Educ450: Sharondeep Rai

LEARNER PROFILE AND LEARNING PLAN

Teacher's Note I chose to do my learner profile and plan on Elsa, a character from the Disney movie "Frozen". I chose her as my factitious student because she is a character who clearly has emotional problems. She's got a secret which is the reason why she stays reserved and friendless. She pushes people out because she doesn't want to hurt them and she is really just trying to be a normal girl. I felt that she was a perfect candidate for having an emotional/behavioral disability because she often lashes out in the movie, is generally unhappy, scared of society and is lonely. Of course, she lashes out and causes icicles and snow storms to erupt, but for the sake of normality, I chose to not focus on the magical bit. I believe my learner profile and plan for her will allow for her to be successful in the class as well as break free of the shell she's in. Student Elsa Arendelle Age Six (6) Grade One (1) Diversity Emotional/Behavioural. Code 53.

Background Elsa is a six year old from Scandinavia. She has a father, mother, and a little sister named Anna. She primarily speaks the Scandinavian language, but is slowly learning English. She is a shy, quiet and reserved child who has a difficult time making new friends. Instead, she chooses to bring her stuffed snowman who she fondly calls Olaf. She does have a teensy temper problem, and lashes out if there are too many people around. She is an English Language Learner with a behavioural disability.

Emotional/Behavioural Disability: This is a type of disability that includes but is not limited to behaviours such as: (Depression in Children, n.d.) Inability to establish relationships General mood of unhappiness Inappropriate behaviour under ordinary conditions Type of Emotional Disability: Elsa has a case of depression. The symptoms of depression (mood change, sadness and a feeling of hopelessness) fit into Elsa's case (Depression in Children, n.d.). She is irritable, sad, socially withdrawn, and has random bursts of anger. We hope to see Elsa open up without having to resort to medicine as we feel that she could break free of depression without relying on medical help. We feel the depression has been caused by the move from Scandinavia as she's been introduced to a new home, country, and peers. She needs space to get comfortable. English Language Learners: ELL Students often deal with much stress. The following are examples of what a child learning English as a second language often deals with (Helping English Language Learners in the Classroom, Teaching Today, n.d.) loss of identity, friends, and culture an inability to express ideas or communicate in the classroom high expectations for academic success unfamiliar learning environments and teaching styles Kinesthetic Learning Style: A kinesthetic learner likes to have opportunities to move around, make models, write while listening, and examine material (Alberta Education, 2010). It is important for a teacher to understand how their students work best. This way, we can really try to work with the student and help them achieve goals and be successful.

LEARNER PROFILE This profile is a starting point for the planning a teacher must do in order to accommodate a student. There is also a learning plan attached which will allow teachers to see the implications for many factors that would impact Elsa as a learner. These implications are what a teacher really needs to focus on when planning for this student. We need to be aware that she is a student who is both ELL and has an emotional/behavioural disability. This student is reserved and generally unhappy. A teacher must be able to allow for the child to feel comfortable in the classroom and should try and help them out of their situation as a learner. A teacher's main goal should be to make the student feel happy with themselves, because a happy learner is a good learner. This profile should allow for a teacher to thoughtfully and carefully choose learning and teaching strategies. Learning Style Elsa is a kinesthetic learner Likes to create models Enjoys drawing and sculpting Uses many hand gestures Enjoys singing songs about weekdays, alphabet, numbers. Learner Strengths Independent Learner Creative Can speak Scandinavian Perceptive Aware of others' feelings. Musical Ability is well developed Learner Needs Inability to maintain relationships with peers Difficulty working in group settings Disengaged with peers Has anger issues, general mood of unhappiness. Interests/Sparks Enjoys singing Loves the school choir Likes to play outside in the snow alone Likes to dance Has an interest in snowmen

LEARNING PLAN Environmental Implications: Elsa requires individual workspace She needs a place which is safe and peaceful. She enjoys working by the window. Should be given access to art and sculpting supples (play-doh) in the classroom Instructional Implications Elsa requires direct instruction with little to no group work at this point in time. Provide visuals to aid with learning Allow Elsa to do individual projects Social/Emotional Implications Student has hard time controlling anger- use direct one-on-one instruction. Suggest visits with guidance counsellor Suggest she join the school's choir to promote group interaction. As she is Scandinavian born, allow for her to discuss her experiences. Add culturally relevant material when it's possible as this will allow for more engagement with the child. ELL Implication Elsa requires one on one direction in terms of learning English. As a result of being in Canada for only one year, she is still slowly grasping the content. Include Scandinavian material if possible to make the student feel more at home. This could allow for her to open up about her home and make her more comfortable with talking to peers. Use visual cues as much as possible as verbal cues may confuse her. Be very straightforward in any instruction given. Incorporate hands on activities- this helps demonstrating concepts. Let her contribute when she is ready; do not force her to speak. Emotional/Behavioral Implication Elsa has an inability to establish and maintain relationships with peers and adults. Do not overwhelm her with too much group activity. Introduce group work slowly. Arrange for a seating plan so that she becomes more comfortable with peers. Focus on her behavior progress and encourage her to be more open. Don't criticize her for being quiet and reserved. This will help build self-confidence. Recognize any positive attributes.

THEORY As mentioned above, an emotional disability includes the inability to establish relationships, a general mood of unhappiness, and inappropriate behaviour in ordinary conditions (Depression in Children, n.d.). As a teacher, it is necessary to have a strong depth of understanding in your students' situations. In the case of Elsa, we need to look at what depression is and change our teaching to accommodate her. Depression is a mental illness in which a person feels sad, instable, lonely, hopeless and worthless (Teaching Students with Mental Health Disorders, 2001). Things that could cause depression include distressing life events, environmental stress and family functioning (Teaching Students with Mental Health Disorders, 2001). In Elsa's case, it could be the move from Scandinavia to Canada that is causing her depression. An example of a distressing event could also be the separation from her friends which causes her inability to make new relationships- there could be a possibility she is scared to lose more friends so doesn't want to make them. In the learner plan that I created above, I had a section for the implications of emotional/behavioural disabilities. My student has a hard time creating relationships, and the theory behind that would ask me to slowly introduce her to group work. I could also arrange for a seating plan, in which she could get used to a peer. As a teacher you also need to look at how she is generally sad, so try not to criticize her in a manner in which she feels worse. Try and build her self confidence by praising what she is good at because it could help her feel more relaxed in a classroom setting. Teachers can help create classroom environments that are sensitive to the needs of students with depression (Teaching Students with Mental Health Disorders, 2001). Positive influences that a teacher could implement in their teaching could include praising the student's success, so they have a better sense of self esteem.

A teacher could introduce the student to extra-curricular activities as well. In Elsa's case, I would recommend she join the school choir as she loves to sing. English Language Learners are students who are learning English as a new language. English is a complex language, and has many exceptions to each rule (Helping English Language Learners in the Classroom, Teaching Today, n.d.). These students have to incorporate a new language into their daily lives, a language that is going to be everywhere. As you can imagine, this student will have an enormous amount of stress trying to master the language. The student will have difficulty communicating in the classroom. They will feel like a minority. As a teacher, you'll have to try and make it easy for your student to learn. Using visual cues will help the student learn better, because even though the word might be different in language, it will still look the same to your student (Helping English Language Learners in the Classroom, Teaching Today, n.d.). Use material from your students' home country to make them feel comfortable. Hands on activities will allow for them to understanding concepts better.

Resources Used Alberta Education. (2010). Chapter 3: Developing learner profiles. In Alberta Education (Ed.), Making a difference: Meeting diverse learning needs with differentiated instruction (pp. 23-44). Edmonton, AB: Author. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/media/1233960/6_ch3%20learner.pdf Alberta Education. (2011). What school administrators need to know about English language learners and ESL programming. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/media/6550092/eslstudents.pdf Alberta Education (2012). Special education coding criteria. Edmonton, AB: Author. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/media/825847/spedcodingcriteria.pdf Dalgle, B. (n.d.). Students With Emotional Behavior Disorders. SlideShare. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.slideshare.net/brentdaigle/students-with-emotional-behaviordisorders-presentation Depression in Children: Symptoms and Common Types of Child Depression. (n.d.). WebMD. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/depressionchildren Helping English Language Learners in the Classroom, Teaching Today. (n.d.). Teaching Today. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/help_ELL.phtml Teaching Students with Mental Health Disorders. (2001). Resources for Teachers, 2. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/docs/depression_resource.pdf Wright, G. (2013, November 30). Princess Profiles: Elsa. Rotoscopers. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.rotoscopers.com/2013/11/30/princess-profiles-elsa/ Images Young Elsa. (n.d.). Google Images. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from https://encryptedtbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSRpJxceMATHoKPAXQOryNMFbbFg8rJ_AL FNIbIJt66hV4GD03K