University of Puerto Rico at Humacao and Community School Jose Campeche

Case Study Phase I: Background Information of the Student

Michael J. Sosa Cardona

Subject – Anibal Miranda Ortiz

Cooperative Teacher – Sonia Almeda

Practice Supervisor – Dr. Nilsa Lugo

Index:

Identification of Subject

Narrative

Justification

Hypothetical Case Study

Academic Achievement

Home

Health

Special Abilities

Personal Interests

Future Aspirations

Annex

Identification of Subject:

Name – Anibal Miranda Ortiz

Age – 17

School – Jose Campeche

Grade – 12-8

Address – Santa Clara Calle 1 San Lorenzo 00954 (Urb. Villas de Castro, Calle 11 Q24, Caguas, P.R. 00725)

Father – Anibal Miranda Perez (“Chief of Street Engineers. Has his own company. He does houses for the government.)

Mother – Diana L. Ortiz Diaz (“Fiscal auditor. Has her own company called “Steel Five Security.”)

Narrative:

The subject is called Anibal Miranda Ortiz. He is seventeen (17) years old. He studies at

the community school Jose Campeche in San Lorenzo. He is (or used to be) in 12-8. Recently,

there were some changes and Anibal was changed into another group; this was due to behavioral

problems. I cannot say with details in what group is he because he doesn’t run with a specific

group. He has a different schedule, it appears.

Anibal lives in Caguas, at Villas de Castro. The street is Calle #11, the house, Q24. To

enter the Jose Campeche at San Lorenzo, Anibal and his family wrote in the information

requested to enter the Jose Campeche community school that Anibal lived in San Lorenzo with

his grandmother. In the past, he used to live with his grandmother, but not anymore. The teachers

believe that he really lives with his grandmother and when I tell the teachers this kind of

information, they believe that Anibal is a liar and that he is a double-face.

Anibal lives with his mother. His parents divorced since he was little. His mother

remarried to another man, his stepfather. His mother’s name is called Diana L. Ortiz Diaz and is

father’s name is called Anibal Miranda Perez. His mother works as a fiscal auditory and she also

has her own security company called “Steel 5 Security”. Anibal’s father is a chief of street

engineers. He has his own company, too. This company works for the government and they build

houses for the government. Anibal does not know the name of his father’s company. Anibal has

a little brother, but they are not blood related. This younger brother that Anibal has is in the same

school where Anibal studies, the Jose Campeche community school.

Justification:

I chose this student because of his behavioral problems. Almost every teacher has

negative comments about Anibal because of it. Even so, this student has talent, even though he

wastes it. This is because he likes talking and getting attention from others. Still, he has a lot of

talent for things like, for example, Physical Education. Also, the way he expresses himself is real

unique to be flunking classes. There is something well hidden in this student and I want to find

out what it is.

Hypothetical Case Study:

A. The student likes to disrupt and interrupt class a lot. While he has been with me,

he has behaved a little. Before me, the student liked disrupting the class to an

extent that the teacher had to scream to control them (even though it didn’t work

out, obviously). Anibal liked talking with a student called Harold Fernandez.

Still, outside the classroom, Anibal conducts himself a little better and superior

than inside of the classroom. This is when there is no authoritative figure around.

When there is an authoritative figure around, Anibal needs to be checked because

he, at some point or another, could be making fun of the authoritative figure.

Director Alvarado is a victim of his hazard. According to some teachers (see

annex for interviews), Anibal just likes to be a clown and likes to be the centr of

attention in the classroom.

B. According to my observations and the data collected from the same, Anibal is

really fond of mocking, talking, and disrupting the class because he tends to lose

interest in the same. This is something teachers have not seen or even focused on.

His awareness and consciousness for the class goes missing at some point or

another. Sol E. Cruz Torres, the academic counselor, has also seen this and she

has confirmed this to me just recently. For teachers, he is like he is because,

simply, he likes to mock teachers. According to my observations and according to

the data I’ve gathered from these observations, it appears that he becomes, to an

extent, bored and does not like the subjects being taught in school. He seems to

have other interests in the substance. The material being taught in English does

not get his attention running. Teachers don’t care much about the problem

because Anibal and his friends (Harold, Edwin, Charles, Wilberto, and Jovanny)

are a menace for the class. Because of this, the group was broken. Only Jovanny,

Wilberto, and Edwin stayed in 12-8. Also, he may be having trouble in his house

and he may be reflecting these troubles in his behavior.

Academic achievement – 3.05 – The student is an average student according to my

observations, but according to a teacher, he is “one of the students that will later become a

criminal in society” (Muñoz 2012). This comment was because of his behavioral problems.

Academically, Anibal Miranda does well, but on Spanish and English he has D. In other classes,

he has A, B, and C. He is doing badly in Spanish because of the methods and approaches that the

teacher uses to approach them (the students in general). Anibal said that Enid Muñoz, the

Spanish teacher, puts them to read to later give them like 20 questions to answer and that is it.

That is always her class. She ever changes her methods. Anibal said that classes like this make

him bored and he loses interest in these kinds of classes. In English, on the other hand, he has a

hard time dealing with the language and can’t understand it very well.

Home – Anibal lives with his mom and his stepfather. His mom got separated from his

biological father when Anibal was really young. He does not present any resentment toward the

situation. Even though he lives with his mom, everyone thinks he lives with his grandmother (his

grandmother used to be a teacher). This is because he posted on his record that he lives with his

grandmother because like that he could get enrolled in Jose Campeche. Otherwise, he could not

get enrolled in this school. Also, Anibal has a brother from part of his stepfather. They are not

blood related.

Health – Anibal has troubles with his extremities. Lately, his extremities tend to get

inflated. This condition seems to be recent and he is treating it but the process is still in

development. The medics still don’t know what it is with exact details and what causes it. I

believe that this has to do with doing too much Physical Education. Anibal is way too much

involved in Physical work.

In the past, Anibal broke both his arms. He fell off a tree. He was climbing it with several

people. One of his arms was submitted to surgery. He has the scars to prove it. In his actual

condition, he seems to be ok from them. Recently, Anibal bended his ankle. He was playing

basketball and apparently had an accident.

Sol E. Cruz Torres, the academic counselor, has told me to look beyond. She thinks (or

knows) something about Anibal that teachers and friends may not know. She has confidential

information that she can’t give me. I believe she want me to find out without her telling me.

There are rumors that Anibal may be of special education and the school may not know about

this.

Special abilities –Anibal has some abilities based on his interests. He likes preparing

cars to run races. He likes racing cars. I believe that these are not always street legal. Another

thing is that he is good in sports. He dominates any kind of sports, according to him. According

to my data recollected from observations and approaches, he does really well in Physical

Education class. He can play baseball, basketball, and any other kind. He represents Caguas in

“track and field.”

Personal Interests – Anibal is really attracted to sports, laws, and cars, like stated in

the paragraph above. He feels a really powerful passion for these things. Anibal represents

Caguas in “track and field” in Club Criollo. Also, he has a lot of talent for Physical Education.

Future aspirations – Even though Anibal has behavioral problems in school, he

aspires to go to law school and study. He plans to graduate and go to “El Turabo” to study

Criminology. After that, he plans to study laws in a program that “El Turabo” has where they

teach laws. He said that he needs a bachelor in order to study laws.