Assignment #8:Module 4, Visual case study #2

Case study of Tammy

          Strengths and Concerns: Tammy appears to be a very positive student who communicates well with her teacher(s). From what I observed in the two videos, Tammy is serious about wanting to succeed in school, and is taking the advice and suggestions of her teachers seriously. I think that this a valuable strength, because it suggests that positive action can be taken, and that Tammy will do her part to be a successful student in class. The 2^nd video highlighted what Tammy views as impediments to the successful completion of her coursework. Tammy states that her parents want her to study in out-of-school programs, and that these programs are contributing to her overall workload. She has self-identified as taking longer than average to finish some of her work, and she believes that is both the volume of this work and the time she has available that are causing her to fall behind in her school work. Both the school administration and Tammy have identified that her written work, i.e. essay writing, is her biggest struggle.

          At the same time, Tammy has been demonstrating great understanding and skill in other areas. In the first video, her teacher noticed she was doodling, rather than taking notes or reading her textbook. Tammy’s interest in creative projects is again highlighted in the second video, when she receives a compliment on the quality of her contributions to the school’s recent drama production. I see one of the major concerns regarding Tammy being the difference between her apparent ‘giftedness’ for some activities, and her struggles in written work. Second to this concern is the fact that Tammy’s father – via a telephone conversation – has expressed his lack of interest in Tammy’s creative skills, to the point of labelling them ‘a waste of time.’

Step 2: What might be happening and why: Generating hypotheses

The two videos show Tammy as a student who may have both strong and weak skill areas. The accompanying articles for this case study remind us that students who can show indications of ‘giftedness’ are not immune to simultaneously having a learning disability. This is likely one of the general hypotheses I would make regarding Tammy; That she struggles in written language skills. Additionally, she may have difficulty focusing in a conventional classroom environment. The following are some of the questions that may help uncover more about Tammy’s strengths and areas of concern at school:

1.   What types of activities does Tammy do at home? In her free time? Is she very creative at home? Is she very quiet?

2.   Is Tammy’s struggle in written work representative of her understanding? That is, can she show what she understands in some other form more successfully?

3.   How much opportunity does Tammy get to demonstrate her knowledge in non-written means?

4.   Does Tammy speak a second language at home?

5.   How does Tammy view her work in school? What does she think of these separate subject areas? Does she make the larger connections between the disciplines?

6.   How is Tammy spending her time at home on homework? What assignments and classes take up more time? What type of work is finished quickly and easily? What work doesn’t require homework at all?

7.   What skills of self-advocacy does Tammy know? When does she speak up with questions? What causes her to ask for help?

8.   Are their social influences in Tammy’s school that are contributing to her strengths or her weaknesses?

Step 3: What you need to find out: Checking hypotheses by collecting more information

          Having an in-depth conversation with Tammy will help answer many of these questions. Going deeper than simply blaming Tammy for poor performance in certain areas of her school work, I would try to ask more meta-cognitive questions about Tammy’s learning styles, and the ways in which she is thinking about her learning. From my practicum experiences in the last few years, I have noticed that teachers who engage students with genuine questions about the class get much more powerful results. Instead of offering ultimatums, i.e. ‘Why aren’t you successful in my class’ one and only teaching style?’, I’ve been lucky to see classrooms which legitimately offer students many different modes of expression and communication for their ideas.

          Above and beyond this, some teachers go further and ask students for their feedback on what went well with a particular type of work? Where do student strengths lie? And why do they enjoy some types of work, while not others? I think that asking Tammy these same types of questions may help unmask some underlying issues, perhaps even a learning disability. Some of the accompanying readings to this case suggest that in certain cases, students with giftedness can be overlooked when it comes to learning disabilities, since their particular strength may make it more difficult for teachers to notice a student struggling. Since Tammy herself stated that some of her school work simply “takes more time” than her classmates, another potential hypothesis is that Tammy has a learning disability of some kind.

Step 4: What you think is happening: Arriving at tentative judgements

Recently – and unrelated to this particular case – I have been reading some criticisms of the modern education system on a website called ‘reddit.’ One particular article was commenting on the expectations we have of our students to seamlessly jump from subject to subject in our schools. Made more pronounced in junior high and high school, we also change the teacher of each subject, so that students are in reality constantly adjusting to different teaching styles and subject matter. Regardless, we as educators expect their fullest concentration and demand a high level of accomplishment. Along with this practice is the separation of the subject matter itself. Very little time is spent, in my understanding of school administration, to connect and make clear the significance of each discipline with regard to the next one. In fact, almost all of the work in class X is created, assessed, rewarded or punished exclusively in that class, with little to no connection with other subject areas.

I think that such a problem(s) in our planning is likely behind at least some of Tammy’s struggle. In video #2, two different teachers comment on Tammy’s success in subject areas that could be closely tied to written English, but for reasons of school structure and instruction, have been quite coldly separated. Tammy’s struggle may appear in only one or two skill areas, when just as coldly diagnosed by teachers and administrators at the school. Given that Tammy is a keen and positive student who appears to really want to succeed academically, it strikes me as odd that a solution could be placed only in one classroom or in one subject. If Tammy is indeed struggling with essay writing and writing in general at the expected grade eleven level, she can be challenged and supported in this skill in all subject areas, not simply in English class, as might be the case.

          If he struggles persist as a problem of her ability to focus or digest information, as suggested in video #1, Tammy and her teachers could practice study skills and strategies that best suit her. However, these are skills that Tammy needs to connect with her life, not simply with succeeding in science class, English class or in math class.