Case Study – Elementary
Jerald
Jerald is finishing up his last two months in a second grade classroom at Robert F.
Kennedy Elementary School.
Kennedy Elementary is a large urban school with a number
of students from low economic and culturally diverse backgrounds.
Many of the students
are described as “disadvantaged” and at significant risk of school failure.
Next year, Jerald will move to third grade, and his parents and teachers have expressed
some concerns.
“Jerry is an outgoing kid who loves to talk about anything to anyone at
any time”, says his mother.
His current second grade teacher, Miss Robins, complains
that he is “hyperactive, inattentive, and a behavior problem.”
His mom, his dad, and his
teacher agree that Jerald has a great deal of difficulty with controlling his emotions.
Mother:
“I just wish he wasn’t so easily frustrated at home when things aren’t going his
way.”
Miss Robins:
“He’s always in a state of fight or flight.
When he is in a fighting mode, he
hits, teases, and screams at me or the other students.
