After Tom moving schools I looked at the classroom dynamic. I was shocked to see the difference that it made. Work blocks were quieter, support time was less, and the students all worked well together with no complaints about each other. Tom moving had completely changed the dynamic of this classroom which made me think is this for better?
There are students within this class that had been in the same classroom as Tom since kindergarten, this meant six years of “interruptions” within their learning. These students were now old enough to acknowledge that they could not learn with his interruptions and they were being vocal about it within the classroom. As much as my sponsor and Tom’s support teacher worked with him on not interrupting, it was very hard for Tom to understand that his actions were disruptive.
This made me question a lot about inclusion. I ask myself if it is better that Tom is no longer in this classroom but rather in a classroom that can cater to his needs. I ask this because he was such a great asset to my grade six, seven practicum class. Tom added an exciting aspect to the classroom, he always had exciting facts to share, and loved to follow along with reading. There were many positive aspects to having him within the classroom but I question if he was meeting his full potential. I question inclusion because he could not successfully be in the classroom for a full day causing my sponsor to have to remove him from the classroom. Once removed from the classroom he is now not included, this makes me question “did we try everything”. At the end of the day we could not accommodate what he needed because he was not successfully learning.
I am constantly questioning if his move was the right thing to do. The school all seemed on board to supporting him make the move. The classroom has now had a positive change which can be seen through group work, independent work, and the playground. If there has been such a positive impact is this the best move, is it morally right, does Tom feel excluded? I am looking forward to learning more about inclusion in order to answer a few of the questions I am having.
ADHD in the classroom 
This is such an interesting story. In my experience, I was informed in December that a student in my class would be moving to a different school that is closer to where her mother lives. This student doesn’t have ADHD but there is for sure some behavioral problems that led to fits, fights and tears at the beginning of the school year. My teacher has worked really hard with her to get her to a calm place where she rarely ever has had any problems. Now my sponsor worries about how she will adapt to this different classroom with different structures and routines. I agree that its hard because you wonder if the move is the right thing to do even though we can’t do much about it as the teacher!
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It is hard because you start to really care about these children and want the best for them! You want to give them everything they deserve but you always question the right and wrong! I hope your student is transitioning well!
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Wow, Jess! I love how honest you were in this post. It is quite clear that you formed a deep relationship with Tom, and losing him from your classroom would be so difficult. I can see where you’re coming from, that it might be easier on the learning for the rest of the class, but how does taking him out of the class incorporate inclusion? That is so tough, I am hopeful that the move was and will continue to be beneficial for Tom.
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Awe, a world classroom without Tom 😦 How sad to see that your student switched schools, but interesting to hear your perspective on this move, with such honesty as well! I love that you are continuing your research on ADHD even though you no longer have a student in your class to observe, however, he will be the first of many that you come across in your teaching career! So any research is very important!
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What a post! There is so many emotions here, it’s hard to know which direction to go! I love how you talked about all aspects of Tom and how he influenced everyone in the classroom for the better. It’s so wonderful that you are continuing on to learn about ADHA, from the way you have written the post it feels like you are still cheering him on through your inquiry. Thanks for sharing Jess!
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