Teaching+Cases

=TEACHING CASES=

//Instructions://
The cases to follow here are cases based on real classroom experiences that have occurred in my classroom. In some instances I have used fictitious names, but the stories and characters are real. These cases are in no way unique to my classroom, and are, in fact, generalizable to other classrooms, and hopefully yours. I use these stories because I feel that the more realistic (the fact that these cases occurred in my classroom) they are, the more profound the teaching from them will be. There is no one //right way// to address these situations, but there are acceptable processes by which we can reflect and discuss as to reach agreement and make recommendations. Specifically, reflect on methods, strategies, tools and technologies that might be utilized to address the issues raised in these cases. I hope to over time add to this list such that I can include the cases of the teachers who are in this class. So please share. As you read these cases, try to relate them to your experience as a teacher and also as a student.

//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".

//Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?


 * This is definitely a complex situation that is going to require extra time on behalf of the teacher. First, I would talk to my principle and other administrators to see what kind of policy they have in place for this type of situation; if they didn’t have a policy already in place, I would ask that they collaborate with me to help me come up with a plan. If for some reason I was completely on my own in the handling of this situation, I would first establish a clear and effective mode of communication with each student. In a perfect world communication, assignments, lessons, and all other things would be done via the internet, using a source such as blackboard, however accessing the internet is not always possible for all students. If accessing the internet was a problem I would revert to one-on-one conferencing with each student at separate times; I would give each of them a packet that would include assignments and other materials they might need for lessons.

Contrary to what other people said, I don’t think I would spend my time making podcasts or other internet recordings for either of these students (If my administrators required me to do so of course I would). These two students chose to get into a fight and therefore they should pay the consequences for making that decision. I know that in many schools even if the fight is off school grounds, there is some type of punishment at school for both of the students involved. I would do my best to help each student, but I wouldn't want to send the message to other all the students that fighting is ok and if you get hurt bad enough or recieve a restraining order things are going to be just fine.**

//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.

//Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?


 * I am not knowledgeable in mental disorders and I feel that in order for me to best help Andrew I need to know a little bit about what he is dealing with. To better understand schizophrenia I would meet up with both the school counselor and the Special Education teachers who wrote Andrew’s IEP. After I had a better understanding of schizophrenia, I would then begin to figure out a way to work with him while he is not in class. If he had internet access I would use blackboard or wikispaces to communicate and carry out lesson with Andrew. When planning his online lessons, I would try to find out what Andrew is interested in and then maybe tailor the assignments towards that; he might have a mental disorder and be on medication, but I’m sure there are few things he is passionate about and would enjoy learning about in greater depth.

In order to design a mini-curriculum that is appropriate for Andrew, I would collaborate with the special education teacher to ensure that the strategies and methods I use will work for Andrew. This is definitely a case that would require collaboration between Andrew, his parents, the special education teacher, the school counselor, and I.**

//3. Dianna//
//Narrative:// Diana from Brazil 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.

//Question:// How would you deal with this situation? What technologies, methods and strategies could you employ to address this situation?

I **would work closely with the ESL department to figure out what the best methods are for teaching English language learners. I would also try to learn short phrases or words in Portuguese so that I could communicate minimally with her and her family. Another idea would be to incorporate materials in Portuguese so that she could have a basis to go off of. In any case, I would use her native language as much as possible.**

//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.

//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?


 * This case is very confusing for me to understand because I have never taken a physics course and I don't know what types of labs we are talking about here. Based on what I understand this case to be, I would first contact the mentor and explain that upon signing up somebody verified that the student would have access to the necessary equipment, and if now they don't have access then they need to find a way to get access. One suggestion I would make would be for Gabe and his mentor to contact local colleges and/or high schools to see if there are any open lab hours in which Gabe could go in and do his physical labs.**


 * I would also advise Gabe to get caught up from loosing the first two weeks. I would set a date in which he needs to have read a certain amount of material and complete the assigntments that he missed so that he could be at the same level as the rest of the class.**

= Case #5: Anna = You are the teacher of a second-year high school Spanish class and have decided to begin a unit on the Mexican culture. This unit is going to cover the traditions, practices, and beliefs of the Mexican people. Being that it is the beginning of November you are beginning the unit with a 2-day lesson on Day of the Dead, which is celebrated throughout Mexico and some other Latin American countries on November 1-2. To help explain that Day of the Dead is a time to honor, remember, and pay tribute to loved ones who have passed away, you show pictures and video of real-life celebratons. All though Day of the Dead is meant to celebrate the lives of loved ones who have passed on, a few students in your class feel that it is creepy, and even a bit morbid. You reasure all of your students that it is a happy, exciting holiday for the Mexican people, and in fact it is one of the biggest celebrations in the country. You send them home with a short reading that is supplemented with pictures about the holiday. The next morning you have an email from a very angry parent who believes that you are teaching her daughter Anna, about satan-related, morbid activies and despite the fact that Anna excels and really enjoys Spanish class, her mother is threatening to pull her out for the remainder of the semester. At the end of the email she adds in a little note that says "this is America and my daughter is American, she does not need to learn about the worthless holidays of other cultures. She is in Spanish class for only one reason: so that she can go to a four-year university." What would you do? How would you handle the situation so that Anna can stay in your class? = Idea for solving case #5 = **Before even beginning the unit, I would send each student home with a letter to their parents that describes what we will be studying. I would explain that there are some traditions, parctices, and beliefs that other countries have that may appear very strange to some Anglo-American people, but that in order to study different cultures we must look into how they are different from our own. Parents would have the option to sign and allow their child to participate or sign to opt out and have their child work on Spanish grammar in the library instead. If Anna had brought back the slip and was allowed to participate and her mother still had issues, I would remind her about the permission slip she signed for Anna. I would also offer to meet with her to discuss what exactly we are studying and clear up the misconception that it is a satan related holiday. I would also explain that as Anna’s teacher I am not telling her that she should celebrate the holiday, but that it is a simple lesson about culture and is directly related to Anna’s study of Spanish. I would empasize the fact that it is difficult to teach a language without teaching about the culture who speaks the target language. As for Anna only being in Spanish class for the sake of attending a four-year university, I would tell her mother that studying other languages and cultures has many other benefits rather than just being a hoop to jump through.** **Lastly, I would try to point out that Anna is an excellent student in Spanish class and she has the potential to do alot with it in her future and that pulling her out now would only harm her. If her mother was still angry, I would offer to let Anna work on something else the following day instead of coming to class to continue the Day of the Dead lesson. **

//References://
[|In Class-Action Lawsuit, ACLU Says CA Students Are Denied Equal Access to Advanced Placement Courses] (7/27/1999). [Online]. ACLU. Retrieved Sept. 20, 2008 from http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/aa/15822prs19990727.html