Focus On The Students

Mrs. Behrens’ area of focus is special education, however I have come to respect her as a teacher who expertly teaches across a wide base of subjects and levels. This specifically got me to think about how the individual  students feel about their experience in Mrs. Behrens’ classroom, their perception of learning and what they believe their teacher’s role is in their educational experience.

In order to accomplish the task of learning more about the student perspective I decided to interview three of her students. I have assigned the pseudonyms John, Mike and Tom to the students. They are all fourth grade boys assigned to Mrs. Behrens special education class. All three boys have an Individual Education Program (IEP), a contract designed to help these students succeed.  The interview was not private as all of the boys were present during my questioning and all were very cooperative within the context of my interview.

Student Interview:

Question: What is your favorite subject to learn about?

John - My favorite subject is animals, I will read anything I can about animals. I like Mrs. Behrens’ room mostly because of all of the animal pictures on the wall.

Mike - I kinda like art, I like to do art but I also like to learn about art. Did you know that art doesn’t have to have paint?

Tom - My favorite subject is reading, I like reading stories more than other kinds of reading.

Question: Do you enjoy hands-on learning assignments more or less than reading assignments?

John - Yes! I like to do stuff, it helps me remember things better. But, like I said, I will read anything about animals.

Mike - I like hands on, I don’t sit still very well or for very long – I am usually in trouble.

Tom - I love to read about things.

Question: Are you able to easily obtain all the supplies you need for homework and assignments when not in class?

John - Yes, I guess so.

Mike - Sometimes.

Tom - Usually yes.

Question: Do you think that the textbooks you are using for your classes are good texts?

John - Yeah, but I like worksheets and regular books better than textbooks.

Mike - I like the textbooks.

Tom - I would rather do worksheets the textbooks are boring.

Question: How often do you complete your homework assignments?

John - Mostly.

Mike - Usually.

Tom - I was very smart in kindergarten, now I am not good at homework

Question: Do you enjoy paper work or working on a computer more?

John - At home I like the computer. I like to search the web for animals and look at pictures and read about them. I also play games on the computer that help me with my math.

Mike - I would rather work with paper. I don’t like reading things on the computer.

Tom - I like the computer better, we don’t use the computer in school though.

Question: Would you rather present a subject to your class or write an essay about that same topic?

John - That is a hard question. I think I would like to do both.

Mike - I would much rather talk to the class about it, I am not shy.

Tom - I don’t like either very much, I think I would rather present a subject to the class. But, I would have to like the subject.

Question: For how many minutes are you able to focus on a teacher lecturing?

John - Usually the whole time in here, in my homeroom somewhere like about five minutes.

Mike - I don’t sit still very well, I am usually in trouble.

Tom – I don’t know.

Question: What is your favorite quality in your favorite teacher?

John - I will try really hard if my teacher likes me. Some of my teachers hate me and for them I don’t even try. My kindergarten teacher was my favorite, but Mrs. Behrens is my second favorite. I have come to her room for more than this year and I like it.

Mike - I like teachers who are nice and it seems like most of them teach in kindergarten or first grade. I like Mrs. Behrens because she acts like she likes me, most of the time, no she does like me.

Tom - My favorite teachers are the ones that know my name. Sometimes teachers call me the wrong name and I think I should call them the wrong name, but I don’t.

Question: When you have to memorize facts, what strategy do you use?

John - I had a really hard time with math until I started playing computer games. I still am faster and get the answer right more often in my head and on the computer than I do when I have to write it down. My hand just messes it up when I have to write.

Mike - Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice……

Tom - My mom taught me to make flash cards. I sometimes have help making my flashcards but I use flash cards all the time. I even have some computer apps that are actually just like flashcards.

Question: Would you rather watch a documentary on a topic, listen to a lecture, explore the internet or read a book?

John - I would rather use the internet. I learn a lot on the internet, if I get bored I can just look something else up.

Mike - I would rather watch a documentary, I remember better if I see it plus I don’t get as confused.

Tom - I think I learn more if I read about something. Like with Harry Potter the movies are good but the books are better.

Question: How do you remember things? Give me some examples; show me what you do

John - I don’t remember things I don’t care about. I probably don’t remember much.

Mike - I practice. I write spelling words like five times and sometimes I do ok on the test. For math I use the worksheets that have like 100 problems on one page and I try to do it really fast. We used to do it as a class in like third grade but now I just do it with Mrs. Behrens or Ms. Norma. I plan to get better.

Tom - I told you, I use flash cards. Lots and lots of flash cards.

Question: How does you teacher help you remember things? Give some examples.

John - My teachers just tell me stuff and they say remember it. I usually don’t. Mrs. Behrens helps me to get things better, she makes things clearer.

Mike - Mrs. Behrens sort of pays attention to when I know something or when I don’t. She is hard to fool. My other teacher is easier to fool. If I don’t understand something Mrs. Behrens will try to explain it in different way anyway then I usually get it.

Tom - She (Mrs. Behrens) helps me a lot! She goes over things and always smiles at me. I think she knows if I am having trouble and sometimes she will make me a flash card.

Question: How do you know that you know something? Give me some examples.

John - I know stuff that I like to know about. Remember I like animals, ask me anything about animals. I know every animal. Someday I am going to get a pet and I will know everything about it.

Mike - I just do. I don’t know why. Maybe I will know after the AIMS test, that is what matters the most the AIMS test.

Tom - I do well on a test. If you don’t do well on the test then you don’t know it. That’s why they know I don’t know much, I don’t do well on tests.

These three students expressed a number of similar characteristics. The most striking – to me – was their observance of the feelings that teachers hold toward them! They all mentioned to some degree the importance of  feeling liked by their educator as well as the knowledge that they are not always - in fact, sometimes rarely - liked. They also had a collective agreement that Mrs. Behrens plays an important role in helping them to organize their materials and helps them to find the methods that promote their individual style of learning.