Kevin Guevara

Dr. Allison Kootsikas

Early Field Experience: Theory and Practice

5/5/2016

A Day in the Life of a Student

Tony Maroney is one of the most interesting students that I have ever had to work with in
my three years of being an Education major. I met Tony in my first day of fieldwork at Doynton
Middle School in Mr. Ks class when he had all of his students introduce themselves to me. Then
I found out he was also in an English class I had to work in taught by Ms. A. I did not think
much of him when I first met him because I was still trying to get adjusted to everything. I was
assigned to work with him during my second week in Ms. As class. He was a very friendly child,
and I was impressed with the quality of his work. Tony had some of the neatest handwriting I
have ever seen in my life, and he seemed to be on a higher reading level than most of his other
peers. I began to wonder why Tony was in the enrichment program. The enrichment program is a
program meant to help students who are failing. The program helps students get ready for the day
by making sure they have all of their assignments completed and by making sure they have a
pencil. It also teaches students proper student adequacy such as raising their hands, and being
respectful to other students. It turned out that Tony was missing many assignments, and I did not
understand why at the time. I knew Tony was an intelligent child who was capable of completing
all of his assignments. Even his teachers said they know Tony is a smart student, but he is a lazy
unorganized student. The more I worked with him and got to know about his personal life the
more it became clear why he was missing so many assignments.

I have a good working relationship with Tony. Most days I can get him to complete his
assignments with no issues. However, there were some days when I could not get Tony to write
down a single word. He seemed to be upset whenever he did not want to do any of his school
work. I began to interview Tony after I helped him complete his missing assignments. Tony is a
very talkative and open person so the interview process was not difficult at all. The first thing I
asked him was if he feels safe in his neighborhood. Tony told me he felt completely safe in his
neighborhood, and described his neighborhood as quiet. I then asked him to tell me about his
family. Tony lives with his mother, father, and older brother. He told me his mother is a secratary
at the local university, and his father is a P.E. teacher at the local high school. He said he loves
both of his parents, but hates his older brother. Tony describes his older brother as mean and
bossy. He told me how his parents do help him with his homework, and they taught him a lot
from a young age. His mother read to him every night, and she taught him how to read and write
at an early age. His father introduced him to his favorite sport, basketball, and he is frequently
helping him improve his athletic skills. This reflects how Tony said his two favorite classes are
English and gym. Tony then went on to describe his intense love of playing basketball, and how
he plays for his schools basketball team. It was clear that he cared more about his basketball
team than his academic work. I also found this interesting because he told me he prefers to do
group work as opposed to working alone. He told me he likes to work as a team. I then asked
him who his best friend was. Tony reponded by saying he does not have any friends. This
shocked me because I always see him talking with other students in class. I thought he had many
friends. He told me that most people end up being mean to him. I then realized Tony is a very
sensitive person. This means he takes the sarcastic/joking comments other students and his
teachers make about him personal. This partially explains why on certain days he does not want
to do any work. Tonys feelings are hurt on those days so he does not want to do anything for his
teachers. Tony then confirmed with me that he does feel like his teachers have given up on him. I
know this is not true, but Tony believes this to be the case. This is clearly having a devastating
effect on his academic performance. Tony then went on to tell me about how he feels like his
parents are drifitng apart. He did not specify if they were getting a divorce, but it sounded like
they were having serious marital problems. Tony told me that sometimes his parents just flat out
ignore him when he asks them for help on his homework. This means that Tony is not getting the
support he needs outside of school to help academically succeed. I then asked him about his
plans for the future. He told me he wants to play college basketball, and I recommended for him
to consider Syracuse University. He immediatly fell in love with the idea, and said he will try
harder in high school when grades really matter.

It seems to me that Tony is not getting enough support from members of his community.
He is clearly not getting enough help from his parents with his homework, and he does not have
any friends outside of school who can help him with his homework. His teachers do want to see
him succeed in school, but they are not taking the initiative to help him. Sometimes they are
unknowingly making the situation worse with their sarcastic comments. I honestly do believe
Tony is capable of being an A student if he had the proper support from his community. Working
with Tony was also the first time I felt genuinely challenged by a student. Ive done fieldwork for
many of my other Education classes in different schools across this city. I never once had a
student not do any work for me. I thought I knew everything I had to know about working with
students, but Tony proved me wrong. Overall, this was a great learning experience for me and I
know I will use what I have learned working with Tony in my future career as an educator.