Starfish Story: Joey Carey
A student I am currently supporting in maths has been predicted very low grades. He is generally very quiet in lessons, lacking confidence to participate. From observing him on several occasions in subjects across the whole curriculum I feel he often gets left behind and is overlooked. Over the period of his 4 most recent maths lessons I supported him on the topic of Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers. Initially he had a very weak understanding of the topic. I asked him “What the teacher just explained, do you understand?” He responded with a shrug of his shoulders, complete with a lost look in his eyes: “I don’t get it, sir.” I asked him to focus on one particular problem as I went through the correct method of solving it step by step, going slowly, asking open questions “How, why..” to see if he understood what I was explaining, and giving him opportunity to demonstrate the new knowledge I was showing. By the end of the 4th lesson working on the topic, my student was able to correctly solve 6 questions, using the correct step by step method, and he also raised his hand and answered a question correctly, earning a merit. I saw this as significant progress within his academic skills and also gaining the confidence to participate in the whole class environment. I now believe that if he keeps moving on these positive tracks forward, no longer will he be predicted low grades, and he will achieve success in maths.
