Case study of Joan Martinez
The facts of this case are that Joan has been teaching fulltime for three years at the elementary level. She has taught the same grade – grade three – for these three years, and has developed a sense of comfort from working in the same school. She is now being asked to move to a grade 8 class at the Atlas middle school. Joan is feeling anxiety as part of this transition, and her fears of teaching at Atlas middle school are made worse given the fact that several of her students have behavioural exceptionalities, and have IEPs. She realizes the importance of starting the new school year in a positive and supportive manner, and she wants to implement a positive classroom management strategy.In preparing to create a positive experience for herself and her students, I think that it’s possible to understand classroom management as having both proactive and reactive aspects. Joan will likely have control over the layout of her classroom, and can therefore create a classroom environment that supports the students most effectively. This would be a proactive strategy. For example, a student with Tourettes, may need frequent breaks from classroom activity to release TICs. Arranging the classroom environment and seating plan to allow for this student’s easy entry to/ exit from the classroom would send a thoughtful message, and help lessen Joan’s overall anxiety.
Classroom rules and expectations at the beginning of the year might start out as an example of a proactive strategy, and then again, they may develop reactively as the year progresses. The middle school students in this case study are new to Joan, so she is likely not to know much if anything about them. Her anxiety and discomfort at teaching in a new school is only heightened by the fact that some of her students have behavioural exceptionalities. Therefore, it is likely that some of what Joan will use as classroom management throughout the year will have to develop as she learns more about the individuals she is working with.
I think that some strategies and planning that might start out as a good idea may need tweaking and adjustment, and that exceptions should be made at appropriate times for students with exceptional behaviour. (I mean exceptional here in any quality.) Rules and procedures for a class might need specific explanation in the case of allowing one student – with TICS, for example – the right to excuse him or herself from class at any time. I think I understand the difference between equal treatment and fair treatment in this way; Joan’s goal is likely to support her students to succeed academically and socially in school. Fair treatment and fair classroom management might then likely include exceptions for students with behavioural exceptionalities, rather than simply expecting them to adhere to static rules and procedures.
To alleviate as much anxiety as possible before the first day of class, I think that Joan should learn about her students’ behavioural exceptionalities, and begin arranging her classroom to benefit her students – and herself – as much as possible on day 1.
Hi Martin, I really appreciated your idea about arranging the classroom in specific ways to help special needs students (ie: your example about the student with Tourettes). In both of my practicum experiences, my partner-teachers believed in changing around the classroom layout every couple of months so as to give everyone a bit of a change. How do you think that special need students could be accommodated within this format? I’m thinking that it might be best for them to remain in the same places as always (if they are comfortable with this), and then to move the other students who might appreciate a change of environment a bit more. I also like your idea that Joan should try and learn as much as possible about each student before the first day of school, so as to better arrange the classroom to meet their needs. Do you think that this knowledge of her new students might also help her to develop some classroom rules and expectations beforehand, or perhaps that some of these rules would be best to develop once she has actually met the students? As well, where would Joan begin to gather knowledge about each individual student? In their personal files that the school office keeps? If that is the case, I’m wondering if some of the “average” or “normal” students in the class would have any additional informational in their files to help Joan with her planning? I’m wondering this because although as teachers we want to help the special needs and high performance students, we need to arrange our classroom around the “average” student, too!
ReplyDeleteHey Martin! Great post!! I like that you pointed out that Joan will have to develop her techniques as she learns more about her students but she can do her best to prepare and that you said how to do so. I think as teachers it is so important to flexible and expect the unexpected as so much does happen in the moment. The second thing I really liked about your blog was discussing the difference between equal treatment and fair treatment. I found this statement really broadened my perspective as I commented in my assignment that I believe it is important to not make allowances for exceptional students in maintaining a foundation so a collaborative and consistent environment is developed that everyone is fully aware of. I said students need to know exactly what is expected of them, as well as their peers based on a unanimous and agreed level to ensure accountability and fairness. Now these statements were based on the idea of having a foundation or groundwork that applied to everyone (ie. respect self, respect others, respect environment)? Do you agree with this? Do you think there is a basis in which all students should adhere to? I think there is benefits to this in establishing consistency but then at what point beyond that do you draw the line where exceptions apply? Would that result in confusion? Just somethings I thought about!
ReplyDeleteHey Martin!
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure reading your response for this week. I really enjoyed reading your rational thinking behind Joan's dilemmas. I agree with Erica; your discussion about what is fair and what is equal are important concepts for educators to consider. I think it is essential for teachers to have different but fair expectations for students who have exceptional learning or behavioural needs. Students who are given fair expectations often live up to them. Do you think you would change your expectations for students with exceptional learning needs or lower them?
I think having different classroom strategies for different grades is smart; students in grade 8 are drastically changing hormonally and socially so it is important for teachers to recognize those stages in their development and classroom manage accordingly. Do you agree? Do you think Joan should be nervous about changing schools and changing grades? Do you think she is more nervous because she is a beginning teacher? In what ways can Joan change her classroom management strategies for her grade 8 class that differs from her grade 3 class? I really enjoyed reading your blog today! Glad you're having a great time in Tokyo :) ^^
I greatly appreciate that you differentiate between 'equal' and 'fair' in a classroom setting, combined with getting to know each student individually. Any classroom is going to be made up of a diversity of students, and treating them all 'equally' may result in chaos! 'Fair' treatment is harder, I think, as it requires a lot of thought and assumes a knowledge of the students in question, but who said teaching was easy?
ReplyDeleteMartin,
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasure to read your post. I especially like the distinction you make between equal and fair treatment. When it comes to a diverse class with diverse needs it is important to understand this difference. The democratic value of equality is one that we begin to teach children at a very young age. But as we examine this concept more deeply we can come to understand that equality doesn't mean that everyone is treated the same way, but that everyone has the same opportunity to succeed. You also mentioned that classroom management is both reactive and proactive, which is true, but do you think that it is more one than the other? Which strategy do you rely on primarily, if any?
Hi Martin,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the fact that your response is primarily focused on the students best interest and the best way for students to achieve success in the classroom. This is simply because the article is written based on Joan's fear as a teacher but ultimately in the end if we, as teachers, put the students best interest in front of everything, it will most likely be a successful classroom. If Joan focuses on her relationships with her students throughout the year and proactively prepares her classroom in the best way she knows how, she will learn and grow with the students rather than set down rules and guidelines for students she doesn't even know anything about. This also brings up your point of accommodating students and I 100 percent agree on the fact that every student with any type of exceptionality, whether there are similar ones or not, will be accommodated appropriately so that the student will feel comfortable and be successful.
You mentioned that we should inform the students of students who may be leaving the classroom for particular reasons, as an example. My question is, at what point is it fair to inform the class about other students exceptionalities? At what point are we making it unfair to the student who is receiving accommodations? Is the student comfortable with this?
Thanks for your thoughts and comments!
Danielle
Hi Martin,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your response to this case. I agree with you that Joan Martinez must start strong on the first day. It is important for her to gain an understanding of each and everyone of her students starting on day one, as well as setting up classroom rules, strategies, and management techniques. My question then is, do you think different students should be disciplined/treated differently given their behavioural problems, or coding? I really liked that you touched on the idea of Joan rearranging her classroom to benefit her students. Do you think this is something that can only be done at the beginning of the year, or is this something that maybe we (as teachers) should look at throughout the year? Just something for us all to think about and make a judgement on based on what fits well with our personal teaching styles and what benefits our students best! Thanks for your response and good luck on your journey!
Gina