Kirtland is located five miles from Farmington.  It is a small community that is predominantly comprised of pawn shops, storage centers, four convenience stores, and few eateries.  Nearly all businesses are owned by the local families.  Most of the population is Native American.  There is one high school and middle school that serves Kirtland.  There are two elementary schools.  However attendance fluctuates at Grace B. Wilson more due to transfers from across the river.  Students transfer from Ojo Elementary School at all times of the year.  The San Juan River divides the town of Kirtland from the reservation. 

Grace B. Wilson still looks the same as the day that I attended years ago.  The only changes are the interwrite boards and the few teachers who remain from the time I attended are in different parts of the school.  Grades fourth through sixth attend classes here.  As you travel down the hallway you will always find someone walking along on their way to class.  You will reach a T at the end of the hall and as you travel to the left you are heading towards fourth grade and a few fifth grade rooms.  You walk and notice the work of students on the walls of the hallway.  You will come across another hallway you must turn to your right and notice the restroom on the right where many students linger to chat with friends.   The first classroom on the left is the classroom that I have been in over the past few months.  Room 120 is messy.  We have talked about what we could do to keep the room clean and how it is their classroom and they should respect it.  However many students just said they do not know how they can maintain a neat work area. 

The messiest of the bunch happens to be my focus student, KA.  KA is a wonderful student who definitely has great things to say if you allow him the opportunity to.  He is a bright student and you realize this rather quickly by the manner that he speaks.  He is capable of caring about his assignments and completing tasks if you are willing to do something for him.  As I have observed him I have noticed that he cannot sit in one place very long as he completes his tasks in the classroom.  This becomes rather difficult in a cluttered classroom.  Students complain that he is walking around and disrupting them as they work.  The teacher shouts, “KA take a seat!” and I notice the irritated look on his face.  He sits there for two hours in the morning and has only completed half of one assignment.  Although he did manage to complete his journal he spent most of the time drawing his picture.

 The teacher is constantly on him to complete his work.  His mother is well aware of the issue and emails the teacher daily to see how things are going throughout the day.  She has made it known that she is available at all times of the day if a problem should arise.  KA is blessed to have a mother who is concerned with his academics.  She has a great relationship with him but as the youngest child she admits that he is given a lot of leeway.  He is currently the only child in their home KA’s older brothers have all moved out and onto to college.  He is the youngest of three children.  I notice that he has a wonderful time in PE as most kids do.  He enjoys running around and feels that there is a lot of freedom in the PE class.  He says that drama is his least favorite specials class.  He does not like the teacher or the content they are learning.

 We have had lunch two times this school year and I have met his mother twice.  I have shared information with him as he has shared information with me.  It was a great way for him to open up to me and talk about what he feels would help him learn.  Naturally many of them were costly. His motivations were video games, food, and having the opportunity to have a free write assignment.  KA explained all the wonderful ideas he had for a writing assignment.  I have made it a priority to read his writing if he continues to keep up and complete his other assignments.  He realizes that there is no ways of getting out of his class work but admits it’s boring.  He is an incredibly honest student who has shared a wealth of information with me.  He has asked if we could study World War II.  I have asked him what else keeps him from learning and he said nagging him.  He does not like it when he is picked on in front of the class for not doing his work or keeping his area clean.  I tried doing centers with a menu three times this year and KA was the one of the three students who could work effectively that way.  I have an idea of what will work for him and know that he is easy to talk to.  It is reassuring to know that if I ever have an issue all I have to do is ask him what I need to do as the teacher.

My other focus student SY was transferred to the school right before Christmas.  He came with a group of ten others from Ojo Elementary.  He prides himself on being the student who likes nothing.  He is nothing like the drama teacher characterizes him as.  He is neither disrespectful nor bad.  I cannot imagine coming to a new school and already feeling unwelcome because of the reputation built up by one teacher prior to your arrival.  The other students enjoy him in their company because of his jokes and art.  He is an amazing artist who spends a lot of time drawing.  However one cannot complain because he completes his assignments. Although there are several times throughout the day the teacher has to keep him in line.  He definitely feels that he only does what he wants to.  He does shut down and often implies that he is stupid.  No matter what you say or do it does not make him feel otherwise.  I let him know that he does great work and he often remarks that he missed one problem so he is not smart.  Even when he does great he quips that he is not intelligent.

  As I have observed him I have noticed that he does all that he can to remain off task.  The other day he was playing with his glue.  He filled the inside of his pencil box during content time.  I did not say anything I just watched as he encouraged the boy next him to follow suit.  The boy was reluctant but smiled and reached for his glue and did the same.  The teacher noticed half a bottle later and sent him to the office.  He had been disruptive all day and the glue incident sent him to the office.  He tore a fellow student’s worksheet just before that and called another student an inappropriate name.  It seems that he has little respect for anyone or anything.  He had not always been this way.  I noticed that within the past few weeks it all started up.  He usually has the occasional outburst but gets his assignments completed with great marks.  He has mentioned that he is tutored at Sylvan and likes it because they give him things.

 SY’s strengths are ideally artistic and he is great at math and reading.  He surprised many of the other teachers who assumed that he would have a low reading level like many who transfer from Ojo.  I was glad he made them eat their words.  He tells me that he does not like to read but I do catch him doing it a lot of the time after finishing his assignments.  He may not be reading AR material but he does read what interests him which is comic books.  I have tried having conversations with him but he shuns you and asks why you want to talk to him.  He shuts down and states that he does not care.  He then goes on about how nobody likes him or cares what he does.  I have tried scheduling a conference with his parents but they have never responded.  I even tried giving them a call but came to realize that all numbers provided were disconnected.  It has been difficult to reach a student who is unwilling to talk to you or anyone.  I have had to play detective to find what interests him.  I have noticed that he likes art and he does like to read but only graphic novels.  He likes to do centers and completes his work quickly so that he is able to work on them.  I have tried to learn from him through his journal.  I will place prompts on the board to get some information from him but he simply won’t do that either.  He feels that nobody needs to ask him questions.  I will continue to find ways to communicate with him.  I have something to go on.  I will find graphic novels that will interest him and try to implement logic puzzles to keep him going. 

My two focus students enjoy centers.  Currently they are two of three students who enjoy them and can work effectively.  I feel that I need to continue with centers if I plan to reach them.  I have had great feedback from them about how they enjoy being able to work independently during that time.  I have learned that it is important to find a way to speak with your students daily.  It is a good way to find out what you can do to help them learn in your classroom.  It is also important to know that it is possible to reach all students and meet their needs.  It may not happen overnight and definitely is a trial and error process it is possible.  I will continue to build off their interests and make their learning environment comfortable.