Shneeka TR@TC2 Interactive

TMRasTtCe2rsPortfolio Shneeka Center Applied Linguistics & TESOL Spring 2017



This contains:a resumethree letters of recommendationan initial reflection of teachinga critique of a teaching episodean autobiographical analysisa child studya unit plan on post-truthlessons from my placementan assessment of clinical practicesix instructional pagescertification exam scoresrecords of teaching hours 3

Resume

Shneeka Center 75 West End Ave, New York, NY 10023 • 631-807-0654 • [email protected] New York, NYTeachers College, Columbia University J​ anuary 2016-May 2017 Masters in Applied Linguistics and TESOL Davidson, NCDavidson College September 2010-May 2014 Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Educational StudiesRELEVANT E​ XPERIENCETEACHING RESIDENTS AT TEACHERS COLLEGE N​ ew York, NYTeaching Resident ​September 2016-present● Work at an International high school in Brooklyn, three days a week, and at an elementary school in Harlem, one day a week● Co-teach an 11th grade ESL/ELA class with a special focus on English language development● Develop classroom activities that promote English language use through the four modalities (i.e., speaking, reading, writing, and listening)● Collaborated with ELA teachers to create a semester long curriculum that aligned with CCSS and facilitated ELPD● Designed and administered a midterm exam modeled off of the NYS ELA Regents● Support students’ reading and writing through one-on-one tutoring and small group activitiesDAVIDSON COLLEGE WATSON COMMITTEE Davidson, NCMember S​ eptember 2015-May 2016● Chosen to sit on the selection committee to help interview and select Davidson College Thomas J Watson finalists● Read and critiqued written proposals for coherence, feasibility and adherence to Watson Foundation principles● Served as a mentor to two finalists to assist with proposals and interview techniquesYOUNG ELITES Davidson, NCProgram Director J​une 2012-May 2014; July 2015-December 2015• Leadership-building program free to high school girls which teaches them organization, health and wellness, and goal-setting skills.• Was promoted from intern to Program Director after the completion of Watson Year• Managed current interns to ensure that program critical task are completed and divided based on interns individual strengths• Created promotions designed to recruit individuals to the program, such as video advertisements and social media campaigns• Organized and promoted “A Night To Live Your Life On Purpose” fundraiser; raising over $20,000• Effectively communicated program itineraries, and requirements to ensure 100 girls and their parents arrive on time and prepared to eventsTHOMAS J. WATSON FELLOWSHIPFellow “No, we will not go back inside: Female social mobility through sport” J​ uly 2014- July 2015● Selected as one of 43 graduating student in the United States students to pursue a year of post-graduate, independent of study on female social mobility through sport in Sweden, Northern Ireland, India and Peru● Volunteer basketball coach for high school girls in Stockholm Sweden, working with girls on developing leadership and communication● Developed student driven lesson plans to teach at risk girls in Mumbai, India english and leadership skills● Created a Mom’s Soccer program to educate women in at risk communities in Mumbai about physical fitness and leadership● Interviewed female athletes in Lima, Peru and Dublin, Ireland to study the impact athletics had on their development and educationHOUGH HIGH SCHOOL Cornelius, NCPrincipal Intern S​ eptember 2013- May 2014• Accompanied Hough staff throughout their workdays to understand the dynamics of a high school, and staff interactions with students• Conducted classroom observations and audited teacher, parent and, student conferences, student interventions, and potential-teacher interviewsLEADERSHIP EXPERIENCEACCESS TO SUCCESS Davidson, NCDavidson College Student Charter President and Intern ​September 2011-May 2014• Created and implemented high school basketball team fundraising program called S​ hooting for Shoes,​ raising approximately $3,000 in the inaugural year• Organized and emceed a campus talk, “​What it Takes to Change the World”,​ about issues in the nonprofit sector• Promoted fundraisers by designing posters, communicating with campus news outlets and sending email blasts• Managed and allocated our charter budget and organized student charter members to various tasks to ensure successful program implementationDAVIDSON COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM Davidson, NCDivision I Team Player A​ ugust 2010-March 2014• Developed the strong time management skills necessary to manage the commitments of D1 athletics and a rigorous academic work load• Traveled six or more hours per week, played 30 or more games a season while practicing 20-24+ hours per week• Acted as a positive role model for my peers and community through hard work, professionalism and dedicationAWARDS AND AFFILIATIONS January 2016-May 2017Teaching Resident at Teachers College July 2014-July 2015 Awarded an academic scholarship to study at Teacher College, Columbia University August 2010-March 2014Thomas J. Watson Fellow Awarded a year-long fellowship to study an independent projectDavidson College, Student-Athlete Awarded a full athletic scholarship to a Division I program

Letters ofRecommendation



5 May 2017To Whom It May Concern:It is a pleasure for me to write this letter of recommendation for Shneeka Center. Shneeka’sdedication to students, insatiable curiosity, growing instructional and pedagogical creativity, andability to think deeply and critically about her development as a teacher make her an especiallystrong candidate to teach in the classroom. These traits also indicate her strong potential as ahigh-quality beginning teacher who is ready to enter a school community and take up an activerole of learning from those around her.As Project Manager for the Teaching Residents at Teachers College program (TR@TC), I havewatched and worked with Shneeka over the last 18-months. In this time, I have becomeincreasingly impressed with her dedication to learning in both college and K-12 contexts. Herpractice of regularly seeking out feedback and applying what she learns as both a student andpre-service teacher has resulted in a strong ability to critically refine her practice. Over thecourse of these months, she has developed the ability to see opportunities for learning in even themost unlikely of places and exhibits a capacity for being gracious and generous with colleagues,mentors, professors, and students.As a Teaching Resident, Shneeka will have completed two field placements in two New YorkCity public schools by the end of this school year (2016-2017) - one in a high school (three daysper week over the course of the year) and one elementary school (one day per week over thecourse of the year). In this time, Shneeka has actively worked alongside a Mentor Teacher ineach school and has been an eager collaborator in both settings. Shneeka has been especiallyinvolved in co-planning and co-teaching in her high school placement and enthusiastically tookopportunities to lead planning. For example, Shneeka is currently leading the instruction of acurricular unit that is focused on the novel Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero.Shneeka has strong, positive relationships with her students and, in responding to their individualneeds, regularly uses multiple strategies for modifying instruction in the classroom. Additionally,she is effective and efficient in focusing students on desired tasks and, when students becomeunfocused, is able to successfully reengage them.Following lessons, Shneeka is able to accurately describe strengths and challenges of a lessonand is also able to identify the progress of her students’ learning. This is information that sheactively uses to inform subsequent lessons. Teaching Residents at Teachers College, 525 West 120th Street, Box 97, New York, NY 10027 Email: [email protected] Tel: 212.678.7472 Fax: 212.678.3153

May 2, 2017To Whom It May Concern,I have known Shneeka Center in my capacity as a mentor teacher at TR2@TC and as an 11thgrade ELA teacher at the International High School at Prospect Heights since September 2016,and am delighted to recommend her for any teaching position in the New York Public SchoolSystem. The International HS at Prospect Heights is a school for immigrant youth who have beenin the country less than 4 years and our pedagogy centers around heterogeneity andcollaboration.Since last September, Shneeka has been co-teaching with me three days a week. Throughout theyear, she has grown greatly as a teacher, curriculum designer and member of our schoolcommunity. From the first day she met our 11th graders, she began building respect and trustamong the students, which helps her be a better teacher and mentor. Her authenticity and caringnature is easily seen by the students and allows her to support them. She arrives to work close toan hour early to read with struggling leaners and they are disappointed every Thursday andFriday when she is not there. In addition to her teaching and graduate school responsibilities,Shneeka volunteered to coach the girls’ basketball team in the winter. She has gone beyond herprogram responsibilities to support our students, colleagues and community. It is clear that sheis committed to being a great teacher.As a dedicated member of our school community, she participates in our curriculum planningmeetings, guidance meetings, and staff retreats. Her insights on students’ academic andemotional struggles are greatly appreciated by our grade team. She constantly seeks outopportunities for growth through attending professional development activities, taking oncurriculum planning tasks, and seeking feedback on her classroom management, curriculumdesign and instruction. From seating arrangements to assessments, she is always thinking ofways to be a stronger instructor and implements suggestions wholeheartedly.Working with Shneeka this year has made me a better teacher. Her questions and observationsguide me in a deeper reflection of my own practice. Her love, respect and dedication to thestudents remind me of why I do this job. She has all the makings of a successful teacher;dedication, flexibility, a sense of humor and a love of teenagers. Not everyone has the heart to bea great teacher, but Shneeka does. She will be a strong asset to her next community. Irecommend Shneeka to you without reservation. If you have any further questions regarding herbackground or qualifications, please do not hesitate to contact me.Sincerely,Rosemarie FrascellaELA Teacher – International HS at Prospect Heights917-767-1001, [email protected]

May 2, 2017To Whom It May Concern:It is my pleasure to recommend Shneeka Center for a teaching position at your institution. I wasShneeka’s TESOL Resident Supervisor during the 2016-2017 academic year during her Master’sprogram through TR@TC at Teachers College, Columbia University. I observed her teach highschool students at the International High School in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn as part of herstudent-teaching requirement for the program. We interacted on a regular basis about creatinginnovating lesson plans, maintaining stamina during teaching, developing one’s craft and style,developing innovative curriculum, and integrating Second Language Acquisition pedagogy inESL classes and activities.Shneeka brings creativity and positive energy to her classroom. I have watched her develop herteaching practice and hone her craft. It has been a delight to witness such progress over thecourse of only a year. Shneeka is dedicated to instilling a love of learning in her students and iscommitted to seeing them flourish in and out of the classroom. One way she engages herstudents is by tailoring curriculum to meet both their academic needs and personal interests.Shneeka Center would be an asset to your school. I recommend her without reservation.Please feel free to contact me if I can answer any further questions.Sincerely,Mary Daphne [email protected]

InitialReflection ofTeaching

Priorities In this portfolio, you will see many pieces that represent my priorities and style as aneducator. Through these pieces, it will be evident that I truly believe education is a way forstudents to become enlightened and give them the tools to be their best possible selves. Morespecifically, I believe that my role as an educator is to develop students’ natural and nurturedskills and provide them with the means to gain new skills. These skills could be academicallyfocused, like learning how to ask questions, but they can also be skills that are useful in everydaylife, for example, learning breathing strategies to work through stressful situations, or learning toorganize class notes. It is important that I leverage my privilege as a teacher to ensure that mystudents are developing and acquiring the skills they will need outside of my classroom tocombat the inequalities and injustices that they may face.Areas of growth The largest place I have grown in is my ability to incorporate immediate feedback intomy lessons. One of the best, and most exciting, aspects of teaching is the frequency of receivingfeedback. Teachers are constantly receiving feedback from their students. Students willimmediately tell you, directly or indirectly, if they are enjoying the lesson, if they understand thematerial, or if they need more time. By looking at students’ demeanors, reactions, assessments,and work, you can receive all of the information you need to gauge whether you have met ourobjectives. Sporadically, teachers also receive feedback from colleagues and administratorsabout their strengths and their areas of improvements. This is one of the best aspects of teachingbecause, Before my Residency Year, I would receive feedback on lesson plans and not haveanything to do with it. I was not teaching the lessons I was planning. I was just flexing mycreative muscles and practicing creating content objectives and language objectives that aligned.Now, when I create a lesson plan, I get feedback from my mentor teacher and my supervisor toimplement into the lesson. However, once I am teaching the lesson, I get immediate feedbackfrom my students. If I did not plan for them not understanding something, or if I have to think ofalternative ways to ask questions, I have to compensate for my oversight during the planningstage and create a way to support them instantly. Ways that I have provided immediate support

this year are: providing students with images, drawing an organizer on the board, writingsentence starters/frames on their papers, having students re-explain information, and creatingsupportive peer groups. It is exciting to have this immediate feedback because I am able to makechanges in the lesson and then implement those changes before the same lesson is taught nextperiodGoals The first goal that I have set for myself, is to sign up for the courses that would provideme with the credits I need to receive my secondary certification. I would like to continue to readabout the impact of trauma on students and how trauma impacts learning. Looking past the summer, I would like to refine my instruction-giving skills. Givinginstructions is something that I have struggled with this past year and I would like to learndifferent methods and strategies that could make me more efficient and clearer when I am infront of the classroom. Another skill that I would like to develop is my attention gettingtechniques. A few months ago, Suzanne gave me a tibetan singing bowl that has been veryhelpful in developing this practice. I would like to continue to use it next year, but would alsolike additional techniques so my students could choose which they like best.

Critique ofTeaching Practice

Planning Stage The lesson that I am most proud of is a lesson that I taught during a one-on-one pull-out session with a secondgrader named Z. Z was not speaking much and had been very shy the first weeks of school. Nelson knew that she hadhigh literacy skills in Arabic and went to school in Yemen. I had worked with Z once before and we read a wordless bookcalled ​The Arrival.​ T​ he Arrival ​has pictures that have been created for an older audience--they do not have much colorand they address many of the harsh realities of immigration. There is one sub-plot of the book that involves a creature anda man and their budding friendship. Z enjoyed looking at pictures as their relationships developed and quickly started touse all of the English she knew to describe the scenes. After a successful lesson with a book far out of her comfort zone, I spoke to Nelson and planned to use my otherwordless book, ​Journey​. Together, Nelson and I planned three or four lessons that I could do with Z to make her morecomfortable speaking and give her the opportunity to read a book without having to worry about her English skillsimpeding her participation. Through the book, I would first have Z talk to me about the pictures and events she saw.Whatever words she could say would be sufficient and I would not force her to talk more, unless she seemed comfortableto be pushed. While she was doing this, we would create a list of words that she could use when we worked with the booklater.Lesson PlanContext: A pull-out one-on-one class working with a new student who is learning to speak English. She has recentlystarted becoming more comfortable speaking English. This lesson and book is designed for her to have fun and to getcomfortable speaking about books and school work.Desired ResultsEstablished Goals:​ Students will create their own interpretation of the story by looking at the pictures.Common Core Standards:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.2Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or throughother media.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.7Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understandingof its characters, setting, or plot.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.Content Objectives: Language Objectives:SWBAT discuss the plot of the book by using the pictures SWBAT use words, phrases, and short sentences to discuss the plot of the bookUnderstandings: Essential Questions:Students will understand the importance of looking at How can we use pictures to inform us about story plot lines?pictures when reading a story. What can we see in this picture?Students will know: Students will be able to:That pictures are valuable supports to understand stories Use words, phrases, and sentences to convey the meaning of the storyAssessment EvidencePerformance Tasks: Other Evidence:Teacher will listen to students speaking about book andthe pictures.

Learning Plan Learning Activities: Do Now (5 minutes): [Teacher will prompt students with concept of print questions and reading strategy questions ○ The front cover ■ T: “What part of the book is this?” S:“This is the front cover.” ○ The back cover ■ T: “What part of the book is this?” S:“This is the back cover.” ○ The spine of the book ■ T: “What part of the book is this?” S:“This is the spine.” ■ T: “What does the spine do?” S: “The spine holds the book together.” ○ The title ■ T: “What part of the book is this?” S:“This is the title.” ■ T: “What does the title do?” S: “The title tells you what the book is about.” ○ Cover Pictures ■ T: “What do you see on the cover?” S: “I see…” ■ T: “What do you think this book is about?” S: “I think…” Main Activity (25 minutes) [Teacher will explain to student that there are no words in this book. That she has to create the story herself, but talking about the pictures. Student will read the book using the pictures and any interpretation that she believes makes sense. Teacher can ask prompting questions to help student discuss the book ● What do you see in this picture? ● What do you think the girl is doing? ● Who are these people? ● What are they doing? ● What is that? Teacher should also encourage student to make predictions about the book. ● What do you think is going to happen? ● Why do you think the bird is flying? ● Where do you think she is going? Teacher should also develop a vocabulary list for the student as she reads and tries to use new words. This vocabulary list can be used in upcoming lessons as review and then as support when writing sentences about the book.] Closing (5 minutes) [Teacher will talk to student about her impression of the book. ● What did you like about the book? ● What was your favorite part? Teacher should also review the vocabulary words that the student mentioned, if time allows. Teacher could also practice spelling with the student.] Total Class Time (40 minutes) Differentiation Main Activity ● Student can respond using just words, phrases, or short sentenceThe Lesson I could not have imagined a lesson could go better than this. J​ ourney w​ orked so well and lowered Z’s affectivefilter immediately. The first picture of the book is a picture of a young girl sitting outside without anyone to play with. Z wasable to empathize with her feeling left-out and bored. “My brother no play with me too!” she excitedly said in response tothe picture. On the second page, she pointed to the picture of the magic chalk and said, “Oh! A magic marker to draw!” Iprompted her to tell me more about the magic marker and what she thought it would do. She continued to grow more

excited as the character used the chalk to draw a door on the wall. As the character traveled through the magical worldand fought off bad guys to save a purple bird, Z started negotiating for meaning (Long, 1985): Z: “She is going to the..big thing!” S: “What big thing?!” Z: “The big building? The big house?” S: “Oh! The big castle!” Z: “YES! The castle! She is going to the castle!”Z was able to incorporate the word “castle” into the remainder of the book and used it frequently in her discussion. At onepoint, she drew a picture of a sword to help me understand the predictions she was making about the book. The best aspect of this lesson was how excited Z was to continue reading. She was standing up at her chair atvarious points and shouting so loudly about the bad guys trying to get the bird that Nelson asked her to be a little quieter.The book was able to lower her affective filter and enjoy the learning process without being overwhelmed with thelanguage hurdles. From this lesson, I learned that Z has brothers who often don’t play with her. She sometimes tries to play with herbaby brother, but he is too young to play with. I also learned that she really loves castles, magic, and sword fighting.Besides these aspects of her, I learned that she has very strong English skills and typically is too nervous to speak much.This is expected because she is new to the school, the country, and the language. She acquired vocabulary quickly, somuch that she was able to refer to the words when we discussed her opinion of the book. I also learned that she is verycreative. She was easily able to create sentences that made the book interesting and provide details that referenced herprior knowledge. This lesson informed my next steps through a number of ways. The first way was through the creation of avocabulary list. Using the words that Z produced, I created a list of words that we re-visited the following lesson. We wereable to review the words and their meanings and use them when we read the second part to the series, ​Quest.​ Thevocabulary words will also provide Z with support for when we write sentences together to author the book. She will notneed the words to help her develop sentences, but they will provide assistance for spelling.Long, M. H. 1​ 985. ‘Input and second language acquisition theory’ in S. Gass, and C. Madden (eds): ​Input and Second Language Acquisition, R​ owley. MA: Newbury House, pp. 268–86.

AutobiographicalAnalysis

Running Head: AUTOBIOGRAPHY Shneeka Center Autobiography December 10, 2016

AUTOBIOGRAPHY“The single story creates stereotypes,and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue,but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2009) My life has been a series of single stories: stories that have made me question myidentity, my abilities, and my dreams. As I continue to learn, read, and explore differentperspectives of race, gender, privilege, educational systems, and society, I better understand themotivations behind these single stories. This autobiography is organized through three criticalthemes that were prominent in the readings throughout this semester and closely related to threeof the most contentious single stories that have been told about me. The first two sectionsaddress issues about race and education, which were strong themes in R​ ethinking MulticulturalEducation​. The third section addresses gender and sexuality and uses ​Performative Acts andGender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory​. The final two sectionsof the paper touch on the decisions that I have made thus far in relation to these single stories andthe next steps that I will take. The section on activism is the final critical theme that wasreflected in ​Rethinking Multicultural Education. T​ he last section addresses the next steps that Iplan on taking. Because of the length constraints of this assignment, I have chosen to include theexperiences that are the most reflective of my overall experiences and pertain most succinctly tothese themes in relation to the readings.Blackness and School

AUTOBIOGRAPHY I was the star basketball player at my school, but I also did well in the classroom. I was inhonor classes and AP classes since 8th grade. Both of my parents expected equal dedication tobasketball and academics. By the time I entered my senior year, of high school, I knew that I wasgoing to attend an academically and athletically competitive college. However, my academiccommitment and success went unrecognized by many of my peers and teachers. Numeroustimes, I remember being told by white peers that I considered friends that they “understand” howI could be good at basketball because I am black, but “have no idea” how I could be in advancedclasses b​ ecause​ I am black. Sleeter (2014) discusses these types of comments and how theyreflect white privilege: If I do well at something, nobody is going to say, “You’re a credit to your race.” Saying that presumes that the race that the person is a member of ordinarily doesn’t do very well. Because I am white, nobody says that about me. Yet such statements frequently surround kids of color. People make assumptions about their intellectual ability, about their family support, simply on the basis of their skin color. (p. 40)Sleeter discusses how these comments reflect white privilege solely on an individual level. Iwould argue that these types of comments represent societal white privilege. Comments that arebased on stereotypes demonstrate the single story mentality that has remained a tool in Americanculture to maintain oppression and marginalization. Adichi discusses how the single storydemonstrates systematic racism in her 2009 TEDtalk.“It is impossible to talk about the singlestory without talking about power” (Adichi, 2009). Growing up, I tried to look up jokes andstereotypes about white people to use as a comeback whenever a joke was made at the expenseof my identity. I never understood why I could never find any. I only now realize that my

AUTOBIOGRAPHYdifficulty locating these stereotypes was demonstrating a power dynamic. My white classmateswere using common stereotypes that have been circulated for decades that have been circulatedfor hundreds of years. They were continuing the spread of oppressive and limiting statementsabout others while they had, essentially, no similar comments being spread about them of theirculture. Stereotypes are just one of the ways the power of eurocentricity and whiteness ismaintained. Another way is through education. Hilliard III (1999) writes about this in the contextof African history. “Massive and strategic attempts were made to use educational structures todestroy ‘critical consciousness’ to alienate Africans from tradition and from each other, to teachAfrican inferiority and European superiority” (p. 33). This occurs throughout schools inAmerica, especially in schools that do not embrace a critical curriculum or are not social justiceorientated. A school made up of a predominantly white population and a predominantly whiteteaching force, like the high school I graduated from, does not necessarily have the motivation toadopt more radical curricula or include viewpoints and perspectives other than those outside oftheir culture. In my secondary education experiences, I can remember covering black historyduring the month of February, but beyond that, I cannot remember much other discussion ofblack history, culture, or success. There is one experience of black history that I remember verydistinctly, but not because of the content. When I was in sixth grade, my English teacher called me to his desk during independentwork. H​ e turned his back to the class and asked me, “Do you care if I talk about Martin LutherKing, Jr. in class tomorrow? You can leave class if you are too uncomfortable.” I asked him,“Why would I care? It isn’t my class,” and sat back down in my seat. Even at 11 or 12 years old,

AUTOBIOGRAPHYI knew that question was ridiculous to ask. Tolentino (2014) comments in her article, “Aseducators we have to find ways to be their allies and be sensitive to how our work in theclassroom affects them” (p. 302). I am still unsure of what my teacher’s intent was by asking thatquestion, but I like to hope that he wanted me to have the opportunity to excuse myself if I wereto become uncomfortable. But, that was not the impression that I received from him. I got theimpression that he had little experience speaking to people of color and certainly did notunderstand how to incorporate their experiences in the classroom. The sentiment that I received from my teacher is the same sentiment that I felt from manyof my teachers and an overwhelmingly large population of my peers. My peers had littleinteraction with people of color and they had no idea how people of color were because they hadbeen fed the same single story since birth. Although it is no excuse, segregation and oppressionare meant to divide people because that is the only way the control and associated power of thesingle story narrative remains. The impacts of the single story also impact the thought processand perspectives of people of color.The Perks of Being “Basically White”: Educational Assimilation While my white peers were constantly reminding me that I was black, my teammates ofcolor were constantly reminding that I was “basically white”. They told me, “You sound toosmart when you speak, you sound white,”, “You live in a house on Long Island. You’re basicallywhite,” and “You are so white! You got money. Look at your clothes!” No different than theother single stories that were being told about me, these bothered me and made me question myidentity. However, these single stories also created a barrier to creating relationships with myteammates. I was unable to connect with them because I was nervous that we were not going to

AUTOBIOGRAPHYhave anything in common and that they would make me feel badly for having qualities that wereassociated with white culture. These comments impacted me for years because I truly thoughtthat the way that I was brought up was going to impact my ability to connect with people fromall different backgrounds. Fortunately, this anxiety changed a few years ago when I was speaking with a friend of afriend. We were discussing systematic and institutionalized racism and how we think it could beeliminated. I shared my belief in education and its role in creating a just society. I also shared myconcern about my inability to connect with people because I grew up on Long Island, went to apredominantly white school, and am half white. He looked at me and said, “That is youradvantage. If you were raised somewhere else, you may have never been in a position to makeyour beliefs a reality.” This was the first time that a person of color ever told me that my “actingwhite” was a privilege. More recently, I have been thinking about this comment and, each time Ido, I start to believe that “acting white” has served me in many ways, especially in myeducational endeavors. It is no secret that mainstream education reflects the perspectives, experiences, rhetoric,and values of white culture. It is an educational advantage to have been raised in an area thatoperates under these same principles. There is a large discussion on the impact that standardizedtests have on multiculturalism. Bigelow (2014) writes about the consequences of framing allstandardized tests under the dominant framework of whiteness and Eurocentricity. “For example,another benchmark--’Explain how laws are developed and applied to provide order, set limitsand protect basic rights, and promote the common good’--similarly fails the multicultural test”(p. 129). Bigelow goes on to question who is considered the common good. I would have had no

AUTOBIOGRAPHYproblem answering a question like this because I saw how laws worked in my community’sfavor. Yet, students who live in communities that are marginalized and oppressed and go toschools that are underserved and failing may not be able to see how laws are developed for theirgood. Standardization has minimized the value of students being able to critically think abouttheir unique situations. Students are only assessed on their ability to understand and analyze thedominant culture and its narratives. In order for them to succeed, they are required to assimilateand reshape their perspectives to align more closely with what is expected from the dominantculture. Lately, I have seen how this already complicated and unfair requirement can becomeeven more difficult. I spend a lot of time in classrooms with students who are learning to speak English andwho have recently immigrated to the United States. They are unfamiliar with the dominantlanguage and the dominant culture. Delpit (2014) mentions, “It is equally important tounderstand that students who do not have access to the politically popular dialect form in thiscountry are less likely to succeed economically than their peers who do” (p. 169). I certainly hadconsiderable amounts of access to the politically popular dialect. My family does not speakStandard English, but we speak a slightly different variation of it. The way my family spoke athome, was also reinforced in the classroom each day. A majority of my teachers spoke Englishas their first and only language. I never struggled to communicate with them nor did I everstruggle to understand them. My “white” speaking tendencies allowed me to transition easily intoStandard English when it was time to do academic work. My students, on the other hand, do not have much access. Many of them live inimmigrant communities that are culturally and linguistically homogenous. They do not have

AUTOBIOGRAPHYregular access to English unless they intentionally look for it. This is largely problematic becausemost students in the NYC DOE have to pass the NYS English Regents Exam to graduate highschool. Sleeter (2014) mentions the illegitimacy of any other language besides English duringassessment. “In California, it’s the English reading score that counts, even for kids whose firstlanguage is Spanish or any other language English” (p. 45). Each day, I wonder how my studentsare going to pass their English Regents Exam. At the time of high school, I would have much rather attended a school thatpredominantly served students of color. Fortunately, soon after graduation, I started to believethat my graduation from a predominantly white high school was a privilege because I had grownup using the skills that were going to be valued in my next stage of life: college. Unfortunately, Iwish I could have seen the inaccuracies in other single stories of my life.You’re a lesbian, right? It was my young brother’s birthday and I was 9 or 10. We were waiting in line for thebumper cars at an indoor theme park called Sports Plus. A little boy who was standing in front ofus turned around and asked me, “Are you a boy or a girl?” At the time, it was the most offensivequestion I could have been asked. I was extremely upset that anyone could mistake me for a boy.This memory is deeply solidified in my mind because this was the first of many times that Iwould be asked this. At this age, I did wear clothes that were typically more masculine. I considered myself atomboy and was not embarrassed to play basketball with boys, hangout with boys, or be verballyexpressive. I was typically more outgoing, more assertive, and more competitive than my femalepeers. My parents saw nothing wrong with this and encouraged me to act however I wanted, as

AUTOBIOGRAPHYlong as I was being respectful of others. However, I was utterly humiliated to be mistaken for aboy. I did not change anything about myself at this point, but I continued to think about thatexperience each time my gender was questioned. As I got older, my masculine tendencies, dedication to basketball, and perceived lack ofinterest in boys caused my peers to examine my gender and, now, my sexuality. My basketballtrainer used to berate me in front of my peers and tell things like me, “You know God wantedyou to be a boy, but changed his mind at that last minute.” or “Stop talking to him. You knowyou don’t like boys.” When I first heard these comments, I would laugh along with everyone elsebecause I did not want to feel additional embarrassment from becoming visibly upset in front offorty or so people. The comments bothered me immensely because I also received comments andquestions about my appearance, mannerisms, and sexuality from peers at school. I wouldregularly be told, “You’re a lesbian, right? You play basketball and act like a boy. You definitelyare.” I even had a teacher call me “Butch” in front of the entire class. The only space that I wasable to be accepted for how I was at home with my mom. My mom never formally studied gender, race, or sexuality, but she has an amazinglyopen mind and understands many of the theories questioning the many binaries that are soingrained into society. I would tell her about the comments I would receive from my basketballtrainer and she would tell me, “You be however you want to be. If you want to wear a suit, youwear a suit. And just because you don’t have a boyfriend and you are tough, does not make youany less of a women.” I remember one time we were in the car, driving home, and my mom toldme, “You know it isn’t bad if you like girls. You like whoever you like, and that is a great thing.”I immediately told her that I did not like girls, but I was not specifically interested in any boys

AUTOBIOGRAPHYeither. Despite my hasty reaction and shock that my mom said something like this, I wonderedwhy other people did not tell me this. As Butler (1988) discusses; The tacit collective agreement to perform, produce, and sustain discrete and polar genders as cultural fictions is obscured by the credibility of its own production. The authors of gender become entranced by their own fictions whereby the construction compels one's belief in its necessity and naturalness.Butler argues that society has decided what should be considered the norm and the members ofsociety has continued to uphold these norms. This reaffirms my experiences of being aheterosexual woman and performing what is considered the opposite and being questioned aboutmy gender and sexuality. Society has created these strict associations and, finally, increasinglymore people are questioning the idea of these repressive, single stories. I wish I betterunderstood this when I was younger. This enlightenment would have given me more confidencein my identity and the way that I expressed it.Activism As I started to recognize the truths, behind many of the single stories, I realized that theproblem of the single story has been negatively impacting our country, and the rest of the world,for years. At some point, I realized that single stories could be ameliorated through t​ ruthful,​ just,and equitable education. I noticed that it did not matter how many nonprofit organizations werestarted in communities, how many students were bussed in, or how many standards, tests, andboxed curricula were being implemented, communities and people who were historically andregularly victims of single stories were still falling short of their potential. On the other hand,students from over served communities were still not understanding the consequences of

AUTOBIOGRAPHYspreading these single stories and, often, making uninformed decisions that continuedmarginalization, oppression, and many of the -isms. Education can be used to expose students tonew experiences and perspectives that could help develop their empathy, understanding, and lovefor themselves and others. It is the only way to rid the world of single stories. For that reason, I have decided to become an educator. Single stories have impacted meso deeply, that I wanted to make sure I can prevent other children from experiencing the negativeimpacts of single stories. My ultimate goal is to become a Superintendent and influenceeducational policy and curricula, but I decided to enter education so I could understand thepractice of teaching before I moved into an administrative role. When I first started takingeducation courses during undergrad, I was shocked at the positive and lasting influence thatteachers could have on students in their classroom. I had only experienced it once or twice in myown life so I never quite realized how teachers could fight single stories and serve as such strongactivists. Now that I have started teaching, I can see how. Among all of the demands of testing andstandards, there is still so much space for teachers to fully enhance their students’ lives. I havealready had countless opportunities to provide students with the skills they need to becomesuccessful as an ESL teacher. Helping students gain high English proficiency can provide them with the invaluable skillof being literate in the dominant culture’s language. It gives students the opportunity to performwell on exams that dictate their futures. This skill can open up pathways to college, careers, selfadvocacy, and social mobility that may have not been possible if the student did not learnEnglish. Additionally, in the current political climate, being biliterate can allow you to spread

AUTOBIOGRAPHYimportant information to your family, friends, and community. Gonzales (2014) writes abouthow the undocumented community she worked in needed people who were literate in English towrite letters to immigration in hopes of becoming citizens. My students could easily provide thatsupport to their communities when they become biliterate. This form of community supportwould help lift up the community and provide more feelings of self-advocacy. It could also givestudents the tools to speak against the single stories that have been told about them. As Berriz(2014) mentions, “Our students must strengthen their sense of pride in their family culture whileat the same time building skills to succeed in mainstream culture” (p. 198). Expressing alternateperspectives and experiences that combat the stereotypes that impact immigrant families is agreat way for students to do this. One way that I have been able to engage in activism this year thus far is to coachbasketball. This year, I have been able to serve as an assistant coach for thirteen high schoolgirls. The head coach is a middle-aged man with a wife and children. He is a very good coach,but he cannot connect with the girls in the same way I can. He certainly tries to do this, but heunderstands the limitations of being a middle-aged man in this context. I am able to talk to theplayers about their academic and personal lives and truly take interest in their experiences. Idiscuss their future plans with them, and they ask for my opinion about their decisions. This is asmall, but important way that I can lead my players to question the ideas of a single story. Beingthere as a coach can provide them with a different example of what it means to be a woman ofcolor, an athlete, and a student.Looking forward

AUTOBIOGRAPHY In light of this analysis, one of my main goals is to receive an additional certification inhigh school social studies. This extra certification, in addition to my TESOL certification, wouldprovide me with the credentials that I would need to create a curriculum that supports the social,political, and educational needs of a majority of students in any high school. Ortega (2014)writes, “When we know our history, we no longer are lost souls, roaming and looking for ourself-identity; we become confident individuals unties for a cause” (p. 112). Later, Ortega notesthat recognizing true histories can have a profound impact on our self-efficacy. “If it wasn’t forRaza studies, I wouldn’t be able to lift my head up and think to myself that I actually belong, thatI have a right to make my dream a reality as much as any other person does” (p. 113). Creating amulticultural curriculum shatters the power of single stories and provides students with insightinto their own truths and potential. In addition to understanding history, it is just as important tounderstand potential obstacles that have been systematically created to prevent people of color’sdreams from becoming reality. I have already had the opportunity to create a unit on mass incarceration that I believewould educate my students and give them the tools to prevent becoming part of that system.Helping them understand the historical complexities that have led to mass incarceration and theconsequences of this institutionalized form of racism will provide them with tools a resourcesthat they can use to become self-advocates. I have developed this unit this semester and willcontinue to add more resources throughout the semester. In order to implement this unit nextSeptember, I will need to find out what credits I still need to complete in order to receive theextra certification. Emailing the Office of Teacher Education at Teacher’s College is a greatplace to start.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY In light of this analysis, one of my main goals is to receive an additional certification inhigh school social studies. This extra certification, in addition to my TESOL certification, wouldprovide me with the credentials that I would need to create a curriculum that supports the social,political, and educational needs of a majority of students in any high school. Ortega (2014)writes, “When we know our history, we no longer are lost souls, roaming and looking for ourself-identity; we become confident individuals unties for a cause” (p. 112). Later, Ortega notesthat recognizing true histories can have a profound impact on our self-efficacy. “If it wasn’t forRaza studies, I wouldn’t be able to lift my head up and think to myself that I actually belong, thatI have a right to make my dream a reality as much as any other person does” (p. 113). Creating amulticultural curriculum shatters the power of single stories and provides students with insightinto their own truths and potential. In addition to understanding history, it is just as important tounderstand potential obstacles that have been systematically created to prevent people of color’sdreams from becoming reality. I have already had the opportunity to create a unit on mass incarceration that I believewould educate my students and give them the tools to prevent becoming part of that system.Helping them understand the historical complexities that have led to mass incarceration and theconsequences of this institutionalized form of racism will provide them with tools a resourcesthat they can use to become self-advocates. I have developed this unit this semester and willcontinue to add more resources throughout the semester. In order to implement this unit nextSeptember, I will need to find out what credits I still need to complete in order to receive theextra certification. Emailing the Office of Teacher Education at Teacher’s College is a greatplace to start.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY The danger of the single story is one that I have become increasingly more aware of.These stories have no limitations on how deeply they can impact and oppress people of color. Asa teacher, I have the power to change the narratives in my classroom and give my students theopportunities, knowledge, and tools to create their own dynamic and truthful stories.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY ReferencesAdichie, C. N. (2009, October). C​ himamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript ?language=enButler, J. (1988). Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. T​ heatre Journal, 40,​ 519-531.All other articles taken fromRethinking Multicultural Education, M​ ilwaukee, Wisconsin: Rethinking Schools

Child Study

Running Head: CHILD STUDY DESCRIPTIVE REPORT Child Study Descriptive Report Shneeka Center Intensive Seminar 2016

Child Study Descriptive Report I selected J as my student for my child study project for a handful of reasons. I initiallyselected him because he was absent for the first days of school. In this time, teachers and othersupport staff were worried and quickly started questioning why he was not in school, whether hewas going to continue in school, and if he was moving. This was around the same time wediscussed this project in Intensive Seminar. I proposed using him to my Mentor Teacher and sheconcluded that it would be a great idea to provide him with additional support. When J finallycame to school, I was surprised at how kind, friendly, and proficient in English was. I saw himinteracting with students in the hallways and in class and he seemed just like another student.However, within the first few days of school, it was evident that there were two possibile Js.These possibilities have large implications on his schooling and be discussed further below.There were three main environments I observed J in: the English classroom, Advisory, and theHallways. I also observed him in math class. There are diagrams of the English classroom,marking period I and marking period II, and the math class. Demographics and additional detailsof English class and Advisory can be found in the data set document. This paper is broken into three main sections: Character sketch, student as a learner, andinstructional implications. There are references to data entries which address details that couldnot easily be addressed within the context of the paper.CHARACTER SKETCHBackground and History J is an 11th grade student from Haiti. He is 18 years old and came to the United States in2014 with his father and his grandma. He has been attending International High School at

Child Study Descriptive ReportProspect Heights since 9th grade. His mother passed away a few years ago, before he came to theUnited States, but the exact time is unclear. J lives with his father, grandma, uncle, aunt, and two younger male cousins in Bedford,Brooklyn. He likes his family although he says his grandma talks a lot. He does not know muchabout his father because they do not talk often. Their relationship is bit strained, but J has nevermentioned why. J has made comments about not speaking to his father or seeing him oftenbecause of their conflicting schedules: his father works the night shift and sleeps during the day.Many of the teachers met J’s father at parent teacher conferences. They noted that the fatherseemed very insecure and preferred to talk about himself rather than J’s academic progress andsocioemotional development. The only seemingly reliable point of contact that we have for J is his Aunt who lives inNew Jersey. J told me that she has twin sons. J loves them and shared the chocolate bar I gavehim with them. J did not come to school for the first few days of the year because, apparently, hedid not have clothing to wear. His aunt had to take him to the store to buy things.J speaks Haitian-Creole, French, and has high English proficiency. It is hard to get a betterunderstanding of his Comprehensive Academic Language Proficiency because he frequentlydoes not turn in assignments. This will be developed in the section about the student as a learner.It is clear that once he understands the task, he does a good job of analyzing the material andcreating arguments, but, better understanding his CALP would require additional work samples,which do not exist. The main ways that I know that J has highly proficient Basic InterpersonalCommunication Skills is through our conversations. He is able to carry on conversations withease and speak in different tenses.

Child Study Descriptive ReportAppearance J is extremely skinny. His peers call him chicito and make fun of him for his weight. Hesays he does not mind being called it. However, I often see him frowning when his peers call himthis during their interactions. J’s weight has been a concern for teachers and support staff for a few years. Teachershave been concerned about his eating habits and whether or not his family has enough money tofeed him. They have made efforts to speak to the family about this, but these efforts have notgone anywhere. J often skips breakfast and goes the entire day of school without eating, as notedin Data Entry 1. He does not like the free school food so he does not eat it. He will only eat athome because he prefers Haitian food to anything else. He enjoys eating rice, chicken, fish, andplantains. He once told me that he likes chocolate with caramel, too. He often complains that heis hungry and that his stomach hurts. His peers are always eating some bagged snacks, like Takis, Doritos, Ruffles or Pringles.He has been offered food numerous times and has only taken it two or three times.J dresses well, but not particularly fancy. He always looks clean and well-groomed. His hair isusually cut short and neat. He has recently got a new jacket and new shirts. He wears Jordanslike many other students. There is nothing specific to note about his clothing.Disposition There are two vastly different Js that can be present in a day. In one state, he seems likeevery other student. He is smiling, laughing, and appropriately engaged with his peers. They jokewith each other and talk about school, their friends, and other casual subjects. Unfortunately,within minutes this J could be replaced with an upset and distanced J. This J arrives so quickly

Child Study Descriptive Reportand unpredictably. I am certain that there is a cause to this switch, but this cause is not one that isobservable nor does he wish to share it with others. There are different ranges of how the upset and distanced J manifests. Some days, as seenin Data Entry 4, J is not very engaged in the lesson and spends most of the time staring outacross the room and fiddling with papers. During these days, he keeps his head up and looks atpeople who are speaking. He does not speak with them too frequently, but sometimes jokes withthem or responds to comments they make. These times he looks very similar to a bored andunengaged student. The worst end of this manifestation is more indicative of serious emotional and mentaldistress. This was witnessed by my mentor teacher on a day I was not scheduled to be at theschool. On this day, J came to class, put his head down on the desk, and started to scratch thephoto of his face off of his I.D. card. My mentor teacher immediately got the guidance counselor.This was the worst demonstration of his emotional and mental state. I have witnessed otherinstances of distress, as seen in Data Entry 12. During these instances, J becomes visibly upset,keeps his head down, and even becomes emotional. From what I can tell, he is unreachable atthese times. He prefers to keep his head down and attempts to block out the people around him.Initially I thought he was sleeping every time his head was down, but I am starting to believe thatputting his head down is a way for him to physically block out everything around him. In aninterview I had with him, Data Entry 9, I asked J about sleeping in class in relation to teachershelping him. He did not respond to that question. In Data Entry 12, I thought he was sleeping,but he was using his hands as a space to gather himself. Regardless of the severity of the upset

Child Study Descriptive Reportand distressed state of J, the frequency of and his compensation during this state carries largeimplications for every aspect of his life.Interactions J’s interactions are strongly dependent on what mental state he is in. From what Iunderstand, J has mostly positive rapport with his teachers. Besides rarely doing or submittingwork, as seen in Data Entry 13 in the boxes labeled “Habits of Mind”, “English LanguageDevelopment” and “Mastery of Content”, they typically only worry about his periods of silenceand nothingness. When he is having a rough day, he puts his head down at his desk or staresacross the classroom quietly. He does not interact with teachers or peers, unless he is watchingthem speak. Teachers attempt to interact with him to encourage him to do work and to betterunderstand what he is feeling. He usually does not respond to them, but a few teacherscontinuously attempt to interact. When he is having a good day, he is often laughing with them and smiling when theyapproach him. He is respectful during interactions with them and never forgets to say “thankyou.” During the round table discussion, one of my group members asked me to reflect on therelationship that J has with other adult males. Considering the uncertain and seeminglyunsatisfactory relationship with his father, it was eye-opening to realize that the negativerelationship that J has with a teacher is with the only Haitian male teacher. I started to wondermore about the relationship with his father. The relationship that J has with his peers is more complicated than the one he has withhis teachers. When J is having a bad day, his peers do not attempt to interact with him or find outwhat is wrong. They typically leave him to himself. I am unsure if they do this to give him his

Child Study Descriptive Reportspace, or if they do this because they do not care. I tend to believe it is the former. Theseclassroom interactions are reflected in the hallway during these rough days too. He walksthrough the hallway without looking at his peers and does not speak. He moves from class toclass without much interaction. When J is having a good day, he is constantly interacting with his peers in class and inthe hallways. I usually only see him interact with other Haitian or African students in thehallways. There are numerous Haitian and African students in the school. He is frequently withinthe group of them and is fully entrenched within the situation. In class and Advisory, he interactswith any student near him, but tends to interact with Haitian or African students the most. Asmentioned in Data Entry 7, there are only five Haitian and African students in English class andone African student in Advisory. There are two different styles of peer interaction that I haverecognized.J & Other Boys When J interacts with male students, he is hypermasculine. In the hallways, I see himbeing physical with them. Sometimes I see them punch each other and burst into laughter. Othertimes, I see them sizing each other up and making threatening looks at one another. J alwaysengages with these interactions and often greets his male friends by shouting something at themand then physically, and aggressively, touching them.J & Girls J’s interactions with girls is much softer. I often see him physically leaning on girls’shoulders, as seen in Data Entry 6 at minute 1:04, or touching them, as seen in Data Entry 6 atminutes 9:52 and 10:08. However, it was quickly evident that he is not physical with these for

Child Study Descriptive Reportsexual reasons. He seems to be comforted by the physical touch of girls. He immediately lookscalmer and more at ease when he is interacting with them in this way. One insight that I havegained, I do believe that his desire for loving and comforting physical interactions demonstratesomething that he is craving and missing.Student as a Learner As mentioned above, and frequently noted in Data Entries, J does not do much work dueto his emotional and mental state. On his bad days, he often spends class with his head on hisdesk or staring. Those days, he completes absolutely no work. Unfortunately, on his good days,he still does not produce much work on his own; Data Entries 3 and 13 reflect notes that hecopied off of the board and Data Entries 5 and 6 mention instances of him copying. Data Entry10 represents the number of his actions and their frequency in a typical class period. He spendsmost of his good days interacting with his peers, fiddling with items on his desk, touching partsof his body, actively watching and listening to the people who are speaking, or staring.Sometimes, he does not have the notes opened or facing in the correct direction; In Data Entry 4,J has his arm over his notes for a few minutes into class. This is regularly the case until he, apeer, a teacher realizes that he is not following the class. When prompted, J will attempt to dowork, but quickly becomes distracted by a peer or by a thought. Despite his lack of academicengagement, there are aspects of him as a learner that I have grown aware of. The aspect of J that I quickly grew aware of is his intelligence. When my mentor teacherand I have created groups based on strengths, J is always put into the group with the highestproficiency and academic ability. I have heard him correct mistakes of some of the highestperforming students in the class. Additionally, I have seen other Haitian speakers ask him for

Child Study Descriptive Reporttranslations. He is able to think deeply in conversation and is able to easily rely messages ofmovies, songs, and experiences to me. Another testament to his intelligence is his math performance. Data Entry 2 discussesthis. The math teacher shared that J did not pass math marking period I. He did not even attemptto take the major exam of that period. Interestingly, J passed the math Regents the year before.The math teacher told us that he should have easily been able to pass his exam if he was able topass the Regents. Nonetheless, J did not even open the exam or pick up his pencil to attempt theexam. He sat in his chair the entire duration of the exam and played with hand sanitizer. Despite his high intelligence, J does not receive high grades and consistently diminisheshis ability. At one point in the year, J stopped submitting all work. He was receiving zeros in allof his classes. During an interview soon after, I asked him why he was not doing any work. Hetold me that it was because he did not understand what was happening. This exchange can beseen in Data Entry 9. His low self-efficacy is also reflected when I work individually with him.When I am working one on one with J, he habitually asks me how to spell a word. I alwaysrespond with, “You know how to spell that,” regardless of my knowledge of his ability to spell it.More times than not, he has successfully spelled the word. When we are writing essays, J claimsthat he does not know where to find evidence or how to connect the evidence. Althoughsometimes he needs support, he eventually can find the correct evidence. His lack ofself-efficacy is also reflected in Data Entry 11. J refused to work on his play because he believedit was too hard, even though I was providing him with support and encouragement.There has been one time where I was able to successfully work with J to produce a full textanalysis response. J needed constant encouragement and support to move through each step of

Child Study Descriptive Reportthe analysis. Not surprisingly, he was quick to understand the central idea of the text and theevidence, despite not participating in any of the activities that his peers needed to reach theseunderstandings. He was able to produce an above average essay without putting much effort intoit at all. I strongly believe that his mental and emotional states are what influence and control hisperceived incompetence. As with most aspects of J’s academic and schooling experiences, hismental and emotional state vastly dictate his ability to recognize his strengths, likes, and futureaspirations. However, after watching him closely for a few months, I believe that I have a goodunderstanding of his strengths. His major, and most important, strength is his resilience. Despitehis almost crippling and consuming emotional and mental hurdles, J is able to come to schooland stay the entire day very often. He is able to have many great days where he is able to laugh,socialize, and show glimpses of his amazing potential. During these days, another one of hisstrengths is able to shine through. J has strong leadership skills. He is able to engage his peers inconversation and subtly divert their attention to side conversations. Although this is annoyingbecause it causes students to be off-task, J’s engaging and funny personality allows him to haveinfluence over a group. As mentioned early, J can provide academic support to his peers. He canhelp them with their spelling and their note-taking. Recently, I asked for a volunteer to write thesentences on the board. J quickly raised his hand and came up to the board. He was easily able towrite the sentences that students were calling out. The implications of his academic ability andleadership skills will be discussed in the following section.Instructional Implications

Child Study Descriptive Report J’s actions and mental and emotional state have called for a great amounts of thought,questioning, and feelings of helplessness. They greatly impact his ability to be a learner in atraditional schooling sense. J is at the point where he is barely producing any written work.Sadly, he must take the English Regents next month. I am concerned about his preparation andwhat a failing score could do to the last bit of self-efficacy that he has. I have been thinkingabout ways that I could prepare J to take the Regents in the quickest and most efficient way. I believe that working with him individually will give him the opportunity to becomewell-versed in the expectations of the Regents. I know that he is fully capable of passing becauseof the quality of work that he produces with barely any little effort, but I want him to enter theexam with full confidence that he can pass it too. By working so closely to J, I have come to realize the importance of teaching andprioritizing mental and emotional health. J is falling immensely short of his potential because hehas not been provided with the coping and management strategies to work through hisdepression. Although counseling has now been put into place, J would have benefitted fromhaving these tools earlier on in his life. If he would have been working through whateverdifficulties that are so drastically impacting his life now, I wonder how he would be. I questionhow many other students are struggling emotionally, mentally, academically, and socially,because they do not have the ability to work through these challenges. The sad part about J isthat I am certain that he has the resilience to work through these issues, but I do not know if hehas the tools or will acquire them quickly enough to ensure that he can pass enough exams andreach enough credits to graduate high school. Because of these experiences, I have been inspiredto learn more about different practices that can encourage healthier students. Fortunately, I have

Child Study Descriptive Reportbeen given the opportunity to attend the Lineage Project training in January. I am sure thisopportunity will lead to new practices that I can use to help support J and my future students whomay be experiencing the same difficulties. Although I am in no position to teach him about these types of supports in my currentrole, I attempt to provide him with supportive attention. Each time I see him, I ask him about hisday and how he is feeling. This seems like a small and insignificant tactic, but I do believe thatmy demonstration of love and care could eventually lead to him opening up about his struggles.In return, we could then provide him with the appropriate support that he needs to be successful. Currently, I am thinking about ways to get J more involved in class. After a fantasticsuggestion from a member of my round table, I want to talk to my mentor teacher aboutproviding J with more leadership roles in the class. He has demonstrated leadership by helpingand influencing his peers and writing on the board. I believe that these abilities could betranslated in a more interactive and empowering role. Especially because he has little capacity toturn in written work, due to the other factors, it is important that we, as teachers and inspirers,start to foster his self-efficacy and give him opportunities where he can be successful.

Data Set 1: ObservationsDescriptions of common settings:Advisory: Advisory is a group of 15 or so students that meet two times a week during the last period of the day. Advisory is not considered anacademic class, but is used to create strong bonds with students, do the necessary preparations for college and career, and celebrate birthdays. A largemajority of my advisory students have been together since last year, including J. Most of the students are Latino. There are two Haitian students, twostudents from Yemen, and one student from Uzbekistan. The students are all very close and those who share the same native language, regularlyswitch between English and that language. Unfortunately, because this class is at the end of the day and there are no formal assignments, although students do receive a grade on theprojects they complete, it is often difficult to keep students on task. Most of them must be reminded that they will be expected to turn in work andgraded on it.Data Entry 19/13Advisory Anecdote In Advisory, students were given worksheets to start brainstorming about their life maps. J was inexplicably absent the first few two daysof Advisory. The worksheet was a brainstorming map broken into a few different parts: goals for the next year, next few years, and adulthood. J hadbeen absent for the first two days of class so this was the first day he was working on the life map. The other students of Advisory were talking while working on their sheets. J was sitting by himself and staring into the classroom. He didnot have a writing utensil out and he was not reading the sheet. I went up to him and asked him if he needed help with anything. He looked up at meand said, “no.” I smiled and I said, “okay, I will be walking around if you need anything.” A few minutes later, I looked back at him and he had nottaken out a pencil or flipped the worksheet. Again, I went up to him and asked him what he was thinking about writing. He told me that he did notknow what to write because he did not have any goals. I attempted to prompt him by asking him what activities he enjoyed or what subjects hewanted, but this only elicited brief and unenthusiastic answers. I asked him about his family. He told me that his sister died in the earthquake in Haiti.He said that he did not have any brothers, besides his cousins. I asked them if they liked to do anything together and he said, “no, nothing.” I askedhim what his favorite food was. He told me that he only eats Haitian food. He became quiet when I asked him if he ate Haitian food for breakfast. Hetold me that he doesn't eat breakfast usually. I asked him if he had eaten yet today and he replied that he hadn't. It was around 2:50pm at this time. Hetold me that he would eat once he went home in an hour or so. Class was finished by this time. J said, “bye” smiled and walked out of the classroom.Data Entry 29/26Guidance Meeting Anecdote First period, my team had a guidance meeting. During the meeting, the math teacher told us that J received a zero on his math test. He didnot touch the exam and did not attempt to answer one question. He just sat in his chair the entire time. At one point, he used hand sanitizer. Theteacher looked at him and jokingly said, “Thank you for disinfecting your exam.” J smiled and laughed. The math teacher mentioned that he laterfound out that J passed his math Regents with a 67 and was increasingly more shocked about his reaction to the exam. J is now failing math and has a0.46 out of 4 for the first marking period. The social studies teacher followed up the math teacher’s comment with more information about J. Apparently he has not been engagingand class and spends most of the time staring out of the window. She told us that he does not follow instructions until he is personally invited to. Shealso wanted to make it clear that he is never disrespectful, but he seems to be extremely preoccupied with other aspects of his life each day of class.She asked me if I would have time to come observe him in her class one day so we can gather a more detailed picture of J.Data Entry 310/11English Class: NotesThis entire page was the Do Now. Students were supposed to answer the top two questions individually and then work with a partner to traderesponses for the bottom two questions. Once the do now time was over, there was an additional opportunity to finish their thoughts.The second page of notes was a classwork assignment. The students were supposed to copy the words, phrases, and sentences generated by otherstudents during the class discussion. J did not copy all of the answers. He also wrote some of the words on the wordweb upside down.

Data Entry 410/11English Class Anecdotal Transcripts12:46 J comes into class on time.12:46 He high 5s a boy and smiles at them before he fully walks into the classroom.12:46 J pulls his seat closer to his elbow partner, L.12:47 He talks to L.12:47 J puts backpack behind his chair (in between his back and the chair back).12:47 He gets up to get notes when class starts, but does not get binder. (Does he have a binder anymore?)12:47 He sits down and starts playing with pencil. Most of the other students are working on their Do Nows. His class notes sheet is lying across the table. He has one arm over it.12:48 S, a table mate, asks him to get her a copy of the notes sheet.12:49 He gets up to get class notes for S. He hands her the notes and does not say anything.12:49 He pulls in his chair and looks at notes.12:50-12:51 English Teacher starts explaining the Do Now. He is staring across table towards the window while she is speaking.12:51 He starts writing his name, class, etc on top of paper.12:51 He looks back at the paper.12:51 He scratches his left ear.12:52 He yawns.12:52 He looks out the door.12:52 He yawns

12:52 He scratches nose.12:52 He scratches back.12:52 Teacher 2, the Special Ed. teacher, comes over to explain the assignment. J does not acknowledge him, but the other students do. Teacher 2 walks away.12:52 He talks to L12:52 He plays with his eraser.12:53 He puts head down on table.12:53-12:54 He picks his head up and then puts his head in hand and starts staring at paper, following the words with his pencil.12:54-12:57 He begins answering questions on sheet. Answers a few questions.12:57 He does not look up when people around him are talking.12:57 He asks L to look at his answer. She nods and writes it down on her paper.12:57 He scratches his head.12:58 He scratches his ear.12:58 He goes back to working on the question.12:58 English Teacher comes over to help him. She asks him a clarifying question, but he just looks at his paper.12:58 He puts hands on his head.12:58 He does not respond to her, until after four seconds. She says, “yeah.” and then walks away.12:58 He scratches head.12:59 He continues writing his answer.1:00 He looks up to listen to the teacher's instructions to work with a partner to complete the second part of the Do Now.1:00 He begins talking with L.1:00 Teacher 2 comes over to read J’s answers and asks him if he wants to share with L. J looks up, and then looks at L, but doesn’t say anything. Teacher 2 walks away.1:01 J erases something on his paper1:02 Teacher 2 comes back over to help facilitate their sharing. He looks at J’s answer sheet. “Switch with her now and then maybe when you hear what she wrote it will give you some ideas.” J doesn’t move or attempt to work with L,1:02 but L takes his paper. Teacher 2 gives him a different student’s paper1:03 J starts talking to L about something, not sure what, but he is looking at S’s paper. They both chuckle.1:03 J and L start looking at the paper together.1:04 J whispers something to L1:04 J hands S’s paper to D. J, D and L laugh together. D hands paper back to J and J hands it back to S. J sits back in chair.1:04 J puts his head on L’s shoulder.