Dennis Anderson EDUC 204 Case Study

JOHN SMITH
John Smith was a very interesting child. He seemed to be a normal kid when I first met him, except for the fact that he did not have a lot of friends and he sat alone. I believed at the beginning of these observations that he was a little bit odd, but he was a typical teenager going through puberty and the normal adolescent changes in his life. After talking to the teachers that john had in his normal day, I realized that there was a lot more that was special about John then I previously had. John was placed on an IEP when he was in second grade. This happened after John was pointed out by his first grade teacher when John had some communication troubles in his class. I have observed John in all of the classes that he attends and not just the one that I did my observations on. Half of his classes are in a special education environment, while half of them are in a regular classroom setting. To me, throughout the day that I observed John in his classes, it seemed like in the regular classes john struggled through his class work and the subject matter, but he excelled in his socialization skills. The special education classes he really seemed to do great at all of the class work, but he did not even seem like he cared to be social with anybody else in the class. To me the obvious thing to do is to split the day in half with John, and that is exactly what the school is pushing for, although Johns parents have been talked to about his socialization and his academic progress both, and to my surprise I was told that they were more

in favor of progressing his socialization than his education. To me the act of his parents not caring about the education factor in Johns life is downright stupidity. I know that every parent has the right to choose what path their child takes in his or her education, but the thing about that is that they are not even caring about his education. I think that the inclusion principles are by far the best way to do the education of John. There are no rules that allow the school to do what they think is right if the parent thinks one way, but in this care I really wish that there was something that they could do. Throughout the semester John has went from getting horrible grades in the regular classroom setting, and having no friends, to doing still D+ work, but he has about four kids that he sits with, and they are some of the most popular kids in the room. I have had an amazing time getting to know this child, in all of his ups and all of his downs in his schooling. Overall I am very glad that I got the experience to watch this extraordinary child in four months of his life. I believe that this experience changed the way I look at teaching, because I now see that there are so many different types of children, and as though all of them are special, some kids grab you by the heart, and make you want to do everything in your power to help them.