"Pp" for Pig

This morning was the second time that I have have played soccer spelling. Each day we practice our spelling words but in different ways. This is the only partner activity that I allow in spelling. It was a bit difficult for the students to play last time, but I showed them again how to do it and they did better playing. Each team needs one soccer board. There is a pile of spellng words face down. Partner A takes the first word off the pile and then reads it to his partner. Partner B writes down that word on the soccer board. Each player starts writing their words at the opposite end of the board (not the middle). Player B spells the word correctly, then picks a word and reads it to Partner A. Partner A writes the word. If one of the partners spells the word incorrect, he/she must stay on the same "yard" line on the board. The player may only advance if he spells the word correctly. Each play takes turns until all words are gone or one player reaches the middle line first. The students seemed to have fun playing it. I was very impressed that each group worked so well together. We have one new student in our group, his partner did very well in guiding him through the rules and playing of the game.


Today we got to water paint our 1st three quiet letters in our LiPS programs. We painted our Lip Poppers, Tongue Tappers, and Tongue Scrapers. The little ones had a great time painting. For the most part their letters were formed correctly. One of them had a little trouble because he kept getting too much water on the brush, then that would make the letter blob. During our seat work time we always have work that relates to the work the student's do during reading. Today we got to make our "p" pig puppet. The boys always enjoy making puppets and they did well in cutting and making the puppet.

Observation

Observation today at 11:00

Math Madness/Fabulous First Grade

Today my first graders were a little wiggly so I took full advantage of it. We did some indoor letter reviews with our Tucker sign. I asked my students to line up, but at the other door...the door to outside. They were so excited and very curious to what we are doing. I grabbed my bucket of sidewalk chalk. On each wide rectangle on the sidewalk I wrote on of our letters, the capital and small letter. I just went down the sidewalk writing a different letter on each of the rectangles. I was asking the students what the letters were while I wrote the letters. After I was done I handed each of the students one piece of sidewalk chalk and they got to go down the sidewalk and also write the same letters. After they got done I handed them a different colored piece of chalk. We did this a total of three times. I collected their chalk and told them to run to the other cement slab about 15 feet away. The boys lined up on the other cement and I joined them. One by one I asked them to run to a certain letter. As one boy was running I would ask the next boy to run to his next letter. If they were having trouble with finding a letter I could would give them a hit, like Tucker sign or word that began with the letter. If that still didn't work I asked the other boys to help their friend find the correct letter. Besides running I asked the boys to do other funny things such as: "Do the chicken dance to the letter "M"." or "Do the crab walk to the letter 'K'." The boys had a blast doing it. The activity seemed to help get the wiggles out of the boys, yet it was an education outdoor lesson.


Math Madness:
What a day in math. This week I have 2 new students that have joined my group. They are not quite in routine yet and have a lot of their own issues to figure out. My regular little boy has been out all week and supposedly is moving at the end of the week. Here is what my math group looked like today:

Student A: Just changed from general ed to our special education classroom. He has many attention issues and is having a hard time getting used to the new routine. During the math lesson he was looking around the room, hardly paying attention. No matter how many times I said his name or pointed to his paper, he just couldn't focus. I explained a new concept 2 times then my teacher explained it again. We started our worksheet, which was about that topic, and he couldn't figure out how to do any of it. He was not listening even when he was looking at us. If I asked his questions he would either give the wrong answer or not know what the answer was.

Student B: This is our 5th grade girl who just moved to our school. This 3rd grade curriculum is a stretch for her, but we do not have any other lower math groups and at this point no other breaks in the day to teach another math lesson. During the math lesson she was either sucking profusely on her hair or copying someone else's paper. I had the other students cover their papers, and then she made the comment, "I can't do this problem because I can't see his paper." At least she isn't lying about what she is doing. This student is very inconsistent with what work she can do. Sometimes she can answer a certain question, and a few minutes later she will have no idea what is going on or how to answer the problem.

Student C: A regular in my math group, and he knows the routine well. He is bright and can do the math with not too many problems. He cannot however, keep his mouth quiet. There is constant sound coming from this student at all times. Warning and penalties do not seem to help. It is almost like he cannot control what he is doing. He frequently blurts out he answers and tells others the problem is easy (even though the others are struggling with the problem)

Student D: Absent the whole week, possibly moving. Very bright student in math and has no problems with the curriculum. He has been gone because his prescription medicine is out. Without his medicine he cannot function at all and becomes almost a terror. He has been know to roll on the floor and froth at the mouth without his medicine.

Student E: Quiet student. He has many issues with visual motor coordination. There are many problems if he has to cut anything out and has a hard time using a ruler. He also is struggling with reading the clock and telling the temperature on a thermometer.

This group today in math made for quite a challenge. I love all my students, but put them together and you just have chaos. Today it seemed almost impossible to keep them on the same page. Student C is higher than the others and has a hard time waiting for the others to finish. He needs faster paced lesson, yet this is something I cannot manage right now with the other ones struggling so much. Student A has a hard time focusing and right now I am just trying to figure out what he knows and what kind of work load he can manage. I will try to find a way to capture his attention. I am worried that student B will be struggling to much with this math curriculum. I will wait at least another week, to also figure out how much she knows consistently. Student E is receiving occupational therapy, so for now I just have to make modifications in his lesson. I have to help him with the ruler and I don't let him cut much. I try to work individually with him if he is trying to read the thermometer. This week's information is quite varied in it's nature and Friday will probably be a review of the material. I think I will be focusing on some key elements to their lessons such as time and money.

Letter Sort

Methodology
1:30pm
Episode
This afternoon I re-emphasized the letter K with my 1st graders. Yesterday I introduced this "tongue scraper." Yesterday things seemed to be going okay with our "K" activities. Today I started things off with a review of P/T/K, the first three letters in the LiPS program. We did our Tucker signing along with our review. I then gave my students a large piece of newsprint paper, which had the three letters written on them. I had the many different fonts of those letters printed out and cut up. Each boy had their own pile and they sorted and glued their letters in the correct category. The boys were laughing because some of the pictures were silly. I repeatedly asked the boys what letter they were holding or what color the "blank” green letter was. All three kept responding appropriately. My teacher came in after finishing up ISTEP testing with a couple of students who had been absent last week. She asked the boys individually which three letters they were learning. One of the boys (who is generally more consistent) correctly named the letters. The next boy also correctly named the letter; this is surprising because he has generally been the low one of the group, due to his short-term memory loss. The third boy, who generally does fine, responded by telling us these letters that he was learning: B/L/R (Instead of P/T/K).

Analysis of Episode
Sigh of agony. After 6 weeks of working on these letters with a million different alphabet activities and then to hear this little one read the wrong letters was disheartening. It seemed as if things were going along pretty well, then he couldn't tell someone else his three letters. Each day we have emphasized the LiPS pictures/letters, Tucker sign, Herman pictures, hand-on activities, various literacy groups and centers, and art projects to correlate with the letters. Yet, this had not seemed to work. Sigh again. I guess I will just keep pressing on, and maybe the letters will eventually sink in to his long-term memory. Hopefully the repetition will help secure these letters in his head.

Absent/Picture Cues

Monday seems to be one of the most important days of school. Every Monday is when everything is introduced for the week's reading lessons: vocabulary, word wall words, spelling words and fluency passage. Today we had quite a few students gone. It is always hard to help them catch up when they have missed the introduction lessons. Reading time is very limited each day (1/2 hour) and it is already hard to get through one story.

V. Methodology

Each day when I switch from reading group to the next, I find myself constantly repeating myself when giving the list of supplies needed at our small group table. There is always someone who is not listening or who is coming in late from a special. I decided that to try and avoid repeating myself I would make pictures cue to go with the materials that the students needed to bring to the small group table. I will finish these cards tomorrow. Each day I will post for each group what they need to bring to the table or what they are supposed to be doing at their seats. I'm not sure if this will work but I am ready to try it.

Gifts of the Spirit

Finally

VI Management of Classroom
(11:00)]
B. Elaboration of significant episode:
Today right before our movie break my 4th graders finished their ISTEP testing. I could hear each of them sigh, "finally we're done!". That seemed to be the common consensus around the classroom. I collected the tests and stood up to survey the room. What a mess. Since we had all of our students, of which some are usually mainstreamed, had been in our classroom each table and chair was being used. Everyone's 'stuff' was out of place due to seating by grade level. Not everyone was even used to classroom procedure so pencils and crayons (etc.) seemed to be everywhere I turned. As the students watched their movie I started to clean up the room and reorganize it to get ready for a 'regular' routined week..

C. Analysis of Episode:
This week has been hard on many of my students in a couple of different ways. First, it is hard (especially for my class) for my students to get out of the regular routine of the day: word work, reading, centers, writing, math, and lunch. ISTEP is pushing the frustration level for many of my students. Though this LD class is one of the highest funcioning classes I have ever been in. It is still difficult many time for these students to succeed at hard comprehension and vocabluary in reading. Also the writing portion of the test way very difficult for many. It will be nice for next week to get back to a normal schedule.

Lang Lang Piano Soloist

II Personal Development
(Meeting 4 pm)

Episode/Analysis
This evening as I was working on my schoolwork, I decided to turn on the TV. I was just going to flip on HGTV and listen to the station, but I passed the PBS station because symphony music caught my attention. It was the New York Symphony at the Lincoln Center. I turned the live special on when a young piano player was playing an amazing solo with the symphony. I tried to focus on my schoolwork but he was fabulous. There was a part of me that was captivated with the music and that yearned to be playing music again. In the past I have been very involved in music. In high school music was my life, playing in many different bands and ensembles and participating in multiple honor bands. I came to college majoring in music education, but my passion in music has always been performance. I have sat first chair in wind ensemble for three years, played in the clarinet quartet, woodwind quartet, and pep band. More recently I have gotten involved with the community and have played in the Marion Philharmonic, Alexandria Community Band, Mississinewa Community Band, and the American Hometown Band.

I continued to be enthralled by this talented musician. He was better than any piano soloist I had ever seen and he was practically my age. So, many questions ran through my head. I wondered why God had closed the music door. Music is one of my greatest loves and passions, yet this semester especially I haven’t even given it a glance or the time of day. My heart still yearns to play music though, when I stop and listen to a symphony. It was almost hard to see the success of this musician, when it seems as if I have chosen the rocky path of life. I guess my faith would not be as strong if my road was smooth sailing. I wonder about the future and where life will take me. I love working with students with special needs and I would not trade any experience I’ve had for the world, but my love falls with working with Autistic students. Sometimes I wish for just a glimpse of the future. Will all this be worth it? Where will I end up? I do look forward to a day when college loans will be paid off and I will not be living at home. There is so many things to ponder about life and it is nothing I will be answer, maybe I should just get back to my grading.

http://www.langlang.com/

Humor

VII Communication
B. Elaboration of significant episode:
Today between our two ISTEP tests my Autistic boy was telling me about his shopping spree he went on last night. He was wearing a shirt that said, "Sister for sale." The shirt he was so excited about was about grades:
"F" Fantastic
"D" Darn Good
"A+" You know I cheated
It seems to be an epidemic of crazy shirts. One student in the cafeteria had a shirt that said, "Looking, but not listening."

C. Analysis of Episode:
Some of the shirts these students are wearing are funny. Some shirts I just can't believe that parents buys for their kids. One little first grader's shirt said, "I like dirty cowboys." Wow. I actually think she knew what it meant. I guess I had a different upbringing then some of these kids. I can't imagine ever wearing something so disrespectful. I guess most of the parents just think it is funny when their kids wear silly shirts. What an interesting society we live in.

Literacy Centers

V Methodology
12:20-2:00
B. Elaboration of significant episode:
This afternoon went quite well with the first graders. One home today with a fever. I went on with my literacy reading group re-emphasizing our 1s pair of Lip Poppers and our 'quiet' Tongue Tapper. I had a tiny book about the letter "P" introducing the words: pumpkin, police officer, penguin, pilot, etc. We worked with one to one correspondence (finger tracking). We also worked on isolating the words we knew, such as "the"/"I". And of course the main emphasis was finding letters we knew, the main letter being "P". Other letters such as t/h, etc were also found. We did a "whole group" lesson and then each student did their seat work. I worked individually with the students and they had a chance to read their book to me. After their seat work was done they got to pick something from the "Activity Box". One went to the computer where he worked on the website: www.starfall.com The other student went to the listening center where he listened to a book on tape. He finished the first center and moved on to the stamping bag, where he stamped his last name two times.

C. Analysis of Episode:
My first graders are doing quite well in reading. I am trying to keep creative with the projects and lessons we do everyday. The little ones seem to do better with lots of variety, as do I. The writing book was a new activity and I was very surprised with how well my students did. One had a little trouble reading some of the words (we also drew pictures) such as police officer. I was also very impressed with how well the students did in their individual centers. I am glad that they are learning to work independently too. After school I started working on some more literacy learning centers. I am excited to see how they go tomorrow.

Friday Drama

VII Communication
B. Elaboration of significant episode:
Today we were preparing for ISTEP. We were trying to make a schedule and figure out what accommodations everyone had. We will have all of our kids testing in one room at the same time. There are two new students who just moved to our school from out of state who have IEPs. All day my teacher and the principal have been trying to get a parent/guardian in so that they can sign the papers that will allow us to give accommodations during ISTEP. The oldest girl is in fifth grade and she is at a 1st grade level (so the testing says) in all areas. Before she had 80 percent in the special education classroom, much more than any of our students do now. My teacher was freaking out because she has never had someone so low and she did want to have to teach science and social studies to her, basically because there is no time. The little boy is in 3rd grade and is at a kindergarten level. My teacher is only licensed to work with learning disabled and she was worried that these students would be borderline mildly mentally handicapped. Both student in Ohio required a bus aide due to lack of communication/verbal skills. My teachers stance was that there is no place for these students in her LD classroom. She said that the mild students should not be with LD. This drama pretty much consumed the whole entire day. Most of the teachers were involved and everyone seems to be freaking out.

C. Analysis of Episode:
I was concerned when I heard how low the new students were. I was not in anyway worried about having them in our LD classroom. (Technically that is their current label). I think I have had a lot of experience in the Marion and Elwood schools, who in many cases have LD, MiMH, and EH/BH disabilities combined into one classroom. I guess I have had more experience with having some students with low IQ’s. My teacher it seems is not used to the idea of lower students. Our regular LD special education class is actually very close (for the most part) to grade level. It was just frustrating today when everyone was getting worked up over these students. It seems as if all the teachers are stressed over ISTEP and that is just making all conversations have a borderline bad attitude. Hopefully everything will work out with these new students.

Changing weather

I can always tell that the weather is changing because the kids are crazy. None of my students could sit still today and they were all behaviorally challenged and grumpy. It was like pulling teeth to even read a few pages of our story or read the temperature on the thermometer. I was thankful that it was reward day because it was a moment to actually sit and breath, while the students just watched their movie.

The afternoon was much better. I have been doing many hands on activities with my first graders. These guys have so much energy and excitement and I love it. It always brings a smile to my face.

At lunch I found out some more heartbreaking news. Our police officer at our school, who goes between the middle and elementary school, just made a visit to one of our student's houses. It was for the little boy who misses every Friday. Our officer was dealing with this attendance issue. They house was reported to be in terrible shape, light fixtures exposed, a hole in the roof, and was beyond dirty. It actually got condemned. So our student got moved to his grandmother's house. His mom was taken to jail, at least for one night. My heart continually breaks for all my students and the things they have to face everyday.

Today was another late night at school. The ride back was quiet because the other girls fell asleep. My mind reflected on the day and I started to think back to so many other students that I have taught. I think of one of my high schoolers, who is actually now attending my church. Each Sunday it is such a blessing to be able to give her a hug and be a continual part of her life. I also go to thinking about my amazing little preschool boy who was in my Sunday school class. I got to work with him for 3 years and he just recently moved to Arizona. He was such an important part of my life. I find myself missing him so much. Before I started journaling today, I glanced through other parts of my personal online journal. Here part of a previous entry. I need to be reminded of how amazing God is and that there is always a purpose for each person that He brings into my life.

****July 2, 2005***
For the last 4 years I have been teaching a special needs Sunday school class. I only have 5 children, whom I have become quite attached to. Two of my boys are from the same family; their dad is our youth pastor. Their dad accepted another position in Arizona, getting ready to do a church plant. I was devastated to hear that my boys were leaving. I have gotten to know the oldest boy (4 yrs old/severely Autistic) the best. He is my buddy and I am always delighted to see him. Their farewell party was on the weekend, but I was to be gone to the wedding. I went Thursday during my lunch break so officially say goodbye. It was sad to arrive and see all their things in boxes. How could I let them go?? Because I love those boys so much I brought presents for them. When I got there the younger boy (MiMH) had ripped off all his clothes and diaper, so he was running around naked. As his mother corralled him, I went and found the older boy, the love of my life. He discovered his gifts and was excited to open his gifts. Both boys played with their gifts for a while. One of their favorite things was the balloons. We would blow them up and make them squeal as we let the air out. The boys just laughed and laughed.

My lunch was only and hour. Time flew and it was almost time to leave. We played for a bit longer and I tried to savor each last precious moment with my boys.

With tears in my eyes I looked at my boys for the last time before the moved. I hugged and kissed the oldest. He was just playing with his toys, not realizing that this would be the last time he saw me. The little one was a little more aware that something was going on. He had a sad look on his face as I hugged him.

Tears ran down my face as I walked out their door. I cried all the way back to work. Why are goodbyes so hard??

God thank you for bringing those precious boys into my life for a few years. Even though many have tried praying for the healing from the special needs, I truly believe they are 'fearfully and wonderfully made'. They have blessed my life more than words can express. I pray that the transition will go smoothly and that they will be able to get into a school district. Lord bring amazing people into their lives that will love those boys as much as I do. I will miss seeing their little faces each Sunday, but I know this is in your plan. I don't know if I will ever see them again but I pray that Your hand of protection will be over them all their days.

God there have been so many transitions and goodbyes this year, so many good and hard times. Recently it was so hard to say goodbye to all my friends who graduated. Bless them all as they transition into the 'real' world. Guide them into the perfect areas and jobs where you can work through them. Guide and direct those who will be getting married in this next year. Help them to grow closer, not only to each other, but to grow closer to You.

It is hard to move on in life sometimes. Sometimes it seems easier to live in the past, to reminisce on the fun times. Lord thank you for blessing me with amazing friends and experiences. We have all been challenged and experienced growth. Guide and direct my future. Help me to have a loving attitude towards each day, no matter what happens. Thanks for being an amazing God.
***

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

Meetings

B. Elaboration of Significant Episode

What a day, what a day, what a day. Today wasn't bad, just busy. Today was very long because I had a 45 meeting after school today. I had to drop my carpool off at the mall on my way to my meeting at the administration building. The girls didn't want to have to just wait in the car for so long. Our meeting was for all the special education teachers to go over ISTEP and new reevaluation paperwork procedures. The meeting was just very long and very confusing. I am not used to the Kokomo paperwork and I just didn't really know what was going on. What I could gather the paperwork we were given was even more paperwork to be put in with the re-evaluation. All the teachers were griping because it already takes so long to do IEP's and standard paperwork, let alone with more paperwork. I guess that is the life of the special educator though.

C. Analysis of Episode
It was hard to sit in the meeting, especially while the other girls were shopping. I am not one that does well with staying late at school and doing my work. I am much more of a morning person and by afternoon I just shut down. I need a break after school to just relax and take a breath of air. I need to put on comfy clothes and put my feet up, then do my work after I had a bit of recuperation time. It was good for me to be in the meeting. It is good to get a feel for different school districts and their written procedures. It is good to be able to document correctly for current progress, assessment, and retesting.

First grade fun:
This week in our first grade reading whole group (of 3), we are focusing on the first 2 brothers in the LiPS program: P/B Lip Poppers. We have been doing different activities each day to help reinforce how to make the letters and which is noisy and quiet (voice/unvoiced.) Yesterday I used the color changing markers with note cards. I used the white “magic” marker to write p/b on the note cards. When the students used a regular colored marker the Magic color showed the hidden letters. My guys were so excited with the magically appearing letters. Today I used white crayon to write our 2 letters. The boys used water colors to paint the paper. Magically our letters appeared; the boys loved the hands on activity. Then we got to use the paint brushes to try and make our own letters. They boys did very well with this activity. After that we washed our hands and then I pulled out my surprise jar of…Peanut Butter. We identified our Lip Poppers on the label. Each boy got a plop of peanut butter on a plate. They got to squish it around and make the letters p/b. I was very surprised that they kept making their letters the right way!!! They finally got to eat the peanut butter and we got to laugh afterwards when their little faces were covered with it. We cleaned up and then got ready for seat work and individual reading time. I love doing fun hands-on activities. I think my teacher was a little skeptical, but hopefully this hand-on approach will give the students a better way to remember their letters versus just seeing them on filmstrip or white paper.


Memorable Moment of the day:
This afternoon Mrs. M was teaching math to my first graders (it was my planning time). The boys were a little more restless after their reading lesson. One of them had to take away 2 out of his three cars. Then our other sweet little one was not following directions. Mrs. M made him take away one of their cards (this makes them not get their piece of candy for the day.) He started bawling on the way back to the table. Mrs. M does not put up with crying and told him that first graders should not cry. This only made him feel worse and he cried even more. Sobbing he said, “I’m going to get a spanking when I get home for flipping a card.” Mrs. M explained that the first card is just a warning and no note will be sent home; so he was not in trouble. He still said, “But, I’m still going to get a spanking.” Mrs. M asked him how his mom was going to find out because she (Mrs. M) was not sending any note home. Our student cried out, “Because I’m going to tell her.” (Sobbing.) I guess you just had to be there, but it was hilarious. Mrs. M and I had to chuckle to the side. He was getting all worked up. He finally calmed down. After school his gen ed teacher asked why he was upset. Maybe tomorrow our little one will follow the rules.

Discovery

V. Methodology
B. Elaboration of significant episode:
Each morning during our morning work out students to Tucker signing, word work with spelling or vocab and learn 3 word wall words. Today we did everything at a fast pace. We signed fast and quickly basketball clapped our work wall words. We did a word sort for our spelling words. We sorted into two piles, long I and long o. The students worked very well as a group and sorted well. I think the fast pace really helped the students wake up. Usually they struggle keeping their eyes open and heads of the desk.

Today during reading I let the students have a discovery lesson. They had to figure out what the 2 vocabulary patterns were. I didn't give them much direction, I just stepped back to see what they knew. The small group worked together very well and came up with a lot of different ideas, some of which I had not even thought of. They tried out different solutions and would quickly figure out themselves that their pattern wasn't correct. Finally after finding some small patterns, they found the "book" pattern, which correlates with our spelling pattern (with long i and o). I praised them for their good discoveries and we talked about each one. At the end we discussed the patterns of cvcv and cvvc. The students were very engaged during the session.

During writing we also had another step by step discovery lesson on the computers. The computer teacher came in to guide students through using the laptops. Teaching them how to log in, find Word, save their work in the shared drives, and get them started typing a paragraph. One of my students, who is off his meds, was having a terrible time concentrating. It took all three of us teachers to get him to type the title. He would look at the title on the paper, then forget what he was typing by the time he looked at the screen. I finally went over to help him one on one because he needed someone there or else he would get nothing accomplished. I got him an blue ez reader and put it on the correct line on the paper copy of what he was typing. That helped him keep his place a bit better. I almost had to read each letter, space, comma, etc to him or else he would just totally forget what he was doing or would get distracted by something else. Needless to say we didn’t get much done on the paragraph.

C. Analysis of Episode:
I was excited that the fast pace almost seemed to help motivate students. One even commented, “Man we got a workout this morning.” Their word sort seemed to keep the variety alive and well in the group. I was afraid we would leave some students behind, but they actually all seemed to stay right with me; Kind of a fun pace for today.

During reading I was also very excited with how well the student did with their brainstorms to find the patterns in the words. The students even came up with some patterns I didn’t know. They all worked so well together and seemed excited when other students came up with new patterns. It was so good for these students to figure things out for themselves. Sometimes it is easy just to tell student the information. I am glad that this mini-discovery lesson went well!

Today my heart broke when I was working with my distracted student. I am not a huge proponent of medicine, but he could just not focus at all. Each day recently something has distracted him. Today during reading the squeak of my marker on the sentence strips was driving him crazy; he couldn’t even focus on his work. Yesterday he was mesmerized by my orange pen. He followed every move it took, but couldn’t focus at all on his spelling work. I finally let him write with it because then at least he would get his work done. On Friday he was distracted for a long time with his work. I kept asking him if he needed help and tried to refocus him. Finally he sighed and asked, “What is that pocket for?” My shirt has a small pocket on the sleeve and that is all he could look at. Nothing else would keep his attention because he was pondering the use of that little pocket. This student is very bright and would definitely be able to be mainstreamed if he had some medicine to help him focus. He does very well in reading, writing, and math if you can just get him to look at the board, his paper, or to listen long enough to understand the lesson. Lately while he is sitting at his desk we let him use a cd player with calm music and headphones to help him from hearing so many distractions. It seems to keep his focus at his desk, but I’m not sure it helps him focus on the words any more. I guess I’ll have to keep brainstorming with other ideas to help him keep focused.

Heartbreak of the Day:
I just now saw the news and 11 children with special needs were living in a foster home. The foster parents made the students live in cages. The foster parents were home schooling the kids also. One of the cages had a wire fence across the opening. The news said that it looked as if one child had tried to escape, so the fencing was used to keep him in. The cages looked almost like doghouses and didn’t even have a mattress in them. My heart breaks for these children. They mentioned some of them were Autistic. I can’t imagine what was going through their precious little minds. I sometimes just have to cry for all these little ones that have to face so much. Each day I have to thank God for my caring and nurturing upbringing. At least I have the opportunity to show love to my students everyday.

”It's what you do with what is given to you”

Faking It??

Today was the first day I have had to deal with a sick student. Our fifth grader came back from in library class and said he had a headache. We couldn't send him to the nurse because she couldn't do anything for him. He worked at the other reading table complaining the whole time. Finally he went back to his seat to do his seatwork. My teacher wasn't cutting him much slack because one of his nerves got cut in one of his surgeries. The nerve sometimes makes the student feel sick even when he is not. Even if his stomach does hurt there is nothing the nurse cannot do. Our student was grumpy at his desk but started his work. Next thing I know he was crying and starting to throw a bigger fit because he wasn't feeling well. He kept whining because he wanted to go to the nurse. My teacher refused to let him go because he was acting like a baby. A little while later this boy had the trashcan pulled over by him and was gagging. He had worked himself into suck a frenzy that he was almost making himself throw up. He was still crying and creating quite a ruckus in the corner. Finally my teacher let him go to the nurse. He came back a few minutes later and said he was going home. He didn't have a fever or anything so we were actually very surprised that he was leaving. We gave him his homework and sent him on his way. After that they day was very quiet (also because one of our other trouble makers was absent today) and continued to go on as usual. After school there were a couple of unexpected meetings that put me behind in my daily grading and work. I made my carpool leave later than we usually do. So finally getting home late this evening, I find it refreshing to put on some comfortable pants and put my feet us. Midterm reports are due this week, so tonight I will finish up my grades and look over my lessons for the rest of this week.

Wanna Be in Special Ed??

Today I went to pick up one of my first graders. One of the other little boys asked, "When do you get to take me to your class?" I politely said, "Not today honey." I had to chuckle. I don't think he knows why the kids come to my class.

This afternoon my teacher wanted to work with one of the other first graders from my group, so I worked with her 3rd grader. I had never worked with this student before. She was working on a grammar test. She had to copy the sentences out of the book and write them each on their paper. Then she had to underline the subject once and underline the predicate twice. My student had a very hard time concentrating just to write down the sentences. Plus her handwriting was very big. Her fine motor was a little off because every time she would underline something it would interfere with the other lines. I asked the aid if I could write the sentences (at least) for her and then she could do the underlining. I thought this would be a good modification because she wasn't getting graded on her cursive handwriting or sentence structure. The aid didn't think I was supposed to. When the student got done with her paper I could hardly read it. I wish I could have helped her out more.

(Observation today during 1st grade reading remediation)

Crazy Day

A frustrating day...
Today I was not feeling good. My allergies and sinuses were going crazy and me throat was raw. Even right away this morning it hurt to talk and I had no energy. Today was a rough day. Math was crazy as usual. My teacher and I have both tried a million different seating arrangements. The kids talk and mess around no matter where they are sitting, who they are sitting by or what we are doing-whether it be hands on or problems on the board. My teacher is going to switch math groups with me next week, so she can deal with the problem children. I feel bad that she is stepping in to take over; ultimately it is my responsibility to learn how to control them. My coop says that they won't get any better, but she is more used to it. No I have to re-plan for next week's lessons. I felt I was not as patient with all groups today because I didn't feel good and I am tired of them not following the rules after 4 weeks.

The afternoon was rough too. We have had the first graders for 3 weeks and have introduced 3 letters. One of my little boys is not doing well. He still cannot identify any of the letters. He can't write or identify his last name...and the list goes on. My teacher and I are seriously wondering if he is mildly mentally handicapped. My coop is trying to get him moved to the MiMH special ed kindergarten. My heart breaks for this little boy. In his testing it mentioned something being wrong with his short-term memory. If short term isn't working I don't have a clue how he will ever learn anything. How do you make the information transfer to the long-term memory. We have done every different kind of activity with our letters with 3 different curriculums, including hands on activities.

After school we had to conference with many teachers about our little first grader, to see if we could change his placement. By the time I got done checking in with the general education teachers about my students, conferences with my teacher, made copies, and cleaned up the room it was later than we usually leave. It is frustrating, especially when I don't feel good, when I don't get my own work done at school. By the time I get home write this journal, eat dinner, grade papers and look over the next days lesson it is time for bed. It is hard to get all the other planning and extra grading finished. It just seems like there are not enough hours in the day.

No Show

IV Rights and Responsibilities
B. Elaboration of significant episode:

Today we had an IEP meeting scheduled for 1 pm. We met with our first graders and I introduced the new LiPS curriculum. Then we sent all the rest of our students back to class so we could go to the meeting. I was only supposed to go for the first part, the introductions and discussion of the testing. When the goals were being discussed I was supposed to go fill in for the general education teacher, once again being a substitute. We left for the meeting but the mother never showed up. We had to reschedule the meeting and talk to the principal. We got our students again and went back to class. We didn't have our reading recovery lessons (which have to be done daily) but my coop hadn't planned them because we were not going to have class. We just reviewed the lesson from yesterday and did some other reading activities. One of the little boys was in a really bad mood and obviously having a very hard day. I pulled him out in the hall and talked to him. He said his grandma had to get him up early and it was just one of those bad days. Other things had happened throughout the day in class and at recess. I just listened and comforted him, tried to encourage him. He seemed better after I talked with him. I guess he just needed someone to care, after a whole day of grumpiness.

C. Analysis of Episode:
Everyday it seems as if the lessons change b/c something unexpected happens. One just has to be ready for change. In Marion, it seems as if the parents did not show up then they went on with the meeting without the parents. It is just frustrating trying to reschedule the meeting because trying to correlate everyone's schedule and getting the meeting in before the student's birthday. The mother finally called back, after my teacher left a message, and the meeting is scheduled for Friday at 10:00.

Lounge of Doom

VII Communication
B. Elaboration of significant episode:
Each and every day at school my teacher and I get a break for lunch. (Praise God.) This is an amazing time to take a break from the classroom, sit down, and enjoy some food. Everyday my teacher and I head to the teachers lounge/work room. Each day seems to follow the same pattern.

Today I figured the teachers would be discussing the amazing long weekend and their fun family parties or at least current news events. Nope. Today they fell back into their pattern: talking/complaining about students. It seems like most day the discussion is in regards to one of my own students, yes the special needs students.

This discussion today was about the multiple absences of one of my fourth grade students. He seems to have a pattern of missing every Friday and a few days in between on most weeks. His own general education classroom teacher was in the lounge and my cooperating LD teacher was there. But, there were many other teachers who should not have been involved in the situation. After hearing the conversation it sounds as if our student (labeled L.D.) has the highest IQ in the house. This boy is smarter than both his parents. His mother especially cannot even physically restrain him or catch him because she has bad knees. This boy runs around this house in the mornings because his parents can't catch him. Many days he misses the bus. The bus driver has reported that he can see the students messing around. Some mornings our student goes out to the bus stop, then when his parents are not looking leaves and hides under the house. After the bus drives by the student goes back into the house. His mother cannot get him to school because they do not have a car. He can't walk because school is too far away. So he misses school many times, putting him farther and farther behind. My teacher commented that last year he only had 1 test score in a whole 9 weeks, because he was gone so much.


C. Analysis of Episode:
My heart hurts for this family situation of this student. I am sure it is hard to have parents who can't support you as well. He had learned how to manipulate and work the system. Some of the other teachers were making rude comments about this student and his family.

These rude comments seem to be an everyday occurrence. It is depressing only to hear negative comments about the classroom. I feel like I don't even want to go to the teacher's lounge because they only badmouth the students or the families or extended families.

I guess I just wonder whatever happened to positive, uplifting, and encouraging discussion. Some student issues should only be discussed between the special education teacher, general education teacher and the social worker if necessary. I fee like the students' lives should be more private than they currently are.

Autism

II Personal Development
"Think Autism, Think Cure."
B. Elaboration of significant episode:
This morning we had our reading conferences and took spelling and word wall tests. This pretty much went all morning. During math we did a hands on investigation with number lines. The students were all-antsy for break and did not do well behavior-wise with a more active activity.

This afternoon my teacher had a case conference for a kindergartener. I had to fill in as the substitute teacher in that kindergarten room. I was not able to meet the student of which the conference was over because he attends the A.M. class. I met quickly with the "K" teacher at lunch to figure out what the students would do. She had a paper with times and activities of which she explained to me. At 1:00 I left my 1st graders with our aide and I went to sub. The students were in playgroups and the teacher left for the meeting. I looked on the table next to the manuals for the order of events. (This is where the teacher said the plans would be.) There were no plans to be found. I think the teacher might have accidentally taken them with her. I knew what activities we were doing but I wasn't sure how long they would take. I quickly tried to figure out a general time schedule to make sure we accomplished everything. We finished play groups, did reading "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", watched the "C.C.B.B." movie (2 times because we had extra time), did our math matching shapes game, had a fire drill, etc.

The teacher gave me a heads up that one of her students was borderline Autistic. I was very excited when she told me this. My passion and love is working with students who are autistic. I got to observe him and interact with him. He was very high functioning, but socially adept. When we were picking partners for the shape matching game, he picked me as his partner. We had to include one other boy in our group who responded by saying, "I don't want to be his partner." I am sure this is a common response. I quickly bonded with these boys. During the fire drill, I had to hold on this boy with special needs. It was hard for him to follow directions, especially with events out of the ordinary.

The teacher was gone for an hour and a half, longer than anticipated and we ran out of activities to do. I had been a kindergarten substitute before so I had lots of little games and songs to do with them. Their favorite was "Simon Says." Finally at 2:30 the teacher came back, right before it was time to go home. I am glad that I did not have to do closing especially with no plans.

C. Analysis of Episode:

My first overall impression of today, especially this afternoon was how important flexibility is. Being flexible to work in other classrooms with other students and curriculum. Being flexible and creative to come up with lessons if they were not there. Being flexible to get the students through a fire drill. Etc. Flexibility seems to be a part of my everyday teaching life.

This last spring I was a substitute teacher. I have found that it has helped me in many ways. I have learned to teach with just an outline and scarce or no materials. In the spring I was able to work with many different age groups, which has been great experience to have. Also during the spring, I was hired to be a permanent substitute for a kindergarten class for 9 weeks. I got to the experience of running my own classroom, being totally in charge or work and behavior expectations, be the head of IEP/Speech meetings, and actually be a vital part of the teacher meetings. Substituting today in this kindergarten class was not bad at all. It always is a little hard with no plans, but I hardly use them anyways.

I was also very excited today being in kindergarten because we were reading and using the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". I have been looking at this book because I wanted to start using it with my struggling first graders. I have sketched out some center activity for my class to do. It was exciting to work with this book!

The most exciting part of the day was getting to observe and work with this little boy, borderline Autistic. God has really opened my mind and heart to working with Autistic children. For the past 4 years I have taught a special needs Sunday school class of which I have 3 severely Autistic boys. I love these little boys so much and they have taught me so many things. In a few of my other teaching placements I have also had one or two students with Autism. I am fascinated by how their minds work and perceive things. I feel God has gifted me in this area and I am able to connect with these precious students. Today my passion and calling was confirmed when working with this kindergartener. It seemed as if many of the students in his class did not know or want to interact with him. I was excited when he made a quick connection with me and chose me to be his partner. He stayed on task some, but so quickly would move to a random thought, quote or activity. Most students did not interact with him and he did not interact with them. The other little boy in our math group, who did not want to work with him, actually did quite nicely in helping and guiding his partner. During "Circle" time on the carpet, this boy was not able to focus on the directions at all. He was crawling around the carpet and did not respond to his name. He very much displayed the signs of Autism. He definitely lives in a world of his own. This is a world I would further like to explore.

Rewards

V Methodology
B. Elaboration of significant episode:
Today is our reward day. Each day every student will get at plus (+) or a zero (0) based upon behavior. The students can get penalties, for talking, arguing, traveling, etc. An automatic zero is given if homework is not turned in. If students have 4 plus days during the week, then they get a reward on Friday. Our "Friday Films" had to be changed to Thurdsay because there were so many students gone because of specials. Today was a reward day, so the students got a fun snack (popcorn) and got to finish watching "Flipper." The reward is also not earned if there are more then 2 worksheets/seat work in their mailboxes (on the front of their desks.) Today there were about 5 students that did not earn the reward. They had fo finish their seatwork on the opposite side of the room, where they could not see the movie. It was hard for the students to focus because they tried to keep turning around to watch the movie. Some students had tons of seatwork, of which they were just frustrated with.

C. Analysis of Episode:
Usually on reward days, one teacher will take the students out into the hall, if they were not done with their work or did not earn the rewards. We didn't have enough staff to do everything, so all of our students had to stay in the room. The students who had to do work had lots of seatwork to do. I am not personally a fan of worksheets. If it were my own classroom there would not be hardly any worksheets given. The students do not do well on the worksheets, but my cooperating teacher insists on giving worksheets. I feel it is because it is just something to entertain/ocupy the students while we work with the other reading groups. I would love to do more hand-on activities, but with so many reading groups there are just not enough hours in the day. The students today doing their work are students who just seem to work slower on worksheets, so they have a whole pile by the end of the week. Behavior-wise most of them earned the reward. I think for a couple of the students, it would have boosted moral and work ethic if they could have at least earned one reward day. (Some students have lost it every week.) It seems like rewards will never be perfect.