Billy Is in the Third

Billy is in the third grade and shows a lot of promise in terms of math and English skills and learn but he is very disruptive at times. The manifestation of the disruption is usually because Billy is disengaged in learning or obviously bored. He fidgets at his desk, makes random noises, tries to talk with classmates that are working on their own classwork and so forth.

As noted above, Billy is very bright and upon further review, it is clear that Billy is breezing through the work he is being given and he is actually much more advanced from a learning ability and knowledge standpoint than his peers. He is not acting violent or in an anti-social manner, he is just restless. It would serve Billy much better to give him more advanced material that would keep him engaged since it would challenge him more.

The common mistake schools make with kids, and Elmwood is making this mistake right now, is that students are often crammed together within the same track and overall pace of learning so as to keep the learning progress as homogenous as possible. However, due to factors like students who are truly mentally ill (which does not apply to Billy), disengaged parents, disengaged kids and so on, not everyone is at the same point in their learning path and, as such, should not be treated the same. Whether Billy is kept with his current core of classmates, he needs to be allowed to branch and learn as fast as his mind and his mental faculties allow rather than being held back due to the struggling or disengagement of others.

Scenario Two

The second child scenario in a school environment is Robert who is a student at Rosewood Elementary. Robert is generally very reserved and quiet but he can flash a nasty temper when he is made to feel awkward, cornered or otherwise threatened. The threat can be actual or perceived in nature and it is often the latter more than the former. When Robert is approached by teachers or counselors about his struggles and his flashes of anger, he is not receptive to talking about what is going on. His responses, should he give any, are very cryptic and tend to sound depressive and angry and it's also fairly obvious that the answers have something to do with home life issues and/or parenting concerns.

Problematic to this scenario is that the father of Robert refuses to come to the school and get involved in this matter or even parent/teacher conferences. The mother is more participative but is equally elusive about what is causing Robert to be so touchy and angry about seemingly benign things or in situations where there are not any clear stressors.

The real story, or at least a lot of it, began to crystallize when Robert showed up one day with bruises on his arm. Someone who will not be named reported concerns about possible abuse to the police and it was found that Robert was being abused by his father. Robert's father was removed from the situation and Robert began to improve almost immediately even if it was more slow and steady than fast and spirited.

Scenario Three

The third scenario relates to a child named Lora who is a fifth grader and Lincoln Elementary. Lora is a very bright child and is generally smiling and chipper. However, the one thing that she clearly has problems with is staying on task and focusing on her classwork and the class itself. Even when she is directly involved and conversing either with the other students or her teacher, her attention clearly tends to wander a bit. it's usually not that hard to snap her back to attention but the pattern plays out again and again at times although it's not always pervasive.

The teacher and even the parents suspected right away that the child has ADD, ADHD or some other attention-robbing variant of such mental disorders or challenges. One major aggravating factor to this equation is that the health coverage that the child's parents have is not conducive to spending a good amount of money on therapy and/or medications or even reliably and clinically diagnosing what is really going on to begin with so the hands of the parents are a bit tied.

However, some relief was garnered when a charitable organization offered to assist in getting Lora diagnosed and, if necessary, treated for anything she might have. It turns out she does have ADD but does thankfully not have the hyperactivity variant of the disorder. After starting treatment, Lora is much calmer and settled and is much more focused on doing her work. It dials her down perhaps a little too much at times but the progress she is making now is of clear benefit to her learning and her mental state. Perhaps the treatment can be dialed back at a later date.

Scenario Four

The fourth scenario is a child named Spencer that is a fourth grader at Linwood Elementary. Spencer is a smart kid but he's a bit of a bully. He will make fun of kids who look different including racial minorities or children with disabilities but his banter is not limited to that. It is clear that Spencer suffers from some sort of self-esteem issues but it's not entirely as to what the root of those feelings are and what is the best way to attack Spencer's activities.