Building Blocks
Building Blocks Retrospection
David Nguyen
National University
Building Blocks Retrospection
The building blocks questionnaire is a very thorough survey that is useful in deciphering a student 's foundational, symbolic, and conceptual development. I personally would not recommend a teacher or adult to try to fill this form out without being fairly familiar with the student. This survey starts out broadly with seemingly broad questions, but gradually build up to more specific questions that help identify weaknesses in any of the building blocks. With a thorough understanding that the "foundational blocks provide the support system for learning" (Mather and Goldstein, 6) and that the blocks each build upon and relate to each other, a teacher is able to use this questionnaire to properly assess the strengths and weaknesses of a student. I can see this being a valuable tool to identify areas of need and understand the roots of certain roadblocks to learning for my students. In the case of my student, he seems to have an issue with attention and self-regulation in the foundational block. With this knowledge, I can address this issue as his teacher and look to see if this area of weakness may be a cause to any problems that may arise. In my student 's history, he has shown a tendency to lose focus and have difficulty controlling his impulses which causes him to display erratic behavior. Since his weakness in attention and self-regulation is not a frequent occurrence, it has not become a major hindrance to his academic and social/emotional progress. However, I believe that it would still be prudent to try and rectify any inattention and lack of impulse control with positive reinforcement in order to strengthen my student 's foundational block. According to the questionnaire, my student also presented with several issues in the symbolic block. These deficits are in motor processing, as observed by poor penmanship. He also has
David Nguyen
National University
Building Blocks Retrospection
The building blocks questionnaire is a very thorough survey that is useful in deciphering a student 's foundational, symbolic, and conceptual development. I personally would not recommend a teacher or adult to try to fill this form out without being fairly familiar with the student. This survey starts out broadly with seemingly broad questions, but gradually build up to more specific questions that help identify weaknesses in any of the building blocks. With a thorough understanding that the "foundational blocks provide the support system for learning" (Mather and Goldstein, 6) and that the blocks each build upon and relate to each other, a teacher is able to use this questionnaire to properly assess the strengths and weaknesses of a student. I can see this being a valuable tool to identify areas of need and understand the roots of certain roadblocks to learning for my students. In the case of my student, he seems to have an issue with attention and self-regulation in the foundational block. With this knowledge, I can address this issue as his teacher and look to see if this area of weakness may be a cause to any problems that may arise. In my student 's history, he has shown a tendency to lose focus and have difficulty controlling his impulses which causes him to display erratic behavior. Since his weakness in attention and self-regulation is not a frequent occurrence, it has not become a major hindrance to his academic and social/emotional progress. However, I believe that it would still be prudent to try and rectify any inattention and lack of impulse control with positive reinforcement in order to strengthen my student 's foundational block. According to the questionnaire, my student also presented with several issues in the symbolic block. These deficits are in motor processing, as observed by poor penmanship. He also has
References: Mather & Goldstein (2008). Learning disabilities and challenging behaviors. Brookes Publishing Co. [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic]