Abigail Wierenga

Professor Steenstra
Education 202: Final Synthesis
May 2013
Being a prospective teacher I began Education 202 with high hopes knowing that
in this class I would be placed into a classroom for the first time. I was thrilled and
overcome with excitement as we signed up to be in a school. I indicated that I wanted
to be placed into a special education classroom since my major is special education.
When I received my school assignment I was taken aback. I was placed at Gerald R.
Ford Middle School in an emotional impairment classroom. My whole life I have gone to
a small private Christian school, so being placed into a large public school was very
new to me. Excited and eager to see what this experience had in store for me, I set off
with an open mind.
Gerald R. Ford Middle School is a very impressive school. It has three floors and
requires guests to be buzzed in for entry. As I walked up to the classroom I observed
that there were mainly African American students. In my classroom I introduced myself
to the teacher with whom I would be working, Miss Rachel Letherby. Miss Letherby is a
young caucasian teacher who graduated from Grand Valley University two years prior.
As the bell rang I sat down near her desk and looked around the classroom and
observed that the room was about 36 by 48 feet. There were six tables with two chairs
at each. On the white walls hung colorful papers with questions and prompts printed on
them. There were also motivational posters scattered around the classroom. On the
whiteboards in the front of the room were posters and a schedule of what Miss Letherby


was teaching that day. On the double doors that led into the classroom hung two
construction vests and a schedule of the bell system. I looked out one of the two
windows in the room and saw that the classroom overlooked a graveyard and a
residential area.
The classroom didnt change much from time to time as I came. However, the
occupants of the classroom changed nearly every time I visited. Miss Letherby has six
seventh grade students in her class. All of these students are African American, five
males and one female. I wondered if the majority of the students at GRF are also
African American. The Madison Area demographics show that 62% of the population is
African American and that 48% of the community is male (Grand Valley State
University, 2010). As I walked through the halls I saw some Hispanic and Caucasian
students and I wondered why all six of Miss Letherbys students were African American
and primarily male. This means that nationally, black students are three times more
likely to be identified as having mental retardation and over two times more likely to be
classified as emotionally disturbed when compared to their peers (Taylor and
Whittaker, 2009, 170). From these two resources I interpreted that the school serves a
majority of African American students and that African American students are morel
likely to be placed into an emotional impairment classroom. According to Delpit, Black
boys are unduly penalized in our regular classrooms. They are disproportionately
assigned to special education (2006, 169). From this quote and my observations I
concluded that it is possible that Miss Letherbys class is dominantly male because they
are more likely to be considered emotionally impaired.


Each time I came to GRF I could never be sure of who would show up for class.
The students attendance was anything but regular. There was one day where there
were three students in class and the other three had been suspended. The first day
that I came to GRF Miss Letherby had an eighth grade student coming back from 90
days in juvenile detention. Another day that I came it had snowed a significant amount
the night before and Miss Letherby told me, When it snows a lot of kids dont show up.
I wondered why that would be when I found this quote in Taylor and Whittaker High
levels of absenteeism and tardiness are common among homeless children who are
constantly moving, often without dependable transportation and knowledgeable
advocates for their needs (2009, 253). I inferred from what Miss Letherby told and the
reading that I had done, that students in low income and possibly in no income
households find it difficult to get to school when there is a significant amount of snow.
Another thing that Miss Letherby told me was that GRF only busses their EI kids. I
wondered why that was. We must demand the best possible education for all students-
higher-order pedagogies, innovative learning materials, and holistic teaching and
learning (Gorski, 2008). I wondered if they only bussed the EI students because the
school is trying to get them to class all the time and get them the best education that
they can offer.
As I sat in on classes and worked with the students, I concluded that the students
respect Miss Letherby. She refers to them by names such as honey, sweetheart, baby,
and homie. I wondered if it bothers the students when she calls them by these names.
One time I overheard Miss Letherby say to a student, Chill with the tude. I also
wondered if Miss Letherby feels like talking to students like such helps them to connect


better. In the classroom I often heard African American Vernacular English. One
example of this was when a student asked Miss Letherby Can you brings me my
paper? Miss Letherby replied, Can you please use proper English? I wondered what
her philosophy on Standard English in the classroom is. Neither teachers nor anyone
else will be able to force a choice upon an individual (Delpit, 2006, 54). The
relationships between the students and Miss Letherby are very solid and although the
students can act up sometimes I believe that they still respect her.
As the weeks passed I began to develop relationships with the students myself.
Over the weeks I chose to study three students and analyze. Although I observed all
that I could, it was difficult to observe in many of the sections we talked about in class.
Most of the time that I spent in the classroom was observing Miss Letherby trying to
keep the students under control and maybe trying to get them to do work if she could.
Since this happened the majority of the time that I was at GRF I dont have as many
observations in some of the areas which we studied. The first student whom I chose to
observe is a student named Albert. Albert is an African American male. While I was
observing him and occasionally helping him with work I noticed a few thing. One of the
first things that I noticed was about his attention. One day while I was working with him
he kept looking around the room and at the clock. He was fidgeting in his seat and kept
trying to talk to Miss Letherby while I was helping him. According to Levine this sounds
as if Albert might struggle with mental energy control. I observed that he had difficulty
completing tasks or fulfilling responsibilities that are not particularly entertaining or
immediately motivating (Dr. Melvin Levine, Attention, Glossary of Neurodevelopment
Terms). This passage seemed pretty accurate to what I had observed. Overall Albert


seems like a nice kid. A couple weeks in a row I didnt see Albert, but I didnt think
anything of it because of the erratic attendance of the students. One day I asked Miss
Letherby what had happened to Albert because I hadnt seen him in many weeks and
thought that was strange. She informed me that he is now a part of general education
and isnt in her class any more. Although this was exciting news it now meant that I
only had two students to observe and they were often absent to class.
The next student I observed was RagJavian. RagJavian is also an African
American seventh grader in Miss Letherbys class. One of the first things that I noticed
about RagJavian was his language. He, like many of his classmates, often spoke in
African American Vernacular English, or AAVE. Another thing that I observed about his
language was his choice of words. I observed that when he got angry he often slipped
more cuss words in and tended to have stronger AAVE than when he wasnt upset.
Once when he was upset he yelled I dont give a f*** to Miss Letherby in front of the
whole class. In one of our readings for class code switching was discussed. One part
that I remembered was that Students with weak code switching get in trouble for
sounding disrespectful when speaking to others...They use inappropriate language in
front of adults or during class discussions (Verbal Pragmatics). This passage led me to
wonder if maybe RagJavian struggles with code switching. Besides language I
observed a few things about his attention. There were times where he chose not to
read during AR time but chose to talk with other students or just to put his head down
on the table. There was one time during AR where he was intently trying to figure out
Miss Letherbys nick-name and was focusing on that but not his reading. After that
observation especially I wondered if he also struggles with mental energy control. He


seems to have difficulty completing tasks or fulfilling responsibilities that are not
particularly entertaining or immediately motivating (Dr. Melvin Levine, Attention,
Glossary of Neurodevelopment Terms). RagJavian is a student who seems to have
great potential if he is under control and focused on the work at hand. There were days
where he was very focused on his work and days where he was off the walls. For
example, the last day that I spent in the classroom he was being very disruptive and
had to fill out a reflection sheet, got security called, and then as I was leaving got a
writeup. RagJavian was a very interesting student to observe and I would be eager to
see where he goes in the rest of his schooling.
The final student whom I observed was another African American boy named
Rhyshy. Rhyshy was probably the most interesting student to observe. He, like
RagJavian, seemed to struggle with language. He also spoke using AAVE and quite
often some very crude language. In class he would often call his classmates n******,
once saying Ima take your Ipod and beat your a**. One class period a
paraprofessional in the classroom was trying to help him and he yelled at her to Move!
Stay away from me! After hearing this aggressive language I wondered both what the
schools policy on swearing was and what caused all of this aggressive language. I
found a possible answer to one of my questions in Dr. Melvin Levines book. It read
When individuals lack expressive language ability, they may be susceptible to the
development of aggressive behaviors and also depression or excessive anxiety
(Levine, 2002, 143). This lead me to wonder if Rhyshy has trouble with expressive
language ability. His language wasnt foul all the time though. There was one time
where he provided us with some comic relief during class. He was upset and was


throwing chairs around the room and yelling when he looked out the window and
exclaimed Ooooh, look! Snow! This random outburst which made us all laugh brings
me to the next part of my observations, attention. One observation that I had many
times was that Rhyshy was not reading during AR time. One time I clocked him not
even picking up his book for five minutes in the middle of AR time. This lead me to
wonder if he has trouble in the area of satisfaction. Only concentrates when inputs or
experiences are exciting; reveals instability for material possessions and acquisitions or
for excitement and intense stimulation (Dr Melvin Levine, Attention, Glossary of
Neurodevelopment Terms). This seemed to fit what I had observed of Rhyshy. Miss
Letherby said that Rhyshy is very capable of doing his work, it is just a matter of getting
him to concentrate.
There was one day where Miss Letherby and I were talking about Rhyshy and
she told me that he is very sensory driven. She said that Compression really works for
him. If he is freaking out and you just bear hug him he totally relaxes. After she told
me that I watched more carefully to see if I could see what she was talking about.
Luckily that day was not a good day for him so I was able to observe what Miss
Letherby was talking about. She gave him a heavy green lap pad which he placed on
his lap and that seemed to calm him down. As I thought back I remembered observing
him cinching his hood around his face when he was angry or upset. One time Miss
Letherby showed me a way that she used to keep him focused. The class was
watching a video on the geography of China and Rhyshy wasnt paying attention. Miss
Letherby sat down right next to him and placed her hand on the back of his neck and
shoulder. Once she did that he had no trouble concentrating and watched the rest of


the video. I got back to my room after that day and scoured my books to see why
compression might work for him, but I couldnt find anything on sensory compression.
I enjoyed my time at GRF. Miss Letherby was an amazing teacher who had
some even more amazing students. They provided me with many learning experiences
that I am hoping to take on and apply when I am a teacher. Although my time in the
classroom wasnt always observing learning, I enjoyed what I saw of the learning
environment. Going to Gerald R. Ford Middle School has really solidified for me that I
do want to teach special education. Going into this classroom with an open mind was
one of the best decisions I have ever made and I look forward to being placed in
different schools during my years at Calvin.