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INDIVIDUAL LEARNING PLAN (ILP) MATRIX


Date Devised: Tuesday 21
st
May 2013 Review Date: To Be Advised
Student: Ben Adams Year Level: 3 D.O.B. 17/5/2004 Age: 9 years
Program Support Group Members consulted in devising this plan:
Class Teachers: Ross Geller
Parents: Regina Philangi and Ken Adams
Principal Rep (PSG Chair): Chandler Bing
Additional Reports: N/A

Academic, social and emotional development:
Entry Skills (What the student has achieved)
- Ben has completed up to VELS level 2, these grades have been completed with Ben sitting in the bottom 25% of the class.

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Challenges (Areas for I mprovement)
- ADHD (resulting in a short attention span)
- Absent father (deployed to Iraq), this has affected the way in which Ben expresses his emotions and causes him to act out in terms of his
behaviour.

Learning Priorities (Future Learning)
- Express feeling and thoughts in a positive way
- Improve attention span
- Engage in appropriate extra curricular activities
- Higher order cognition skills
- Improve memory skills

Childs characteristics
Resulting from fathers deployment:
Sense of inferiority, difficulty learning, depressive symptoms, neglecting school work, inability to express feelings, emotional outbursts, security issues and
anxiety (Fitzsimons & Krause-Parello, 2009, pp. 41-44).
Ben also acts out through violent, aggressive and defiant behaviours, as a result of having his father deployed (Fitzsimons & Krause-Parello, 2009, pp. 44;
Harrison & Vannest, 2010, pp. 17).
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Each of the characteristics listed above are as a result of Bens father being deployed to Iraq.

Resulting from ADHD diagnosis:
Ben shows symptoms of inattention by not paying attention to details and therefore makes careless mistakes, has trouble staying focused and is easily distracted,
appears not to listen when spoken to, has difficulty remembering things and following instructions and has trouble staying organized, planning ahead, and
finishing projects (Barkley, R. A. 1990). Ben also gets bored with a task before its completed and frequently loses or misplaces homework, books, toys, or other
items. Tends to also be moody and to overreact emotionally over little things.
Ben also shows symptoms of hyperactivity through consistent fidgeting and squirming, often leaves his or her seat in situations where sitting quietly is expected,
moves around constantly and often runs or climbs inappropriately, has difficulty playing quietly or relaxing and has a quick temper or a short fuse in regard to
authoritive figures such as other teachers and some classroom helpers (Barkley, R. A. 1990).

Impacts
Impacts of Bens characteristics due to his father being deployed:
Having a parent deployed can often result in a significant behavioural change due to the anxiety of such a huge lifestyle change. The challenges that Ben is facing
could also be closely related to the way in which his mother Regina is coping with change. It is common that the non-deployed parent may face a lot of stress with
the new situation, this stress and inability to cope can have a negative effect on the childs well being and health in general (Fitzsimons & Krause-Parello, 2009,
pp. 43-44).
The characteristics that are due to Bens fathers deployment could have a negative impact on his grades and behaviour, as well as possible absences from school
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(Harrison & Vannest, 2010, pp. 19).
It is important for all educators, counsellors, and mental health workers to have an awareness and clear understanding of the impacts a deployed parent can have
on a child (Harrison & Vannest, 2010, pp. 17-19). If each of these people do not fully understand the very specific emotional and behavioural needs of children
such as Ben, it may be that the strategies in place are not as effective as they could be.
According to Fitzsimons & Krause-Parello (2009) failure of the school community and family to identify and help the child cope with these emotional needs in
the school setting can lead to conflict and risk of poor educational outcomes (pp. 43).

Impacts of Bens characteristics due to his ADHD diagnosis:
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) impacts not only Ben but also Regina, causing disturbances to family and marital functioning. Difficulties at
home or on outings become more apparent at his age with parents finding that other family members refuse to care for the child, and that other children do not
invite them to parties or out to play (Barkley, R. A. 1990). The effect of having a child with ADHD results in increased likelihood of disturbances to family and
marital functioning, disrupted parent-child relationships, reduced parenting efficacy and increased levels of parent stress (Dowdy, C. A., Patton, 1. R., Smith, I E.
C., & Polloway, E. A. 1997).
Many children with ADHD have very poor sleep patterns, and although they appear not to need much sleep, daytime behaviour is often worse when sleep is
badly affected. Family relationships can become severely strained, and in some cases break down, bringing additional social and financial difficulties (Barkley, R.
A. 1990). This may cause Ben to feel sad or even show oppositional or aggressive behaviour towards his family, his classmates and possibly himself. He could
also begin to be seen as being different by classmates as they start to develop the skills and maturity that enable them to learn successfully in school, which can
result in a lowered self esteem and a sense of failure (Reif, S. F. 1993).
Bens inattentive symptoms such as not paying attention to details and therefore makes careless mistakes and his inability to stay focused for long periods of time
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could have a negative impacts on his schooling, so strategies must be put in place to assist him (Barkley, R. A. 1990). Ben also tends to be moody and to
overreact emotionally.
Bens hyperactive symptoms including his consistent fidgeting and squirming and abrupt movements and disruptions can affect his learning dramatically. This
can cause him to fall behind quickly in regard to his class work and learning and perhaps stimulate resentment towards other students (Reif, S. F. 1993).

Implications
Implications relating to Kens deployment:
If the students emotional and behavioural needs are identified, they could possibly be prevented and therefore the child may not have significant change in their
behaviour due to a parents deployment (Harrison & Vannest, 2010, pp. 19).
If effective strategies are not put into place for Ben in the classroom, aspects such as his violent behaviour could become more intense. When taking in to account
Bens extra-curricular activities, for example doing graffiti, it would be an idea to tap into his artistic skills, and as a result hopefully lowering his feelings of
anger.
According to Harrison and Vannest (2010), strategies to help children in Bens situation should begin to take place as soon as the parent is told they will be
deployed, and these strategies should stay in action until at least six months after the parent has returned (pp. 19).
There are also strategies that can parents can put into place to assist their children in coping with a deployed parent, just one example of this could be to create a
paper chain, with each link representing the days until the deployed parent returns (Hebdon, 2007, pp. 76). This will help the child to see that the time until their
parent will arrive home, and therefore will give them an end point to the deployment and as a result may have a positive effect on their classroom behaviour.
Implications relating to Bens ADHD diagnosis:
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Excessively aggressive and antisocial behaviour may develop, adding further problems (Barkley, R. A. 1990). Students who demonstrate excessive activity, the
inability to wait or impulsivity, failure to sustain attention to routine tasks and activities, noncompliance and failure to complete tasks, difficulty at the beginning
of tasks, difficulty completing assignments on time, difficulty increasing planning and sequential organization of thought, poor handwriting and low self-esteem
(Reif, S. F. 1993).
Modifications of instruction for students with ADHD fall into three categories: maintaining student involvement in group lessons, maintaining student
involvement in seat work and helping students engage in learning tasks (Reif, S. F. 1993). They identify a research base that has been established to show that
self-monitoring and peer tutoring are academic enhancement strategies that teachers can use to prevent problems. Social skills instruction is also showing promise
as a classroom intervention (Kemp, K., Fister, S., McLaughlin, P. J. 1995).
Dowdy (1997) suggests that the nine principles of remediation and the summary of modifications, leads to the conclusion that ADHD is more about processing
and accessing learning than it is about content instruction. It is also important to keep in mind the function of such strategies and interventions and that classroom
strategies do not cure ADHD, but when applied appropriately, they can improve teaming results for kids.




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INDIVIDUAL LEARNING PLAN
STUDENT/AVATAR NAME: Ben Adams Devised 00/00/00
Semester
Goals
(Long Term)
Short Term Goals
(WHAT)
Curriculum
Areas
Strategies/Methods
(HOW)
Mode of Delivery
(WHO / WHEN)
Mode of
Assessment
Evaluation
dd/mm/yy




Be able to convey
thoughts and
feelings
positively


1. Discuss own
emotions and
reflect on past &
present feelings
1. English
(VELS)


Book report on
favourite novel or story
with reference to the
beginning, middle and
end, the overall theme,
why the student chose it
and what they did or did
not like.
Ben and his
classmates will all be
involved with
presenting their book
report. This task is for
the whole class to
complete, with
attention being paid to
Ben to keep him
interested in and
assure the completion
Formal
assessment
will be used to
assess this task
in the form of a
rubric to show
how well the
student
understood the
directions and
1 2 3
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of the task. the final
product.
2. Personal
Learning (VELS)


Personal profile on what
students are good at,
what they can improve
in and their goals for the
term or semester.
Ben and his
classmates will all be
involved with
presenting their
personal profile to the
rest of the class. This
task is for the whole
class to complete, with
special attention being
paid to Ben and his
personal goals.
Informal
assessment
will occur
during creation
process
through
observation,
the content and
how well the
students
approach the
task.
1 2 3
2. Improve on the
way thoughts and
feelings are
1. The Arts
(VELS)

Create a graffiti wall for
Ben and other students to
use (Harrison & Vannest,
Ben, peers and teacher
will all be involved. The
school we be involved
Informal
assessment

1 2 3
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expressed


2010, pp. 20).
Create a personal
scrapbook about the Ben's
feelings on his father's
deployment to Iraq
(Harrison & Vannest,
2010, pp. 20).
by providing a space for
the wall.
Only Ben will be
involved in his personal
scrapbook, although he
may require assistance
from a teacher to help
with the content
included. Class time will
be set aside for this to
occur.
will occur for
the graffiti
wall, where as
Ben will
receive
feedback on
his personal
scrapbook.
2.
Communication
(VELS)


Teach Ben
communication skills
through a mentoring
program (this will give
Ben an older peer to talk
to; Ben will be able to use
these communication
Both Ben and the older
peers involved in the
mentor program will be
key figures here. There
will be time set aside for
this during the school
day. So that Ben still
Informal
assessment
will occur
during the
mentoring
sessions,
through
1 2 3
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skills when talking to his
father through letters or
emails) (Harrison &
Vannest, 2010, pp. 20).
feels included, the
buddy program could be
done school wide,
therefore each student
will be involved in a
mentor group and Ben
will not feel isolated.
observation,
although this
will be able to
be formally
assessed when
looking at the
way Ben uses
his
communication
skills within
the English
strategies.
EVALUATION KEY: 1 = Little or No Progress 2 = Satisfactory Progress 3 = Excellent Progress/Goal Achieved



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Strategies
Well-being and resilience
It is important to not only have a focus on perfecting specific curriculum disciplines, but developing social and emotional skills are significant when
looking at the well being of a student (Urbis, 2011, pp. 39). Having the much needed social and emotional skills that should be developed during
schooling, will help a child to be successful in their lives beyond the tie spent at school. If purely academic skills are focussed on throughout, the child
could get a distorted view of what is important in life, such as learning particular social and life skills. It is important that students are taught the
significance of well being and how this will assist them in their future lives (Urbis, 2011, pp. 39). Each of the strategies put in place to improve the way
Ben expresses his feelings and thoughts have a focus on his well being, by centering the strategies on his emotional and social needs.
Helping Ben with being less easily distracted involves physical placement, increased movement, and breaking long work into shorter chunks. Strategies
can include the teacher trying to seat him away from doors and windows and using alternate seated activities that allow Ben to move his body around
the room can be extremely successful and whenever possible, incorporate physical movement into lessons (Reif, S. F. 1993). Writing important
information down where the child can easily read and reference it and constantly reminding Ben where the information can be found and dividing big
assignments into smaller ones, and allowing him frequent breaks will assist with keeping him on task and learning (Montague, M., & Warger, C. 1997).
Methods for managing impulsivity include behaviour plans, immediate discipline for infractions, and ways to give children Ben a sense of control over
their day. Make sure a written behaviour plan is near him or perhaps taped to the wall or the childs desk. Give consequences immediately following
misbehaviour and be specific in your explanation, making sure the child knows how they misbehaved (Montague, M., & Warger, C. 1997). Teachers
cannot forget to recognize good behaviour out loud and be specific in your praise, making sure the child knows what they did right. Also, writing the
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schedule for the day on the board or on a piece of paper and cross off each item as it is completed helps children with impulse problems to gain a sense
of control and feel calmer as they then know what to expect (Montague, M., & Warger, C. 1997).
Strategies for combating hyperactivity consist of creative ways to allow Ben to move in appropriate ways at appropriate times. Releasing energy this
way may make it easier for the child to keep his or her body calmer during work time. Strategies such as asking Ben to do a specific task or run an
errand, encouragement to play a sport instead of acting out against the community through violence and destruction, proving a stress ball and making
sure Ben always attends his P.E. class and goes outside for recess are all small ways to combat Bens hyperactivity (Dowdy, C. A., Patton, 1. R., Smith, I E.
C., & Polloway, E. A. 1997).
Helping Ben follow directions means taking measures to break down and reinforce the steps involved in your instructions, and redirecting when
necessary. Teachers should try being extremely brief when giving directions, allowing him to do one step and then come back to find out what he should
do next. If Ben gets off track, give a calm reminder, redirecting in a calm but firm voice. Whenever possible, write directions down in a bold marker or
in coloured chalk on a blackboard (Kemp, K., Fister, S., McLaughlin, P. J. 1995).
Protective factors
The strategies in relation to helping with Bens fathers deployment assist minimise his risk of feeling isolated. In each strategy provided the activity
focussed on involves each student in the class, therefore including each child, leaving Ben with a feeling of being included as opposed to feeling like he
is being singled out. The strategies also provide an opportunity for Ben to be involved with his peers and create a positive relationship with them.
According to Trussell (as cited in Urbis, 2011, pp. 39) creating opportunities for social support is an important protective factor that should take place in
order to create a safe and supportive environment.
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Strategies put in place to scaffold Ben within his class related to keeping Ben on task and completing the assigned workloads such as creative a positive environment,
monitoring the student and paying close attention to the curriculum and how it can be adjusted to specifically improve Bens school based results. These strategies
also provide an opportunity for Ben to work in groups, allowing other students the opportunity to keep him on task and interested while also improving social skills
and addressing the needs of others (Reif, S. F. 1993).
Catering for Additional Needs
Although Ben suffers from ADHD and requires extra attention due to his absent father, his main requirements are for these factors, and therefore he
does not have any additional needs.
Even though Ben has no additional needs there are many resources which can assist both Ben and Regina in coping with the deployment of Ken, the
following websites provide information, strategies and activities that will help the situation:
I. www.ruokday.com
II. www.militarystudent.org
III. www.mwrarmyhawaii.com/Deployment_schools_info.htm
IV. http://www.livingwithadhd.com.au/schools/strategies
V. http://www.teachadhd.com/basic-adhd-instructional-strategies.php
VI. http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Journals/Winter2011/Scott


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References
Barkley, R. A. (1990). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A handbook for diagnosis and treatment. New York: Guilford Press.

Dowdy, C. A., Patton, 1. R., Smith, I E. C., & Polloway, E. A. (1997). Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder in the classroom. Austin, Texas: Cray & Sons.

Fitzsimons, V., & Krause-Parello, C. (2009). Military children: When parents are deployed overseas. The journal of school nursing, 25(1), 40-47. Retrieved from
http://jsn.sagepub.com.ezproxy2.acu.edu.au/content/25/1/40

Harrison, J., & Vannest, K. (2010). Educators supporting families in times of crisis: Military reserve deployments. Preventing school failure: Alternative education for
children and youth, 52(4), 17-23. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy2.acu.edu.au/doi/abs/10.3200/PSFL.52.4.17-24

Hebdon, H. (2007). Coping with deployment for the child with special needs and the entire family. The exceptional parent, 37(5), 75-77. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy1.acu.edu.au/ps/i.do?action=interpret&id=GALE%7CA164105464&v=2.1&u=acuni&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1

Kemp, K., Fister, S., McLaughlin, P. J. (1995). Academic strategies for Children with ADHD. Intervention in School and Clinic. Adelaide: John Wiley & Sons Publishing

Montague, M., & Warger, C. (1997). Helping students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder succeed in the classroom. Sydney: United Book Distributors

Reif, S. F. (1993). How to reach and teach ADD/ADHD children. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
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Urbis. (2011). Literature review on meeting. The psychological and emotional wellbeing needs of children and young people: Models of effective practice in educational
settings. Retrieved from https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/about-us/statistics-and-research/public-reviews-and-enquiries/school-counselling-services-
review/models-of-effective-practice.pdf

Websites mentioned as being possibly helpful for teaching strategies:
www.ruokday.com
www.militarystudent.org
www.mwrarmyhawaii.com/Deployment_schools_info.htm
http://www.livingwithadhd.com.au/schools/strategies
http://www.teachadhd.com/basic-adhd-instructional-strategies.php
http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Journals/Winter2011/Scott

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