Re-Examination

After participating in my community-based experience at Lakeshore Middle School I have learned so much about the education of students with disabilities in the public school system, the personal challenges they face, and the academic issues which they have no control over. 

Prior to this experience I remember feeling excited but nervous, as I didn’t have much experience in the field.  I also recognized the assumptions that a majority of the community held regarding individuals with disabilities, focusing on their ‘negative behaviors’ leading to stereotypes and labels.  After being introduced to the faculty, staff, and students at Lakeshore, I gained a clearer understanding of how much opposition truly faces students with disabilities.  The location of the classrooms for the students was the first and most distinction indicator of opposition. At no time during the day do the students with disabilities have the opportunity to interact with their peers without disabilities.  Even during P.E. students are kept at a different location than their peers without disabilities and are allocated few resources for physical activity. 

Furthermore, from this experience I have learned a great amount about working with students with disabilities.  After visiting various classrooms I realize that students become frustrated when they are not provided the essential tools for a sufficient education, just as their peers without disabilities might. Through observation and participation in the classroom, I realize that students do want to learn and idleness leads to chaos.  Overall, from this community based experience I have learned, by example and non-example, strategies which aid learning and academic growth.

Professionally, I feel as if I have gained invaluable knowledge as a future educator.  After observing a negative academic climate for students with disabilities, I found that I have a passion for discovering and creating simple implementable solutions that can be applied to any classroom.  In particular, I have enjoyed researching strategies for utilizing age appropriate materials and instruction.  I even had the opportunity to apply different strategies in an academic environment, while adapting different aspects to meet the needs of my student.  The experience which I have acquired from working with the students at Lakeshore has made me that much more excited to become a teacher and make a difference in students’ lives and in the community.  It has also showed me that I have the potential to make a difference and there are numerous resources available through research-based practices, which can make my visions a reality.   

Visit Five

During this session at Lakeshore, I was scheduled to visit Mr. U’s class.  However, I was surprised to discover that he isn’t working at the school anymore.  Instead, a permanent substitute,  Mrs. T, has taken over his class.  I was extremely surprised at the progress she had made with the class after being with them for just one week.

As opposed to the disorder that was commonplace in Mr. U’s class, Mrs. T had all the students sitting quietly at their desks, raising their hands for assistance, and completing their worksheets independently.  She had implemented a set of classroom rules and procedures, of which the students were complying with easily.  The structure Mrs. T had created is working well for the students.

For the lesson this visit, Mrs. T coupled reading and math with life skills to create an interactive activity.  She had her students reading a recipe for cupcakes and baking them.  This lesson also required the students to work cooperatively, compromise, and socialize.  It was evident that the students were excited to participate in the lesson and felt comfortable with Mrs. T.

Furthermore, rather than requiring the students to work with first grade level materials, Mrs. T is working on identifying the reading levels of all the students in order to differentiate instruction and utilize age appropriate materials.  Although this may takes some time and preparation, I believe this decision will be successful with her students. 

Overall, I feel that Mrs. T’s presence has had and extremely positive effect on her students.  With the introduction of age appropriate practices and a structured and nurturing learning environment, the students are thriving.  They are eager to learn and participate in all activities, and Mrs. T attempts in involve every student at all times. 

Visit Four

During my fourth visit at Lakeshore Middle School I again observed Mr. U’s class and was surprised to see development in his use of age-appropriate materials and practices.  During my last session in his classroom Mr. U had developed an ineffective station system for his students.  The different tasks he assigned his students included individually reviewing sight words and reading fluency, working at the computers on "spellingcity.com",  and working on spelling, fluency, and writing. I was placed with the students at this station, helping them with any technological issues they faced. At one station Mr. U had three other UNF pre-service teachers using flashcards with the students.  The most shocking component of my last visit was the materials that Mr. U was using.  He was having sixth, seventh and eighth grade students read texts at a first grade level.

However at this visit, Mr. U abandoned this system completely.  He was using direct instruction to teach his students about ecosystems and biomes.  In addition to implementing oral comprehension questioning Mr. U worked with the whole class to complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting these two systems.   Overall the students were far more engaged and actively participated in the instruction.  I believe this was because they were learning new information, rather than repeating lessons they had already learned.  The activity also allowed the students to talk about their personal experiences with the plants and animals that were featured in the lesson. 

Overall, I found the learning environment much more conducive to learning.  During my last visit to Mr. U’s class I was disappointed and frustrated that I couldn’t help the students more.  But during this session, I was excited for the students, as they began to enjoy learning.  The use of age appropriate instruction definitely influenced this learning environment.

Visit Three

During my third visit to Lakeshore Middle School I had to opportunity to assist in Mrs. J's class.  I was given a book to read with two students and was instructed to ask them comprehension questions regarding the text.  The students I helped seemed to have read the text before and when I asked them if they had I was proven correct.  They had read the same text the week prior to my visit.  With this in mind, they answered my questions quickly and with ease.  Then they worked on their writing skills tracing words and writing them independently.  These words correlated to the words used in the text.  After they completed the writing activity all students were free to read or work on the computers.

The reading materials that the students were provided with were age appropriate and engaging.  Various texts about insects, dinosaurs, and snakes came with 3D glasses, which really sparked the students' interest.  At this point I was introduced to a student named Trystin, who loves to read.  He recalled facts from all the books he had read and told me about them in great detail.  I proceeded to help him find and comprehend new facts about his favorite topic, dinosaurs. 

Overall, during this visit I had the greatest opportunity to interact with students and understand common teaching practices in the classroom.  I hope I have the opportunity to revisit Mrs. J's room and ask her questions regarding what she has learned about successful teaching methods over the span of her career.

Visit Two

 

During my second experience at Lakeshore Middle School I was placed in Mr. U's class, consisting of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. I was told that this class consisted of students with developmental disabilities. During the class session that I attended Mr. U was teaching a reading class and had developed a system of three stations with different tasks for his students. At one station he sat with the students individually and reviewed sight words and reading fluency. At another station he had the children at computers on "spellingcity.com", working on spelling, fluency, and writing. I was placed with the students at this station, helping them with any technological issues they faced. At the third station Mr. Underwood had three other UNF pre-service teachers using flashcards with the students.

Overall, I found the learning environment extremely un-conducive to learning. The paraprofessional in the class was more disruptive to the flow of teaching than the students themselves. Furthermore, it seemed as if Mr. U had relinquished his disciplinary power to the paraprofessional, who never had a clear idea of which student was ‘misbehaving'. She would wrongly accuse students of misbehaving and threaten to take away their P.E. time. At one point, the paraprofessional told a student that she didn't like the way he was walking and stated, "I will break you." She proceeded to make him practice walking, "…without acting like Joe Cool."

Furthermore, the materials that Mr. U was using in his lesson appeared far below their grade level. I was shocked to learn that he was using first grade reading materials. At one point, a student who had finished his flashcards, quickly, approached Mr. U about getting higher level material but was told, "I don't have anything else." This lack of age appropriate material coupled with an accusatory paraprofessional proved to be extremely frustrating for the students. They would often mumble to themselves and complain about the environment.

Reflecting back on the experience, I wish I would have had the opportunity to work more closely with the students in Mr. U’s class. Supervising their computer activity didn't even give me the opportunity to talk with the students. Furthermore, even though the materials he was utilizing seemed far below the grade level of his students I would have liked to see if I could manipulate the material to make it more difficult. The other UNF students in my group were given the opportunity to work with the students using flash cards and did an amazing job finding more challenging uses for the materials. Rather than just asking them what the word was, they would ask them how to spell it, the definition and more. I would have even asked them if the word was a noun, adjective or verb.

After collaborating with my peers, they told me stories of classrooms that left them dumbstruck and ready to make a difference. I believe this is the type of situation I was faced with in Mr. U’s classroom. His students have so much potential, I just think they need to be offered a more difficult curriculum and experience different learning strategies aimed towards their needs.

Day One

For my first experience at Lakeshore Middle School I was placed in Mrs. R's class, consisting of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade children.  I really enjoyed her positive demeanor and outlook for her students. Mrs. R definitely displayed positive behavior supports while working with her students.  I was surprised at the limited space she was given for her classroom.  I walked through the front door of a building to see a huge classroom, but was then led to a draped off back room.  During the class session that I observed, Mrs. R’s students were working on manipulative exercises that focused mainly on hand-eye coordination skills.  After meeting the students I turned my attention to the specifics of the exercises they were completing and realized that none of them were having trouble completing the tasks.  It almost seemed as if they had worked on these exercises numerous times before.  I asked three students if they liked the exercises and all of them said they were “easy”.  This seems troubling considering it is only the beginning of the school year.  Therefore, I don’t believe Mrs. R was utilizing developmentally and chronologically age appropriate practices.  I was also shocked by a safety hazard involved with these activities.  One of the students was assembling small lights, but by doing so he was required to handle eroded batteries.  A paraprofessional came to check on this student’s progress, saw the batteries, and told him to carry on.  I was definitely distressed by this incident. 

Overall, my experience was very productive and enjoyable.  I am excited to learn more about the students, Mrs. R's teaching strategies and experiences, and to develop my own ideas about teaching students with moderate to severe disabilities.

Pre-Session Blog

I am extremely excited regarding working with students with moderate to severe disabilities.  I chose Special Education as my major and I finally have the opportunity to delve into the classrooms I've been looking forward to.  But with this excitement I also feel nervous, as I don't have much experience with students with disabilities.  Therefore the only knowledge I have about working with students with disabilities is very generalized.  I know that society seems to focus on individuals'  negative behaviors which has led to numerous labels for students with moderate to severe disabilities.  I also realize that in order to meet the needs of these students, I must incorporate positive behavior supports and create developmentally and chronologically age appropriate practices. 

From this community-based experience I believe I will learn many valuable teaching techniques and practices, while also developing my own along the way. Accordingly, in regards to professional growth, I hope to observe and implement strategies displayed in the teaching community, while also examining possible flaws and creating more effective alternatives.  Furthermore I'd like to acquire enough confidence to feel comfortable while assisting teachers or leading lessons.