Creating a Momentum of School Success

Abstract

Jake is a student in Mrs. K.'s fourthgrade behavior support class. Teachers describe Jake as a “tough cookie.” “Jake is a bright kid who rarely does what is asked,” commented one teacher. “When he does what I ask, he does it according to his own schedule. He finishes one problem and then talks to his friends for a while. Sometimes he gets back to completing a second problem, but not very often. Just yesterday asked Jake to complete some math problems. I knew that he could do the work, but he just refused. Jake is falling farther and farther behind because he does not practice newly learned skills. For Jake, what starts as a ‘won't do’ problem evolves into a series of ‘can't do’ problems.”