Project Proposal

Every day in my third hour class, Mya enters the room with a giant smile on her face and enough
happiness for every person in the room. She is very expressive with what shes feeling whether it be a
simple Ms. Tinney Im having a bad day today because or Ms. Tinney Im really worried about this
test tomorrow. Mya seems to have no problem letting me know what shes thinking. Mya also appears
to have quite a few friends in class. She is always talking to someone about something. With quite a few
people in the class it appears that she is comfortable sharing personal information with them. However,
even though she has many classmates she talks to, it appears as though she is not as close with her
friends as they are with each other. It always seems that she is trying quite a bit to be a part of their
conversation and gossip. Mya seems to have a presence in the community as she is a varsity cheerleader
and she is very outgoing. She must really enjoy cheerleading as I hear about it pretty regularly.
As a student, Mya tends to be focused when we are having a class discussion or taking notes.
She shares her ideas and appears to have no problem asking questions. However, when Mya is given
freedom in the classroom, she seems to be more interested in socializing than anything else. Ive noticed
that she rushes to complete her work and does not give her work 100%. This is often the time she uses
to catch up on the latest gossip. From what I have seen, she gives her work minimal effort when any sort
of freedom is involved. Mya seems to be a very in depth thinker when asking questions and going
through notes but this does not hold true where freedom is involved.

Interpretation and Analysis

When looking at Myas disengagement/disinterest in the classroom there are a few hypotheses
to consider. In Toshalis book, he discusses the idea of self-handicapping. Self-handicapping occurs
when students create impediments to successful performance to provide themselves with opportunities
to avoid, excuse, or discount any resulting failure. Im beginning to hypothesis that when Mya is not
coached through the worksheet, activity, or assessment at hand, she does not want to try whatever it
may be. She becomes distracted and finds something to do other than what is being asked of her. This
could be because she is scared of failing and has created an excuse as to why she doesnt do well on
some of her work.
Another possible hypothesis to consider is that Mya is trying to multitask or is so used to
multitasking that she cannot focus on one particular thing. Toshalis discussed that students, especially
in such a technologically advanced world, can become habituated to distractions and doing so can
reinforce cognitive pathways that can make focusing much more difficult. Mya may have a hard time
focusing on one thing. There is also the possibility that she is trying to multitask by talking to her friends
at the same time she is trying to do her work but when multitasking, one of the tasks always falls to the
side as her school work has. Mya appears to be very concerned with her social life so theres a possibility
shes trying to maintain friendship while in class as opposed to doing work.
The hypotheses I have begun to consider reflect in her classwork. On days where they have had
a work day her work tends to be incomplete. This means shes only receiving partial credit and this has
been reflecting in her test scores as well. She doesnt appear to struggle with one particular topic. Her

grades fluctuate greatly depending on the context of the classroom that day. When she is required to be
engaged throughout an activity or notes, her grades appear to be tremendously better.
Mya from the beginning of the year has been very consistent in creating more than a teacherstudent relationship. Shes very insistent on having a friendship as well. This may hinder her behavior.
When reflecting on the way I handle her resistance, I realize I have been easier on her than I would
probably be on another student I dont have as good of a relationship with. I have also realized that
instead of finding a way to dampen her resistance, I have said something to her a few times and then
Ive just let it go. I havent been very good at monitoring her being on task. I do move around the room
during work time however. She acts like she is on task when Im around her but when I get to the other
side of the room she is off task again.
When Mya acts this way in class she is being rewarded by her friends. She has their attention and is able
to learn the latest gossip. Shes also protecting herself from failure. If she doesnt attempt the
assignments, she has an excuse as to why she failed the excuse being that she was distracted and
didnt have time to complete the assignment. Shes gaining a positive social reputation but as a student
shes not gaining anything.

Action Plan
There are a few courses of action to consider to help Mya. When trying to combat selfhandicapping, I think a possible course of action is to make class work more of a completion grade as
opposed to punishing students for not doing well. When class work doesnt hold such a high grade
value, Im hoping that Mya will try harder to complete her work. Theres less of a chance of her failing,
so she wouldnt need to self-handicap. For the purposes of this class, work completion assignments
would be any practice handouts, learning checks, and smaller labs. This will help combat the hypothesis
that she is self-handicapping by allowing her to get points if she merely attempts the work. There is no
underlying grade to worry about. She can try her hardest and even if she gets something wrong, she will
get credit for trying.
Another possible course of action is to pair students up so that they can help each other
complete their work. Instead of me coaching her through whatever may be, she can work with a partner
and get help from someone else before asking me for help. These partnerships would have to be
strategic however. I wouldnt want her to be paired with someone that she socializes with about the
latest gossip. This pairing would take place anytime students have free time in the classroom to practice
the subject at hand and during any labs. This can help combat the hypothesis that multitasking is
detrimental to Myas success in the class. By pairing Mya with a particular student, she is more likely to
focus on the task at hand because her partner has asked her to. The partner that I have in mind is very
academically driven and likes to help others. I believe that her partner will encourage her to finish her
work before chatting with friends or playing on her phone or whatever distracting thing it may be that
day.
The last possible course of action is to help reduce the possibility of multitasking as well.
Students have to leave everything at their seats except the notes that they need and the task at hand.
This allows for less distraction. There is no social media distraction when phones are left at the desks,

phones being a major distraction for Mya at this point in the year. I would also again make sure students
are paired in such a way that they wouldnt be with friends that would distract them with the latest
gossip, drama, etc.
The course of action that seems most realistic at this point in the year is to pair students up in
ways that they can help each other. I think this will be most beneficial because students like Mya have
someone else to rely on for help. This allows Mya to hear the content in a different way which may help
things clique for her. Pairing Mya with another student will also help combat multitasking a huge issue
for Mya at this point in the year. In the classroom, I plan to pair students up strategically. There are a lot
of hard workers in the class that could help each other out. I would make this pairing consistent for each
assignment. They will have the same partner for an extended amount of time to help them build trust
and a system that works for them.

Evaluation and Reflection

Over the last few weeks, when students have had work time, I paired them in such a way that I
thought would be most beneficial to all of the students in class specifically Mya. When first pairing them,
it took some tweaking along the way. I thought pairing Mya with a specific student I had in mind would
be a good partnership. However, I was quite wrong. They would talk about anything and everything that
was chemistry and Myas partner would do all of the work which would result in her copying. After
watching the partnership unfold for two class periods, I changed up the partnerships. The next girl Mya
worked with was a perfect partner for her. Myas classmate was good at walking through her thinking
and explaining things to Mya which was very beneficial to her.
When looking at Myas grades, they improved quite a bit. Her work was more complete and
showed her thinking. For example, when explaining the different properties that different compounds
have based on their bond type, Mya was able to explain that ionic bonds for example are conductive
because they contain ions and that electricity flows when ions are present. She explained that she knew
this from the previous units we had covered. This is a big step in the right direction for Mya. She is
beginning to put in more effort. She is also more on task during the class period because she
understands the material much better. She uses her partner as a major resource and asks lots of
questions. She is no longer trying to gossip with her friends when her work is not complete.
I believe this helps solidify that my hypothesis that Mya was self-handicapping was somewhat
correct. When she puts in more effort, it reflects in her thinking process and her grades. It seems that
she can no longer subconsciously use the excuse that shes failing because she didnt try. Shes actually
trying to understand the topics at hand which is a big win as this has been an issue when she has work
time.
Moving forward with Mya Im guessing a few adjustments will have to be made. From what I
have learned about Mya throughout the year, she befriends everybody. I feel as though at some point
Mya and her partner will become better friends which will lead to gossip again. Im going to keep a close
eye on this situation and have a list of partnerships that could work for her in the future if changes need
to be made. After seeing all that Mya can accomplish, I will not allow her to begin to self-handicap again.