Candice
Candice is an African American girl who is very quiet and often falls asleep during class. Her grades for the first two quarters were a 68 and a 51. In the interview, she responds to most questions with a pause followed by a very brief statement. She rates her focus in class at a 5, her interest in class at a 6, and her responsibility outside of class at a 4. One of her biggest struggles so far has been to turn in assignments on time. For instance, she did not turn in an essay in the second quarter that was worth more than any other grade. To improve in this matter, we set up a plan for the upcoming essay assignment in which I would set daily progress goals for her, checking in with her at the beginning and end of each class.
Candice Initial Interview | |
File Size: | 980 kb |
File Type: | wma |
For the month following the initial interview, my interactions with Candice mostly consisted of me checking in with her, asking how she was doing, and making sure she knew assignment expectations. If I saw her nodding off or sleeping, I would wake her up and see if she was feeling alright. During the essay writing workshop, she asked if she could hand-write her essay at first, and then type it all up at the end; she said this process would help her focus more. I said that would be just fine, and she made significant progress every day of the workshop. However, when it came time to type up the final version, she delayed a week before getting it to me. I arranged a time to meet with her so that I could provide feedback on her writing, but she repeatedly failed to show up at the allotted time. I did finally get to conference with her, however, when we did her final interview
During the next unit on The Great Gatsby Candice still struggled with written work, but she turned assignments in more regularly. On the literature circle discussion days she was the liveliest I had yet seen her and her group's discussions were some of the most amusing to listen in upon. Her written work in preparation for these was brief, but it did meet the expectations necessary for strong discussion, so she received full credit.
During the next unit on The Great Gatsby Candice still struggled with written work, but she turned assignments in more regularly. On the literature circle discussion days she was the liveliest I had yet seen her and her group's discussions were some of the most amusing to listen in upon. Her written work in preparation for these was brief, but it did meet the expectations necessary for strong discussion, so she received full credit.
Candice Final Interview | |
File Size: | 1861 kb |
File Type: | wma |
Candice shows significant changes in her final interview compared to her first interview. Her voice sounds more confident; it is louder and there is much less wait time between me asking something and her responding. She also speaks for longer periods of time and even interrupts me a few times. Her voice fluctuates naturally with the conversation depending on the tone of the conversation. For instance, there are traces of humor in her voice when she describes the effects of Benadryl on her ability to focus. In general she seems more comfortable, and as a result the interview goes for 7 minutes whereas the initial interview lasted only 4 minutes despite each being driven by a comparable number of prepared questions.
Candice also demonstrates a seemingly increased level of self-awareness. In the first interview she struggled to respond to a question as simple as "What do you do with your time when you're not in school?" In her final interview she is able to identify her own successes and moments of weakness as well as the factors influencing each. When again asked to rate her levels of focus, interest in English, and responsibility; her rating of focus remains constant at 5, her rating of interest goes down to a 5, and her rating of responsibility jumps up to 6. This latter change is the biggest she reports and is supported by her improved third quarter grade of 78 as well as her improved assignment completion rate.
When asked to provide feedback on the most recent unit concerning literature circles, Candice is able to give details supporting an assertion that this lesson structure was beneficial to her. She says that her own reading habits improved because she knew she only was assigned one very specific aspect of the reading to focus on and that she could rely on her group mates to investigate other aspects of that same reading. Because of this she was able to gain at least something from her own reading and then fix any confusion or misunderstandings through her interactions with her group mates.
Ultimately I find my interactions with Candice to have been successful ones. I cannot say for sure that these interactions are the reasons for her improved grades and performance, but there is a correlation. I can say, however, that these interactions were one contributing factor to the design of the Their Eyes Were Watching God essay workshop and the design of the entire Great Gatsby unit. According to Candice in the above interview, these two lesson designs contributed more to her learning than past lesson designs; with this in mind, these one-on-one interactions did improve Candice's performance in class, at least indirectly.
Candice also demonstrates a seemingly increased level of self-awareness. In the first interview she struggled to respond to a question as simple as "What do you do with your time when you're not in school?" In her final interview she is able to identify her own successes and moments of weakness as well as the factors influencing each. When again asked to rate her levels of focus, interest in English, and responsibility; her rating of focus remains constant at 5, her rating of interest goes down to a 5, and her rating of responsibility jumps up to 6. This latter change is the biggest she reports and is supported by her improved third quarter grade of 78 as well as her improved assignment completion rate.
When asked to provide feedback on the most recent unit concerning literature circles, Candice is able to give details supporting an assertion that this lesson structure was beneficial to her. She says that her own reading habits improved because she knew she only was assigned one very specific aspect of the reading to focus on and that she could rely on her group mates to investigate other aspects of that same reading. Because of this she was able to gain at least something from her own reading and then fix any confusion or misunderstandings through her interactions with her group mates.
Ultimately I find my interactions with Candice to have been successful ones. I cannot say for sure that these interactions are the reasons for her improved grades and performance, but there is a correlation. I can say, however, that these interactions were one contributing factor to the design of the Their Eyes Were Watching God essay workshop and the design of the entire Great Gatsby unit. According to Candice in the above interview, these two lesson designs contributed more to her learning than past lesson designs; with this in mind, these one-on-one interactions did improve Candice's performance in class, at least indirectly.