Student Focus Study Kim O’Callaghan 1

River

River came to school today with a mohawk. His black hair stood stick

straight and slick into the air three inches. River’s peers said, “nice hair, River,’ ‘hey, you

got a mohawk,’ and “like the hair.” Instead of being ostracized, River’s individuality was

noticed, though not revered, by his fellow students. River is a likable eleven year old

fifth grade student at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School. He is in a mixed

grade class, with sixth graders. He is on a 504 plan. River is a fidgety student. He gets

up; he sits down. He takes his shoes off. He climbs under the table to retrieve the

shoes that Mary has now kicked aside; he puts his shoes back on. He never acts up

enough to be reprimanded or sent down to the kindergarten room, but he never quite

sits still.

I chose to do the second focus student assignment on River because he is an

incredible math student, yet, he never asks a question. In the 5 months I have been

going to the fifth grade math class I have never heard River ask a question. I have heard

the other students at his table ask him a question and he is able to answer clearly and

concisely. He does his work diligently, finishes, and then fidgets, squirms and talks. His

behavior usually goes unnoticed for the teacher is busy differentiating instruction for the

50% of the class who scored “needs improvement” on the 4th grade math MCAS.

River’s 504 plan says that he has a learning impairment that substantially limits

one or more major life activities. In a sensorimotor profile he scored as probable or

definite for having a significant difference in the following categories: auditory, visual,

movement, touch and behavior. His plan calls for external support for strategies for
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maintaining awareness within the learning environment and for structuring the student’s

level of availability for learning.

River’s 504 plan states that he needs one to one instruction and direct guidelines.

I have never seen River receive one to one instruction or explicit instruction directed at

him. His plan states that he has issues of stamina for sustained focus and attention,

motor activity and consistency of moods. Again, my observation has not been

consistent with the plan. He has great focus, but the work tends to run out before he

loses focus. His moods are consistent: a happy, energetic kid who brings great energy

into a room. His plan also says that he needs clear directions and tight meaning. River

is able to follow the same directions that the rest of class receives. Had I not been

doing this math assessment and asked the teacher about River, I would have never

known that he was the recipient of these special accommodations.

River’s plan says that his body needs continuous motion to stay alert and focus in

a classroom setting. This, my observation, has found to be true. Ironically, I had

wondered why he was never reprimanded for his constant, often disruptive, movement

in the classroom.

River’s accommodations for the MCAS are: he is allowed frequent breaks; he is

allowed to work in a separate room or in specific seating; he is allowed to have a familiar

test administrator; the administrator is allowed to clarify instructions but not to read or

translate for him.

Socially, River is well liked by the other students. He is fun. He is usually

laughing or getting in to some kind of mischief that the other students find interesting.
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When asked direct questions that ask for a solution River answers with some elaborate

scheme that often involves videogamesque scenarios. (I use the word videogamesque

to discuss a phenomenon I see at the school where students discuss the antics in video

games as if they were real and plausible and the language they use when discussing

these video games scenarios are as if they saw it on Main St. Vineyard Haven.)

River is one of the teacher’s favorite students. He can appear completely off task

and then when asked a question, he is able to fully focus and answer as if he were

paying attention all along. He is a happy kid, and my experience has been that students

and teachers gravitate towards happy kids. I have never heard him say derogatory

statements towards another student and when he does get sent down to kindergarten

(the ultimate discipline management tool at the school) he gets up and calmly leaves the

room. He doesn’t throw papers, he doesn’t slam doors or kick chairs. He nicely leaves

the room and comes back in when he is ready to resume the work.

If I were River’s teacher I would design more complicated math problems

for him to do. If he was presented with explicit problems that had 6 or 7 steps, instead

of 2 or 3, I believe River would continue in his organized way to work mathematically

through the problems and come to a correct answer. I think this would keep him

mentally challenged, more interested in the work, and give him a great sense of pride

and accomplishment. This scaffolding to more complex problems would greatly aid him

in later mathematical concepts.

Also, I would give River any tasks to do that involved going outside the

classroom. I believe that breaking up the long class periods with breaks would give
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River a greater ability to remain focus and on task when he was in the classroom. I

would have him pick up papers at the copier, borrow supplies from other classrooms,

get Mario (the tech guy) or Tim (the maintenance guy) when needed. These tasks

would give River a sense of importance, belonging and purpose in the class.

Fortunately, the charter school has a flexible schedule and the students are

allowed to leave the room as they desired. I would give River one free pass per class to

leave the room and “take a break.” I am uncertain if this would be acceptable in other

schools to have the students in the halls without purpose, but it is acceptable at the

charter school and thus the students do not appear to abuse this privilege.

River always does his homework, because he knows that it is expected of him.

Initially, I thought a point system where River would earn points towards a homework

pass might help him to not distract the other students, but then as I thought about it I

decided that the purpose of homework was not as a punishment, but as a reinforcement

of work so a homework pass would give him a mixed message. Second, I decided that

rewarding his good behavior might also be counterproductive for in the long run it would

not give him the skills he needed to remain on task and not be disruptive. When River is

off task, it is not his intent, it just happens. Thus, giving River the skills to recognize he

is off task and the tools to correct this would be the most beneficial. If I were the

teacher I would come up with a project, with River’s input, that River could work on

when he finished his classwork ahead of his classmates. The project coupled with the

extra classroom breaks would give him the tools he needed to maintain focus and

sustainability while on task. My hope would be that River would look forward to the
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project and thus have a more invested in noticing that the was off task and could begin

work on his project.

My observation has led me to believe that River is a smart student, statistically

above his peers on test performance, and he would benefit from an academic challenge

that would engage him.