Experiment #3: Getting Through to a Difficult Student

            I don’t mean to brag, but my class this year is amazing. I was lucky enough to choose an hour that has a high percentage of higher level students. On top of that, they are a pretty quiet and hard working class. Because they are comfortable in the classroom and with each other, they have come out of their shells. But for the most part they are awesome. About a month ago they added a new student to this class. I’ll call him Jacob. I feel bad, but I kind of dreaded adding him to our class because we already had a flow going in the class. Putting that aside, of course we welcomed him to our class.

            It did not take long for his work habit to become apparent to me and my mentor teacher. He enjoys our daily ten minutes of reading at the beginning of class, but he has issues putting his book away to focus on the daily assignments. And other days, once the reading time is over, he just lays his head down and does not work. It takes poking and prodding on my part to get him to do any work. Which is hard when there are a couple other students in the room who actually try to work and need my help.

            Another issue is that he very rarely brings a writing utensil to class. So, when he sits there for ten minutes not working, his excuse is that he does not have a pencil. Why didn’t you ask for one when we started working?! Fortunately, as of last week, he at least asks for a pencil when we start working. My mentor teacher had a talk with him about the fact that I cannot just stand around and push him along in doing his work. She mentioned that I will not always be there to make sure he is doing his work.

            He has been working very well on his own this week. He has to still be asked to get his work out, but once we start working, he is usually on pace with rest of the class. And because I have been the one constantly talking with him, he feels comfortable asking me for help when he has a question. Last week he was complaining about how the books he wants to read in class is always missing when he wants to read them. So I reminded him that if he found a book he enjoyed, he could always check it from our classroom library. I am hoping that if we stimulate his enjoyment of reading in class, hopefully he will become more engaged during class. “One thing is especially clear from research on readers is that those who achieve on tests at a high level are also those who read a lot, and those who don’t spend much time reading do not do well” (Bomer, 2011, pp 81). If I can help him be interested in our class work, then he will pass the class and hopefully do well on his state testing. I know he has it in him because I saw him work today, he just needs to keep up the hard working attitude during every class.