Timothy

. Background Information

Timothy is the student that I have chosen to develop this portfolio on. Timothy is seven-year-old child in first grade at the elementary school that I do my fieldwork at. Timothy has not yet been selected for special education, as it is his first year in school. In the classroom Timothy struggles with most of what he is asked to do. He has very poor concentration, and has great difficulty in following directions. Timothy is very fidgety and extremely disorganized. The socioeconomic status of this student is much the same as the other students in the class. Most are children from middle to upper middle class families in the West Islip neighborhood. When I spoke with the classroom teacher Mrs. Dragelin, I obtained some information related to Timothy's family. Both of his parents do live at home and there was mention of drug use during pregnancy. As far as Timothy's attendance in school, so far this year the student has missed 1 day out of 36 days. Timothy has not been retained in any grades, due to being in 1st grade. Timothy on average is usually prepared for school. He has forgotten books at home that were needed the next day for class, and left books in his book bag when they were needed at his desk.

II. Types of Interventions Provided at this Time.

At this time Timothy is involved with a pullout program for remedial reading. Timothy attends the remedial reading program five days a week for thirty minutes. At this time Timothy is not assigned to the Resource room, speech, counseling, or any health related programs. The classroom teacher has suggested that an auditory trainer could be helpful to capture Tim's attention. That device consists of a radio-microphone worn by the teacher and four speakers are setup in the classroom to broadcast the teachers voice. This device has not yet been implemented in the classroom by the school.

III. Testing Data

At this time there is no official testing data on record for this student. Many of the evaluation testing is done in the first grade. This year's test are scheduled for May 1st 2001. At that time standardized IQ test will be taken and specific areas in need of direct instruction will be identified. At this time with out testing I would suggest direct instruction in language arts. Timothy has no recognition of letter sounds; he displays little to no comprehension of sentences. Often when I am in the classroom and I notice Timothy dazing off, or not focusing on his work I will try to assist him. I have worked with Timothy sounding out words. Timothy responded to my guided questions as if he was guessing, or had no idea that I was talking about the class work he was working on. I have attached a few samples of Timothy's writings samples. When I was first given this assignment to study a diverse learner, I took some time thinking of whom I would select. It was a toss up between Timothy and another student, who at this time has been removed from the class. I started my research, and a few weeks later I spoke with Mrs. Dragelin about my assignment, she was not surprised that I had selected Timothy. She also told me that if she were given this assignment she would have made the same selection. Mrs. Dragelin and I have made a lot of the same observations regarding Timothy and his lack of attention. Mrs. Dragelin noted that Timothy is capable at times, but he is needs someone to work one on one to direct him and keep him focused. She is presently in the process of completing the school districts Instructional Support Team Referral form, to get the student enrolled in these intervention programs.

IV. Journal

From the class after I received this assignment, I have been keeping notes about my observations of Timmy while in the classroom.

9-21-00 Timothy was constantly daydreaming. He was told twice to sit up and to stop playing and tapping his pencil.

9-28-00 The assignment was to complete the sentence, Sun on the ____ _____. Timothy wrote red car, and was to draw what he wrote. Timothy drew a blue car.

10-4-00 Timothy brought a note into school from his mother looking for the whereabouts of a blue denim jacket that was lost. Mrs. Dragelin had informed me that she has been holding the jacket up for a week straight asking, "who does the jacket belongs to." Timothy finally brought home his jacket.

10-12-00 Timothy completed 3 out of 24 math problems correctly. Mrs. Dragelin told me later that Timothy had sat with her yesterday and completed the entire page correctly with counters.

10-12-00 Timothy again is