February 18, 2009

Special Needs

Ethnographic Study

I am observing a fourth grade boy. For the sake of privacy I will call him Michael in this paper. Michael lives with his grandparents because his mother is in jail. He lives in a very affluent neighborhood, and his grandparents have him signed up for basketball and other sports. Michael struggles in the classroom, because he can not stay focused. He is surrounded by children who are all working hard while the teacher is discussing the assignment. Michael turns around in his chair, he tips his chair back, he tries to interrupt the other children. After talking to Michael, he informed me that he is on medication and that he feels it makes him smarter. He also told me that he loves dirt bikes and he enjoys math, and going out of town.

I am helping him in language arts so I think to help him I could incorporate dirt bikes in the poems, and stories that he is having to write. He struggles in spelling and I asked him what he thought could help him and he said he needed more medication. A need that I noticed was he uses his medication as a crutch. He doesn’t feel he should have to do the work to get the concept. He thinks that his medication will make him smarter.

I think that he might need to be moved out of the middle of the classroom. I don’t think his surroundings are helping him. I thought maybe if the teacher put him on the edge of the rows he wouldn’t be so distracted. Another thought that came to mind is he really enjoys talking. During the lesson that I observed it was more lecture so he was really bored and I had also just brought them back into the classroom from our tutoring group. I think he would excel if giving the chance to talk about the assignment and get up and move. I know that a lot of teachers do not agree with being able to move around while being taught the lesson, but I think Michael would comprehend more if he was able to talk and move around. It takes Michael longer to get settled in then the other children.

To really understand Michael I think it would be wise to really understand the medication that he is on, and why he is on it. As an outsider I just see a child who would rather be doing anything but be in class. I could see Michael doing well in the Mosaic Academy, just because they are free to wander and talk. Their school is more activity based and I think that is what Michael needs.

I will be a challenge trying to get him to get his assignments done, but I have already decided that I am going to let him talk about the assignment as much as he needs to. We will also be moving around a lot in the forty-five minutes I have him.