I was nervous and excited for my first day in a special education classroom. I was nervous because I did not know what to expect, but I was excited to be working with young children. I can see that special education is very different from regular classrooms especially with the teacher to student ratio. In my class, there are kindergarten, first, and second graders. At any given time, there are between eight students and only one student in the classroom. Also, there are between three to five teachers/aides in the classroom at once. On the first day I helped the students illustrate and write a sentence about the story the teacher read aloud to them. I also helped students individually in the hallway with reading their word cards.
At the carpet, the students practiced counting together to 100 by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s. One of the girls was misbehaving all throughout counting by 1s. Therefore before the 2s started, the teacher gave her an ultimatum. She had the choice to either participate in the activity or do it at recess. The girl decided to participate. I think this ultimatum will be effective for many students because most children enjoy recess and are upset if it is taken away from them.
Overall, my first day was a success and I am already learning tools that will help me when I become a teacher!
I like the student to teacher/aide ratio of the classroom that you are observing. Special education students need as much hands-on attention as possible and with this set up, they are each getting time with a staff member. That is awesome that you get to work one on one to help students and their literacy skills. Were you able to see any improvement in the students by the time you were finished?
ReplyDeleteI like the way the teacher handled the little girl and her misbehaving while she was on the carpet. I also agree that students will be willing to participate in an activity so they don’t have to face the consequence (like missing recess). Good luck with the rest of your preservice experiences!