Struggling Student c:

There is one student in my clinical class who has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) written on her behalf. The IEP is specifically written for mathematics and calls for the student to have 30 minutes of co-teaching during the math block (which at my school is 50 minutes). So for the first 20 minutes, which is usually lecture, my host teacher is the only teacher in the room. Then the co-teacher comes in and stays for the rest of the block, which seems like a good idea because this is when the students are working individually on their homework. However, as I begin to sit and watch what is happening in the classroom, the opposite of what should happen is occurring.

When my host teacher is the only one in the room, this student seems to be paying attention and working through the mathematics. Although sometimes she needs to be cued back to working, the wheels are turning and she is at least copying the work off of the board. However, the minute the co-teacher enters the room the student seems to shut down. Her head drops and she seems to be very discouraged. I don’t quite understand this because the co-teacher is being brought into the classroom to improve the student’s math skills and instead, the student seems to be overwhelmingly discouraged.