MATC Synthesis Paper: EMPOWERING THE STRUGGLING STUDENT VERMEULEN 1

Empowering the Struggling Student

MATC Synthesis Paper

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree in Teaching and Curriculum

Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University

Lauren VerMeulen

PID A42888981

July 12, 2018

MATC Synthesis Paper: EMPOWERING THE STRUGGLING STUDENT VERMEULEN 2

Introduction:

We are all familiar with the phrase, “everything happens for a reason”. It is a cliché

phrase that we hear every time the going gets tough, and I used to roll my eyes every time I

heard it. Ever since I was in the sixth grade, I knew I wanted to be a Spanish teacher. I was

obsessed with the language and the culture, and I wanted to spread that passion to students who

never believed they could truly learn another language. Twelve years later, I found myself

standing in front of my students living out my dream. At the end of my first year, I found out that

for my second year of teaching, I would be teaching primarily math with only one Spanish class.

Insert that eye-rolling phrase here. Then for my third year, I was stripped of my last Spanish

class. At the time I was heartbroken, however now I fully believe in the cliché. Switching

subjects made me realize that my passion is actually teaching itself. Teaching a core class gave

me a different dynamic of students. Students do not have an option of taking math—it is a

requirement. I found myself in a new world of trying to find ways to motivate students who were

prone to falling behind. I looked for ways to connect with students who were labeled as the

“problem children” or the ones that “no one could get through to”. Because of teaching math, I

learned more about myself as a teacher than I believe I ever would have if I continued to teach

Spanish. While I still try my best to build relationships with all of my students, I have found that

I dedicate the most amount of my time to identifying my struggling students, and I do everything

in my power to show them how much I believe in them. I look for ways to empower them before

they move onto high school, so that they leave my room with more confidence than they had the

first day of school.

Section 1: Background
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As my teaching career has unfolded, I have found myself having many of the struggles of

your typical beginning teacher. I struggled to find a way to establish myself as a teacher, while

still feeling very much like a student. I felt caught between approachable to my students but also

having an authoritative role in the classroom as well. My students liked me, but at times I

questioned whether they actually saw me as a teacher given my relaxed classroom setting. I

finally realized that the more time I spent obsessing over this, the less I accomplished.

Eventually I gave into myself, realizing that if being stricter did not come naturally to me, then I

need to stick to my strengths and make them work in my favor. Making personal connections

with students has proven to be the foundation of all of my classroom management strategies. I

have been praised often for my ability to connect with students, especially with students who

typically have struggles either academically or socially. This has led me to one of my roles in my

school as the eighth-grade math support teacher, which focuses on the students who have poor

performance in their math classes. This role led me to apply for the Master of Arts in Teaching

and Curriculum program at Michigan State University.

Having completed my undergrad at MSU, I felt incredibly prepared to begin my teaching

career. With a College of Education that has routinely been ranked among the best in the

country, it was natural that I would return to my alma mater to pursue my masters degree.

Throughout my coursework with the MATC program, I have gained new insights on ways that I

can continue to connect with my struggling students. However, more importantly, I have learned

ways in which I can take that connection to the next level. I can do this by empowering them

through understanding their backgrounds and struggles, incorporating technology to keep them

engaged with the curriculum, and furthermore, encouraging them to take ownership of their

learning and become more autonomous.

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Section 2: Understanding the Student

While the majority of my courses during my time in the MATC program were focused on

my concentration of educational technology, I took one course, TE 846, Accommodating

Differences in Literacy Learners, which was primarily focused on literacy. The main assignment

of this class was a Literacy Learner Analysis (Artifact 4), which taught me the most about

assessing and understanding student learning out of all of my classes. This assignment aligned

with various goals and standards of the MATC program, however primarily with Goal 1.

Through this assignment, I engaged in critical inquiry, as aligned with Goal 1, as I selected a

student, Johnny, to work with throughout the course of the project to analyze and understand his

literacy strengths and struggles. Johnny is a student from El Salvador who, at the time, had only

been in the United States for about seven months when the assignment began. A portion of the

project asked us to analyze the student’s literacy background and take a look at how those factors

might be playing a role in his current struggles. Being bilingual in Spanish myself, I was lucky

enough that I could analyze both his literacy skills in English as well as in Spanish. Due to the

language barrier, it was not surprising that Johnny struggled with reading and processing in

English, however what was the most surprising to me was that even when I offered the same

question with a Spanish translation directly under it, he chose to use the English portion to apply

the word problem strategy that we had been working on. Including multiple options and molding

my approach according to the student follows Standard 3 of the MATC program, as this

demonstrates flexibility in response to issues that arose in the case analysis.

As referenced in my analysis, Small and Lin mention, “Teachers are not using

educational time wisely if they either are teaching beyond the student’s zone of proximal

development or are providing instruction on material the student already can handle
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independently. Although other students in the classroom may be progressing, the student

operating outside his or her zone of proximal development is often not benefiting from the

instruction” (Small & Lin, 2010, p. 2). I realized that without a solid literacy foundation in

neither his native, nor second language, much of the material that I used was going far above

Johnny’s abilities. Although he showed many signs of growth and understanding, he also showed

incomplete acquisition of the execution of the strategies. In many ways, my work with Johnny

taught me the importance of getting to know my students’ backgrounds to have a better

understanding of what their needs are. If I am working outside of their “zone of proximal

development”, then I am not actually teaching them anything, because they have tuned me out.

In fact, I am actually hindering their learning even more, because I might be moving on while

their learning gap just continues to grow. This is a clear connection to Standard 2 of the MATC

program of understanding and commitment to students and their diversity.

As the eighth-grade math support teacher, I know ahead of time that I will be working

with students who have learning gaps. With this in mind, it is vital that I take time to understand

not just what their challenges are, but the reasons behind them. Understanding my students’

home lives and support systems both in and outside of the school, more often than not, tells you

more than any test will. Being able to address the root of the problem and work within those

boundaries, which at times cannot be fixed, is essential in finding ways to improve those students

so they find success. It is also important to note, as we were encouraged in the Literary Learner

Analysis assignment, that even a small growth is still a success. When working with students

who often struggle, it is important to encourage and praise even just small successes, because as

students start to see that they are making progress, this in return motivates them to keep doing

their best. Understanding what motivates your students is another key to help empower the
MATC Synthesis Paper: EMPOWERING THE STRUGGLING STUDENT VERMEULEN 6

struggling students. In a world where technology is becoming a more prevalent part of our lives,

it is no surprise that incorporating technology effectively into our teaching can be one of these

motivators.

Section 3: Incorporating Technology to Engage Struggling Students

There is no doubt in the pivotal role that technology has played in my students’ lives. As

a middle school teacher, the incoming sixth grade class was born the same year that the first

iPhone was released. This means that my incoming eighth graders were just toddlers as this time.

If our students have grown up in a world where they can find the answers to almost anything on

a device that is roughly the size of their hand, we need to find ways that we can transform these

technologies to fit our classroom needs. Redefining the purpose of these technologies that are

familiar to students goes a long way for our kids. Luckily, my district has 1:1 iPads for each of

my students, so the question that I have been exploring throughout my time in the MATC

program is how to effectively use the iPad in my daily instruction. Many assignments that I had

throughout my program provided me with new perspectives on how I could transform my

classroom, hereby engaging students. Most of these assignments align with Goal 2 of the MATC

program, as they allowed me to strengthen my understanding of my curriculum but challenged

my thinking to make my lessons more dynamic through means of technology.

Perhaps the assignment that single-handedly had the most influence over my instruction

was the Vodcast Project (Artifact 3) from TE 831, Teaching School Subject Matter with

Technology. For this assignment we were asked to transform a lesson into a video format in

which we delivered the content digitally. Since my math classes are set up for mastery learning

in which they watch lecture videos to learn new content, this assignment worked perfectly with

my regular classroom routines. The difference was that I had previously been finding videos on
MATC Synthesis Paper: EMPOWERING THE STRUGGLING STUDENT VERMEULEN 7

the internet to teach the concepts versus creating my own lecture videos from scratch, however

through this assignment I learned how to use my own content to deliver my own personal

message to my students. After positive feedback from my students, I reflected greatly on this

assignment to refine my deliver approach of content to my students, as aligned with Standard 4

of the MATC program. Ever since creating my Vodcast Project, I produced my own lecture

videos. Luckily, I took this class during the fall, and it was the second chapter of the school year,

so ninety percent of our curriculum was based on my videos. Furthermore, I shared these videos

with my other eighth grade math counterparts, so my videos were watched by every student in

non-honors eighth grade math classes. The distribution and collaboration effect with my

colleagues also were a way for me to take on a leadership role as expressed in Standard 6 of the

MATC program as well. I had the most positive reaction to this from my struggling students,

because videos gave them the ability to pause and go back to concepts that they did not fully

grasp. They also expressed that it was comforting and more personal for them to have a voice

that they recognize teaching them these concepts.

In my CEP 811, Adapting Innovative Technologies to Education, class, we took a closer

look at maker education and we were encouraged to make a lesson plan centered around maker

technology. As I was unfamiliar with maker education prior to the course, let alone in using my

maker kit from Makey Makey, I realized heavily on outside support from colleagues or YouTube

tutorial videos, which align the Goal 3 of the MATC Program in pursuing outside knowledge for

the benefit of my students to have a quality experience with my Maker Lesson Plan assignment

(Artifact 7). Furthermore, through both CEP 810, Teaching Understanding with Technology, and

CEP 811, I had to document my experiences by created blog posts which were made public and

shared through my Twitter account, which connects me to a seemingly unlimited number of

MATC Synthesis Paper: EMPOWERING THE STRUGGLING STUDENT VERMEULEN 8

educators. This lesson was tailored specifically to my Math Support classes which allowed for

them to come up with their own review practice using a maker kit. Through the act of creating

their own practice, students are engaged in their own learning and forced to have a deeper level

of understanding. For struggling students, the maker kit allows them to explore and become more

involved with their own learning. As stated in my resources from this assignment “Students

master academic content through personalized learning, choosing from “playlists” made of such

learning tools as Khan Academy videos, BrainPOP animations, guided practice problems,

interactive exercises, websites, and texts. They take tests when they feel ready, moving to new

content when they’ve achieved mastery” (Jacobs, 2018, p. 33). This aligned with how I

implement videos, practice and mastery learning as a whole into my classroom which

furthermore encourages student autonomy. Altogether this further aligned with Standard 2 of the

MATC program as it required a deeper understanding of my subject matter and the best ways for

my students to engage in the learning progress.

Section 4: Encouraging Student Autonomy

If our job as educators is to prepare our students for their futures, we are doing them a

great disservice if we are not promoting autonomy. Students need to be able to take

responsibility for their learning and their own experiences in order to function in today’s society.

In TE 807, Professional Development and Inquiry, I based my Classroom Inquiry Project

(Artifact 2) on how mastery learning can promote student autonomy. Again, aligning well with

Goal 1 and Standard 4, this assignment allowed for me to partake in critical inquiry which helped

me gain a better understanding of my students and what is best for them. Much of this

assignment required gathering data from them as a basis of my claims and evidence in support of

my inquiry question. My data showed that my students became much more aware of their
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learning through a mastery curriculum. Mastery allows for students to work at their own pace,

however it also encouraged students to take ownership of their own learning. They need to

manage themselves to not fall too behind, but also understanding what it is that they need to do

to be successful. Especially in the case of struggling students, this helps them identify their

strength and weaknesses in the classroom. By capitalizing their strengths, they gain confidence

and motivation moving forward. Students want to take ownership of their success. However, on

the flip side, it also identifies their weaknesses, which can also be used to their benefit. Mastery

learning teaches students to work through their weaknesses and students have to be responsible

to take advantage of the resources available during those times of weakness.

I further explored student autonomy through my Vision Statement (Artifact 5) from my

CEP 815 class, Technology and Leadership. As sited in my statement, “Research has shown that

motivation is related to whether or not students have opportunities to be autonomous and to

make important academic choices. Having choices allows children through young adults feel

empowered that they have control or ownership over their own learning. This, in turn, helps them

develop a sense of responsibility and self-motivation” (McCombs). In my statement, I offered

the ideas of mastery learning, formative assessment and making thinking visible as solutions to

encouraging student autonomy. Each of these things are essential for struggling students,

however these are the students who could benefit the most from the feedback that formative

assessments provide. As I mention, there are many mediums of formative assessment that are in

game-like fashion, such as Kahoot, Quizzizz, or Quizlet Live which capture students’ attention

an engage them in the activity. The beauty of these is that they also help students keep track of

their own progress along the way, creating a sense of autonomy. The structure of this assignment

appealed to Goals 3 and Standard 6 of the MATC program as the intent of our Vision Statement
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was to convince stakeholders in this approach to be implemented in our schools. This would

require a leadership role to help lead change in our schools. Overall autonomy is important

because it empowers all students, however as previously mentioned, our students at the bottom

can benefit the most from this as they begin to take responsibility and ownership of their

successes.

Conclusion:

When I think about my students that struggle the most, I see the students who also need

me the most. As an educator, it is our responsibility to take these students and supply them with

the tools that they need to find any type of success. By finding ways to empower the struggling

students, we are giving them a chance to find their confidence. As I have gone through the

MATC program, my passion for these students has only grown, as I have found new ways to

reach them through my coursework. As my passion lies within empowering students, obviously I

feel as though I have a pretty solid grasp on Standards 1 and 3, as much of empower students

relies on understanding their backgrounds and an understanding of methods and approaches that

are best suit their needs. However, within the understanding of methods and approaches, this also

requires and understanding of my curriculum and subject area as stated in Standard 2 and Goal 2.

As I encourage students to be autonomous, I also know that I have to model this by reflecting

and inquiring upon my own practices as well, which align with Standard 4 and Goal 1. While I

could continue to hit on each goal and standard again, it is clear that my experience with the

MATC program has been invaluable. “Everything happens for a reason”. The reason for my time

in the MATC program is that it allowed me to deepen my passion for teaching even more, and

that it has opened my eyes to new manners in which I can empower my students. The MATC

program has made me a better teacher, and I cannot wait to empower my incoming students.
MATC Synthesis Paper: EMPOWERING THE STRUGGLING STUDENT VERMEULEN 11

References

Jacobs, J. (2018, February). Pacesetter in Personalized Learning. The Education Digest, 83(6),

32-41. Retrieved from ProQuest.

MATC Program Goals/Standards Reference Form. (n.d.). In Michigan State University- College

of Education. Retrieved August 1, 2018, from

http://education.msu.edu/te/matc/documents/MATC_Prog_Goals_Standards.pdf

McCombs, Barbara. "Developing Responsible and Autonomous Learners: A Key to

Motivating Students." American Psychological Association, American Psychological

Association, www.apa.org/education/k12/learners.aspx. Accessed 29 Apr. 2018.

Small, M., & Lin, A. (2010). More Good Questions: Great Ways to Differentiate Math

Instruction (pp. 1-10). New York City, NY: Teachers College Press. Retrieved March 18,

2018, from Google (165.139.150.129).