I am not sure that I have just one challenging student. I think there are certain students that challenge me in different ways. In my math class, I have a student who I am having a hard time motivating. When I circulate the room while students are working, I find her not working or filling in the answers quickly to get the problems done. The answers she puts down are then incorrect. I can tell from homework and classwork that she is having trouble learning the material, but then in class she talks with the person next to her and does not pay attention. She also is having a hard time with the math journaling. She has already lost her math journal even though students are not to take them out to the room. The journals are collected after each class period. When she did write, she had a hard time staying on task and getting much down on paper.
Then I have a student in my homeroom class who is challenging as well. He does his work just to get it done and has a hard time focusing. He comes across as quite, but is good at getting other students in trouble and has been involved in some bullying like behavior this year. He is sneaky and you never can tell what is going on in his head. I know he takes medication for ADHA and his parents have been trying different dosages so things may get better for him as the year goes on.
You describe two very different kids in this post--the student who seems to be sabotaging her own learning, and the student who seems to be sabotaging the social climate (or at least he's trying to do that with bullying behavior).
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the first student, have you tried any strategies to improve her focus? And with student #2, has he been confronted about bullying? You don't need to answer these questions--I'm just wondering out loud. You'll have future posts with the opportunity to talk more about your student group (this Friday, in fact)!