Factors that Contribute to Unhealthy Student Development

There are several things that may put students at risk. These things may be biological or environmental. Some are due to biological factors such as a mental illness, and others may be due to environmental factors, such as little or no parental supervision and poverty. There are many things that a teacher can do to help decrease the occurrence of behaviors that put students as risk in the classroom.

This essay will be based on scenario B from taskstream:

"A sixteen-year-old tenth grader frequently sleeps in class, defaces desks and textbooks in the classroom, and blatantly refuses to answer direct questions. The student reads at a sixth-grade level and exhibits poor oral reading skills. The student is not very social and does not have many friends. One of the student's parents is deceased. The student lives at home with the surviving parent and two siblings. The student works several hours after school every day in order to earn money for the family."( Taskstream, 2007).

From this point forward I will be referring to the student in the above scenario as Jane.

In the above scenario Jane demonstrates several risky behavior. The first behavior that puts her at risk is that Jane sleeps in class. Another risk factor is that Jane defaces desks and textbooks. A third behavior that puts Jane at risk is refusing to answer any direct question. Other things that put Jane at risk are her social skills and reading level. There are many things that can have influenced or caused these problems that have put Jane at risk. Below I will briefly explain a few possible reasons for these behaviors and ways to improve them.

The first of Jane's behaviors that put her at risk is sleeping in class. Jane may be sleeping in class because she is tired, from working after school or she may be trying to avoid something. Perhaps she doesn't understand what is being disused in class. Another possible reason for Jane's sleeping in class is that she just might not care or she may have other things on her mind.

Another behavior that puts Jane at risk is defacing desks and textbooks. This is a very destructive behavior. Jane may be doing this to get attention that she may be lacking at home or she may not understand the martial in the book. Another possible reason for this behavior may be that she feels dumb.

Jane refusing to answer any questions that are ask directly to her is another behavior that puts her at risk. She may be doing this because she needs more time to think about it. She may get embarrassed if she answers it wrong. The fear of embarrassment may be keeping Jane from participating in class. Or Jane may be once again trying to get attention from the teacher or peers.

Other things that put Jane at risk are her oral reading skills and her reading level. These two things are not direct behaviors of Jane, but they do put her at risk. A study done by Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center found tha;t "teenagers with reading problems are at significantly higher risk for suicide and for dropping out of school than typical readers" (WFUBMC, 2006).

Finally, Jane's social skills put her at risk. Jane doesn't seem to have many friends. This is not a normal behavior for a sixteen year old high school students. For many students having friends is a motivational tool for getting students to go to school.

The above behaviors are behaviors that I as a teacher can work with Jane to improve. Although there are many other evident problems, I can not address them because they are caused by her home environment. But I may be able to help Jane to work through them on her own. Below I will describe a few different ways to intervene.

To help Jane with her sleeping in class I may assign her varies jobs around the classroom. For example taking attendance and taking it to the office or a monitoring job that would require her to be actively involved in some task. Counting votes or checking to see if students did their homework, are two ways to get Jane actively involved. Another creative idea is to give Jane a list of words and have her pay attention and count the number of times I say each word. I might assign Jane the task of looking up key words in a dictionary from a class discussion and have her to tell other students where to find these words.

Jane may be defacing desks and textbooks in order to get away from them. In this case I need to help her get away from them. Here I could also use some form of active involvement. As previously noted, Jane will be a classroom helper keeping her way from these things. Gradually I can work with her so that if she wants to help, she will complete her assignment first. Another way to help Jane with this may be to offer books on type or use of a computer that will provide the same material coved in the book. Finally Jane might be overwhelmed by the textbooks size and length. I can help her by making copies of only the pages she will need for the day.

Away I can help Jane with her refusal to answer questions is buy simply encouraging her to participate. She doesn't need to answer questions verbally to do this. I could have Jane write down other students comments and whether or not she agrees. I could also have Jane raise her hand if she knows the answer or understands what is going on, but not call on her. This way I know she is with the rest of the class. Jane may not be answering questions but she is participating silently. Eventually she may begin to participate verbally. Another way to go about helping Jane with her dilemma is to tell her ahead of time that I will be asking her a question. This will give her plenty of time to think about the answer or I could have her write down her answers to all the questions asked in class to go over in privet with me.

Because Jane reads at a sixth grade level this may be causing a lot of frustration and anger. That may be causing some of the other behaviors that I have already discussed. To help Jane I'm going to assign a special textbook to her. I could also assign reading assignments for Jane to do at home or in Study Hall if she has it. I could send home articles that cover the same material at just at a lower reading level for her to read at home. I may also have Jane start a vocabulary notebook to help her better understand the meaning or words. Finally I could recommend that Jane be put into a class to help her with her reading.

Not only does Jane have a lower reading level than the rest of the class, but she has poor oral reading skills. I can help her over come this by asking her to read only short and simple sentences out load; to help build her confidence. I can also ask her to display other positive behaviors while the class is reading out loud. Such as pointing to each word as it is read, writing down key words and latter looking them up. I may even have Jane write the key words and their definitions on the board for the rest of the class.

As mentioned early in the essay Jane is not very social and has poor social skills, there are a number of things that I can do to help her over come this. I may assign a study buddy or partner to help her. I could alsosend other students with Jane when she takes the attendance to the office. During group work I might assign Jane to a group with other students, who are high achievers. This way Jane can be part of as something that is successful. This may help Jane to find new friends and become more active in class.

There are many things that I as a teacher can do to help students with their problems. As in the above example Jane a tenth grader who is descriptive, quiet and poor at reading can over come anything with help and time. Although as a teacher I cannot help change her family situation. But I can help her deal with the problems that it may cause in her life. A teacher should to be more than a person ordering out directions and assignments. Teacherhs should show all theirb students that they care and that each students matters to them.

References

Taskstream, (2007). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT . Retrieved May 29, 2007, from Taskstream Tools of Engagement Web site: http://www.taskstream.com/Main/main_frame.asp

WFUBMC, (2006, November 3). Reading Disabilities Put Students At Risk For Suicidal Thoughts And Behavior And Dropping Out Of School. Retrieved May 29, 2007, from Science Daily Web site: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061101151341.htm In this essay I will discuss the risks that are involved in scenario B. I will also go over several ways that a teacher may go about addressing these risks.