Prompt 2: Kliewer

There were a variety of ethnic backgrounds in the class I was observing. I could also see there were different economic backgrounds by the ways the students were dressed. In this class there was one students who did not speak any English at the beginning of the year. The teacher was not sure why she was not put into an ESL classroom, but she worked with it. Now towards the end of the year this student is speaking English very well and she is actually speaking more and volunteering in class. At the beginning of the year the teacher tired everything and could not get the student to speak. She would not even speak in her native language. That was something else I noticed. None of the students in the classroom spoke anything other than English in the classroom. The teacher told me that most of the students speak something else at home, but in class the stick strictly to English. Although many of the students came from similar backgrounds, they all were very different and had different ways of doing things. I could quickly figure out what their home life was like just by seeing the students sit down to do a work sheet. I could quickly see how one student was babied when he was at home. This student, Bob, was very badly misbehaved. He did his work until he got to a certain point and that’s when he lost it. It was clear that this student was not disciplined at home and he would do whatever he wanted. There was a certain point he needed to reach and when he reached it, he was completely out of control. Once he reached this point there was no calming him down. He would throw things, rip up papers, refuse to do his work, answer the teacher back. He was such a distraction to the class. The teacher tried to ignore him not doing his work and ripping up papers, but she had to jump in when he began throwing things and endangering those in the classroom. The student got so bad that he had to have his mother come into the classroom and sit with him all day. When the teacher tried talking to Bob’s mother, his mother said he was never like this at home and that there was nothing wrong with him. The mother said she did not know where the behavior was coming from. A few days later Bob's brother came to pick him up from school and Bob threw another fit right in front of his brother and the teacher. Bob's brother started laughing when Bob was getting out of control and told the teacher that he always like this at home. The teacher then figured out that Bob's mother was lying and that she was in denial. Right after the the teacher filed for Bob to be put into another school, possibly into specical education. It took about a month to get all the paper work out and for the mother to final accept the fact that her son needed more help then he was getting in that school. He ended up going to another school and he was put into special education classes. After many tests, the found out that this student was autistic. He was not getting the proper attention that he needed in the regular kindergarten class. He needed special attention and he is now being given that in his new school. This related to Christopher Kliewer because Kliewer believed that everyone should have an equal oppoortunity to succeed even those who have disibilities. Bob was not being given an equal opportunity to succeed being in a regular class with no special attention. He needed the special attention to succeed and he was not getting it. Due to the fact that he was not getting it, he was struggling in class and getting very frustrated. He was finally put where he needed to be and now he is doing much better. His teachers are able to keep him under control and give him the proper attention so he can succeed.