Pat Rademacher TE 803 Case Study Assignment

Step 1:
For the first step of the case study, I've decided to choose a student I've been teaching for about six weeks now. During the first few days of the trimester, he was a main contributor towards class discussion rooted in everyone getting to know each other. One thing I remember was that he made it clear that he thoroughly enjoyed playing the drums and listening to music. As the trimester started to progress, this student's interest and attention towards the class seemed to slowly diminish, as we started moving into academic texts. First off, he tried sleeping as I was presenting a PowerPoint on Native American literature during the second week of the trimester. As I made my way over to him and lightly patted his back to wake him up, he stayed awake during the rest of class but with his chin in his hands and eyes staring at the floor. This was the first indicator I noticed in terms of his motivation and engagement, but I was reluctant to think it was anything major, considering this was only one mere observation. As things started to move forward, more indicators started to emerge: he started arriving late to class about once or twice a week; sighed and moaned whenever receiving a new assignment or task; almost always showed up to class unprepared, whether it was not doing the reading (which he would admit to me) or not having his work completed; sometimes interrupting me or other classmates when leading discussion; he would choose not to do his work when having the time to independently do so; he would be silent and have his head down while working in small groups; and, lastly (and recently), I let him go get his book from his locker, but he chose to wander the hallways for half an hour - he came back tearyeyed and apologized to me for his actions; we then had a conversation about a relationship going on in his life with a girl. However, on the other side of things, this student has shown glimpses of engagement and participation in some regards. For example, when having a fishbowl (student-led discussion) on Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", he spoke multiple times, contributing towards the overall conversation. Similar to this, he always asks questions or makes comments when we do a "fun" activity at the beginning of class, such as a weekend update or sharing good things. With all this said, I've noticed how the context and environment may have an influence on this student's motivation and engagement in the classroom. Whenever a lesson is teacher-led, this is when he usually tries to sleep or not pay attention. I've also noticed he doesn't do or turn in his work when it's guided-reading questions that align with whatever book we are reading. Along with this, he also doesn't partake in assignments or tasks when he tells me he is in a bad mood (I ask him how he is doing every day). For example, last week he came in teary-eyed, and I asked him how he was doing. He responded with, "Not good. I don't want to be here. This weekend sucked." During this day, he was supposed to act out a part of Act Three with his group. As I called his group up to perform, he came up to me and said, "I don't want to do this today.

There's no way I'm going to speak in front of the class." I said in response to this, "You'll do great. Plus, don't you want to help out your group? I'm not going to grade you or anyone else on your performance skills." He said back to me, "No, I'm not going to do this. I'm just going to go to the office." Instead of trying to push anything, I let him go to the office and let another student take his role. However, what's interesting about this scenario is that he practiced with his group the week prior without any complaints. As I circulated around and watched each group, he was reading his lines and was working with his group. On this day, when I asked him how he was doing, he said he was doing good. Obviously, based on these observations, this student's mood MAY have influence on his motivation and interaction in relation to his peers, himself, and me.

Step 2:
Hypothesis #1 The context and content of the class along with my teaching style that caters towards these may cause the student to be unmotivated in terms of engagement during class, completing and turning in assignments, as well as studying and preparing for tests and essays. When delving into this hypothesis, its essential to first understand what the context and content of the classroom for this particular student are. The class, titled English 10A, is a regular English class for sophomores in high school. However, the student for this case study (along with only four other students out of the total sum of thirty) is a sophomore; the rest of the students are freshmen who passed English 9 in middle school. As my mentor teacher told me at the beginning of the year, The freshmen you have taking English 10theyre going to be motivated for the most part. They are under the belief that doing well in school is important and will do what it takes to succeed in the classroom. Last year when I taught this class, the average grade for all the freshmen was an A-. So far we are about two-thirds of the way through the second trimester, and it seems like that A- average for freshmen will most likely result again based on how they are currently performing. On the other hand, the student for this case study has a fortyeight percent in the class. This grade has resulted from multiple missing assignments, incomplete work on in-class essays, and poor test scores. When trying to connect patterns between all of these, its difficult to determine if he is struggling with particular concepts or formats. Rather, from what Ive noticed, the students grade is plummeting because of the following: not working on assignments when given the time to do so in class; not reading assigned texts, which he has admitted to me; coming to in-class essays and tests unprepared; and failing to turn in late work when he has the opportunity. Contrary to this, students doing well are working when having time, ask questions, work on study guides, and come to class having read the text. To give a basic summary of the content of this class, I would call the class American Literature. As we have moved through the trimester, we have also been moving chronologically with the literature. First, we did Native American literature; next

was literature from early explorers and the Puritans; from there, we spent a few weeks on Arthur Millers The Crucible. With all this considered, my teaching style has a direct connection with the context and the content of this class. Because of the context of having mostly motivated freshmen, I allow students lots of time to work independently or in small groups. Most of them utilize the time efficiently and do so with their friends. In terms of the content, I teach the literature with a focus on the actual events and instances of the texts along with literary elements and terms. I now believe I have created a classroom that does not allow this student to soar. When looking at the Expectancy x Value = Motivation Framework by Brophy (as mentioned in Weinsteins text, Chapter 8), this hypothesis is rooted in the theory that my teaching style produces both a low expectancy and value for this student. When looking at value relevance and interest in a topic, assignment, etc. it seems obvious that this student has little to none. While the other students have plenty (most likely because of their value in grades) this student has told me where his real interests and values are: playing drums, skateboarding, and hanging out with friends. Needless to say, my teaching style and lessons have not catered towards this students interests but rather the interests of the majority. Most students seemed to enjoy each text we discussed or worked with, while this student would put his head down and try to sleep. I have also noticed that he does not socialize often with the people around him, but when Ive seen him in the hallways, he seems to be talking all the time; perhaps this student finds higher value in assignments or work when being allowed to do so with friends. When looking at expectancy the perceived, preconceived notion of how well someone will perform on an assignment or task it also seems to be low for this student. One reason I believe this is because whenever I have handed him back his tests or papers, he will usually say something along the lines of, UgghhI suck! Im terrible at this. Similar to the case o f Hopeless Hannah in Chapter 8 of Weinstein, this student makes it known that he feels incompetent. Although I have provided him thorough feedback, have encouraged him by letting him know its okay to make mistakes, and have given him suggestions about how to improve, I have not seen much of a change in effort and confidence from this student. However, as I will expand upon later, I do not think I have provided this student enough options and opportunities for success, most likely because I see almost all other students succeeding. This would possibly explain why he does not take the time to complete assignments or prepare for essays and tests: failure syndrome the idea that an individual is doomed for failure prior to making any attempts. Hypothesis #2 A combination of low self-worth and control of emotions. The next hypothesis that comes to my mind has resulted from this students emotions in the classroom. Multiple times this year, he has come in the room very tearyeyed, whether sad, angry, or upset. One time I asked him to stay after class to talk. He told me he was having trouble with a relationship, trying to do the friends with benefits thing. Without getting into too much detail, I did my best to give him advice and feedback to ease his perception of the situation. It seemed to calm him down to an extent,

and he thanked me when he walked out the door. The week after, he came to class tearyeyed again. When I tried to get him to partake in an in-class performance which he had practiced and participated in the week before he refused and said he wasnt in the right mood. I tried persuading him without pushing him too much, and he eventually told me he wanted to go down to the office. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me that he had a rough weekend and didnt want to talk about it. In R.J. Marzanos article Student Motivation, he references Joseph LeDoux, who states, our emotions can also get us into trouble. When fear becomes anxiety, desire gives way to greed, or annoyance turns to anger; anger to hatred, friendship to envy, love to obsession, or pleasure to addiction, our emotions start working against us. Mental health is maintained by emotional hygiene, and mental problems to a large extent reflect breakdown of emotional order. Emotions can have both useful and pathological consequences. From there, Marzano says, emotions are primary motivators that often override an individual's system of values and beliefs relative to their influence on human behavior. In reference to this, I have witnessed multiple moments where this students emotions seem to have negative consequences on behavior and motivation, in turn causing them to override his values. The reason I believe this is because I have seen this student in class in a happier mood, so to speak. When hes been in this mood which is rare he is more prone to do his work, ask questions, and contribute towards group discussions. According to the model, based on these observations, there would have to be an increase in value coinciding with motivation. Marzano also refers to Convington in his article in regard to Self-Worth Theory, where individuals are thought to be only as worthy as their achievements. Because of this, it is understandable that students often confuse ability with worth. For those students who are already insecure, tying a sense of worth to ability is a risky step because schools can threaten their ability. This is true because schools typically provide insufficient rewards for all students to strive for success. Instead, too many children must struggle simply to avoid failure. Similar to the model provided in the first theory, this hypothesis makes an argument about this students sense of competence. However, what separates it from the first hypothesis is how it puts him in comparison to his peers, considering self-worth resides as a status within ones peer culture (Marzano 146). This is a possibility because I have seen him compare his grades with others. When realizing he scored much lower than most, he again makes his feelings of incompetence known through verbal expression. When looking at these two hypotheses, its easy to see how they overlap and complement one another. Both refer to the concept of failure syndrome and overall student motivation. However, the main differences are the possible sources contributing towards lack of motivation. In the first hypothesis, Ive made it clear that the problem is likely to deal with how I construct and lead the class. In the second hypothesis, the hypothetical sources stem from outside of school and, whenever in school, they are out of my control for the most part. Therefore, I have decided to go with my first hypothesis to guide my work because there is something I can (hopefully) do about it.

As mentioned earlier, I need to provide more opportunities for success with this student and increase his expectancy and values. There are obviously some risks here. First off, there is the possibility that I will single this student out when trying to make the class content relatable to his values, perhaps causing embarrassment. Next, theres the possibility that modifying assignments or extending deadlines for more opportunities of success will cause the same problem; I also dont know if it will even motivate him. Another risk is that catering to this students types of intelligences will not prepare him for the final exam or any future classes. However, if these techniques do in fact end up working, then the benefits of increase in motivation, a sense of belonging, and a drive for success would be an ideal outcome.

Step 3:
When looking at the amount of time I have left to teach my case study student, Ive narrowed down two approaches that fit accordingly to my hypotheses, and I believe they are also approaches that will engage the entire class as well. The first idea that came to mind was to let my students write their own poems. As we are making our way towards the end of the unit on transcendentalism and romanticism, we are capping the unit off with poetry by Whitman, Frost, Poe, and other famous poets. Considering the majority of assignments up to this point have been guided reading questions that align with whatever text is assigned, my last hypothesis suggested these assignments did not tailor towards my student in terms of value and expectancy. Therefore, I figured it would be a nice change of plans to create an assignment in which students are allowed to express themselves, which would accommodate towards overall value, and in a manner where it will be graded based on effort and completeness, which would accommodate towards expectancy. In their article Differentiating Instruction Finding Manageable Ways to Meet Individual Needs, Scott Willis and Larry Mann refer to what Howard Gardner calls Entry Points as a strategy to accommodate individual students. The term Entry Points is described as student exploration of a given topic through as many as five avenues: narrational (presenting a story), logicial-quantitative (using numbers or deduction), foundational (examining philosophy and vocabulary), aesthetic (focusing on sensory features), and experiential (hands-on). Because I want this poem to tie to the transcendentalists and romantics (the topic, so to speak), I envision the requirements as a means for the individual to express him or herself, in a manner that demonstrates who they really are when aside from peer pressure and conformity therefore, we see this activity intertwining with the narrational, foundational, aesthetic, and experiential aspects of the entry points. When looking at the merits of this approach, I think there are many in reference to my student. The first, as mentioned above, is that it should increase both value and expectancy. Secondly, because I have noticed my student seems to participate in discussions that have no correct answers, I think the chances of that translating to a different medium (writing/poetry) are likely. Also, as mentioned in one of my previous posts, my student also enjoyed being up in front of the classroom at the beginning of the trimester when introducing himself to the class. Considering this activity tackles the same concept (but in a different fashion), I believe there is potential for a similar occurrence in terms of his likeliness to not only do it, but also his likeliness to enjoy it. Lastly, because my student definitely has difficulty dealing with his emotions, perhaps poetry could be an

outlet for him to relieve himself through expression, in a manner where not only the class can learn more about him, but where he can learn more about himself. When looking at the drawbacks of this approach, not many come to mind, but there are a few. One is the possibility that my student will have one of his off days, in which he might choose to not do the assignment whatsoever. Then, on the other hand, if he does choose to do it, he may not take it seriously or may channel his mood or energy into the assignment that could be inappropriate for school. I wish I were making a mere assumption here, but his history of writing inappropriate responses was noticeable right from the beginning of the trimester. This, I suppose, could be classified as a risk as well. The second approach Ive considered is letting my student lead discussion based on this poetry unit. Later this week, we will be watching Dead Poets Society and will have a brief discussion after the film. My goal is for the students to partake in a discussion about their overall reactions to the film, what they learned, and what they want to know more about. However, instead of me leading the discussion or having students share the lead in discussion, Ive thought about letting this student direct it instead. As mentioned in chapter 11 of Weinstein, this type of student-led discussion can be an opportunity for some kids to show how smart they are and to get air time (314). When having other student-led discussion, my case study student definitely showed glimpses of his potential and intelligence through his comments and ideas. However, perhaps he held off from saying too much because the objective of the activity was to have balanced participation. If my student were to lead the discussion, this creates the possibility of him demonstrating his intelligence to a even higher degree, which would also increase value, but it would especially increase expectancy. Unfortunately, I do believe there are more drawbacks and risks to this approach versus the first. These would be as follows: the student would not want to lead the discussion due to his anxiety; the student may lead the discussion off track and lose focus of the purpose; the student could monopolize the discussion, or, on the other end of the spectrum, the student could try to lead the discussion but have not much to say at all; lastly, having one student lead a discussion may confuse the other classmates as to why they cant do the same, which could perhaps single out my case study student in a negative manner. With all this said, I have decided to go about my first approach. The main reason is because I see much more merits and less drawbacks or risks in comparison to the second. Also, because I am on a trimester schedule, I do not believe I have adequate time to fulfill the necessary scaffolding for my student with the second option. My specific plan for taking on this approach is pretty much summed up above. However, it is essential to let students know I want them to read their poems aloud to the class and that this is an exercise meant to help them find themselves. It is also necessary to think about the feedback I will be giving to my case study student after this assignment. Although I cannot predict what his poem will be like, I can prepare myself on how I will address it, whether it will be positive, mediocre, or inappropriate. Regardless of the outcome, the importance lies in letting this student know that his voice matters and that he always can do better, even if this activity lets him shine.

Step 4:
Implementation: As mentioned in my action plan, I implemented an approach in which students were to write a poem about anything and then read it out loud to the class. This was an exercise I for the most part borrowed directly from the movie Dead Poets Society. After we watched the movie, there was still over half an hour of class left. It was on a Thursday. I told students to use the opportunity to get a start on their poems, for they had to read them aloud to the class on Friday. That Friday, we had a snow day. Knowing that the weather was going to bad, I told my students to be prepared for Monday. On Monday, all of my students had their poems ready to go. Except my case study student. Initially, I was down, thinking he had given up, forgotten, or didnt care. But when he told me, Can I read mine out loud tomorrow? Ive really been working on mine, and its not quite done, but Ive put a lot of work into, I was content with extending the deadline for him. The next day, he read his poem out loud. His lines echoed a memory of the time he spent in a hospital, touching on those he spent time with while he was there, provoking all five senses as a listener, and putting me in a dark place and moment of his life. The reason wasnt mentioned for his stay during this time, but it was plain to see the words were flowing through him. When he finished, the class was a little shocked, and he received a round of applause. After school, he came by room and asked if he could have his poem. I asked what it was about. He told me it reflected the time he spent in the hospital after an attempt suicide. Almost at a lost of words, I found myself telling him how courageous he was for sharing. As we continued to talk, I found out his poem would be shown and read to his parents, because this student had never found a medium to express what it was like to them. Assessment: The success of this assignment went beyond my expectations. I would have to say that my hypothesis lined up almost perfectly based on the outcome. The hypothesis of Value X Expectancy = Motivation, I knew this students failing grade was partly because of my teaching style, which was rooted in a value in school and a high expectancy in success of completing homework and studying. So, I had to change it up, making a more-open ended assignment, in which the student was allowed to place value in whatever he wanted, while opening up more room for expectancy by making it a credit or no credit assignment. It wasnt very difficult to address this hypothesis through the assignment I chose, and I feel as if I carried out the moves I intended to, although it was fairly simple on my end. Where the real effort lied was with the student. With the effect this assignment had on him, I believe its safe to say I did teach the student better.

Reflection: To be honest, I was somewhat skeptical going into this assignment. Now, the benefits that arose from it demonstrate how adjusting pedagogical techniques, trying new approaches, and taking all students into account the differences between them are necessary steps towards becoming a better teacher. I still have some questions, such as: How can I change up more required assignments tailored towards required text? Although I still need to figure that out, at least I know what direction to head towards, which is increasing expectancy and value for all students. This assignment has also opened my eyes towards the downfalls of grades, considering they may have no value for some students while also lowering overall expectancy. However, it makes me wonder if students who do well with grades would start doing worse in school if they were to be omitted or more open-minded. Needless to say, this assignment has made me question and wonder about many aspects of teaching for the road ahead. But the overall lesson learned is that it is possible to reach all students, but it takes a lot of energy and planning on the teachers end. Therefore, I am starting to believe there needs to be a shift in the overall education system, and we are people who are capable of changing it.