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Chapter 3 |
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Read the following case study and answer the questions that follow.
Terry Ortiz, Frank Shaefer, Selena Rogers, and Karl Hansen are sitting around the table at their weekly planning meeting. The middle school where they teach has organized students into interdisciplinary pods in which teachers meet weekly to talk about possible connections in content and to discuss the learning progress of students.
After a brief overview of the topics they are teaching this week, conversation turns to their students.
"They're having a rough time adjusting," Selena observes. "They miss the structure of self-contained classrooms."
"Yeah. That happens with every new middle school class. That's why we have these meetings," Karl nods.
"But this group seems worse," Selena adds. "They really seem lost. I'm having trouble getting them to be responsible for their homework. They forget to write their assignments down, or even when I remind them, they forget to take their books home. If it weren't so frustrating, it would be funny. Some of them feel really bad about messing up so badly. They just can't seem to handle it."
"Maybe we could do something that would give them a boost," Frank interjects. "Like some kind of award for doing their homework. Like a homework club where we put the names of people who do their homework on a bulletin board."
"I'm not so sure about that, Frank," Terry responds. "The problem is that we'd be recognizing them for things that they ought to be doing anyway, and the same kids that are already doing their homework would get recognized."
"Speaking of homework problems," Karl interjects, changing the focus of the discussion. "Is anyone else having problems with students copying each others' work? I caught several of them sharing homework and talked to them about it. I tried to convince the class that discussing answers was okay if everyone had worked on the problems, but just giving your homework to someone to copy wasn't good."
"Any luck with that approach?" Selena asks.
"I'm not sure. Some seemed to understand the connection between doing homework and learning. Others thought it was just another rule to follow, and others seemed to feel that if I didn't catch them, it wouldn't matter. We'll keep working on that," Karl noted.
"Was Kyle one of those who couldn't quite get what you were talking about?" Terry asks.
"How did you know? He seems to be having an especially hard time with the transition," Karl observes. "He had a little problem in the lunch room the other day. He and Carlos both wanted to sit in the same seat. Carlos got there first, but Kyle claimed someone was saving the spot for him. Why that particular spot was so important I don't know. But I had a tough time getting them to see the situation from the others' point of view."
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