Pre-Observation-Day Observation Day!

I am phasing out of my solo teaching by giving up about 30 more minutes of teaching each day this week. I've found that this is a nice transition for my students as well as my mentor teacher this close to TCAP.

Because of this, my mentor teacher suggested I take the extra time to go observe other classes around the school that I might not otherwise get the chance to see! Through this extra 'observation time', I was granted the afternoon to go and observe Ms. Kellum - the pull out service teacher. GiGi is actually a previous Vanderbilt grad student, certified in Exceptional Ed. She pushes into to my mentor teacher's classroom each morning with three of the students with exceptional needs, but I have never seen her in the academic (not morning meeting) context.

This afternoon, I observed her in the small group setting doing math with three students with different exceptional needs (all in third grade). One of the students is not able to produce any speech at all.
The students were in a very open area, without their desks touching.

In the first task I observed, they took turns participating in an online math game using the SmartBoard. The students were able to physically touch their answers to the addition games using the electronic pointer and SmartBoard, while also practicing social skills by taking turns. The integration of different skills was very transparent to myself, but clearly not to the students (which I think is a good thing!).

For second task, the students placed dots on different numbers according to the value of the number (i.e. one dot on the number 1, two dots on the number 2, etc.). During this task, the students worked independently. GiGi allowed the students choice by allowing them to choose which color marker they could put the dots on the numbers with. She also put on soft music in the background, which I think helped set a calm and focused tone after the interactive and physical math game. The para pro working with the student without any speech asked him if he wanted help before guiding him through the independent activity. One of the students was talking across the classroom to another student about what they wanted to play after school. In order to refocus him, GiGi prompted him by saying, "I know what you have to say is important, but right now you need to finish this". This was such a constructive way of validating his personal life without distracting him from the task he was supposed to be completing.

The third task required the students to use their mini white boards. When giving the directions for the activity, GiGi calmly stated simple instructions, and then had the students repeat back what they shouldn't do. She wrote an addition problem on the overhead whiteboard (which was projected on the wall in front of them). The activity scaffolded off of the second activity, because it required the students to put the correct number of dots on the numbers, then count the total number of dots to solve the addition problem.


All of these tasks took place in such a short span of time, and yet every single thing I noticed was intentional and meaningful.

I have said to many of you how often I wish I had more instruction (courses, practicums, methods classes, etc.) regarding exceptional education. It has never been more true than in my second placement - so many of my students have exceptional needs and receive services. However, their instruction by my mentor teacher when they are in the general classroom is so scarce and hardly differentiated/scaffolded. It has been hard and sad to observe. I am so glad that I got  to observe this classroom and instruction this afternoon, to really get a more clear picture of the kind of services that pull-out offers.

My Future Business Career...

JUST KIDDING! I'm definitely going to be a teacher. But, I had a really great business idea this morning.

I don't know how many of y'all are familiar with 'the Skimm'. It's an electronic, daily, 'skimmed down' version of current events. Basically, if you subscribe, you get an email every morning with global and national news that is current. It's fabulous.

Anyway, I was reading it this morning, and there was a fabulous little blurb about Common Core and standardized testing in public schools. As student teachers at MNPS, and many of us in older/test-taking grades, this is super relevant! The Skimm even included the link to a more in-depth article on TIME (which I actually posted as a comment on someone else's blog entry!). I got so excited that this was being talked about in a venue other than our little seminar meetings and at school, that I forwarded the article to my entire sorority. And then I started thinking....do my students know about any of this? Do they know that some states have an 'opt-out' option for standardized testing? Do they know that people are talking about this? Do they know that these kind of decisions affect politics?

I spent all morning thinking about how I could talk about these things with my students - relevant news that could be put into kid-friendly terms that they understand. AND THEN, I thought: "HOW GREAT WOULD THIS BE DURING MORNING MEETING?!"

Which is when I came up with the greatest business idea/teacher idea of all time (probably). Somebody needs to email the ladies that run/write the Skimm and tell them that they need to create a kid-friendly version. This could be something that teachers could use during morning meeting or to integrate reading/writing/social studies, OR older students could even get it sent directly to their emails. Parents could even use it to form a common ground for current event conversations at the dinner table!

I think that I might take this idea and run with - a 'Skimm' for my classroom! Maybe as a future teacher, I will rewrite the Skimm that I get every morning (it definitely comes early enough, at around 5:30 am every day) using kid-friendly language. There are endless possibilities, and I feel like their are tons of benefits.

Gifted Certification

As I mentioned before, one of my students has dyslexia. However, she is unable to get an IEP for this because of legality issues etc. Therefore, the family is trying to go the "gifted," route in order to receive certification. To do this, my 2nd grade student had to create some sort of research project that tackles certain social studies standards. The majority of this project had to be completed during school hours and with complete guidance by the 2nd grade student. 

My mentor teacher and I had many concerns and problems with this. First of all, there is 0 time in the day for this to be completed without taking away time from other learning. Second, my mentor teacher was uncomfortable and unsure of her role in the matter. This was supposed to be "student lead," but it is almost impossible for a second grader to come up with a research topic, plan of option and presentation on their own. 

Today, my student presented her project in front of the committee. I almost could cry watching my student present because she was so nervous and could barely speak. This is completely normal because she is a second grader. The presentation did not show that she was gifted at all because she was so nervous and overwhelmed that she forgot most of the things that she wanted to say. 

I am really curious to see what the result will be and if she will receive gifted certification. It is such a shame that she needs to go through all of this stress and work to receive the services that she genuinely needs. 

Worms!

I loved this last week at Hickman--we were working on life sciences and scientific observations.  My teacher had ordered fish, worms, and some type of bug for our classroom.  I was grossed out by the bugs (luckily they're still in the box), but I loved helping with the fish!  My kids have completed several observations since then about seeds they planted, the fish, and worms.  It was so much fun to see the kids squeal at the fish as they swam around the container.  I loved hearing how the guppies had to be baby fish because they were smaller than the goldfish.  They ooh-ed at the fish that swam upside down in circles and were very sad when one of the guppies died, calling him a "small grandpa fish".

The best part was the worms, though!  In I-time, I had the kids create their own imaginary worms, talking about where they like to live and how they look.  Then, I let them hold the worms.  I was so proud of myself because my mentor teacher refused to touch them.  He lifted them up with a fork, but then I took over and gave the kids each their own worm!  Since I knew they would be afraid to touch the worm if I didn't show them it was okay, I jumped right in.  I immediately had flashbacks to my own elementary school days playing in the mud.  I loved seeing the kids react to the squirming worms the second they touched them.  Some of them even flung the worms out of surprise!  On Friday, I then had my students describe their experience holding the worms.  It was hilarious how many of them described the worm as yucky and disgusting but said they loved holding it.  Several of them even asked me if they could take some worms home with them.

The whole worm experience reminded me about how much I love giving my students new experiences.  I adore seeing them try new things and watching the shocked amazement on their faces.  To me, that is one of the best joys of being a teacher.  What are some fun things you have seen your kids do for the first time?

S-Teams and SPED Diagnoses

In honor of World Autism Month, I wanted to write a post about something interesting I never thought about until my second placement.  During my first week at Hickman, I noticed one of the students in my classroom acting differently than the others.  He often rocked back and forth with stilted movements, became overly anxious about simple things, struggled with loud noises, and more.  I started to wonder if he was autistic, but my teacher had only told me about two students in our class with IEPs--one with Down Syndrome and one with a speech impediment.  I assumed I must have been wrong.

A few days later, my mentor teacher told me about this child's situation.  He was an only child and his parents had not noticed that his behavior was abnormal.  All of the teachers suspected he might be autistic, but they couldn't recommend him for diagnosis/an IEP because he was not showing a discrepancy in his grades.  He was performing on grade level and therefore did not need special accommodations.  When my teacher explained that to me, I was initially shocked--how can someone suspected of a disability not be referred to SPED?  But then it began to make more sense; if you can achieve on grade level, why would you need supports to help you perform academically?

This year the kindergarten teachers met with this student's parents so as to prepare them for potential academic struggles he may have in the future.  They were not allowed to tell the parents that they believed the child might be autistic because that would be a fraudulent diagnosis and they could get sued.  Instead, they emphasized that while his behavior was not harming him now, it could become more extreme over time.  They just wanted to make his parents aware of the situation since they had no idea and none of his pre-K teachers had mentioned anything.  It still blows my mind that his parents do not realize how much their child struggles in basic social situations!  I learned from the entire situation that we as teachers can sometimes know more about our kids than even their parents!  I was also reminded of how careful we must be to phrase things appropriately and move through the proper channels.  Without deliberate care, we could get sued.

Have you experienced anything like this in your classrooms?  I did not have much experience with students with disabilities besides learning impediments until I came to Hickman.  Do you have more insight?

Kindergarten Troubles

I am having a lot of trouble with my students not keeping their hands to themselves.  I have officially told them that they are not to touch each other period. Not in nice ways or mean ways. They like to step on the back of each other's shoes, give flying tackle/hugs, and hitting. I always have felt like kids were going to touch each other, no matter what you tell them. However, today I had a child bite another. I did not witness it, it happened on the bus. All of my students who were on the bus decided to come in and tell me. The biter was suspended from the bus and had to talk to the principal. I also told him that he had to write the child he bit an I'm Sorry note. I just don't know how to handle it. Is there a right and wrong way to address a kindergartener's need to be physical? Is it just their age? Or should I be concerned?

Field Trips

I have had the opportunity to go on a field trip with each of my placements: 4th grade went to the Nashville Symphony and kindergarten went to see Cat in the Hat at the Nashville Children's Theater. I was nervous about both of these, because the teachers at both schools seemed to slightly dread the field trips ("dread" is probably a strong word, but they kept saying how exhausting field trips are), and I just imagined that any field trip would be complete chaos. However, I thought that both trips went pretty seamlessly. The Symphony and the Children's Theater both clearly have field trips visit often, because they had systems in place to make sure we were in and out efficiently. In both cases, we loaded the buses quickly at school, went straight into the building, got seated quickly, boarded the buses immediately after the show was over, and then came back to school for lunch. There was, in fact, very little chaos and I thought they both ran like a well-oiled machine.

Have y'all gone on field trips with your placements? How were they?