ELLEN
BERG
Diary #3
The
Mystery of the
Misbehaving
Sixth-Grader
But I couldn't
let him, anybody, know, page 122 look like page 152, 22, 3, 6, 5 –
all the pages look alike to me. 'N I really do want to learn. Everyday
I tell myself something gonna happen...I'm gonna break through or somebody
gonna break through to me – I'm gonna learn, catch up, be normal,
change my seat to the front of the class.
I met Brendan this summer during summer school. He was pleasant and had just about the sweetest smile I had ever seen. During discussions about stories I read aloud, Brendan's hand went up again and again, offering ideas, answers, and opinions about the reading we had shared. He was a dream.
There was, however, a flip side to Brendan. Whenever any independent reading or writing task was assigned, Brendan avoided it like fussy eaters avoid chunks in their food. Suddenly, Brendan would talk out, need to sharpen his pencil 50 times, hit students around him, and crack jokes. Rarely did pencil meet paper. This was the story in all of his classes, and before the end of summer school, Brendan had been expelled.School began and Brendan returned. The behavior was a little better, but the work avoidance continued. When Joe, the Americorps volunteer assigned to my classroom, tried to test Brendan's reading the first time, Brendan said he could not do it because he didn't have his glasses.
When the glasses were not forthcoming a week later, we went ahead with the testing and found not so surprising results: Brendan's independent reading level was first grade, and his oral fluency was 19 words per minute with 82% accuracy. He was far, far behind despite receiving resource services which, ironically, are for behavior rather than academics.
A conference with Mom and Brendan
Today the sixth grade team met with Brendan's parents, with Brendan in attendance. Each teacher described the problems they had been having with him – missing homework, behavior issues, etc. – while emphasizing his strengths during oral tasks. Brendan excels at any oral task and demonstrates exceptional comprehension skills for grade level work, as long as someone else is doing the reading. He has been able to compensate for his inability to read well by developing extremely strong listening and speaking skills.
When it was my turn to speak, I almost hesitated. How do I tell an involved mother that her child is so far behind? Mom is working on a college degree, and the family sits down together each night to do their homework together. Mom even buys Brendan practice books in reading and math to try to help him. How do I tell her that her baby is reading on the first grade level? Still, to hide the truth is no favor. I decided to lay it all out. When I told his Mom his reading level, I really thought she was going to cry. She looked shocked, like no one had ever told her this information before. I don't doubt that his elementary teachers hadn't shared that information; probably they didn't even know. Brendan was labeled as a lazy behavior problem, pure and simple. Brendan bowed his head but did not looked shocked. Our kids know when they don't know, and Brendan has invested a lot of time and energy trying to hide his reading difficulties from those around him. I told him I knew how hard he tried to hide it, but that I knew that was the reason he was acting out. I told him not to feel bad, that a reading level was not a measure of intelligence, but a measurement of current skills. Like someone's weight, a reading level can be altered through hard work and discipline. Mom swallowed hard and said, "What can I do?" Currently she has been giving him extra work in sixth grade comprehension workbooks. I told her she should get some second grade workbooks and, as his reading scores on the questions improve, move him up level by level. After he reads a selection from the workbook, she should talk to him about what he has read – what is it about? What does he think? What does it remind him of? I also suggested giving him flash cards with the Dolch words on them so he can develop the automaticity he needs to advance quickly. Decoding is not working for him, so the way to help him advance quickly is to help him learn basic sight words. I promised to send a list home with him, and the resource teacher decided to put him in a group of similar students to work on sight words at school as well. Mom still looked shell-shocked. Brendan, on the other hand, looked relieved, like, "Wow, finally I can breathe." I just want to hug him tight and tell him we'll get past this, that by the time he leaves my classroom he'll be a better reader, that the words on the page will finally make sense to him. The team decided to give Brendan extra time to do classwork, tape any reading, and give all assignments to the resource teacher ahead of time. We thanked Mom and promised to keep her updated.Knowing what to do
I feel better after this meeting than I ever have before. For the first time, I really feel I can help this child become a better reader. His comprehension skills are good, so with time and guided practice, he should develop quickly. Brendan looks like he believes he has a chance as well. He trusts us. Me.
A few years ago I would not have known what to do. I would have seen Brendan as a behavior problem and worked through classroom management channels to get him to comply. Perhaps, in the long run, he would have gotten his behavior together, but what good would I really have done? Sit quietly and learn nothing? Part of me is outraged that Brendan has gotten this far with no help, but the other part of me recognizes that I have been a part of the same problem myself, not through design but through a lack of understanding and skill. With hindsight I recognize many Brendans I failed to help because of my ignorance.The realization that I finally know what to do is bittersweet. Too late for former students, but just in time for Brendan. I don't know quite how to feel.
* * *
[Editor's note: Read last week's diary to learn more about Ellen's decision to do reading assessments of her students. This story reminds your editor of the recent DNA testing that has vindicated wrongly accused prisoners. How many more "behavior problems" are in this fix because middle schools are reluctant to assess students who show symptoms of "fake reading" and help their teachers gain the skills they need to do something about it?]
