Michael Simzak Case Study

Michael Simzak

Module 3, Unit 1, Assignment 3.

Because so much attention is devoted to numbers and letters
that appear on paper, it is easy to overlook students who excel. Omar is such a
student. He is a rising eighth grade who consistently excels in class and on
standardized tests. He participates in class, completes all assignments and
projects, and reads voraciously. He comes from a stable lower-middle class
household and his parents are actively involved in his education and meet
regularly with his teachers. Omar is not a student who would seem to require
special attention and that is exactly why he does.

Although both parents are in the household, the father is at
a low level of English Fluency and the mother’s English, while better, is still
very limited. AS such Amharic is the primary language spoken at home and the
child is the primary English speaker in the household. Similarly, the parents
limited English does not allow them to effectively monitor and understand all
the material to which Omar exposes himself. As a result, he exposes himself to
concept which he is not fully capable of interpreting without the guidance to
fully analyze these concepts. This issue manifests itself when Omar introduces
inappropriate content that he does not fully understand into discussions with
teachers and classmates. As a result of Omar’s intellectual maturity and
intelligence, he has trouble interacting with his fellow classmates and adults.
These issues manifest themselves in inappropriate outbursts in class, actively
and passively belittling classmates, and inappropriately challenging adults. These
factors have led to a gifted student being labeled a behavior issue but allowed
to continue such behavior with little intervention.

This year represents the last opportunity to intervene and
correct these behaviors before Omar leaves middle school and moves onto high
school. Failure to correct these behaviors could negatively impact which high
schools he is able to attend and preclude him for achieving all the honors to which
he is entitled. Furthermore, these issues are less likely to be addressed on
the secondary level and as such, the student’s high school potential could be
negatively impacted.

There are three primary objectives for this intervention
plan. The first objective is to challenge a gifted student academically. The
second is to expose the student to more age appropriate content which will
still be challenging but not contain adult themes and graphic violence. The
third is to modify his behavior. Because the student is in eighth grade, the
interventions must take place immediately and there is a limited time to enact
them in order to achieve tangible results.

The first step is to have meet with the other primary middle
school teachers to develop a consistent set baseline set of expectations for
the student in all classes. At this meeting the teachers will create a set of
expectations for Omar’s conduct in class. This meeting is necessary to ensure
that all teachers are on board and expectations across all classes are uniform
and enforced constantly

At the beginning of the year the student will be invited to
meet with the teachers. We will explain to the student the necessity of these
interventions and our goals and expectations for him for the upcoming school year.
At this time he will be able to present his goals for the upcoming year as
well, and together we will develop a system or rewards and consequences. The
plan will be put into document form and signed as a behavior contract. Because
the parents have specifically asked that steps be taken to assist the child in
modifying their behavior, it is not necessary for them to be at this meeting.
Omar’s progress will be monitored initially on a bi-weekly basis in meeting
with the primary homeroom teacher. The meeting schedule can be adjusted
throughout the year as necessary. The mutual behavior contract will enable the
student and the teachers to work together to create a plan to achieve the
objective of decreasing disruptive behavior in class and change the students
attitude towards his fellow classmates.

In addition to addressing behavior with the student, the
teacher will also create alternative project based assignments for the student
that will challenge Omar academically, expose him to more appropriate content,
and improve his writing and research capabilities. These additional projects
will be a combination of increased requirements for projects, but evolved into
individual project based learning assignments. In addition the student will be
asked to develop an individual project for the National History Day
competition. Should the student succeed in the additional work, he will be
given extra credit, the opportunity to present the research to fellow
classmates and outside individuals and entered into the National History Day
competition. Through this intervention, Omar will exceed the standards required
for the eighth grade curriculum.

By giving Omar individual agency in developing a plan to
modify and monitor his behavior and presenting him with individual opportunities
for academic challenges, he will take ownership of this plan and participate
actively in it.