Case Study

My host teacher and I chose a child who had moved to Seward within the last year and during
class time was showing a complete lack of self-confidence, a fixed mindset attitude, and a great
deal of negative self-talk. From the beginning of the year, A had decided that she was not
smart enough and had adopted a defeatist attitude. I’ve overheard her talking to herself as
well as telling me outright, that she was too dumb for school and would NEVER understand.
The first day that I met A, she appeared to be a cheerful student who was friendly and seemed
well-liked in the classroom. Her entire attitude changed once math lessons commenced; I could
almost visibly see the wind leave her sails. She began to sulk and would grudgingly take out her
math book, the whole time saying under her breath, “I hate math. I’ll never understand it. I’m
too dumb.” As I observed her, those statements were self-prophesizing. She had decided from
the beginning that she would never understand math, and so she didn’t. As she worked, she
got most of her problems wrong, confirming her belief that she just COULDN’T do math.
During the next class period, I saw A struggling again in math, and I decided to sit in and help
her. I was a bit late in my intervention as A had already escalated to an emotional level. As I
sat next to her, she repeated that she was too stupid to understand the lesson and as I tried to
help her view the problem in a systematic and stepwise fashion, she dissolved into tears. At
this point, I realized that no learning was going to get done. I told her that she needed a break,
walk away from these problems, wash her face, take a deep breath and we could try again
later. She didn’t want to take a break and wanted to stay and keep trying to solve the
problems; the more she tried, the more frustrated she got - she was in a downward spiral and
she would not let me pull her out! Finally, I said, A stop, look at me, take a deep breath with
me, in through your nose, hold it for 5 seconds, then let it go slowly through your mouth. We
did this several times, which calmed her. I also told A that when we get stressed out, our
breathing becomes fast and shallow, reducing the amount of oxygen that’s making it to our
brains. By taking those slow deep breaths, we are giving our brains the oxygen that it needs to
think clearly. At this point, my host teacher stepped in and took A outside the classroom and
had her go to the restroom and wash her face.
When she came back, math was over, but I took her aside and told her that when she felt
herself revving up and getting super frustrated, no learning can occur at this point, your brain
has shut down and emotion has taken over. Emotion is normal, acknowledge it, use our
calming technique, step away for a few seconds then come back and try again.
Since then, when A gets frustrated, I have seen her close her eyes and take several deep
breaths. I’ve never seen her actually get up and take a physical break, but with her eyes closed,
she’s taking a mental break, and that seems to be enough for now. She has had no emotional
outbursts since and seems to be regulating her emotions much more efficiently.
After my initial contact with A, my host teacher and I had decided on three goals that we would
work on during the course of our semester: 1) better emotional regulation, 2) develop a more
positive mindset, and 3) see herself as less of a victim and more in control of her actions and
destiny.
I had already started addressing our first goal of helping A with her emotional regulation.
Together we had started to use strategies that would proactively help A from reaching that
point of an emotional breakdown and helping her to deal with the effects of getting to that
point by calming herself down.
As for the negative self-talk. I told A that we were going to stop the negativity train in its tracks.
Whenever a negative thought popped into her head, I wanted A to acknowledge it, just like we
did with emotion, and admit that feelings are not reality. What we say to ourselves does not
mean it is true, not by a long shot. Then I advised her to picture that negative thought on a
piece of paper, to crumple it up, and throw it away. Negative thoughts take up a lot of space,
and I wanted her brain full of learning, not negative talk. My host teacher even suggested that
for those thoughts that were too big to keep in her head, A should get a sticky note, write the
negative thought down, then PHYSICALLY crumple it up and throw it away.
By addressing our first two goals and providing A with viable strategies for dealing with her
thoughts and emotions, our third goal of teaching A to own her actions and take more control
over them has been addressed in a tertiary way. Though I did not specifically address this goal
with strategies or suggestions, when A controlled the first two, the third followed suit.
Over the course of the semester, I have seen A have much more control over her emotions. I
have seen her on numerous occasions close her eyes and take deep breaths as a way to self-
regulate. I have also seen a definite decline in the amount of negative self-talk A engages in. It
still rears its ugly head, especially when she’s particularly frustrated or not understanding a
lesson, but it doesn’t rule A’s thoughts as it once did.
In speaking to my host teacher, she’s also seen an improvement in A in other subjects too.
She’s more likely to participate in group discussions and doesn’t engage quite so much in her
defeatist attitude. Just last week, A walked up to me and showed me her math checklist (the
list activities that she has for the week) and said to me “You’d be so proud of me Ms. Eva, I’m
ahead on my checklist!” Of course, she still has her bad days, just like the rest of us, but she’s
learned not to be so hard on herself and allow herself the grace she so generously offers to her
friends.
In evaluating A per the IOSIE method, the results were as follows:
Identify the problem: Lack of confidence and a fixed mindset attitude was creating an
environment where learning COULD NOT occur. Though this attitude was mostly seen in math
class, it could spill over into other subjects depending on the difficulty of the subject matter.
A’s negative mindset was exacerbated by her defeatist attitude as well.
Objectives: In speaking with my host teacher, our objectives included guiding A into more of a
growth mindset. We decided to also try confidence-building exercises that she could not only
apply to math, but to life in general.
Solution: I would work with A one-on-one, helping her to develop more of a growth mindset
and to aid her in adopting strategies to reduce the amount of negative self-talk she engaged in
during class.
Implement the solution: Over the course of the semester, I worked with A, first providing her
with strategies for dealing with her big emotions, then provided positive reinforcement over
the course of the semester as gentle reminders.
Evaluate: Based on discussions with my host teacher and observing A in class, there are
definitely observable improvements in her attitude, less negative self-talk, and a better sense of
ownership over her actions and her destiny.
I believe that each day we get closer to meeting our goals. Are we there yet? I don’t think so,
but I don’t think there will ever be a feeling of crossing that finish line. Every day is different,
and her response to that day is as unique as the day. As with every goal worth attaining, it is
something that she will have to work at every day and decide for herself that today is going to
be a good day.
My interactions with this student were completely consistent with my philosophy of discipline.
Over the course of the semester, I developed a relationship with my student, as advocated by
William Glasser. I was A’s biggest cheerleader. “Instead of scolding, coercing, or punishing,
teachers should endeavor to befriend their students, build strong supportive relationships with
them, provide encouragement and stimulation, and show an unending willingness to help”
(Charles, 2014, p.187). During the course of our semester, I learned more from A than she ever
could have learned from me, and for this gift, I am grateful.
 References
Charles, C.M. (2014). Building classroom discipline (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Scott, E. (2019). The toxic effects of negative self-talk. Verywell mind. Retrieved from
https://www.verywellmind.com/negative-self-talk-and-how-it-affects-us-4161304