Case Study: Riaz

John Gallucci

William Paterson University

Part 1: Learner Development

Social/ Affective Domain- Riaz seems to be quite strong in his social skills by using his sense of
humor to fit into multiple cliques of students. In fact, Riaz is seen often teaching his fellow
classmates about the game of soccer that he has learned from his dad by watching the European
game. While Riaz has more of an affinity towards athletics, he has proven that he can adapt and
be social in multiple situations. For example, when he broke his leg, he seamlessly adapted to
playing card games and roleplaying. These are great qualities to have and are some of Riaz’s
strengths. One thing to watch with Riaz is when he is outside of recess or free time is how he
uses his sense of humor. When Riaz does not know the answer to a question he can deflect and
make a joke rather than fully answering the question. This is great for entertainment and levity
but may be a distraction from his learning at times. When teaching to Riaz, the teacher may be
better suited to give attention and constant positive reinforcement in order to get Riaz’s peak
interest based on his responsiveness during social studies when he receives this praise and
attention. Since Riaz seems to be a social butterfly, teachers may want use group work when
teaching Riaz. Being able to tactfully place students into groups may help each other grow. For
example, using Riaz’s strength of conversation can help the group run smoothly while other
students may be able to help increase Riaz’s confidence in different classes that he is not as
comfortable with (Hockett, J. June 27, 2014).

Cognitive domain- Some of Riaz’s strengths include getting correct answers on his
multiplication tables and fractions, reading words accurately, and is able to absorb information
like a sponge when watching videos during social studies. All these strengths show that Riaz can
retain a lot of information. However, some of things that Riaz may need help with is being able
to read more fluently and being able to use evidence to support his answers whether it be in math
or English class. One tact that the teacher may want use to help gain Riaz’s interest is by
incorporating soccer into their lessons. We should use that already known interest (soccer) in
order to help him in areas where he may be struggling (Hockett, J. June 27, 2014) . One example
of this would be to have Riaz read an article about a European soccer team and have Riaz answer
specific questions about the article. This should allow Riaz to have more intertest and an
understanding on the topic which may help in his ability to support his answers with evidence.
Another tact that the teachers will want include is the use of video whenever possible. The 2
areas we see Riaz absorb information is in social studies and when he watches soccer games with
his dad. Riaz seems to be more receptive when he has visuals like video to support his learning.
Linguistic domain- Riaz clearly is very capable when it comes to the linguistic domain when he
uses his sense of humor with other students and teachers. Another area where we see Raiz show
off his linguistic ability is when he is discussing sports terms and explains different soccer plays
that his dad teaches him about soccer. Not only is Riaz able to understand what his dad says but
he is also able to explain this to his classmates. Finally, we see Riaz excel in social studies when
the teacher asks for his input and opinions. In this we see Riaz can express his opinions and ideas
well enough to the teacher that the teacher constantly wants to hear Riaz’s points of view during
discussions. While Riaz has a lot of strengths in linguistics one area he needs help in is being
able to read accurately and swiftly. Even though Riaz does read for accuracy, his pace and
fluency tended to be a little slow. One way to help with this is to possibly use visuals like
pictures to help Riaz recognize different words with these visual pairings. This indicates that
Riaz may have a learning disability. Since we see Riaz being able to easily learn from watching
videos, pictures may also help in grasping what the written words mean (Hodge, S. R.,
Lieberman p.245).

Part 2: Diverse Learners and Learning Needs

Based on Riaz’s description of struggling with reading fluently and not being able to support his
answers with evidence in both math and reading, he may have a learning disability (Hodge, S.
R., Lieberman p.245). Based on this information we may have to monitor his athletic abilities
since students with language impairments may have subtle motor difficulties due to processing.
However, based on his experience social studies Riaz is clearly able to interpret and absorb
information quickly when watching videos. This can be a powerful tool to use when constructing
a lesson suitable for Riaz. Another tact that we will want to use with Riaz is keeping him in GPE
as he seems to interact very well with everyone. I think keeping him with the class will have
more of a positive impact for Riaz’s learning and development than separating him. As long as
he remains calm and easy going there should not be any behavioral problems that can be
foreseen. In fact, having Riaz’s sense of humor should be an asset to the entire class.

Before adjusting the lesson plan to better include a student like Riaz, we should note that a sport
like soccer may interest him more than other sports. Since Riaz has already shown interest in this
sport, it may be easier to keep his interest throughout the lesson. The first way I would
differentiate this lesson would be to include videos of the different games we will be playing.
This type of demonstration has proven to work with Riaz when learning about soccer with his
dad. Another way I would adjust the lesson is by eliminating the dance techniques within the
lesson. While this lesson was supposed to build off of previous dance lessons we can eliminate
these steps so Riaz does not have to process how to do the steps in conjunction of watching the
offensive players when defending or kicking to score. Finally, instead of being placed in groups
we can change the games to be individual kicking. The theory behind this change is to eliminate
the processing of passing to a teammate. In this Riaz would have to only focus on kicking when
he is on offense or defending when playing goalie (Tomlinson, C. A., 2001 p.12-14).

For classroom management, while Riaz is calm and an easy-going child, we still want to
reinforce those behaviors throughout the school year. This will not only help Riaz but the rest of
the class as well. The first way I would do this is by having contingency management. In this the
student will be awarded points for the following: going directly to home base at the beginning of
every class, good sportsmanship, and returning the equipment back where they found it at the
end of each class. For inappropriate behavior there will be one point taken away. After
accumulating enough points students will be able to trade those points for a reward out of the
reward bag with prizes like movie passes, bowling alley certificates, and other gift certificates.
Another tactic I would include is operant conditioning. In this I would want to make sure to give
positive feedback to Riaz when I could. We know this social reinforcement has been shown to
work with Riaz in his social studies class (Hodge, S. R., Lieberman p.178-180).
 References

Hockett, J. (June 27, 2014). 5 tips for getting started: Differentiation in a secondary classroom.
ASCD Blog. http://inservice.ascd.org/five-tips- for-getting-started-with-differentiation-in-a-
secondary-classroom/

Hodge, S. R., Lieberman, L. J., & Murata, N. M. (2017). Essentials of teaching adapted physical
education: Diversity, culture, and inclusion. Milton Park, Oxon: Routledge.

Tomlinson, C. A., (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. (2nd Ed.)
Alexandria, VA: ASCD.