The Annual Reports Submitted by the E.S. Ashburn Staff

MARK HARTMANN
ANNUAL REPORT
ASHBURN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
1993-1994 SCHOOL YEAR

Mark Hartmann has been in my second grade dassroom since the beginning of the 1993-94 school year. Mark has been totally induded this year. He stays in the classroom and goes to all the specials with the rest of the dass. He is pulled out for speech and language with Mrs. Clement on an average of 5 hours a week, although this past quarter Mrs. Clement has done speech and language therapy frequently in the dassroom. Mark also goes to Mrs. Richmond for Occupational Therapy 1 hour a week. Mrs. Richmond often does her therapy with Mark in the classroom as well. Mark goes home for lunch with his mom from 11 :40 to about 12:50 daily for his lunch and some rest Mark also has a full time aid with him at all times.

Academically, Mark has shown abilities in math and reading at the pre-kindergarten level. He shows success with the computer program 'Counting Critters'. This post quarter Mark has begun working on a one to one basis with Mrs. Leader and Mrs. McCullough on addition facts to 5. Mark has been introduced to the second grade math curriculum several times during the year. For example, we tried to work on time, money, place value and problem solving with Mark. These concepts appeared to be very frustrating for Mark. He often cried, screamed, pinched, and wanted to rest frequently. As a result we created an independent math program for Mark that is taught one on one with Mark either by me, Mrs. Leader or Mrs. McCullough.

Mark sat in my small reading group all year. Since we stopped facilitating with Mark, he has not shown us he can read. At times, when working one on one, he is able to pick out some CVC words. He answers verbal comprehension questions inappropriately responding Yes or No. He appears to be familiar with the order of the alphabet and can successfully fill in missing letters of the alphabet on a computer program.

Mark has been encouraged to sit at his desk as the content areas were taught. I teach social studies, science and health many different ways. Often, I teach these subjects in cooperative learning groups. The students will work in pairs or teams to define vocabulary words, do science experiments, make health posters learn about the water cycle, study landforms etc. When the rest of the students are encouraged to verbally participate or take notes, Mark is encouraged to find pictures about our topics and cut and paste them on a theme paper that was initially assigned to help Mark understand these concepts. Mark does not like to do these activities and will often go to the bean bag chair to rest or have snack. When I have been more persistent he gets extremely verbal and aggressive. We have also tried to pair Mark off to work with a responsible student so that he can follow peer modeling. Mark often kicks the child or cries or sucks on a pencil or marker rather than work with the student

As the rest of the class work on their independent assignments in reading, math, spelling, English etc. Mark is being taught one on one by Mrs. Leader with a curriculum he can follow without being frustrated and upset. He Will often practice writing his name for handwriting, do a puzzle, look at pictures in a book, or copy type some spelling words. As long as these assignments are easy for Mark, he will willingly complete them as long as he is able to take several breaks. When a concept appears too difficult, Mark will get up and walk away or request a rest. When we try to encourage Mark to try harder, he gets upset and goes back to kicking, shrieking and pinching.

Although the children in the classroom are responsive and genuinely fond of Mark, he prefers to be alone. He tolerates children sitting by him during story time. Story time is usually about 20 minutes daily right after the children return from lunch. During recess, Mark is more content to be by himself and filter through the mulch. When a student tries to encourage Mark to play, Mark pushes them away and cries. Mark is working on walking in line with the class, but gets upset if Mrs. Leader isn't near him. His sister, Laura, brings Mark into the classroom in the morning before the other students arrive. Mark hangs up his backpack and filters through the math manipulatives. When the bell rings, Mrs. Leader tells Mark to put materials away and go to his desk. He waves to me with encouragement when I call his name for attendance and he goes willingly to our calendar to do our morning activities. Mark participates in the calendar. He puts the straws in the box and keeps a running total of the days we have been in school by flipping over a number card.

I have briefly summed up Mark's routine as he is included in a regular 2nd grade classroom. One can easily see that much to my disappointment Mark is not doing any peer modeling like Mr. and Mrs. Hartmann had hoped he would do. He much perfers to be alone. In fact, when the entire class went on a field trip and Mark had to stay in the classroom alone with Mrs Leader for the morning, he did not appear to notice or was not concerned that the other children were not there. He is not responsive to the children. He is responsive at times to some familiar adults, like Mrs. Clement, Mrs. Leader, Mrs. McCullough and myself.