Problem Solving in an Educational World

As an educator, we are entrusted with ensuring that the students we are to work with are provided with the best education possible and that they are given each and every opportunity that is available to them to succeed and make it on their own. Educators are taught to identify the key factors that are potential risks for current and future difficulties in making life in the real world as smooth as possible. A good educator will notice these potentials for a student at risk and immediately tries to intervene with a single, or even with multiple solutions, to do whatever is necessary for that student to have the best start in life.

For this paper, the student in our case study will be referred to as Tom and Tom is a thirteen year old seventh grader that reads on a second grade level with poor comprehension skills. He gives up easily on the assignments because of frustration. He spends time in class sleeping and daydreaming, plus has a difficult time sitting still. He also has many tardies. With few friends, Tom spends a lot of time drawing and enjoys recess at school. Learning that his parents were recently divorced, he is also a child of a single parent.

Of these behaviors, Tom can be considered at risk to drop out of school before he reaches his twelfth grade year. He appears to be a loner and could quite possibly have difficulty interacting with others whether it is other students/peers or with adults that are involved in their lives; thus leading us to believe that Tom has difficultly with commitment. He has low-self esteem and poor communication skills that also contribute to Tom's difficulties for success. All of the risk factors that can be identified in Tom can, and probably will, be detrimental to his survival in more than just academics. None are more important than the other, but combined they can be dangerous if there is no intervention at an early stage.

Tom's "symptoms" combined together lead to many HUGE conclusions. One huge conclusion that cannot be ignored, but is often ignored by many is dyslexia. The primary factors that stand out are the combination of the low reading level and the poor comprehension skills, an indication of a reading deficiency that requires special intervention. Dyslexia is a reading disorder that is believed to cause a person to reverse or jumble the letters in words and sentences making them hard to be read and understood, but that is not always the case for all dyslexia cases. Sometimes dyslexia can appear to cause the words to appear as though they shiver or shake after a few moments of looking at them.

It could also lead to problems in speech and/or writing as well. Dyslexia causes frustration easily, daydreaming, poor achievement in school and extreme interests in non academics (art, sports, drama, etc.). Dyslexia is also difficult to identify because many times the person is not "labeled" as having difficulty or not having enough difficulty to need the extra help. It can also lead to poor communication because the person does not want to admit that something does not seem quite right. It can lead to low/poor self-esteem as well because they do not do well at tasks that pertain to reading or writing. Although, this could be only one of many conclusions, it can be a primary concern of many teachers and is something that needs to be considered just as much as any other possibility of concern.

Again, collectively the "symptoms" of daydreaming and sleeping in class, not being able to sit still in class, as well as his drawing and his love of recess could also be addressed as symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The difference being that ADD tends to have a person "zone out" or become easily distracted and not be able to easily return to the point in which they were distracted from; their processes are slower and more relaxed. Many that have ADHD, their brains' are moving faster than they are and become easily distracted; they are more excitable and move/think at a faster pace. They can get lost in themselves and other activities, thus causing them to have poor performance in many areas, including reading and comprehension. ADD and ADHD are controllable, but to control them, one has to identify and accept them first. Through careful observation and testing, this can be determined and controlled in a variety of ways.

Regardless of the reason for Tom's difficulties in school, the fact of the matter that he is a loner is a stand alone symptom. Tom's reasons for being a loner could be one of many reasons, up to and including the fact that his parents were recently divorced. Having parents that have divorced can have many people feeling unsure of commitment, unsure of being able to get close to another person for fear of that person leaving us. Tom could be a loner because of his inability to stay on track with the rest of the class and he feels inferior to them because of this. Quite possibly, Tom's inferiority complex could be instigated by classmates as well. His classmates could be making fun of him and/or picking, teasing because he is not as good as the rest of them. This also is a strong contributing factor in his low self-esteem, the more teasing and the more fun made of Tom, the less that Tom thought about himself and the more that he presented himself as less than he was and could accomplish.

In order to help Tom, the best thing that can be done is for someone to recognize that he needs help. The next thing is to start finding the best ways to help him. Through such things as Student Intervention Team meetings, Child Study conferences, individual and peer counseling sessions, extra tutoring, extracurricular activities, more responsibility to instill pride and confidence and lots of understanding and love, help for Tom can be found. It will not be easy at this late age, but it is possible.

At school, one of the main things that we need to do first is to organize a student intervention meeting (SIT) with Tom's parent(s) (if they are available), the Administrator, the Guidance Counselor, myself (the educator) and/or any special testing counselors that can assist in finding the problem and finding the solution. SIT meetings are designed to discuss the problems that a student is having and brainstorm multiple ways to develop strategies for students that are experiencing problems in school. The meetings are used to devise a plan that will cater to the specific needs and concerns of the student in such a way that would build their self-esteem. At Tom's meeting, we will look at specific data, data such as Tom's attendance records, his discipline record, his grades in all subject areas, any medical history he may have and his home information.

SIT meetings are usually initiated as early in the year as possible, but can be conducted at any time an educator feels the need for intervention. The meeting is to help the student, as well as the educator, by creating a plan that can help the student and the teacher, usually this type pf meeting assists the educator in setting up a classroom plan. This classroom plan is usually set up for the teacher to have help in finding ways for to keep the student on track and on task. Follow-up meetings are recommended to gauge the progress of the student and determine if the plan in place is working fine or if a new plan of action must be created.

Not all SIT meetings require a referral to the Child Study process, but based upon the needs of the student, a referral can be recommended. In the Child Study process, additional and more detailed steps are taken to ensure that the student receive all the help that they can get to make sure that they are getting the full advantage of the education provided to them. It also is an opportunity to have additional counselors attend and advise educators at the meetings to assess and determine if there is an underlying factor (disability) that is a cause for the problems that the student is facing in school. The discussion at a SIT meeting could include steps for the teacher to take to assist the student, as well as steps for the parent to take to assist the student. The primary goal of a Child Study meeting is to make the necessary arrangements for the student to receive various tests that are needed to determine if there is a chance of any disabilities that would require special accommodations or classes to maintain an acceptable level of assistance for the student.

Some steps at school to assist Tom is to have him sit in a location where he is alone with a partition during testing to help prevent outside distractions from the assignment at hand. The partition enables the chance that surrounding activities are blinded to Tom and would less likely be a distraction to him and his studies. The partition is used in such a way that the rest of the class is blocked from his view and Tom's back is towards other distractions (windows and/or doors for example). Also making sure that Tom's testing location is near the teacher to ensure that he can be kept on track and focused, can be very important.

Another suggestion would be that during normal class instruction time, Tom could be seated near a student that is highly motivated and willing to be of assistance to him when he is in need of it and the teacher is otherwise engaged. The teacher/educator themselves need to be vigilant in watching Tom as each day progresses and remind him to focus and stay on task. When the educator is instructing the class or is engaged in assisting another student, this student could be there for Tom to assist him and make sure that he stays focused. This could prove valuable because for Tom, having a peer, rather than a teacher consistently over his shoulder would not make him feel singled out.

Including more group or pair activities in each day's plans could also allow for more concentration on studies from Tom as well, since he will now be paired with another student or a group. This will engage Tom in more social communication and activities where he was otherwise separated by his own cognition. Again, this step could prove useful in the same sense that Tom would not be singled out and picked on/ignored by his peers by having the teacher constantly over his shoulder looking at what he is doing. Sometimes the more that a person is watched the more insecure they could feel thus, the less that person will do for fear of being watched. In the group/pair activities, Tom will be engaged and encouraged by his peers and included in the activities.

In light of the recent divorce of Tom's parents, emotional trauma could be a huge factor in his inability to stay focused, his inability to make friends, his low self-esteem and his poor communication skills. Another intervention for Tom is counseling, both peer and individual counseling. Many school counselors have special days and times set aside for such meetings. In peer counseling, a group of students who have experienced similar situations meet with the counselor and discuss their feelings and thoughts of the situations at home and at school. The group sessions are less intense because Tom will be able to hear others' talk about their concerns and problems as well as hopefully voice his own. The individual counseling sessions are a bit more intense because Tom will not have his peers around him to talk and provide a starting point for him to voice his concerns. Tom's lack of friends and poor communication skills lead us to believe that he is not a "talker" and so individual counseling may be harder for him to deal with because it will be just him and the counselor.

Another thing that can be done for Tom is to organize extra tutoring. Many schools and school systems are set up to provide after school tutoring classes, either individually or in small group. With the low self-esteem that Tom has to deal with, either form of tutoring is the best route for him. In small group he is able to receive the help he needs without feeling singled out and alone; being the only one with the problem. Yet, Tom will also benefit from the individual tutoring as well because Tom will be able to keep his personal issues to himself as he seems to usually do and his classmates will not have to know that he has problems in school or that his problems are so intense. The advantage of group tutoring will allow Tom to have some of his questions that he will not speak up about, answered because other students may speak up about the exact things that he will not speak up about. The advantage to having individual tutoring is that Tom will be able to have one on one attention to help with what is needed without fear of others staring or ridiculing him.

Another suggestion for Tom to feel confident about himself and to make friends is to maybe find an after school extracurricular activity that he enjoys. Being part of a team, doing something that you enjoy, can be known to make a person feel better about themselves. Joining a sport like basketball, football, maybe even Scouts, can allow Tom to feel as though he is not alone and has others around him on a steady and regular basis. It can give Tom an outlet for his extra energy that can not keep him in his seat, it may give him the sense of accomplishment as well. Lastly, joining an extracurricular activity could help Tom make friends with others his age giving him the sense of belonging. With the divorce of his parents, Tom could be feeling abandoned and lost, have a hard time feeling as though he belongs and lastly feels as though he cannot get close to anyone for fear of abandonment. Hopefully, joining a team/group can remove those feelings and make him realize that he cannot take on the responsibility of what happened to his parents.

Tom could also be given additional responsibilities around the classroom. The chance of having the pride of being "the one" that is in charge or responsible for a task. It may be begin as something simple, but sometimes, the small things are the important things, as we have all been told. Something as simple as the responsibility of making sure that the attendance and lunch orders are turned in daily, the task of cleaning the board(s) at the end of the day or even the simple tasks of holding the doors for the class or being in charge of the equipment for recess can make a difference to the self-esteem of a student. Ensuring the student has simple tasks, but important tasks, can do wonders for the confidence and pride of a student. Explaining to Tom that the class is relying on him to make sure that their lunch orders are received by the cafeteria and that making sure that the office knows that they are in class, can make Tom feel important and give a boost in self-confidence.

There are so many things that a good educator can so to help Tom, but the biggest and most important thing of all is to pay attention and realize that he is in need of help. Whether he asks for it or not, as an educator, it is our job to notice the small things, to notice our students as they walk in that classroom each and everyday. Our job is to not only teach, but to provide the assistance to succeed and that is not always through academics and education; it is through our eyes, ears and most of all our hearts. We all know that we do not do this for the paychecks.

References:

Dyslexia. (2007 February 23). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved February 15, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dyslexia&oldid=110302328.

School-Based Intervention Team Resources Page. (2005, September). Intervention Central. Retrieved
February 15, 2007 from http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/interventions/sbit.php.

Weinhold Ph.D., Janae B. Identifying Children with High Risk-Behaviors, retrieved February 15, 2007
from http://weinjolds.org/prof_child_needs_11.asp