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Ashley Bason

Professor Gjoni

SCED 499

Child Study

For my child study, I choose a student that has a similar story than myself. This student is

an 8th Grade, Caucasian male student at Fallston Middle School (FMS). For the sake of this child

study, I will refer to him as Student A. This student has been regarded as an enjoyable student to

have in class. Faculty knows Student A as one that does not get into the same trouble as some of

the other students. Instead, staff mentioned that he is a student that you will notice because of his

personality, not because of his poor and distracting behavior in class.

During the two periods I am present at FMS, I noticed that my mentor teacher’s students

are high-functioning. He mentioned that there were no students with mild to severe learning

disabilities within these class periods. So, Student A was chosen based off of his home life. In

particular, the death of one of his parents and the financial struggles of his surviving parent.

Approximately three years ago, Student A’s parent passed away unexpectedly. As someone who

has lost a parent, I wanted to know if the loss had affected Student A either emotionally, socially,

or academically.

When speaking with the Guidance Counselor, she informed me that Student A has always

been present at FMS. Prior to FMS, the student attended Youths Benefit Elementary School. As

far as her experiences with the student, the Guidance Counselor described Student A as a

“sweet” student that performs exceptionally well in Math. While reviewing Student A’s file, I

realized that he demonstrated “CE” in Mathematics throughout elementary school. Meaning, the

“student consistently demonstrate[d] understanding of item.” His grades at Youths Benefit

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ranged between the A and B average. In the 4th Grade, Student A scored outstanding on the

PARCC test. Student A scored in Level 4 out of Level 5. His Mathematics PARCC score was

789, and Level 4’s range was 750 to 790. In 5th Grade, Student A had straight A’s in Math and

was noted as “meeting expectations.” After his performances in Math, teachers began discussing

the possibility of moving him into a more advanced Math class. However, following the death of

his parent, the faculty decided to wait on advancing the student.

The death of Student A’s parent caused for the student to be out of the zoning to attend

FMS. However, due the friends he made and his lack of reported behavioral issues, the school

wrote a letter to the district asking if the student could remain at FMS. The letter was approved,

and must be submitted each school year in order for the student to remain.

Returning back to the Guidance Counselor’s report, she mentioned that Student A has not

come to her office to seek extra counseling following the death of his parent. The student still has

positive behavior, compared to other students. Also, Student A appears to be remaining in his A

and B average.

While observing Student A in my mentor’s classroom, I came to my own conclusions

about the student’s behavior and how the death of his parent might be affecting him. Student A

sits in the front row of my mentor’s class. When the student arrives in the classroom, he places

his belongings at his desk before roaming to the back of the classroom in order to talk with

others. When the teacher is not talking, the student will turn around in his chair and talk to the

students in the back of the classroom. It became evident that the students in the back of the

classroom are Student A’s friends. Although the student likes to roam and talk with others, when

asked by the teacher to return to his seat, he does so immediately. Student A shows no signs of

disrespect within the situation. As far as academics, while discussing chapters that were assigned
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for homework, Student A appeared to only be paying attention somewhat. He could be observed

gazing around the classroom and not raising his hand in order to participate. The teacher noticing

the lack of participation, called on Student A. When he was called on to participate, Student A

was able to answer the question and demonstrate that he had completed the reading.

Similar to my first observation of Student A in my mentor’s classroom, during my second

observation some of the same actions were still present. For instance, Student A did not

immediately sit in his seat and he held conversations with the other students. In this case, the

conversation was centered on a Math assignment that was going to be due soon. As far as paying

attention during instruction, Student A was seen fanning himself with his planner and yawning

continuously. Students were supposed to be writing down their upcoming assignments while

Student A was using it to fan himself. When students were asked to turn to particular passages,

Student A turned to the passage, but was not following along while it was read aloud. He did not

volunteer to read or answer questions. Student A appeared to be unengaged. Although the

student appeared to not be paying attention during instruction, he still performs well on reading

quizzes, and knows the content enough to appropriately answer questions when he is randomly

called upon. My mentor teacher mentioned that in order to combat Student A’s hyperactivity, he

tries to incorporate group work in order to allow for the student to get up and move. In class

periods without group work, my mentor teacher may decide to talk to Student A in order to set

expectations.

In order to examine whether or not Student A exhibited the same behaviors in a different

subject, I observed him during in his Social Studies class period. He was one of the last students

to walk into the classroom, but he was not late. When he walked into the classroom, the teacher

informed Student A that his new seat was going to be in the second row close to the teacher’s
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desk. Similar to my mentor’s class, Student A did not immediately sit down. However, instead of

roaming the room and talking to others, he remained standing at his desk and danced and beat on

his books. It was not enough to distract others, but it was apparent that that was not his intention.

After a few moments of the teacher talking about the class, Student A took his seat without

having to be spoken to. While the teacher was going over material, Student A banged his pencil

on the desk and threw pieces of it around the room. When asked to pull out his device and watch

a short 4-minute video, Student A was very attentive while watching the video. However, once

the teacher began to discuss the video, Student A was observed playing games on his device.

Due to him not paying attention during instruction, he appeared to be confused on how to

complete the classwork for the day. The teacher eventually came to his desk, and told him about

to complete the assignment. For the rest of the period, Student A worked quietly and diligently.

He did not participate in other non-academic related conversations, and was able to finish he

work prior to other students. When I spoke with his Social Studies teacher after class, he

mentioned that Student A is a good student, but has trouble with sitting still. He mentioned that

sometimes he has to be sent out of the classroom in order to utilize a “reset button.” After he gets

a quick break, he is able to return to class and stay more still.

Besides observing Student A in an instructional setting, I observed him during his

homeroom block. The homeroom bell rung at 7:45 am and lasted until 8:05 am. Student A

arrived six minutes after the homeroom bell (but was not considered late). He appeared to be

following the arrival procedures, which were to sign next to your name in the back of the

classroom. After he signed in, Student A began to exit the classroom. Before he was able to leave

the room, the teacher asked him where was he going. Student A mentioned that he needed to

visit a specific teacher. Before letting him go, the teacher reminded Student A that he needs to
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inform her prior to him leaving the room. Eventually, the teacher had to go and look for Student

A because he had been gone for a while. When the teacher checked where the student was

supposed to be, she realized that he is no longer there. Instead, Student A was roaming the halls.

For the remainder of the homeroom period, Student A walked up and down the rows and talked

to friends. He even talked through announcements.

After observing Student A in a variety of settings, it became evident that he struggles

with hyperactivity. Meaning, he has trouble with staying in his seat and paying attention during

class periods. Both his Social Studies and English teachers mentioned that at the end of the day,

Student A’s ability to pay attention is more of a struggle. Although Student A has not been

diagnosed with ADHD, when looking up articles that could assist with helping the student,

articles centered on ADHD appeared. I believe that some of the techniques discussed in the

article, “Teaching Students with ADHD: Helping Students with Attention Deficit Disorder

Succeed at School,” can prove to be helpful. For instance, the author suggests sitting hyperactive

students near the teacher (Segal & Smith, 2018). In my mentor’s class, Student A sits near the

teacher, and in the Social Studies class, Student A’s new seat is by the teacher (Segal & Smith,

2018). As for starting the lesson, I believe that making eye contact with Student A and listing

activities on the board could be helpful (Segal & Smith, 2018). Student A is very respectful, so if

the teacher is able to make eye contact with Student A, then he may be more focused. Also,

helping Student A see where there will be times of transition may assist with him being fidgety.

Lastly, I believe that having a variety of activities could help Student A (Segal & Smith, 2018).

He is able to stay focus for a certain period of time on one task and then he needs to begin doing

something else.
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In a separate article, “Dr. Ken Shore’s Classroom Problem Solver: Hyperactive

Students,” Dr. Shore discusses hyperactive students who have not be diagnosed. A key thing he

mentions is centered on understanding the reason’s behind why a student is hyperactive (Shore,

2005). The work could either be too easy or too hard for the student. In the case of Student A,

since he performs well on PARCC tests, it may be that the course material is not challenging

enough for him to stay still (Shore, 2005). When he was challenged in Social Studies, he was

able to stay still until his work was complete. Other suggestions were to have allotted breaks for

the student, and establish cues so the student becomes aware when he or she is doing too much

roaming (Shore, 2005). For Student A, since it does have a positive interaction with teachers, I

believe that having cues could help him stay more focused in class. Also, both his Social Studies

and English teacher mentioned that sometimes Student A must take a break in order to be able to

focus the rest of class.

After completing this child study, I realized the importance of both teacher-centered and

student-centered instruction. Meaning, when there are hyperactive students in your classroom,

you should attempt to make sure your day-to-day instruction is offers opportunities for students

to work independently and also with peers. By working with peers, students are able to move and

talk. Also, the moving and talking has an academic purpose when it is tied to group work. I also

learned that teachers should be relationships with their students, so that they can notice when

students may need a break or extra attention to pay attention. If teachers did not regard Student A

as a “sweet kid,” his actions could possibly get him into trouble because a teacher would not

fully understand the reasons behind his talking and roaming.

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References:

Shore, K. (2005). Dr. Ken Shore’s classroom problem solver: hyperactive students. Education

World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/shore/shore068.shtml

Segal, J. & Smith, M. (2018). Teaching students with ADHD: helping students with Attention

Deficit Disorder succeed at school. Helpguide.org. Retrieved from

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/add-adhd/teaching-students-with-adhd-attention-

deficit-disorder.htm