University of Puerto Rico - Humacao English Department

Case Study

Dr. Conchita Cuevas High School

Gurabo, Puerto Rico

María Edith Jordán Gómez 842-07-3993

Dr. Aníbal Muñoz Claudio EDPE-4006-001

February 20, 2012

Case Study

Phase I

PART I

I. Demographic Information

A. Name: Itzamar Cruz Vega

B. Age: 17

C. School and Grade: Dr. Conchita Cuevas High School, 12th grade

D. Hobbies and Extracurricular Activity: Student expressed that she works and that her

hobbies include sleeping, social networking (Facebook), and using her cellphone. She does

not belong to any school team or club.

E. Home Address: HC 03 BOX 4975, Gurabo, Puerto Rico 00778

F. Father’s Name: Ruben Cruz Porrata

a. Occupation: Bailiff

b. Educational Background: Unknown

G. Mother’s Name: Maritza Vega Alejandro

a. Occupation: Housewife

b. Educational Background: Unknown

II. Justification

I decided to choose Itzamar Cruz Vega for this case study because according to her group

profile questionnaire and comments she has expressed to me in class, she seems have no idea of

what she is going to do after high school. At this stage in her high school career she should at least

have an idea of what she wants to do, and should be taking the necessary steps to continue her

education. Many students are confused in this stage of their lives. The decision of what to do

after high school is life changing and overwhelming. Although many students have their goals and

plans set, there are many others who need extra guidance, support, and encouragement to take

these decisions. Itzamar is one of these students that need the extra help. The good thing is that

the school is equipped with a great student counselor, and dedicated teachers who can provide

this support.

Another motive to choose Itzamar for this case study is that in a separate questionnaire I

gave the class specifically about English, she expressed that she wanted to learn to write and

understand English. Although she has had many absences, when she is in class she participates,

and does her best to complete any written activities. This willingness to participate in class and

get her work done is what has motivated me to give her extra help, so that she can learn how to

write and understand English as she expressed in her questionnaire.

Itzamar has caught my attention for this case study because of the reasons mentioned

above. I am willing to facilitate her success, but ultimately it depends on her own willingness and

commitment.

III. Hypothetical Account

A. Account of student’s behavior in the classroom setting

The student has had five absences in the past two weeks I have been their practice

teacher. However, the times she has been in class she has participated even though she

has needed encouragement from me and from her friends to do so. Her English

proficiency, from writing to speaking and understanding is very limited, according to her

performance. However, when she does understand, she performs well.

B. Hypothesis of possible causes and relationship with situations in the classroom

I believe the student lacks motivation. This is why she has so many absences in the

classroom. I believe if she had a plan for the future she would see the importance of

getting good grades to be able to achieve her goals. The student has a job, so I believe

that has a lot to do with her indecision on what to do in the future. It is unknown if her

parents encourage and support her to achieve a higher level of education. This could also

be a major factor in her indecision.

IV. Work Plan I

Date Activity Purpose Persons Involved

February 19, 2013 Interview

Homeroom teacher

to get student’s

grades, attendance

records, and other

pertinent

information.

Recompile

information about

the student

Homeroom teacher

Teacher Candidate

February 20-22,

2013

Interview the

student’s friends.

Know more about

the student, her

behavior and

absences.

Students

Teacher Candidate

February 23-28,

2013

Interview Student.

Verify Willingness

to participate.

Student

Teacher Candidate

Set up tutoring

session times,

dates, and place.

Help with the

English class, and

study habits in

general.

Student

Teacher Candidate

Set up meeting with

guidance counselor

Vocational test.

Professional help in

any other aspect

the student may

need.

Guidance counselor

Student

Teacher Candidate

A. Academic Achievements, Standardized Tests-

B. Home and Family Life- Itzamar’s father is a Bailiff, and her mother is a housewife.

She has one other sibling.

C. Health Conditions- Anxiety

D. Aptitudes-

E. Interests- Student claims she has none.

F. Future Plans- Undecided.

Case Study

Phase II

PART II

V. Analysis of Student’s Situation (based on data)

My hypothesis for this case was that I believe the student lacks motivation, which is why

she has so many absences in the classroom. These absences affect her academically because

she is always behind. This is why she claims she never understands the material (in all of her

classes). After spending several weeks as the Itzamar’s teacher, I realized she is absent

sporadically, not all the time as I observed in the beginning. Her long period of absence was

due to illness, she presented a medical excuse to me when she returned from her leave. The

issue of the problem being her absences was signaled and ruled out as the problem during my

interview with Mrs. María Nieves, Itzamar’s homeroom teacher, and in accordance to Mr.

Eduardo Martínez’s attendance records. So far I have noticed that she lacks motivation

because she doesn’t understand. She often points out that she doesn’t understand, in every

class. I noticed that what she needed was individual instruction. Aside from weekly meetings

after class, every time I gave instructions and everyone started working, I would go to Itzamar

to briefly explain the instructions to her once more. This worked, because once she

understood what to do and how to do it, she excelled in whatever task. She has been showing

lots of progress academically. Her 3rd quarter grade was a 96% A! Also, she participates

actively, and even though she still might say she can’t do it because she doesn’t understand,

she is never reluctant to try. Once a week at any moment after class, I have been meeting up

with her to clear any doubts she may have. These mini sessions have really helped her,

because thanks to the confidence she feels in being able to do all assignments, her

participation in class has increased (speaking, reading, writing, and listening), she turns in her

homework, classwork and projects on time and she gets excellent grades. This is an

indication that even though she struggles, she is eager to go the extra mile to succeed. So

really, all she needed to become motivated was the extra guidance. This lowered her

inhibitions and raised her self-esteem and made school, or at least English class, less stressful.

Itzamar has a really great group of friends which are in the same homeroom. They are

even going to the same university (although some to different campuses). They will be

attending the Interamerican University, to be exact. I learned this during my informal

interviews with them. This means that without my help or guidance, Itzamar decided what

college she was going to attend. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the seniors wear the shirts of the

universities they will attend. Now, Itzamar proudly wears her Interamerican University t-shirt.

I am so glad she made her decision, a tough one at that, so I can see why she was so

indecisive. There has been a tremendous change in her attitude ever since she made this

decision. Even if she ends up changing her mind about what she would like to study, the

important thing is that through her actions, she has proven to me that she considers her

education to be very important. So I know that no matter what, she will not give up on her

education. I know that she thrives with her friends as her support system as well. I have seen

the way these four girls help each other succeed. This is friendship, companionship, and

teamwork at its best. They are lucky to have each other because more than friends, they have

been each other’s teachers, counselors, and more. For these reasons, and after speaking to

Itzamar and her friends, I decided not to pursue the meeting with the guidance counselor.

The day the student’s grades were picked up I got the opportunity to meet Itzamar’s

father. Just him showing up shows a great deal of caring, because most parents didn’t even

bother to pick up their son’s/daughter’s grades. He was very happy to see Itzamar’s

improvement in her grades, for every class! He had a humongous smile and even exclaimed,

“Yes!”, when he found out her English class grade.

Overall, I would say that half my hypothesis was incorrect, but in this case it is great that it

was incorrect because the solution to the case was way simpler than I expected it to be. I

knew that if she had a plan for the future she would see the importance of getting good

grades to be able to achieve her goals. Although I don’t think she ever thought an education

was unimportant. Her friends get her through, and her family shows interest in her schooling.

Although she claims not to understand, clearly she just needs individual instruction. She gets a

lot of help like this from her friends and I am glad I got to help her out, even if it was just in

English class. She even wrote in an evaluation from a quiz, that with the teacher’s brief and

personal explanation, she was able to do the quiz with no problems. At the end of the

semester I am going to suggest that in college she gets a good study group, like the one she

has right now in High School, and that she visit the professors during their office hours for any

extra help she may need. I know that if she has a similar support system to the one she has

now, she will succeed in anything she does.

VI. Work Plan II

Date Activity Purpose Persons Involved

Present-

May 17, 2013

tutoring session

Help with the English

class, and study habits in

general.

Student

Teacher Candidate

Due to the student’s progress, the only thing left to be done for the rest of the semester is

to continue with the mini tutoring sessions. These benefit her greatly because she is able to clear

any doubts and they give her extra practice so she feels confident enough to participate in class.

Also, during class, I will continue to go to her, and all other students to explain any material they

may need with my individual and undivided attention. Also, I will continue to use lots of

encouragement, for example, a simple, “just try it” or “I know you can do it” will do the trick and

lots of positive reinforcement for their achievements. This boosts motivation and self-esteem and

lowers their inhibitions. Most importantly, it gets rid of the ever dreaded, “I can’t”.

Case Study

Phase III

VII. Final Reactions

Working with Itzamar has been a wonderful experience in the enrichment of my

professional life. There are many students who struggle with the same problems Itzamar

does. I noticed her struggling since the beginning of the semester. Although I noticed a lot of

confusion in her, I also observed commitment on her behalf. Therefore, I decided to give her

some extra guidance to take her out of the turmoil in her mind, at least when it came to

English class. The best action taken as a teacher is to give her individual attention in the form

of tutoring sessions. She responded so well to the tutoring sessions. They helped her

understand better, raise self-confidence and lower inhibitions. Her affective filter was really

interfering with her performance in class, but thanks to the individualized help and the

unconditional support from her friends, she was able to pull through, and pass with flying

colors and more self-confidence.

My recommendation for Itzamar in this next stage in her life, which is college, is first off, to

have a good communication with her professors. When she feels unsure about what is going

on in class or what she needs to do for an assignment, she should take full advantage of the

professors’ office hours. Also, she should get a good study group, because she does very well

in peer related activities, and college is a lot easier when you have the experience of studying

with your peers. Peers motivate each other to do better. Itzamar was lucky enough to have

this in High School, and I’m sure she will have something similar in college. The most

important suggestion for Itzamar is to never give up because she is more than capable of

achieving all of her goals. These are very confusing years in a young person’s life, therefore it

is only natural to feel hopelessness. What’s important is not letting herself get stuck in the

confusion so as to not be able to accomplish her tasks with success. I know that she will pull

through and be successful in any path she chooses. She just has to remember that everyone

needs help and at the stage she is about to enter in her life she has to ask for it herself.

I believe this was a successful case study. I was able to help Itzamar with her language

learning problems. The best part of all was that she had the ability in herself all along. She

just needed some extra guidance to have the confidence to perform to the best of her

abilities. I’m sure this is the case with many other students, but luckily I was able to provide

her with the guidance she needed.