Seeing Competencies

I recently went back to my son's preschool to substitute for one of the teachers who went home sick in the afternoon.  I hadn't been in this classroom since summer school, so many of the students were new to me.  I asked the assistant in the classroom to fill me in on their names.  She started pointing out the new kids and simply giving me their names.  Then she got to one boy and said, "that's (enter pseudonym here), he doesn't speak English yet and he's a handful." 

I don't know why she singled this boy out, as he wasn't the only new student who was a "handful" in the class.  I'm assuming that she singled him out because his language barriers made it difficult for her to communicate with him the class rules and procedures.  Regardless, her comment automatically raised a red flag in me, not because I was worried about working with him but because now knew I had a mission to help the assistant see and acknowledge his competencies before the day was through.  Otherwise, I was afraid he would be pigeon-holed as a trouble maker or marginalized for his native language.

Once I started observing him, I immediately noticed the behavior she was referring to.  He would mistreat the materials and leave his work laying around instead of cleaning it up like they are supposed to.  When this happened, I simply guided him back to the mess and showed as well as told him how to put things away.  With a little assistance, he was able to do so.  Then to show him how to correctly use the materials on the shelves, I asked him if he wanted to do a work with me.  He nodded his head yes.  He chose a work off the shelf and I asked him to get a work mat first, pointing to the work mats.  He did exactly as I asked, no communication problems there.  We proceeded to do some work together, including working with puzzles and numbers. 

From my short time working with him, I was able to assess that he could recognize and and speak numbers in English at least up to 10, he could count out specific numbers of items and match them to the corresponding numbers, he could deduce what blocks he would need to complete a difficult puzzle based on size and/or color, and that he could follow simple directions.  I also learned that he had a hard time rolling up mats because he lacked the gross motor skills to hold the mat down while rolling it tightly using fingers.  He also gives up or loses interest in a work once it becomes repetitive or difficult.  If he were my student, I would use this pre-assessment to plan a list of things to do with him to help him develop finger control, concentration, and problem solving skills. 

The boy I saw that day was not a troublemaker who couldn't speak English.  He was bright, he followed directions, and he was eager to show me what he could do.  At the end of the day, I wrote this in my notes to the teacher and expressed my great optimism for his academic career.  I also noticed that the assistant had no problems working with him the rest of that day.  Now all I can do is hope that all of his teachers will also see the competencies within him as well.