(Un)Engaged Learners

In response to this week's blogging prompt, I would like to focus on a student who I've noticed to be particularly uninterested in what is taking place in the classroom. My cooperating teachers deals mostly in below average students, though I have noticed a distinct difference among these kids. Two types exist: the first is the student who may have a learning disability, but is generally willing to participate in class, answering questions and joining in on group discussions. These are students who I think may be driven enough to succeed without as much teacher intervention. The other type of student comes in the form of a student who may have a learning disability, may be lazy, or may simply not see the point in school. This sort of student, in my opinion, would require a much greater deal of hands-on help and guidance in order to succeed, as often times they are definitely not as driven to complete their work.

The student I am focused on (let's call him Oscar) can generally be seen one of two ways: with his head on the desk or staring at the ceiling. It is very rare that he is actually paying attention to what is going on in class and typically does not perform well on assessments. Prior to a test at one point, he assured me that he was going to fail because he could not study; it literally put him to sleep, he claimed. He did not seem interested in doing well and it appeared that he cared little for how his lack of motivation might affect him in the future. As a future teacher, it is something that I now find really sad; it's hard to watch a student who really has little faith in themselves as well as little idea of how important their schooling might be.

In an effort to engage Oscar, I think my best bet would be to find ways to make the class more interactive. Although I've had limited interaction with him up to this point, I think it would greatly benefit him (as well as the entire class) to make them more active. These students have so much working against them (learning disabilities, home lives, etc.), and often times I think that a class discussion may not work as well as some sort of active project may in terms of helping them learn. For instance, let me use my Unit Plan as an example. My UP is heavy on class discussions, which I have already said may not work as well for a student like Oscar. To suit his needs, it may be appropriate to engage him by asking my students to draw pictures of the scenes in Hamlet or to act the scenes out. It is easy to shut your brain off when someone else is rambling on and saying, "To be or not to be," but it is an entirely different thing for me to have him stand up, ask him to read it, then encourage him to think about what the passage means. It should be my goal as an educator to make these plays come to life, and the perfect way to do this is to turn Oscar into Hamlet.