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Nadir Eris Ortega

Tina Chavez
Senior Internship
December 17 2015
Role Models
I was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the summer of
2011. I finished seventh grade and failed my English glass, ending the year with a 54.
Throughout my life I have always surpassed my peers, often reaching top scores in my classes,
however this year took a turn. I was no longer motivated to complete work, to focus in class
whatsoever, or sit still in a classroom. This marked the start of a long and dreadful journey
through the rest of my years at High Tech High (HTH).
I began the eighth grade in the fall of 2011, Ive begun taking Concerta, a stimulant
medication used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder by activating areas of the brain
responsible for focus and paying attention that would not activate regularly on its own. I walked
into Beth DeLucas classroom, already feeling the medication in my body, changing my
thoughts, no longer wanting to run around on tables. I remember feeling as if there was next to
no emotion or interest to drive me. The medication calmed me down, but in no way could I have
predicted what that feeling of being still would bring about. Later that year I was diagnosed with
Bipolar Depression, a serious condition that impaired my ability to work at all. This became my
hinderance, and it still continues to be.
This lead to my interest in human behaviour and why I was eager to work in a school
environment where I could see what exactly causes other youth to struggle. Which in general is

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why I became interested in this internship in the first place. I found it to be a really eye-opening
experience.
Background

As of now, many schools nationwide provide students who need extra support with basic
services such as after school tutoring, in-class TAs, student teachers and a host of adults who can
give attention and provide reasoning and better explanations of in-class assignments or
homework. However at many traditional learning schools there simply ar not enough resources
or services provided for students who have difficulties with their learning experience within the
classroom environment.
There are plenty of areas in this field that could use more attention, and some specific
case studies would not hurt. For that reason, I will be conducting a case study on 4 students
sharing one specific characteristic, fault in their learning process, a hinderance, a barricade in
their path to intellectual and educational development. This will highlight specific instances
where each of these four students face difficulty in completing tasks assigned to them. These
tasks will range from social skills, group interactions, individual responsibilities, steep deadlines
as well as their own behaviour in the classroom that will take into account various variables such
as personal relationships and other observations of their behaviour that seem to play a vital role
in their actions. I will conduct this case study on four middle school students; two in sixth grade,
and two in eighth grade. Each of these students I have closely observed and have determined
how I will use my time to focus on them. During my time there I will pose as just another student
teacher who is there to gain some experience, but I will discreetly be watching over these four
students named Vic*, Ronnie*, Danny*, Ben*. I believe their own experiences will highlight the

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need for specific attention to be given to those students who fall behind the classroom in one way
or another in a way that I find lacking in my research.

*aliases used for this version of the document

Methods
I chose to conduct my research at High Tech Middle North County, where I was an intern.
I served the position as a teachers assistant and was instructed to give that impression to my
peers and the students. I worked with the sixth grade team taught by Tracy Nathan and Adrienne
Villarreal, as well as the eighth grade team taught by Chris Olivas and Kelly Jacob along with the
assistance of Ms.Shuman. The schools learning curriculum is based around Project-Based
Learning (PBL). Unlike traditional school that base their curriculum around textbooks and
testing, High Tech schools focus on creativity and team-work to solve real life problems and
create products. Their aim is to prepare students for college and life beyond. Ive been a part of
the High Tech family going on seven years now, from sixth to twelfth grade at the North County
campus. Throughout my internship, I focused on answering my essential question: What can best
motivate a student to overcome their hindrances to perform at their best, and in general, focus
better in a classroom? Because I am conducting my research in two separate grade levels, I am
able to analyze educational development at two different stages in terms of age. There could be a
correlation between what kind of hindrances and behaviours have changed or developed in the
span of two years. I have two main mentors, sixth grade humanities teacher Tracy Nathan and
eighth grade humanities teacher Kelly Jacob. They are for the most part a tool I use to effectively
monitor my case study subjects, and at times they will guide me in the right direction if I appear
to be not performing at my best. Chris Olivas, Sean Delgado, and Ms.Shuman are all parts of the

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sixth and eighth grade teams I work with. For my internship, I will be making case studies on
four students to base my research on. In sixth grade I am focusing on Fernando and Jordan, and
in eighth grade I am focusing on Ariana and Jaziel. My teacher, Tina Chavez, is my twelfth grade
humanities teacher, who visits me at my site frequently to ensure that I am always making good
progress.
I collected the majority of this data through various observations sheets I kept in a
notebook I carried with me throughout the entirety of my internship. Within the many sheets I
wrote on Ive detailed my observations of my subjects as well as the results of many tests and
attempts and motivating them to complete work. This was the most feasible way to collect data
as I would test different solutions to my open-ended essential question. I intended to have
multiple hypotheses for different students that I could put to the test. At first it took note of just
what I could observe from the natural behaviors of my case studies. This took place for the first
2-3 weeks of internship, merely just to get more acquainted with who I would be studying. After
meeting with my teacher and my mentors, we decided on an essential question for me to focus
on, and thus I began pursuing further interaction with my subjects. I carefully monitored them
and dedicated my time to specifically finding out what sort of focus methods they could use. It
started with bringing them into one of my mentors office. My goal was to establish a connection
with them so that they would feel more comfortable to approach me for assistance. I am very
capable of appealing to most younger students, therefore making connections isnt very difficult,
especially when youre less than 5 years younger than them. From this they were able to open up
to me and tell me more about themselves, about what they struggle with in terms of learning.