Research In Context

​I had the opportunity to do my students teaching in Mrs. Baxter's first-grade classroom at

Upland Terrace Elementary in Salt Lake City. It is a class of 17 students and there is not much

in the way of diversity. I chose to do my research on context on a student that has an IEP and is

on a 504, as he is the only students with accommodations in the class. I meet separately to

interview the students and his mother after gaining consent from the parents. I gained very

useful information from both interviews, which helped me to find ways to use the students' funds

of knowledge in my lesson planning and teaching.

I first interviewed the student to gain an understanding of his learning from his

perspective. He told me he enjoyed doing activities that included working with a partner and he

was very adamant that he did not like sitting on the carpet for a long time because “it’s too

boring and I don’t know how to sit for long times”. This information was helpful to know when I

am planning lessons to make sure that we are moving around to different locations in the room

and to try and add in partner work when I could. He told me his favorite subjects were math and

science and that he liked to work with his hands. I asked about his family and home life, he told

me he is a twin and this is the first year they have been in different classes and that he “like(s) it

a little). He told me he also has a baby brother and that he lives with both of his parents and his

family is always playing and having fun.

I was able to interview the boy's mom as well and she gave me quite a bit of insight into

his IEP and 504, which was very helpful to get to know the student and have a better

understanding about his learning. She told me he was diagnosed with Autism and the age of 3

and required speech therapy until the middle of this school year and he meets with a physical

therapist to help with fine motor skills such as holding a pencil the correct way. She told me his

academics were getting better as the school year was progressing and he was starting to excel
in reading even though he was not a big fan of it. She explained that outside of school he is very

active and his favorite things to do were going swimming and visiting the train shop. We talked

about how she was adamant the boys be separated for school this year to see how they would

both flourish on their own. She told me that the son I had would always talk for his brother and

that his brother would “almost do all of his brother's work”. She told me that outside of school

the twin boys do everything together and dote on their baby brother. When I asked what the

hardest part of school is for her son she told me it’s his focus, “he daydreams a lot and the

smallest thing can take his focus and it’s hard to get him back”. She told me his confidence is

getting better and that being pulled for the extra help he is receiving from the school is really

helping and he is coming home more confident and happy.

Having the opportunity to talk with both the student and his mom really helped give me

more insight to this student and how I could best help him with my teaching. I will be sure to

help him gain confidence in his learning and use some of the things I was told about how he

prefers to learn while I am planning my unit. I will be sure there are many different ways I show

and explain the content to allow for multiple ways to access the information and I will make sure

there is group work and we are moving around the room to keep things interesting. There are

content areas this student really excels in and I want him to share his thoughts and views with

the rest of his classmates so they have the opportunity to get to know him better and really

appreciate what he brings to our class.