I have continued working on my inquiry for my focus student Gillian (pseudonym). I have been focusing on two methods to enrich this higher learner's experience. These include giving more challenging problems, as well as allowing her to be student teacher.
My student was given enrichment word problems, while the rest of the class completed other activities, such as introductory chapter math questions. I realized quickly that my student had already mastered these questions, so I believed that she was bored and needed some sort of stimulation. When I gave Gillian these questions, she immediately became excited and enthusiastic, and was eager to complete the challenge. She showed aspects of this through smiling, giggling and just an overall positive attitude. I also did this for another math lesson, and she demonstrated the same attitude, showing that this is exactly what she needed so that she was not asking, "what's next." Or saying, "I'm bored." or "This is easy."
I also assigned Gillian to be teacher helper, as I believe this was a great way to challenge her in order to help a struggling student. I think that this put her out of her comfort zone, but in a positive way that allowed her not to have extra time on her hands.
I decided to record Gillian in intervals for the rest of the day, to see when she was engaged, or when she was looking for something else to do. She was engaged 7 times, while she was unengaged 3 times, showing that these techniques did indeed work for improving her stimulation.