Abi Ansley November 4-6, 2013

OMI

Weekly Reflection

This was my first week at our final special education placement. This placement is going to be a lot different than anything I have experienced so far! I have not had much experience with grades older than second, and especially not with older students who have special needs. I have realized that my calling is with younger students, but I am always willing to be challenged and learn from various experiences. I am amazed at the variety of special needs that my cooperating teacher works with at OMI. She deals with students who have a specific learning disability, emotional disturbance, ADHD, Down syndrome, an intellectual disability, various physical disabilities, and more. This is a handful! Some students need the Alabama Alternate Assessment, while others simply need extra support or prompting in a certain subject area. Thankfully my teacher has paraprofessionals to move around with students, because she could not do her job alone! I was challenged this week when working with a fifth grade student who has Down syndrome. At first, I thought that this student was hearing impaired, because she would only smile or point to things when I asked her questions. This is far from correct! This student has sass! I worked with her on identifying letters of the alphabet, and there were multiple times at first when she would try to take things from or would not follow my instructions. I did my best to remain patient and remind her that I was the teacher, and eventually she began to respect my authority. She is very sweet, but she loves telling people what to do and will deceive you! I am interested to work with this student more and find out how to engage her in lessons. I have not observed my teacher working with this student yet. One question I have is how often do students less severe disabilities such as SLD or ADHD receive individual intervention? I have only observed my teacher working with these students in small groups.

Abi Ansley November 12-13, 2013

OMI

Weekly Reflection

This week I am learning how different the schedule of a resource teacher is from a classroom teacher. If someone walked around with a resource teacher for a day, that person might find that it seems like the resource teacher does not do much. However, this is far from true. The intensity of the time that resource teachers spend with students with special needs makes up for the breaks that they may have during the day. The students that these teachers work with are typically far more challenging than a typical classroom of students. On top of this specific, fully-involved time with students, resource teachers must also work on IEPs almost constantly and make sure that they are getting enough documentation. Both the classroom teacher and the resource teacher have their work cut out for them. Time is passing very quickly at this placement! I have only been with my teacher for four days, and we only have six days left! This is teaching me how important it is to be proactive as a teacher. Planning ahead (as in days before) is necessary, because the students are going to be there ready and willing to learn. If the teacher is not prepared, then that is a loss of valuable learning time that we cannot get back. Being prepared and proactive are necessary qualities for special education teachers, because these students often need continuous prompting to succeed. However, special education teachers should also be ready to think on their toes, because they never know how a student is going to respond to what is being taught. Whenever my cooperating teacher and I go into a general education classroom to assist students with special needs, the general education teacher often does not need the help. I am wondering how much time special education teachers actually spend with their students in the general education classroom.

Abi Ansley November 18-20, 2013

OMI

Weekly Reflection

I am very thankful that I am getting the opportunity to work with students who have more severe special needs at this placement. This is my first time to have clinical experience in this area, so I am learning a lot. This week, one of the students that I have been working with had a seizure during class time. There were about nine other students and three teachers in the room. Another student noticed the boy having a seizure, and two of the teachers automatically became flustered. I was able to help get the rest of the students into the hallway before they got too upset. I quickly started a game of quiet mouse to help get their minds off of the situation. Thankfully, all but one student calmed down immediately and acted very mature about the situation. One student with Down syndrome remained upset until two other students kindly reassured her. This made me very proud. I took away two main things from this experience: the importance of knowing your students and helping your students know each other. If the student who pointed out the seizure had not been aware of her classmates needs, the boy might have gone unnoticed for longer. As a teacher, I have to continuously be checking on my students, especially those who have health needs. This incident has caused the teachers of the student with seizure disorder to be increasingly watchful of his every move. I am thankful for teachers who remain with students who have health needs, because the classroom teacher already has to focus on so many students at once. I am wondering, do students with some type of seizure disorder always have an aid with them, or is the classroom teacher sometimes responsible for taking care of this students needs?

Abi Ansley December 2-4, 2013

OMI

Weekly Reflection

Working with students who have special needs takes a lot of patience. Some of the students with an intellectual disability are smarter than you think! They can be stubborn and manipulative, but it is often hard to reprimand this because you think they are so innocent. I am realizing that I have to be just as firm with them as I would be with other students who do not do what I say. I often have a hard time understanding what the students with an intellectual disability are saying. This is frustrating, because I want to be able to praise them for answering correctly or respond to what they say. Listening takes a whole new level! I have to learn how to decipher their speech. I feel that this would get better the longer you work with those students, but man does it take patience! I have had the opportunity to work with a wide array of special needs at this placement. Some of these special needs include Down syndrome, seizure disorder, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, stuttering, intellectual disability, ADHD, and specific learning disability. I have also had the opportunity to teach many of these students. Although I feel like I have not made much of a difference during my short time at this placement, the students have reminded me that anyone who will take the time to teach and love on them is making a difference. I earned multiple hugs from students during the first week simply by smiling at them and helping them learn. What an effect I can have as a teacher! Many students receive more attention from their classroom teacher than they do from their parents. I have been reminded at this placement that every move I make can affect a student in some way.