Case Study Involving Classroom and Behavioral Management

7/27/2019 Case Study Involving Classroom and Behavioral Management

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Case Study Involving Classroom and

Behavioral Management

This case study occurs in a small elementary classroom in the Northeast United States. Theteacher being observed is named Linda Walker. Linda is a new teacher and the focus of the

observation takes place during her reading lesson.

Beginning the LessonMiss Walker begins the day by taking attendance and lunch count. I thought it was important to

note that Miss Walker took advantage of this opportunity to involve her students and have themuse their math skills. As soon as role was taken, Miss Walker had her students prepare for their

first task of the day. She handed out 3 stories with questions at the end for them to answer and

gave specific instructions. I think it is also important to note that she instructed the children to

color the pictures on the stories when they were finished so that they would be able to stay busy.

Once the students seemed to understand their task and began working diligently, Miss Walker

called the first reading group back to the reading table. During this process, the first example ofclassroom management takes place. As the reading group was making their way back to the

table, 2 boys pretended that they were going to join the group. However, when Miss Walker

looked at them, they took their seats and continued working. Miss Walker chose not to commenton this behavior. I believe this was an effective method of classroom management. Although

Miss Walker chose not to verbally address the situation, the boys seemed to respect her authority

enough to behave.

On page 483 of Ormrod, establishing an atmosphere that is businesslike and nonthreatening is

thoroughly discussed. If Miss Walker would have laughed at the boys, they may have perceivedthat as the teacher thinking it was okay and even appreciated to misbehave. The atmospherewould not have been businesslike. On the other hand, if Miss Walker would have singled out the

boys and disciplined them, she would have been creating a threatening environment and

intimidated her students.

Handling DisruptionsThe reading group assembled themselves at the reading table while Miss Walker made sure the

other students remained on task. Miss Walker then took her seat with the reading group and had

them go over the days of the week and identify which one contained a consonant digraph. I

thought that was a creative way to start her lesson rather than just asking her students what aconsonant digraph was or to give an example on their own. She then listed several words with

the same consonant digraph sound and had the students identify which digraph the words had in

common. Miss Walker continued her lesson and was interrupted by one of the boys who

pretended to join the group earlier. Here is where the second example of classroom managementtakes place. Miss Walker chose to address Frank and ask him what he wanted. He told her he

was tired and she responded by having him go back to work and telling him he could rest later. I

thought this was an effective way of managing the class because Miss Walker addressed thesituation without losing track of the lesson she was focused on.


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However, I don't know if this was an effective way of managing the individual student. Frank

was most likely considered lazy, but the task may not have been challenging enough. One

alternative would have been to give Frank a different task, or to let the students work quietly ingroups while they were waiting. She also did not lose her patience with Frank and told him what

he needed to do in a precise and authoritative manner, which he seemed to eventually respect.

However, he may have gotten more out of the lesson if he would have had a more challengingtask. Page 450 of our text lists several tips for conducting good in-class activities. Two of thesetips are to accommodate student diversity in abilities and interests, as well as generate students'

interest in accomplishing the task. It would have been more beneficial if the stories Miss Walker

handed out pertained to something the students were already interested in. One way to do thiswould be to conduct student interest surveys and refer back to them.

As Miss Walker and the reading group continued with their digraph lesson, Miss Walker noticedthat Frank was resting his head on the desk and not doing anything. Rather than interrupt her

lesson she chose to let Frank make his own decision about how he was going to use his time.

This is the third example of classroom management that took place. I also thought this was an

effective way to manage her class. If Linda had interrupted her own lesson to direct Frank, notonly would the lesson have been interrupted, but also Frank would not have been able to make

the right decision on his own. I think that because Linda waited, it was more meaningful thatFrank took the responsibility upon himself to complete the work assigned.Miss Walker gave Frank the opportunity to demonstrate self-control and make his own choices.

On page 484 of Ormrod it talks about giving students a sense of control. It also states reasons on

how to do this such as; providing opportunities for students to make choices about how tocomplete their assignments or spend class time, and enabling them to set some of their own

priorities. Miss Walker made a wise decision in allowing Frank to demonstrate self-control.

Handling Transitions

After Miss Walker had practiced the consonant digraphs with the group she used an activity in

which they located digraphs in words and made a tongue twister out of the words the students

used. I thought this was a creative activity that would help students to remember what digraphswere and what they sounded like. Another example of classroom management took place during

the actual lesson. Miss Walker made a smooth transition between the digraph task and the vowel-

pair tasks. She pointed out that both of the tasks dealt with two letters, however the first dealtwith the consonants, and the second with vowels. She also brought up the rule, "when two

vowels go walking, the first one does the talking." I thought this was a great transition because

she connected ideas and kept the students thinking without confusing them. This was an effectivemethod of managing a classroom by creatively keeping students on task and involved in

learning.

Another example of a transition involved the very end of the lesson. Linda went over the basicsof a dictionary and had the students do a worksheet involving guidewords on their own. She was

able to help them shift gears from talking and working in a group to working on their own. I

thought this was an awesome way to end the lesson and prepare the students to work on theirown again. On page 490 of Ormrod it talks about how transitions establish procedures for

moving from one activity to the next. The strategy that Miss Walker used for transitions seemed

to be effective in helping her students adjust to different tasks.


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Overall classroom management

The final example of classroom management that I am going to discuss involves the topic of

direct instruction. In Ormrod, (chapter 13, p 444) it is explained that direct instruction involves avariety of techniques designed to keep students continually and actively engaged in learning and

applying classroom subject matter. Miss Walker definitely used this approach throughout the

lesson. She was able to involve the students in the group by asking direct questions and makingsure everyone understood. During the digraph lesson she asked each student an individualquestion giving everyone a chance to speak up and also creating an opportunity to discern where

each individual child was at. She also went over previously learned material and presented new

material in small, carefully, sequences steps. Each of the steps involved in direct instruction,listed on p 444 of our text, was somehow addressed by Miss Walker. I believe that direct

instruction is an excellent and effective way to manage a classroom.

To conclude this analysis I will briefly discuss my overall thoughts about the lesson observed. I

believe that Miss Walker did a wonderful job overall of using time wisely. She made sure her

students understood what they were to do and worked very intently with the group. The lesson

itself was creatively planned and kept the students interested in the task at hand. The studentsseemed to comprehend everything that was presented. The only thing I would change has to do

with what the other students were doing when they were not in their reading groups. I wouldmake sure the task they were working on by themselves was something that could keep theirinterest. I may also consider having them read the stories in groups because it is probably easy to

get distracted while a different group is having their lesson.


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Assessing Young ChildrenIntroduction

Todays educational climate of standards and accountability extends even to

preschool programs (Bowman, Do novan, and Burns, 2001). The No Child Left

Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levels

of public school, even in early childhooddefined as birth through age 8 (NAEYC,

1987). Additionally, the current preschool initiative Good Start, Grow

Smart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoing

assessment efforts. The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures for

Head Start (Horn, 2003). In light of this background, it is critical to understand how

both formal and informal assessments, when developmentally appropriate in design

and purpose are beneficial for early childhood. This age period is often broken intothree groups for discussion: infants/toddlers (ages 0 through 2), preschoolers (ages 3

through 5), and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3). This report will

focus on young children aged 3 through 8 years. It will examine the perspectives

of various national organizations on the essential role of assessment and

accountability during early childhood, and will also describe an appropriate

assessment system for this age group.

The Challenge of Early Childhood Assessment

The assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of older

children and adults in several ways. The greatest difference is in the way young

children learn. They construct knowledge in experiential, interactive, concrete,

and hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rose grant, 1992, 1995) rather than through

abstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone. To learn, young children

must touch and manipulate objects, build and create in many media, listen and act

out stories and everyday roles, talk and sing, and move and play in various ways

and environments. Consequently, the expression of what young children know

and can do would best be served in waysother than traditional paper and pencil

assessments.


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ASSESSMENT REPORT

Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childs

development is rapid, uneven, episodic, and highly influenced by the environment

(Shepard, Kagan, and Wurtz, 1998). A developing child exhibits periods of both

rapid growth and frequent rest. Children develop in four domainsphysical,

cognitive, social, and emotionaland not at the same pace through each. No twochildren are the same; each child has a unique rate of development. In addition,

no two children have the same family, cultural, and experiential backgrounds.

Clearly, these variables mean that a one-size-fits-all assessment will not meet

the needs of most young children (Shepard, et al.). Another assessment challenge for

young children is that it takes time to administer assessments properly. Assessments

primarily should be administered in a one-on-one setting to each child by hi

s or her teacher. In addition, a childs attention span is often very short

and the assessment should therefore be administered in short segments over a period

of a few days or even weeks. While early childhood educators demand

developmentally appropriate assessments for children, they often complain about the

time it takes to administer them and the resulting loss of instructional time in the

classroom. However, when quality tests mirror quality instruction, assessment and

teaching become almost seamless, complementing and informing one another

(Neuman, Copple, and Bredekamp,

2000).

A teacher can find herself spending too much time on behavior management. She might feel that

this is a waste of valuable teaching time, and also that most of her attention is focused on the few

students who present with problems. This might seem unfair to those other students who are

focused and who want to achieve. Behavior management is integral to teaching, however, and itis a very vital part of the role. Early detection of problems and an effective management plan can

improve a student's educational and life chances. The first stage is an evaluation of the student'sbehavior.


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What is an evaluation?

Evaluation is the process for determining whether a child has a disability and needs specialeducation and related services. Its the first step in developing an educational program that willhelp the child learn. A full and individual initial evaluation must be done before the initial

provision of any special education or related services to a child with a disability, and students

must be reevaluated at least once every three years.

Evaluation involves gathering information from a variety of sources about a childs functioning

and development in all areas of suspected disability, including information provided by the

parent. The evaluation may look at cognitive, behavioral, physical, and developmental factors, aswell as other areas. All this information is used to determine the childs educational needs.

Why have an evaluation?

A full and individual educational evaluation serves many important purposes:

1. Identification. It can identify children who have delays or learning problems and mayneed special education and related services as a result.

2. Eligibility. It can determine whether your child is a child with a disability under theIndividuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and qualifies for special education

and related services.

3. Planning an Individualized Education Program (IEP). It provides information thatcan help you and the school develop an appropriate IEP for your child.

4. Instructional strategies. It can help determine what strategies may be most effective inhelping your child learn.

5. Measuring progress.It establishes a baseline for measuring your childs educationalprogress. The evaluation process establishes a foundation for developing an appropriate

educational program. The public agency must provide a copy of the evaluation report andthe documentation of determination of eligibility to the parent. Even if the evaluation

results show that your child does not need special education and related services, the

information may still be used to help your child in a regular education program.

What measures are used to evaluate a child?

No single test may be used as the sole measure for determining whether a child has a disability orfor determining an appropriate educational program for your child. Both formal and informal

tests and other evaluation measures are important in determining the special education and

related services your child needs.

Testing measures a childs ability or performance by scoring the childs responses to a set ofquestions ortasks. It provides a snapshot of a child and the childs performance on a particular

Evaluation: What Does it Mean for Your Child?


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day. Formal test data is useful in predicting how well a child might be expected to perform in

school. It also provides information about unique learning needs.

Other measures of a childs growth and development, such as observation or interviews with

parents and others who know the child, provide vital information on how the child functions in

different settings and circumstances.

The school must conduct a full and individual evaluation consistent with the IDEA that uses

information from diverse sources, including formal and informal data. Tests are important, butevaluation also includes other types of information such as:

medical information

comparisons of the childsprogress to typical expectations of child development

observations of how the child functions in school, at home, or in the community

interviews with parents and school staff

As a parent, you have a wealth of information about the development and needs of your child.When combined with the results of tests and other evaluation materials, this information can beused to make decisions about your childs appropriate educational program.

How are evaluation results used?

After your childs evaluation is complete, youll meet with a group of qualified professionals todiscuss the results and determine whether your child has a disability under IDEA. The school

must provide you with a copy of the evaluation report and a written determination of eligibility.

If the team determines, based on the evaluation results, that your child is eligible for specialeducation and related services, the next step is to develop an IEP to meet your childs needs.

The goals and objectives the IEP team develops relate directly to the strengths and needs thatwere identified through evaluation.

Its important for you to understand the results of your childs evaluation before beginning todevelop an IEP. Parents should ask to have the evaluation results explained to them in plain

language by a qualified professional.

You will want to request the evaluation summary report before meeting with other members ofthe IEP team to develop the IEP. Reviewing the results in a comfortable environment before

developing the IEP can reduce stress for parents and provide time to consider whether the resultsfit their own observations and experiences with their child.

When are students reevaluated?


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Students receiving special education services must be reevaluated if conditions warrant a

reevaluation, orif the childs parents or teacher requests a reevaluation, but at least once every

three years. The results are used to monitor your childs progress in meeting the goals andobjectives in his or her IEP and to determine whether your child continues to be eligible for

special education and related services.

The reevaluation will include a review of existing evaluation data, and information you provide,

classroom assessments, and observations consistent with the IDEA. The IEP team then decides if

any additional data is needed to determine if the child continues to have a disability andcontinues to need special education and related services.

If the IEP team decides no additional data are needed, you will be informed in writing that theteam has sufficient information to determine whether your child continues to be eligible for

special education and related services. At this point, the team is not required to conduct

additional assessments unless parents or the childs teacher request them.


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Can you help the dog hike to the top of the mountain?


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Help the fisherman find his worm through all the fish.

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Case Study Involving Classroom and Behavioral Management