Case
Motivation Issue, Attention Deficit, or Something Else?

Last year I had a 7th grade ELL student who struggled to pass my language arts class. He would sometimes fall asleep in class, gaze off into space, struggle with task initiation and meeting deadlines, and simply keeping pace with other students. He was not disrespectful at all, but he appeared to want to be anywhere else but class. Since he had been living in the US for 3 years and conversationally seemed to understand my conversations, I assumed something other than language was at play. First, was I correct in this assumption? Second, what do you think was going on with this student? Finally, what could I have done to improve his overall achievement in my class?

Posted on: 10/13/15 | Views: 973
Solution #1
Top Solution
Hello Sarah, Without meeting the student myself it is impossible to say 100% whether or not your assumption is correct. However, I think it is important to explore every option that may be hindering his learning. More often than not teachers too readily assume it is simply a language barrier issue. As a solution, I believe it is important to connect the content to the students background knowledge and interests. Establish a rapport with the student, find out his interests and implement them into the presentation of the content. It is also important to teach using various modalities, it may be that he is a visual or kinesthetic learner. Involve hands on activities to make the learning of the content more engaging.

This is the best solution. I would do exactly this.

I like this solution. I think including the student's interests will wake him up and make him interested.

I would use this solution in my classroom

22 0
Solution #2
It's hard to say whether or not your assumptions were right without really knowing the student myself. As far as improving his achievement... Maybe giving him some kind of reward to work towards for improving grades and effort. I know in the younger grades, behavior charts tend to work well. In my class we use a sticker chart. When it is full, they get to go to the treat box. In his case, maybe he would get his favorite candy bar.

I would exactly do this

Great ideas!

9 0
Solution #3
I think your assumption was fair, however, maybe scheduling a meeting with the parents to further discuss the student's distractions would've also been helpful. His lack of motivation could be due to the lack of inclusion of things that involved his culture or his interests.

This is a really good point. Maybe the student doesn't feel like their culture is being represented.

0 0
Solution #4
I think that some students at this age are somehow interested in things that are not related to school. I think that this student was still adapting to the education system here in the USA? Like you, I will oner about other things that may be going on since the student seem to understand what was being said. Regarding assignments, I will suggest pairing up the student, sometimes ELL students need peers to go over the directions of the assignment so it make sense to the student. Another options is giving examples of the assignment done by anonymous students in previous years. This will serve as a reference for the student.
3 6