One of the problems mentioned was that the parents thought the worksheets were too advanced. Rosa should not have to take worksheets home. She should not even have to do any worksheets. If she can’t complete her work in class, what makes the teacher think that Rosa will complete it at home? During the math portion of the class, the teacher should think about pulling Rosa aside for five or ten minutes during their independent work time and give her one-on-one help if possible. If Rosa has to have homework, the teacher can come up with assignments where maybe Rosa needs to create a couple of problems on her own and solve them (if they are word problems, then she can write them in Spanish if she feels more comfortable with that). Then the teacher can get a student to translate that for her (the ideal classroom- a student that speaks Spanish and English that can help the teacher out). Another problem that the parents had was that they think Rosa does not benefit from group work. Perhaps Rosa has been placed in a group where there are lower level students that really can’t help Rosa out. Rosa can be placed in another group where there is a student that can translate things for Rosa. She should be placed with a partner (peer tutoring) that she can benefit from. The teacher should have no problems with letting other students translate and help Rosa. Also, Rosa needs to sit somewhere else in the classroom (perhaps towards the middle of the class and towards the front). Rosa should be moved away from the window since we noticed that she has been staring out of the window and being ‘off task’ during math class (see Phase IV).

Another solution to Rosa’s problem is since the principal visited the classroom and noticed that they were not doing any hands-on activities, the principal should approach the teacher and talk to her about that. The principal has been asking, ““Why is Rosa not paying attention?” and, “She looks like she cannot understand the teacher, is that what is really going on?”. The principal has now been making scheduled trips to visit Rosa’s class with Rosa in mind to make sure that the teacher has indeed been making modifications to help Rosa. Ever since they talked, the teacher has been getting the students actively engaged with something meaningful. For example, the teacher gives her more pictures or manipulatives to capture her interest and help her along while learning. The students have been interacting with each other more with engaging hands-on activities. The teacher is now walking around the classroom and paying attention to all of the groups and spending time with each group. The teacher is also making an effort to spend time with both the boys and girls equally (this was also one of the teacher’s problems- paying more attention to the boys rather than the girls- the principal noticed this). Since Rosa may also need more ESOL instruction, the ESOL resource teacher has also made an arrangement to come and visit Rosa during math time and sit at her groups’ table and spend more time with her. Additionally, instead of giving her three warnings and then sending her to the principal’s office, the teacher is now making an effort to try out Jim Fay’s philosophy. She is giving Rosa choices, for example, asking, “Would you like to work on this assignment on your own or would you like to work with a partner?”

The school psychologist will continue to work closely with ESOL resource teachers, Rosa’s parents, her classroom teacher, the school administrator, and student services personnel to help coordinate services to Rosa.

Write 3 reflective/discussion questions based on the whole case study.

a. When you think about Rosa compared to Sergio, is it important to take their home life into consideration? Why?

b. Who should be involved in determining what an ESOL student needs?

c. What is the best strategy for teaching reading and writing to Rosa?

Write 6 questions using Bloom’s taxonomy based on the case study.

Knowledge -
Relate Rosa's syntactical abilities to Sergio's syntactical abilities.
Where did Rosa live and with whom?
Define Rosa’s language skills in English and Spanish
Comprehension:
Should we compare Rosa to her older siblings to see if they are having the same problems as she is- with not paying attention during the math?
Should the teacher not attempt to re-interpret the information through pictures and hands-on activities or even incorporate cooperative learning groups during the math portion of the class just because Rosa’s parents think she does not benefit from group work?
Application -
Interpret and solve Rosa's problem with math.
Analysis –
Compare Rosa’s development from when she first arrived to the present moment.
Compare Rosa’s language development to those of her peers.
Synthesis -
Is it correct to blame Rosa’s home life for her difficulty in acquiring the L2?
Evaluation:
Is it necessary for us to find out the root of Rosa’s emotional problem, or should we just stick to making more ESOL modifications for Rosa during math time?
How do you think Rosa feels about learning English from her brothers and sisters?