David Bollish

Case Study
EDCI 633
Dr. King

Purpose and Methods:

The purpose of this case study is to compile and place value on the work and
observations I have done with a veteran teacher in our program, district, and region. As a
highly skilled educator for more than 30 years and consultant to the state department of
education for both curriculum and accreditation she is a wealth of time proven
knowledge. Also, this study directly meets requirements for a Chadron State College
masters degree in administration. The end goal is to be able to observe proven teaching
and discover the philosophy behind it. Being able to compare and contrast philosophies
to exclude and attach portions of their philosophy and other philosophies presented
throughout the class to further develop my own.
As the instructors mentee teacher and colleague in a cross curricular program I
have observed, taught with, and sought guidance from her on a weekly bases. I have
conducted formal and informal interviews with her as well. While doing so I have taken
notes, and documented conversations and observations. Keys to this case study are
understanding the program we teach, in the type of student we work with, and our short
and long-term goals.
We work in a specific program focused on high-risk disconnected students. High
risk is a commonly miss used and or interpreted term negatively correlated with
behavioral students. Though these students, like any, may exhibit different behaviors,
they are not all difficult. In fact, most are incredibly bright, but work too many hours,
dont have any support at home, move constantly, have internalizing behaviors, high
anxiety etc. Our program has 2 key components. Reconnect students who are
disconnected and surviving at the high school so that they may thrive through out
their education by providing relevance and constant real world, next life step application.
Also, there is intense focus on relationships, relationships between students and peers,
and staff and students. It is our building philosophy that engagement and cooperation
from students is drastically if not exponentially increased when building relationships and
interactions are positive and honest. Our short and long-term goals are to successfully
and positively impact more students in our district by teaching to all types of students and
providing extra supports for any students needing them. An additional goal is to become
involved in students lives and create social skills that are practically and specifically
going to be used in the students next step be it college, the work force, military service,
parent hood or a combination of any of these and many more.

Entry vignette:
Upon observing this classroom, the following would be a daily occurrence:
Youre a new student a couple weeks into the school year. Your schedule reads, Film
Lit 1st Period. Youre a sophomore at a brand new program with 65 kids in a small 5room building. School has never been your thing. Usually you dont show up, when you
do, your disconnected or talking with friends. You love writing but no one understands or
wants to read your work because its too dark, youre a troubled kid, plus you havent
passed English since the 6th grade; (due to loss of credit according to attendance despite
the fact that your percentages have NEVER been below 85%). You start to walk down
the hall towards where you think the class is, you hear a LOUD cackling laugh, the room
is decorated as if its someones home, theres whos its and whats it galore. The
students are hovered around your new teacher, talking, laughing, and hugging her. Your
anxiety has immediately shrunk, your mind is already expanding, you cant imagine
someone loves students this much, your favorite class is English because youre allowed,
for the first time to express yourself truthfully. Education and school as you know it has
changed.
As you attempt to find a seat you see a conglomerate of desks, pencils in the
middle, each seat facing the center. Once the class begins, youre given a free writing
task. Your teacher sits at a desk and writes with all the students. Youre not sure what
to write so you just go with something you think wont get you in trouble thats short.
When it comes time to share you cant believe how honest everyone else is, or how much
he or she wrote. Now you feel foolish for not having done so. Her voice is soft, Its
your turn. You begin to read out loud what threw together Ohh, wooooow! Thats
really good! I really liked how you said that so concisely. You didnt get in trouble, it
was good?It was good! She liked ityoure connected. The initial barriers separating
teacher from student and child from learner have been dissolved.

Narrative description:
The sum of observation from this classroom has been relationships, relationships,
and relationships. All the other factors; plans for minimizing behavior, use of technology,
alternative assessments are secondary or tertiary behind the nurturing and engagement
focus. This is due to the belief, and research that better relationships with students leads
to fewer management and academic stressors.
In the classroom the whiteboard has daily objectives, weekly standards,
assignments, and a schedule for assessments that will be completed. Lessons are both
chunked and differentiated per student therefore challenging and allowing each student to
be successful.
Upon different observations and through out team teaching, I have seen
consistently that the teacher connects to students through using examples by knowing
each student individually, and also by continuous questioning. During this strategy she

will ask a question, make a connection for the student, then ask them another question,
make a connection, ask another question and allow the student to make the connection.
Very much following a Quantum or Adolescent Literacy model of; I do it, we do it, you
do it.
During any given day of observation in this classroom there are many components
to be prepared to observe. These include days of complete and seemingly babbling
conversation, others of silence, some of writing others only of speaking, some of laughter
others of emotion. There is no limited to the lessons or their format in her classroom.
However, inconsistent the format or method may be the learning and engagement is
always constant, consistent and designed.

Descriptive detail:
Through out my long-term interaction and observation of this instructor I have
seen confirming actions, behaviors and procedure that identify and strengthen the
philosophy of the observed teacher.
Personalized instruction creates an atmosphere of efficacy for the student and
furthermore helps to create a much more meaningful relationship and learning
environment conducive to each students specific learning strengths. The techniques used
to promote individualization and existentialist views are creative expression of
assessment. I have seen students turn in entire cartoons or drawings of test answers, and
then verbally explain them. I have seen students complete entire tests verbally. Also, I
have witnessed or proctored students when they have retaken test multiple times until
achieving mastery. Likewise I have seen students grind out pages of essays, work
weekends, before and after school to turn work into her.
In conjunction with personalization, the educator applies genuine interest into her
daily lessons, student conversations, and classes as a whole. The focus is always
engagement and the instructor goes much beyond the norm to make sure these things
occur. She has offered and taught classes at 0 hour, before school, and 9th hour, after
school. During her career, she has taught English, Spanish, and Art as she is certified in
all of them as well as offered speech or one acts as truly extra curricular activities. Her
large knowledge base and varied experiences give her lots of potential areas to connect
with a large variety of students. This extended since of selflessness and approachability
serves as a since of motivation and trust builder for students.
Another tool utilized is parent and student contact. The instructor does not
function around the 8-4 schedule or even 7-5. The number of hours she logs are profuse.
This serves a dual purpose. First, it allows her to prepare in detail and to provide
feedback in detail. Second, it makes her available which allows students and parents a
like an easy opportunity to make connections and communicate. By communicating with
both parties she has created a very strong environment and opened communication lines
earning trust from parents and gaining credibility to students and visa versa.

Finally, the most interesting and most pragmatic function I have observed in this
classroom has been the teachers extraordinary compassion and energy put forth towards
helping and teaching students especially after her existentialist strategies have allowed
students to make choices which require them to suffer consequences. I have witnessed,
and participated with her in coaching conversation with students after suspension,
expulsion, and court. Her counseling background certainly sets in and she begins to work
towards workable outcomes and discussing realities with students.

Development of Philosophical Profile:

During a number of interviews and conversation the instructor has confessed that
her philosophy is unique and non conforming to any specifically and that truthfully to
teach as long as she has she had to work with kids in a manner that she believed in,
regardless of whether it fit into any specific educational philosophy.
She also has said specifically that her philosophy functions around the key and
principal belief that each child has a gift and some of them need helping to unlock it. She
prefers existentialist ideology because of its ability to allow students to make choices and
its ideologies supporting the importance and significance of each person as an individual.
She has specifically said that through our her career she has struggled with standardizing
things even though she understands the necessity in terms of data collection. However,
she was clear when said it both limits and constrains students from truly reaching their
potential.
Next, her pragmatic ideologies stemmed largely from her counseling and teaching
experiences. She said she very much valued the importance of students finding their own
answers and information beyond what she could offer as well as personally enjoyed the
constructivist piece. The constructivist philosophy and methodology allowed her to have
conversations with students post success and failure, which further promoted her primary
goal of students being comfortable in taking risks.

Assertions:
In working with this teacher I have taken special note to her patience, her energy
and focus on the student. As an instructor her success is determined entirely by what the
student is able to accomplish that they were previously not able to do. She serves as a
key facilitator, mentor, model, and source of information. There is an intense
instructional focus around promoting risk, supporting failures and rewarding success. It
is clear that her educational philosophy is multi faceted and focuses around student
growth in many realms of the ever-changing teenage students life. Likewise as their lives
change so do their opportunities and lessons and challenges change in their English
classroom. The constant is philosophical methodology that the instructor has created and
continues to provide to her students.

Closing vignette:

I teach students, not subjects. This is a quote written by the

instructor herself. It encapsulates her philosophy as a whole about what her
goals as an educator are. The idea that student is an individual, unique,
talented, and capable is abundant in her interaction and instructional style
and the existentialist in her most commonly shines through. The resounding
common denominator of her philosophy, management and instructional style
is student centered and based entirely around the professional yet personal
relationship she has worked and is constantly working to develop.
In conclusion, I have been privileged to work so closely with and
observe so intensely such a high level teacher. She is an exceptional
educator and these observations are my own and clearly open to both
interpretation and discrepancies. Teaching nor observation are an exact
science and especially this instructor has taught me and shown me that being
willing to continually grow, take risks with the students, and adapt to daily
situations are antidotal keys to success and longevity as an educator.