Arabic. This

student has been routinely tested for language skills with skills progressing well

throughout the years. There are no concerns around his language skills at this time

except for routine testing and monitoring. Starting in about 3rd grade this student’s

grades started slipping in the behavioral category with many N’s for getting along with

others and controlling behavior in class. In band class they are distracted and often have

outbursts of energy that include hitting random instruments with little to no control,

talking when not supposed to, and shouting. This student has been evaluated for ADD

with multiple child behavior studies. It was decided that he does not have an attention

deficit disorder. This 6th grade class in general has issues focusing and controlling

behavior as it is at the end of the day and they don’t have any focus left to give, it is not

just an issue this student has. This student needs help from me and CO-OP learning how

to control is behavior even when his focus is not there. This student needs constant

reminders of what the expectation is and how they can meet those expectations. I

believe using alternative ways of teaching materials that help in channeling that energy
in a good way would be helpful in this situation as opposed to traditional board/lecture

teaching. Games and collaborative work with the right student pairings would also be

more productive than trying to get the student to stand still and be quiet in order to

learn.