Learner Case Study and Individual Learning Plan

Assessment Task 3

ETP201 - Teacher- learner Relationships

Alanah Knight
(211396067)

(Words 1936)
 Table of Contents
Contents Page ………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 2
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………. 3
Learner Attribute 1 (Self Esteem)………………………………….……………………………………………4
Learner Attribute 2 (Motivation) …………………………………………………………………….…………5
Supporting Positive Classroom Behaviour………………………………………………………….……….6
Individual Learning Plan Rationale……………………………………………………………….…………….8
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
References ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..….. 10
Appendix A - Individual Learning Plan……………………………………………………………….…….. 11
Appendix B - Interactive Notes 1 (guided reading group)...………………………..…………… 14
Appendix C - Interactive Notes 2 (Maths Lesson)………….………….……………………………. 20
Appendix D - Interactive Notes 3 (ICT Lesson) ………………………….……………………………… 26
 Introduction
The purpose of this report is to introduce a particular learner in terms of two learner attributes, self-
esteem and motivation. A description of how an effective teacher learner relationship can support
positive behaviour in the context of this learner is analysed and finally creation and analysis of an
individual learning plan, based on observations taken over the course of practicum is presented.

Curtis is a year 4 boy attending Forrest-Lake Primary. He is part of a 26 student class that are seated
in groups. He transferred to Forrest-Lake after an interstate move three years ago when he was in
Year 1. He has worked hard overcoming this transition, and was behind academically upon arrival.
There are gaps in his education that he struggles with. He has the learning difficulty of Dyslexia.
According to Hogan et al (2017) Dyslexia was viewed as a ‘phonologically based deficit’ and recent
evidence has extends to include ‘procedural learning and visuospatial deficits’ (p.1012). Curtis has
difficulty reading, learning, interpreting symbols, letters and words. Curtis is described by his teacher
as two years behind in literacy and numeracy. He is also behind in specialist classes. Curtis requires
additional support conducive to an inclusive classroom. Curtis is often late to class and He begins
tasks well into lessons, while ‘appearing busy’.
Curtis has recently distracts himself and peers with a ‘fidget spinner’ instead of completing
learning tasks. Curtis frequents the school wide behaviour chart that enables the students to
physically move their name based on their behaviour, and consider the choices that lead them there.
Bad choices are often enacted for peer-approval. He has strong friendships due to sporting. He
requires additional support engaging in learning tasks and has low self-esteem. His teacher
responsibly works at enhancing his learning, and preventing further falling behind. Curtis has been
particularly disengaged in ICT classes, using the computer for watching videos instead of learning
tasks.
 Attributes of the Learner – Self Esteem & Motivation
Oxford University Press describe Self-esteem as the ‘level of satisfaction and pride individuals feel
about themselves’ (2015, p.182). Curtis exhibits low self-esteem consistently. He frequently vocalises
negative perceptions of himself and his abilities, a concept described as ‘Self efficacy’ (p.181). At the
commencement of a reading group (Refer to Appendix B, P.14) Curtis began play-fighting with class
cushions, stacking them into towers. He knew this behaviour wasn’t acceptable however continued
because of the approval he of his peers laughing. This made Curtis feel as if he was socially fitting in as
he impressed them. Frant articulates ‘Children with lower self-esteem are more likely to exhibit
negative behaviours’. He describes the ‘mechanism of self-formation and development consisting of
an individual’s interaction with others in a social, interpersonal and group setting (2016 p.91).
Nicholson and Dave suggest group interactions, including negative interactions enhance feelings of
belonging at school (2014, p.37). Ghilay and Ghilay explain that there is extensive research into the
important association concerning academic achievement and self-esteem. Self-Esteem is more a
‘global perception of self’ not just beliefs regarding ability to complete a learning task. They describe
both self-esteem and self-efficacy measuring one single effect with related concepts. The term self-
esteem will be therefore used in this report (2015 p.385). Curtis’s negative self-perception believed
himself unable to read ‘greenhouse’. After successfully ‘chunking’ and understanding the word, he
was proud of himself. His self-esteem improved effecting his behaviour and work ethic. As reflected ‘I
have no doubts that if I had ‘told him’ the word instead of assisting him, his self-esteem may not have
improved (Appendix B, P.14).

Curtis is held back from beginning activities resulting from his self-esteem (Appendix C, p.). This is
intrinsically linked to his motivation to begin tasks. Curtis’s age is where ‘abstract ideas combine with
concrete experiences, Learning is progressing rapidly, and finding a beginning point can be difficult
when you assume you are going to fail’ (Reachout.com 2017, Para 2). Ghilay and Ghilay articulate
‘very little learning occurs unless students are motivated on a consistent basis’ (2015, p. 384). They
describe how student self-perceptions of completing tasks have a ‘powerful influence’ on motivation
to begin. Curtis has low motivation when beginning new tasks. He often withdraws and begins
working mid-lesson. Once he is engaged and not distracted he continues on.

Curtis wandered the room in mathematics (See Appendix C, P.20). This stems from his lack of
motivation beginning tasks. He was physically and mentally disengaged. Motivating him requires
having high expectations of his work. Nicholson & Dave describe how effective ‘cognitive engagement
can precede positive behavioural engagement’, Leading to constructive educational results (2014,
p.37). Negative implications of educational disengagement are ‘increased risk of negative outcomes,
poorer mental and physical health’ (2014, p.37).

During computing, Curtis disengaged also (See Appendix D, p.). Coming late and distracting
classmates. He was asked to move twice throughout the lesson, and chose watching YouTube videos
of skateboarding instead of the learning task. His teacher was aware he wasn’t engaged, offering
incentives. This short term motivated Curtis to begin his activity. Oxford University Press, Teachers
reviews actions that encourage engagement as ‘assisting the students to develop competence’ (2015,
p.109). Curtis’s teacher places him in the lower differentiated ability groups. Oxford University press
argue ‘ability grouping is needed to engage low ability students’. Engagement is reflective of a quality
learning environment.
 Supporting positive behaviour
The practicum mentor used a ‘shh-shh’ pattern, for students to copy, and waited for class attention
before speaking as a technique, explaining she’s not a ‘yeller’, this way everybody hears her
instructions, and are on task. I gratefully adopted this strategy. Maintaining student attention is a
strategy of effective managers (The Oxford University Press 2015, p.316). Students within the
classroom also self-policed their peers behaviour. During quiet times, a sea of ‘shh’ would erupt, and
a learner exhibiting negative behaviours would stop. Curtis has been encouraged by his peers to make
better choices. O’Brian reminds ‘through the creation of quality learning environments, we encourage
students to exorcise control over their behaviour’ (2013, p. viii). He continues stating behaviour is
communication that we have an obligation to find causation of (2013, p.7). Utilising engagement
strategies can be beneficial. During reading (See Appendix B, p.14) Curtis was offered a ‘good choice’
explanation as encouragement. Oxford University Press describe ‘conveying purposefulness’ as
another trait of effective management (2015, p.316).

Strategies such as using a student’s name to refocus them and keeping instructions simple were
prevalent. Oxford University press defines as ‘receptive language strategies’ (2015, p.311) Further
articulating avoiding pressuring performance as beneficial to engagement (2015, p.271). Within ICT
(refer to Appendix D, p.26) The strategies ‘physically moving’ Curtis to another place in closer
proximity, and eye contact were employed. This assisted positive behaviour. Positive reinforcement
and offering incentives also displayed. High expectations were given to all students. Nicholson & Dave
discuss positive student-staff relationships and low student-staff ratios in the re-engagement of
disengaged students (2014, p.39). As a small group (See Appendix B, p.14) It was easier to re-engage
Curtis with the text than while working with a whole class.

House points were rarely given except for sport, there were class ‘values’ written by students. The
Oxford University Press describes as ‘allowing students to identify classroom expectations’ (2015,
p.118). Vancel et al describe ‘school-wide positive behaviour supports as an alternative to punitive
discipline plans’, contending ‘punitive strategies create negative climates while not improving
behaviour’ and asserts that teachers ‘must be consistent in approaches’ to behaviour (2016, p.37).
Forrest-Lake students were encouraged through a school-wide behaviour chart in every classroom.
Students making good choices would physically move higher and bad choices move their name down.
This enhances student’s awareness of their own behaviour. Nicholson & Dave articulate ‘good choices
should always be rewarded immediately’ (2014, p.38). Oxford University Press contends
consequences should be ‘reasonable, related, respectful and reliably enforced’ (2015, p.126). Curtis
often moved his name enabling him to reflect. Each scale on the wall had a description, ‘call to
parents at home’ being final. This impacted Curtis who avoided that area.
 Creating an Individual Learning Plan.
An individual learning plan (ILP) created for Curtis described his poor motivation
commencing and completing tasks, and self-esteem as enabling this disengagement.
Curtis has Dyslexia, encouraging his inclusion and engagement in learning tasks is
paramount. Strategies such as differentiated smaller support group and generally,
making ‘adjustments to instructional processes and to assessment strategies’ enables
Curtis to achieve educational standards (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
2017). Teaching requires moral reasoning and Curtis requires additional support as
social justice, enabling him to grow and succeed. Supporting self-esteem with praise at
times he contends he ‘can’t do his work’ (Refer to Appendix D, p.26) allows him to begin
his work. The ILP regards Curtis’s attributes as linked. If they were not facilitated it could
lead to further disengagement, negative behaviours, and poorer educational outcomes
for Curtis.
Riga (2012) inspires pursuit of pedagogical approaches and teaching methods answering
to classroom diversity. Engaging students in learning is rich across the grade 4
Curriculum for example ‘engage with imaginative texts’ (VCAA 2017, VCASFC150).

The AITSL set teaching standards. The very first standard (1) is ‘Know students and how
they learn’. Understanding student learning (AITSL 2014, 1.2) requires coming
understand individual learning needs, so we can plan accordingly. Working in small
groups with Curtis assisted this (See Appendix B, p.14). Small groups also assisted
student challenging behaviour, management of such is required (AITSL 2014, 4.1).
There were multiple behaviour management strategies employed during practicum (See
Appendix D, p.) Another standard forms one of the short term goals for Curtis. It is to
teach and use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically (AITSL 2014, 4.5). We strategized
high expectations, low pressure and continuous reminders to engage. Standard (4.1)
refers to supporting students learning participation, however as Curtis has dyslexia-
learning difficulty, standard 1.6 more specifically addresses the need for teachers to use
strategies to support the full participation of students with a disability. Though not a
major disability, Curtis’s needs are recognised so he can be given the extra support
required. ‘Self-esteem should be supported at school’ (Oxford University Press 2015,
p.184).
 To Conclude…
Throughout this report one learner and multiple strategies for his academic growth are considered.
Understanding learners, is vital to assisting their development. The influences within their world,
their friendships, their home life, what they enjoy at lunchtimes, how they are across multiple
subjects, all contribute to a student’s sense of self and sense of belonging at school. Writing
interactive notes allows revision to link student behaviour with current research to understand why,
and how to guide them toward academic success. For students with Dyslexia like Curtis teachers
require an understanding of the effects on student learning regarding social, cognitive and
emotional aspects. Teachers should strive to give their learners the best opportunities, and reflect
deeply upon lessons and interactions with students. Reflection aids teachers to grow and learn, and
make considerations about assisting students learning. High expectations of all students should be
held and for some students saying ‘I know you can do this’ makes all the difference between a blank
page and two pages of work. People aim to complete the work they believe they are capable of
throughout all levels of schooling, therefore becoming resilient and confident at the primary level
will aid these students further into their secondary, tertiary and after school lives in whatever great
things they go onto. I once had a teacher who believed in me, therefore, I did. It is with hope that
Curtis encounters the same becoming engaged with learning tasks, and comes to believe in himself
and his extensive capabilities.
 References
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 2014, Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers, Education Services Australia, retrieved 24 May 2017, <https://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-
professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list>.

Arguedas, M, Daradoumis, T, & Xhafa, F 2016, Analyzing How Emotion Awareness Influences
Students’ Motivation, Engagement, Self-Regulation and Learning Outcome. Educational Technology
& Society, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 87–103.

FRANŢ I, A 2016, Implications of Self Esteem in Adolescence, Journal Plus Education / Educatia
Plus , Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 90-99.

Ghilay, R and Ghilay Y 2015, ISMS: A New Model for Improving Student Motivation and Self-
esteem in Primary Education, International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, Vol. 7, No.
3, pp. 383-397.”

Hogan, M, Green, T, Gray, S, Cabbage, S, and Cowan, C 2017, Word Learning Deficits in Children
With Dyslexia, Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, Vol. 60, No.1, pp. 1012-1028.

Nicholson, L & Dave, W 2014, ‘Facilitating re-engagement in learning:

A disengaged student perspective’ Psychology of Education Review, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp.37-41.

O’Brian, T 2013, Promoting Positive Behaviour, Taylor and Francis, New York.

Oxford University Press 2015, Teacher Learner Relationships, Third Edition, Kerry Cooke, Oxford
University Press, Melbourne.

Riga, M 2012. ‘Teacher beliefs about teaching children with dyslexia/learning difficulties in
mainstream primary schools’, PhD Psychology Thesis, The University of Manchester, retrieved 29
May 2017, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.

Reachout.com 2017, The effects of low self-esteem, Reachout Australia, retrieved 30 May 2017,
<http://au.reachout.com/the-effects-of-low-self-esteem>.

Vancel, S, Missall, K & Bruhn, A 2016, Teacher Ratings of the Social Validity of Schoolwide
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports: A Comparison of School Groups, Preventing School
Failure, Vol. 60, No. 4, pp.320-329.

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2017, Diversity of Learners, VCAA, retrieved 31
May 2017, <http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/overview/diversity-of-learners>.
 Appendix A ( Individual Learning Plan)

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING PLAN

Student Name: Date Devised: 30/04/17

Curtis Alexander

School: Year Level:

Forrest Lake Primary School
4

Year Level: 4 DOB: 09/11/2007 Age: 10

Background Information:
Curtis is a grade 4 Boy at Forrest Lake Primary. His regular classroom teacher has
informed me he is very behind in most subjects, including specialist classes. She has
explained that he has dyslexia, and considered him to be 2 years behind in numeracy and
literacy. He exhibits negative social and distracted behaviours, and is usually very late to
begin a task.
Strengths:
Strong friendships formed due to extra-curricular sport, Polite and well-mannered and
kind, not at all defiant, just very disengaged. Creative,
Barriers:
Low self-esteem, Dyslexia, Easily distracted and disengaged, overcoming transition from
interstate move.
Areas for Development:
Engagement in multiple areas, safe and effective use of technology for educational
purposes, completion of classwork and homework, Move up to the next reading level.
 TARGETS ENTRY SKILLS IMPLEMENTATION ASSESSMENT SUCCESS CRITERIA
STRATEGIES STRATEGIES
(SHORT-TERM
GOALS)

Check Curtis’s ‘nights

Curtis has not Meeting with in a row chart’ and see Completion of nightly
been reading at parents that his parents have reading chart.
Complete ‘Reading
home. signed off on his
Nights in a row
Positive entries. Ongoing and continual
chart’
reinforcement and engagement with texts,
praise when Curtis Enthusiastically confer and continuing to build
does the right thing, with Curtis about the on comprehension
and makes good books he is reading, strategies.
He has made no choices. and have a
attempt term 1 conversation about Regular increase of
to read his what is interesting ‘reading book levels’.
nightly readers, Encourage Curtis to
within the texts.
and is source and engage
Allow a small space in
continuing this with books that he is
every day to engage
pattern despite interested in.
with Curtis about the
multiple progress of his
attempts to Assist Curtis to find
reading.
encourage him appropriate and
to read. engaging texts in a
During ‘Guided
range of genres and
groups’ continue
He has been from both the Fiction
checking for
described as and Non-Fiction
comprehension,
‘Two years categories
accuracy, fluency and
behind in expression while
literacy’ by his Offer an incentive
focusing on strategies
classroom for Curtis upon
for these. Take
teacher. completion of his
reflective notes to
‘nights In a row
inform future reading
chart’.
lessons.
(social justice article)
additional needs not
getting the educ they
need art)

Withdrawing Promoting discussion Allow Curtis to spend Completing required

Complete required
himself from about commencing time setting up and classwork in a timely
classwork and
classwork and completing work running over things in manner and bringing
homework in a
refusal to with Curtis his head, but ensure homework folder to
timely manner and
to a satisfactory commence there is an expectation school with completed
standard. work spanning Repeat instructions he will complete his homework.
several subjects checklist work by the required
Refer to classwork time. Engagement in
disengagement often /board. mathematics, and
during Use language to satisfactory completion
mathematics, communicate that is of the ‘money maths’
while concise and clear Hold high expectations post-test.
maintaining a of Curtis ability to be
façade of Remind Curtis that able to fulfil the
‘busyness’ and his disengagement is success criteria.
working well on distracting his peers Be encouraging ‘I
things, is know you can do this
generally by the end of the
drawing, lesson’.
behaving in a listen to what he is
manner not thinking or feeling in
conducive to relation to a task
the learning (This may require
environment in prompting)
the classroom
such as Alternative tasks in
exhibiting some subjects.
negative
behaviour for
peers approval.
or not actually
engaged in the
work.

In ICT specialist Frequently Curtis is given

class, use the using ICT to look
reminders and then Check for engagement Safe, effective and
provided up video’s warnings when he is particularly when educational use of
technology for instead of usingnot engaging with a introducing a technology.
educational it for the set lesson, and is often concept/lesson.
purposes. classwork asked to move Completion of
research and places to somewhere Ensure Curtis has the classwork on time.
activities. else in the hopes he tools and necessary
will be less information to begin, Engagement with ICT
When the distracted in the new may need for a range of purposes
coursework is environment. He differentiated and over a range of
assigned as entertains himself so information to break modes.
homework, he is moving isn’t proving things down.
not completing to be too successful.
it at home Check for improved
either. Use of proximity and behaviour over time.
saying his name to
get his attention. Check for
 understanding of
Teacher coursework regularly.
encouragement
throughout the
lesson,
Acknowledging when
Curtis makes good
choices.

Incentive offering,
‘free time at the end
if work complete’.

Regular
communication
between specialist
staff and classroom
teacher.
 Appendix B - Interactive Notes 1

Date and time Interaction participants:(All psuedonyms)

24/4/17
Seb,
Jett,
Curtis
Year level, numbers present, male and female Clark
Year 4, 26 in full class, 4 in small guided group all
male.

Teaching materials, resources and set-up

Book ‘Global Change’ (29) small group circle on

the floor, while the other students worked on a
different task at their desks, as the supervising
teacher conducted running records with other
initials.

Attachments: worksheets, work samples Comments

Picture of front page of book. (1)
Picture of contents page of the book(2)
Picture of page with samples of ‘Unsure’ words. (3)
Picture of page with the chunked word ‘Greenland’
(4)
Picture of teacher lesson plan (5)
Seb and Jett had to be separated as they weren’t
engaging and were ‘building towers’ to sit on with
class cushions at first, Curtis had to be reminded to
stay on task as he began joining the others. He is
often not a student that behaves such as this, unless
he is around those boys. Once reminded he worked
well, Clark (An ESL student) demonstrated good
behaviour choices by staying out of it leading to
putting his name one level higher on the wall chart
that assists students understanding their own
behaviour management.

Seating plan or class map

The rest of class were sitting at their tables engaged in a writing activity, and some individuals came up one
by one to do a running record with the supervising teacher.
A small group for guided reading were on the floor in a circle working together on the text. The small size
of the group (4) allowed students one on one reading time.
Time Duration Describe what happened, record what was said and done

We held the book in our hands in our small group. This reading group
is the one that requires the most additional support in the classroom.
9.30 7.5 mins This group includes the student Curtis, who has been identified as
being ‘two years behind in reading’. Curtis at the beginning was
making bad choices, playfighting with pillows for his peers approval.

The group all discussed what they thought the text was about by
looking at the front cover (see front cover attached #1). (See lesson
plan attached #5) Everybody had reasons for why each picture may
match the title, Curtis decided that the polar bears on the melted
iceberg, was “Because the world was heating up”.

Everybody then got the chance to read quietly to themselves, as the

teacher went around to each individual to listen to some reading,
checking for accuracy and fluency.

10 mins When it got time for Curtis to read, it was discovered he was pages
behind the others in reading to themselves, instead engaging in viewing
the pictures. I asked if he would read to me and he agreed.
He began reading page 4 (see attached image #4) and when it came
time to pronounce the word ‘Greenhouse’ he attempted 3 times before
pointing at it and looking at me questioningly, I proceeded to
encourage him to try again by covering half the word. He realised he
recognised the smaller word Green and was able to understand the
second part of the word ‘house’ to make the word ‘Greenhouse’. He
was proud of himself and went on to continue reading. Chunking was
an effective strategy in this instance.

When everybody had quietly read aloud to me, we discussed some of

10 mins the key words of the text. We did this as a group, but due to the size,
everybody was able to contribute and the discussion was rich with
learning ideas.
Some key words were in bold which helped, and the students were able
to choose some of the words they found difficult to comprehend too.
We had a deep discussion about how all of these main were correlated,
and that being ‘global changes’ their effects are felt by everybody on
earth.
Reflections
(What you learned from reflecting on this interaction)

From this interaction, I learned that Curtis was initially attempting to socially fit in with the boys who were
behaving badly. This off task behaviour could be reflective on his self-esteem as he knew he was doing the
wrong thing, but he still attempted to impress the others with this behaviour. This interaction also can be
seen as reflective of his lack of motivation when beginning new tasks. He is often withdrawn and will begin
his work 10 minutes or so after the other students. I’ve noticed giving him extra attention and reminding
him of one task at a time, in the order they’re to be completed as he gets up to each one means he is more
likely to begin work. A personal work task checklist to remind him may be helpful.

Once he is off to a good start on a task, and is not distracted by his peers, himself, or his environment he can
continue on, it seems just getting him to begin is one of the hard parts as a teacher.

He was proud of himself after successfully chunking, and continued to work well for the rest of the class.
This shows that his self-esteem improved after correctly reading the word that he originally decided was too
difficult, leading to positive behaviour for the rest of the class. I have no doubts that if I had have simply
‘told him’ what the word said instead of assisting him to discover it, the rest of the day could have played
out quite differently.

Images and Resources – 5 in total.

Picture of front page of book. (1)
Picture of contents page of the book(2)
(3)Picture of page with samples of ‘Unsure’ words.
(4) Picture above also states the word chunked ‘greenhouse’.
Picture of teacher lesson plan (5)
 Appendix C - Interactive Notes 2

Date and time 26/04/2017 Interaction participants:

12pm Whole class group
placement teacher (teaching lesson)

Year level, numbers present, male and female

Year 4, 25 students
11 Female classmates,
14 Male classmates

Teaching materials, resources and set-up

(located end of document)

Worksheet ‘planning for a party’

‘mathematics book, calculator and pencil’.

Attachments: Comments
Planning a party worksheet
work samples from Curtis, and his classmate ‘Lili’ Curtis arrived to this class late (from recess)
(also a pseudonym). as you can see in attached picture, Curtis has written
the letter ‘3’ backwards. Curtis has Dyslexia, which
this backwards writing can be an attribute of.

Seating plan or class map

Regular seats (J) Marks Curtis’s Chair (T) marks teacher’s chair, though for this activity teacher was
roaming the room.

Time Duration Describe what happened, record what was said and done
 In this task, Curtis had walked in late. He is already usually late to start
tasks, so I gave him a quick rundown of the lesson. The boys at his
table appear to distract him. He was play-fighting with one with a
12:00 ruler. I chose this time to give him a verbal run down of the task, and a
worksheet. When it was clear that he was still not beginning after he
began wandering the room I went over to discover the problem was he
didn’t understand the task written on the worksheet and prior
discussed. I helped him get off to a start by further explaining what a
5
budget is and how we would be writing this up as he’d missed that
coming in late.

I assisted him by showing him how to work out ‘two packs’ of _ as he

had identified the need for another for his party due to being planned
for 10 people with only (6) in a pack.
20
In his book I wrote a money maths equation showing him that two
packs will be double the price.

He continued to work on his budget until the end of the lesson.

However he didn’t write much and was continuously distracted and I
found myself continuously reminding him what he needs to be doing.
This is a task that is supposed to be fun and engaging and enjoyable,
planning a party! And He was held back by his inability to complete
the calculations leading him to stare blankly at his work more often
than not, occasionally writing an item down. He had the right idea and
started making choices for his budget, however he has left all of the
calculations incomplete. This is an activity that spans two lessons,
therefore we will have time to refine this and work on this at a later
time. He is still well behind the other students, and without extra
assistance will continue to remain so.

I have included as a point of reference his budget activity notes so far,

and that of another classmate (Lili) who is an average maths worker.
She has demonstrated a list, and prices, and has begun to add them up,
to find out if she has spent too much, meaning she needs to make
elimination choices, or still has room to buy things.

This comparison shows that Curtis must work really hard to make up
the gap in the next lesson, so he can effectively complete his budget.
This means that during next lesson the teacher will have to continue to
break things up into small manageable tasks for him to complete, and
may need to revisit the way we equate things when working with
currency.
10
12:25
 During the class discussion he chose not to share however did engage
with other student’s reflections to get an idea of what he will do in the
future lesson on the same activity.

Reflections
(What you learned from reflecting on this interaction)

His lack of motivation towards the task caused him to begin wandering the room.
This stems from him not understanding the instructions, and also not asking for help, instead becoming
distracted further by his classmates, making it harder to motivate himself to begin working on the activity.
He believed he was incapable of the work and I found his head in his hands at one point saying ‘This is too
hard’, ‘I can’t’. Curtis required needed extra assistance and direction to begin, and a few times throughout
so he was able to remain focused.

His confidence improved and he really began applying himself to the task, after I had showed him the
equation, and how on a calculator, we can use a decimal point when adding currency. Once again he is
motivated once he has a starting point, and feels he can do the work. His self-esteem sometimes holds him
back from beginning activities. Thinking therefore enacting ‘I can’t do this’ behaviour.

Curtis arrived 5-10 minutes late. His work comparatively isn’t at the level he should be at. Mentor Teacher
Mrs. Rainbow has described him as ‘2 years below level’.
He definitely needs extra assistance in mathematics.
Class worksheet ‘party list’.
Curtis’s workbook (maths sum by myself showing him how we carry numbers, note the backwards 3
Next to ‘fenta’ which he has self-corrected) He has also spelled ‘Fanta’ Incorrectly even though the
spelling was directly in front of him, He also put an apostrophe in the word ‘Hotdogs’.

Lili’s workbook (this was the same task). We can see she’s added everything up in a neat list, and is
sticking to budget by refining what she really wants ‘ticks’.
 Appendix D - Interactive Notes 3

Date and time Interaction participants:

25/04/2017 2.30 ICT – specialist staff

‘Curtis Alexander’
Year level, numbers present, male and female ‘Classmates’
4, 24, 14 Male, 10 Female

Teaching materials, resources and set-up

School computer lab, Interactive Movie Maker

Attachments: worksheets, work samples Comments

-computerised unable to copy however description

given.

Seating plan or class map

Students seated in circular pods, specialist teacher wandering the room and at the front of the room working
with projector connected to a P.C

Time Duration Describe what happened, record what was said and done

This was the beginning of the lesson, all of the students were gathered
on the floor in front of the projector. Curtis was not paying attention,
instead poking his classmates, and showing them his ‘fidget spinner’.
The teacher became aware he was distracting his peers, and asked him
2.30 10 mins once to ‘put it away’. After a second reminder, she moved him. He
hadn’t watched the board the whole time, interested only in his fidget
spinner.

Curtis took his place at the computer pods. The rest of the class
engaged with the activity, Curtis was ‘looking busy’ however wasn’t
2:40- half actually doing any work. He instead was looking up YouTube videos,
3:10 hour and showing these to his friends every time the teachers back was
turned. She was aware of what he was doing, but was torn between
getting him on task, and assisting others in need. In the end she
encouraged Curtis by offering an incentive for him to finish by the
correct time.
 This was the final part of the lesson. Curtis had just began working on
his digital media as the other students were presenting. By the end of
3:10- the lesson, he had completed about half the assigned classwork, with
:3.25 the rest being set as homework.

Reflections

This class was just after lunch where Curtis and other students were still very much in ‘playtime’ mode
from their game of football at lunch. Fidget spinners are a new distraction ‘craze’ or fad that are quickly
becoming banned due to their distractive nature. They were originally designed for students who fidget to
assist with completing their work but as every student now has them they have become a toy that gets
pulled out of pockets and played with. Very quickly teachers caught on to this distraction and used the
shared phrase ‘In your pocket or it becomes mine until _’.

Curtis has exhibited this distracted behaviour where he will not be motivated to begin or complete a task
before. Sometimes he says it is ‘too hard’ without trying, and other times he will just appear as if he is
working until you get close to his work and realise he is really good at looking like he’s busy when he is not
engaged with work. He never asks for help.

This lesson requires follow up. His work has been set as homework, and a note sent home to his parents.
His classroom teacher is aware of this behaviour, and has held several conversations with Curtis. The
specialist teacher tried very hard to facilitate Curtis to get on with his work, and get the other students
through the work at the same time. She was exhausted by the end of the lesson.