In continuing with this assignment, I have made additional observations about Lily, and I have conducted more interviews with her and her parents.
Lily continues to be quiet and reserved in the classroom. She rarely offers her opinion on any of the subjects, and I cannot be sure if that is because she is naturally a quiet student, or if she has concerns about her academic performance and prefers not to share in class for fear of ridicule. She has made a couple of friends in the classroom, and it is great to see her open up with those peers. During reading time, she loves to do “read to a partner” with one of her friends. This is one of the few times I get to hear her voice, and I am always encouraged by her proficient fluency while reading. I informally interviewed Lily after reading one day, and asked her again how she was feeling about her progress this year. She seemed satisfied that some of her peers were currently “in the doghouse” with some of their reading goals, while she was not. My clinical teacher displays their reading progress in a public location in the classroom (something I am not very fond of) and Lily is near the middle/higher end of that chart, and I know through my interviews that she feels really good about that.
In terms of Lily’s actual school work, I have noticed no glaring problems. Her parents and teacher were concerned about math, but I have found that she performs well in that subject. I have still been working with Lily one-on-one for math, and although she sometimes has problems with motivation, once she starts a problem, she finishes her work and almost always has a correct answer. With math in particular, she does not always explain her thinking very well, but I also attribute this to her quiet nature.
In all honesty, I am continuously surprised that Lily has been diagnosed with dyslexia. Her work samples show no indication of significant problems. I would not call Lily an exemplar student, but her work is definitely proficient at least. As a learner Lily is still quiet and I continue to have issues with having her explain her thinking, because she simply does not talk a lot. Her math work samples show that she is able to navigate herself to the correct answer, but I have no idea how she is getting there. I struggle with this sometimes, and I feel like Lily is teaching me about the challenges of working with a quieter learner.
Lily does have numerous strengths. When I see her interact with her friends in class, I see that she is a very considerate, kind, and compassionate person. I also see her light up more in science class, and I really like seeing her passion for learning in that subject. In terms of how Lily feels about her own learning, I think she worries because her parents worry. A stigma as started to follow her around that because of her recent dyslexia diagnosis, she is in danger of following behind in school. I think Lily is extremely doubtful in her own learning abilities because of this. When I reinforce her literacy and math skills, she seems wary, or in disbelief. I think this is a good example of how parents’ worries can really affect the child in a negative way. They will believe what their parents believe.
Because Lily’s parents are so concerned, they are very adamant about starting the IEP or 504 process. So although Lily does not have an IEP or 504 to examine yet, it seems inevitable that her parents will push for one until they get one. I appreciated the opportunity to listen in on a SIT meeting for Lily, which included her parents, the principal, the special education teachers, the school psychologist, my clinical teacher, and myself. During this meeting, Lily’s parents expressed frustration with the whole system of obtaining an IEP or 504. They talked about how they had tested Lily at the end of last school year, received a diagnosis, and had asked for the IEP/504 process to begin. However, because those tests came in at the end of the term, the process has not really started until now. When the principal reminded Lily’s parents that Lily would have to undergo more testing with the special education department, they grew even more frustrated. When finally hearing that special aids for Lily would not be implemented in the classroom until the beginning of next year, Lily’s parents were extremely discouraged. For the end of the interview, my clinical teacher suggested possible supports for Lily that could be implemented right away. One of those supports is a journal for Lily that explains her math strategies step-by-step. This helps Lily not feel so frustrated during math when she cannot understand how to do a problem.
Overall, I learned a lot from the SIT meeting about how the IEP/504 process is initiated. I completely understand the frustration from Lily’s parents, because I can see how much they care about the academic success of their daughter. I am learning how intricate and complicated these processes can be, and how much that struggle can really effect the student.
(Please see my first post for the many great pictures I have posted of my classroom and school.)
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