Teaching+Cases

//1. Jaques and Alex//
//Narrative:// Jacques was a senior in my 4th period chemistry course. He kept up with his work and was doing a pretty good job in class. On the weekend that fell 2 months before graduation, Jacques had the misfortune of getting into a fight and ended up being beaten so badly that he was hospitalized for 3 weeks time. He was in critical condition and was placed on a respirator. Needless to say, the least of Jacques worries was chemistry. As it turns out, one of the students who beat Jacques was a student named Alex in my period 4 Chemistry class. The same class! When Jacques returned to school to meet with me and to get "missing work", charges were filed against Alex and as a result, a restraining order was placed on Alex. I was ordered by our building police officer not to allow Alex in the chemistry room for the rest of the year. And, I was ordered by Jacques doctor to allow him to miss the remainder of the year because he would be undergoing reconstructive maxilofacial surgery. Both of these students have the right to receive an education even though they can not physically be in my chemistry classroom. That means they are held to the same standards, yet the conditions for their learning are much different than "typical".

So the students can get the instruction, I would video tape class and have a website or somewhere that they could access the videos. These videos could also be made available to those students in the classroom so they can see them. For testing, I would either have the students come into the classroom to take the test (which would be slightly different from the test given to the whole class) at different times, it seems like Alex would still be in the school and just could come in after/before school to take a test. In Jacques case, I could possibly bring the test to him and be there during the test taking time or have a parent administer it.
 * //Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?**

//2. Andrew//
//Narrative:// On the first day of my 6th period chemistry class one of our school counselors //Bruce// entered my class with //Andrew// (student) his advocate //Jeff// and his mom //Sally//. I said //"hello"// to Andrew and noticed right away glazed-over eyes. Andrew couldn't hear me. He was listening to music from his ipod. Bruce began explaining //"Andrew has Schizophrenia and is taking psychosomatic "meds" for treatment.//" His mom chimed in //"As you might have noticed, he is under medication as we speak".// I held out my hand to Andrew and said //"welcome to chemistry"//. Andrew kind of smiled and looked down. Bruce then spoke //"Here is Andrew's IEP (individualized educaion plan)." "There will need to be major modifications made so that Andrew can be successful."// Sally said "Andrew might miss you class for weeks or months at a time. It all depends on his meds." //"One thing that helps him cope is his music.//" Bruce and Sally left the room and Jeff commented //"I'll come by after school to discuss further".// Andrew went over to a desk in the back of the room, sat down, looked blankly at the front of the room. He turned his music up - I could hear it from the front of the room. Shortly thereafter, Andrew had his head on his desk with his eyes closed, a hoodie pulled over his head. He stayed that way until the end of class. The next day of class, Andrew's mom called and explained that Andrew would not be in class for at least the next two weeks and requested that I provide the next two weeks of lessons that he would miss.

I would do what was needed of me, like providing lessons, and I would also try to provide links and resources to help Andrew even more. Since music helps Andrew cope, I would try to find videos with music in them, so find chemistry songs that could help with certain topics.I would try to find interesting activities or information that would help to peak Andrew's interests and to keep him engage since standard methods may not work.
 * //Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?**

//3. Dianna//
//Narrative:// Diana from Brazil does not speak English. She entered my chemistry class 2 weeks after it started. She was a very successful student in Brazil, and her parents have met with me regarding their expectations that she do well in chemistry. The text used in chemistry is in english, as are all of my resources.

I think it's important for Diana to learn English and being surrounded by it will help, but she still may struggle just because of the language barrier. I would try to find some non-English resources to help her along until she becomes more comfortable with English and I could use illustrations in explanations.
 * //Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?**

//4. Gabriel//
//Narrative:// Gabriel was a student of mine who was taking one of my online AP Physics courses from the University of California College Prep. (UCCP), Santa Cruz. As per the accreditation for online science courses, it was mandated that the laboratory component be "physical", whereby students manipulated "real" equipment to study physics-related concepts. The students that I would have in the online AP Physics courses would be from all over the country and, in some cases, international. In fact, one of the reasons some of these learners were form all over the country and international was that many had exceptional talents above and beyond the AP Physics courseroom. For example, one learner was training to compete in the winter Olympics as a figure skater, while another was a world renowned pianist. Some students attended schools that did not offer an AP Physics course. And ever since a 1999 [|class-action equal access suit filed] against the state of California, students are to be guaranteed the right to access college-prep or AP courses, even if their school does not offer such courses. If their school does not provide such programs, it is the district's and/or state's responsibility to provide such opportnunities. Hence, online AP Physics. Now keep in mind the earlier statement that the labs for these courses were to be "physical". This meant that the school that the students attended was to have a mentor to ovversee the proper use, set-up, and safety of the physics lab equipment. Even if the school did not have the equipment, the mentor was expected to get creative and utilize similar supplies such that the lab could be performed. And get creative we did!

OK, so Gabriel attended a school that lacked "common" science lab equipment (e.g., voltmeters, ring stands, circuit kits, and so forth). And, he was to complete the AP Physics "physical" labs prescribed for the course. I received a call from Gabe's mentor regarding how the labs were to be completed without the necessary equipment. In essence the majority of the labs could not be completed because the host school did not have the requisite equipment. Technically, Gabe's hosting school (someone other than the Mentor) signed that they had access to all of the necessary equipment, so Gabe was enrolled with UCCP. And, Gabe enrolled 2 weeks after the course began.

This is a tricky situation because the school does not have the equipment to complete the lab. I would say have the student use the online program that was discussed in class to do the lab, but the lab needs to be physical. I would have the mentor look at other nearby schools to see if there is equipment that could be loaned out by another school or if Gabriel and the mentor could perform the lab at a different school that does have the equipment.
 * //Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation? What should I tell the mentor?**

//5. Personal Teaching Case 1//
//Narrative:// When I was in 7th grade, the teacher had stepped out of the room while we were working, some students were up talking or goofing off, but others were working. I was working and suddenly two people flew by me and up towards the front of the room, I looked up and two guys were fighting. I just continued working and I can't actually remember how it was settled becuase I chose to just continue what I was working on and not get involved. From previous Education class I know that teachers are told not to get inbetween students fighting, but how do you handle it if two students just start fighting in the middle of your classroom? Or what if you aren't in the classroom?

//6. Personal Teaching Case 2//
//Narrative:// In elementary school, I believe it was 2nd or 3rd grade, the teacher had stepped out of the room. I can't remember exactly how it got to this point, but one of the students started talking about killing himself and stuck his head underneath a papercutter. Another student ran over and grabbed the handle and pulled him away from it. The teacher came back and escorted the student out of the room and probably to the office. I ended up going home because it scared me and I got really pale. An incident like this or worse could really affect the dynamics of the class and how would you handle a student threatening to committ suicide or actually attempt it during a class?