Reflection for TRB Standard 3

My evidence for TRB Standard 3 is a students report card I needed to do as part

of my assessment for my supervisor. The report card clearly illustrates my
understanding of individual learning differences and the affirmative action I took to
improve the students productivity in class through considering their unique needs
and the implicit challenges involved. Due to confidentiality protocols, I am unable to
present the original report card from the students previous school. However, in
summary, the student was not achieving what would be expected of a similar
students with their intellectual ability. Based on conversations with the student, this
could reasonably be said to be much higher than average. In a very general sense,
the student was not only getting low final marks for their courses but in some cases
was also failing them outright. When they originally came to the school, the habits
they had established in the previous institution were continued. This was illustrated
by the overall low grade and lack of engagement in class. The later manifested itself
in the student excusing themselves from class and spending an abnormal amount of
time using the bathroom, or simply wandering around the school grounds.
Engagement in class was sporadic and the student would often go off topic. This
would affect the dynamics of the class and had it not been for my intervention would
have eventually resulted in a negative relationships with the other students had it
continued for a significant duration.My fundamental responsibilities as an educator
was not just to intervene, but also gain an understanding of why this particular
student was not achieving the high grades they were capable of. Part of this process
of understanding was to forward my concerns to the school administration in the
attempt to establish an action plan in regards to changing the students attitude
towards their commitment to learning.Consequently, there was a number of
meetings with the students guardians that revealed the student had suffered
significant personal trauma in their most recent past. Furthermore, upon advice from
medical professionals the student underwent a test for autism. After contact with
professionals who had dealt with autistic learners I Altered my instructional plans to
suit the needs of the learner.Due to this diagnosis a management plan was devised
for the student that included regular weekly email contact with their guardians.
Working in conjunction with them,protocols that were established in the home were
also continued at work. This had the effect that in every aspect of the students life,
they were accountable for their actions and that there were consistent
consequences. In order to maintain these protocols, I also made myself available for
the student prior to class. This helped with classroom management because the
student was able to have a safe and non judgemental space where the student was
able to ask questions that were not suitable within the context of the classroom. This
had the effect of the student's curiosity about an obscure topic to do with the material
had being sated and subsequently the student did not feel the need to ask distracting
questions in class.This played a role in negating the potential for distraction and
maintained the focus in the classroom reducing the need for spontaneous
adjustment. Ultimately, and
through multilateral engagement with other members of staff and applying specific
management routines across all of their subjects, the students grades and
engagement slowly but significantly changed to the point where comparison with the
previous school report meant that the student was unrecognisable from the one that
first arrived at the school.