Week Eleven: Carl Sandburg

I found this week at Carl Sandburg to be the most difficult. I have now taken over all the classes from my cooperating teacher. What was the most difficult was not the class load but my student’s behaviors. I think many of my students were showing their “other side” because of how close we were to spring break and they needed that week to defuse. On Monday, I had one of my most behaved students lose it because I started a unit on in Daily Living class on how to run a household. My student has a fear of growing older and he was outraged that he had to create a budget for how to live on your own and how to find an apartment. I lost him in the first five minutes of class. I took what I learned in Education classes that instead of feeding into the behavior, I should give him a choice in what he wants to do. I told him that he could finish the budget that we were working on, read through a “house and design magazine” or to lose his lunch and to work with me then. This way I am still having my student pick a choice that keeps them working but they have a say in the matter as well. Lucky for me he decided to do this when I was being observed so Professor Powell was not only able to see my lesson but my behavior management as well.

On Thursday I had another behavior problem during my functional science class. I have a student who will work hard until it comes to reading longer than a paragraph and he does not like to write at all. I try to call on him to read the shorter paragraphs or to keep the writing to small amounts but this day in particular was our test over our unit on Plants. He was allowed to use his study guide on both the vocabulary section as well as the multiple choice (I thought the multiple choice offered a better alternative than writing short answers). He ended up ripping up every copy I gave him and started breaking all his pencils. On top of that he was name calling and saying many things about me since I was making him take his test. I am glad that I was taught to stay cool and relaxed during this episode. I made sure to explain each of my reasons like “If you rip this paper up, I can always print you a new one,” so that he understands that by tearing it isn’t and will never get him out of doing a test. I also made a point to give him my pen since he wasn’t ready to use his pencils yet. Once he realized this wasn’t working he decided to throw his desk. At this point I realized that me talking me through the situation wasn’t making it better so I looked in my student’s folder on what was done in the past and I called one of our school cops to come and have a talk with my student. Once our officer talked to my student I was able to talk him into taking his test again. It was a long class period but I was happy to know that I stood my ground and showed that I wouldn’t waver from what I said.

I experienced the same issues with two other students on Friday. My teacher left school early and I was in charge of my class for only sixth period and then at our school assembly. I asked my aide to watch two of my students as I rounded up the rest of my class to make sure everyone was accounted for. When I came back I saw my aide in tears explaining how the students treated her and would not listen to her. My students decided they didn’t want to sit with our class (which is a rule at assemblies) and sit in the highest point in the bleacher. She was able to coax one student back down but I saw my second student at the very top. I knew that if left her alone to sit up there that I could lose my chance for her to see me as a teacher and authority figure. I went to the top and made all the students stand up until I could get my student out from the middle of the group. Once I did this she came out straight away and came to sit with our class. Since they were so disrespectful to their aide who was in charge of them we decided to give them both a write up. It was my first time dealing with this type of behavior and I was able to meet with their deans on what would be the consequences. By looking at Standard 10, it states that “the competent teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally. “ This was important for me to do because I want to make sure that I handle my students in the correct way that is both respectful to them and myself. I made sure to call my teacher after school to see what steps she would have taken and then relate them to back to what I did. This helped show me how I am growing professionally and how to handle myself (or make things better) in the future when similar situations arise.

Week Ten: Carl Sandburg and First Teaching Interview

This week at Sandburg, I was really able to drive down into teaching. I was able to pick up the remaining number of the classes so that I am now their full time “teacher.” I think taking on this responsibility has really helped me to stay focused and organized. It also helps me to figure out how I will run my own class in little less than five months. Looking at Standard One in the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards it explains that “a competent teacher understands the central concepts, methods of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines and creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to students.” I think I have done this with my lessons this week. For example, in my daily living class I started a unit on “how to run a household.” I thought it would be important for a student who is nearing the end of high school to be prepared for life once the real world comes to play. Our first section I created was on cleaning. I created a PowerPoint with six different household cleaners and what types of cleaners they would use. This is important because if they find themselves cleaning in their own house or even with their parents they need to beware that there are differences in the cleaning supplies. I used the example that we wouldn’t want to clean a mirror or computer screen with a dusting spray meant for wood. We then went over a worksheet to see if they understood the different concepts of cleaning with the supplies independently. I think this type of lesson is very meaningful for these students. Many of them are starting jobs during the second half of the day in order to obtain working skills. Some students might find that they need to clean as part of their job and it is important for them to learn how to run their own household or life with their families during and after high school.

I also learned how important it is to use any time I can use in order to use for my planning. I found that as a future teacher that there are not enough hours in one day. I learned that it is important to get to school early but not to plan the lessons for the day, but to review what I will be teaching and to make sure that all the worksheets, tests, ect is printed and set to go and that if I use technology that is it working and ready. Looking at Standard Four, I truly appreciate now how important it is to planning lessons for my students. The standards states that “The competent teacher understands instructional planning and designs instruction based upon knowledge of the discipline, students, the community, and curriculum goals.” Even though Sandburg’s special education program does not have a set curriculum, it is important that I am always finding or creating lessons that are age appropriate for my students. This can sometimes be a challenge in many ways. Even though my students might be at second grade level in my functional science class, they are still sophomores in high school and deserve to be treated as such. This can sometimes make it challenging because I want to create something that is fun and exciting for my students but is still age appropriate but still on their level. What I have learned is that if we are going through a chapter where I think the students are struggling on comprehension, I will create a “flip chart” on the promethean board and embed movies into the different parts so that my students are getting two types of visuals. I also try to find things to go along with the lesson that is tactile since many of my students learn through sensory.

I was lucky enough this week to have my very first interview with a school. I was blessed to have a call back from Elim Christian Services about my application and resume. The packet that was handed out in class was such a life savor to review from. I was able to meet with two of the four principals in the school. They asked me almost all situational questions. One question that through me through a loop was them asking me how I worked with TEACHH, PECS, and a new system that is replacing a behavior management plan. The only reason I had ever heard of TEACHH was because I was in a multi-needs school during my Novice placement and I had one student whose school day was based around this system. That was the only questions I truly felt unprepared for. One question that did surprise me was that they asked if there was anything about the school that would make me not take the job.  At the end of the interview they took a few minutes to discuss with me out of the room and came out and told me that would like to see me for a second interview. I met next month with all the principals to see if I got the job. Even though I would love to teach at Elim I want to make sure that I still try other schools to make sure that Elim is what I want for my future.

Week Nine: Carl Sandburg

            This was my first full week at Carl Sandburg High School. What an experience it has been so far! I finished my observing in the beginning of this week and started taking over some of the morning classes. I will be teaching five classes in all. These classes are Science, functional science, daily living skills, vocational, and functional math. I started teaching the first period science on Tuesday.

The difference between the two science classes is the cognitive level of the students. My first period science is high functioning and is able to read and answer questions from their text book. They are able to answer the questions by the help of the notes that I write on the board. I always review the chapter ahead of time and look to see what the questions ask. I then will write the notes on the board so that students can look back in their notes or look at the key terms for the answers.

I am very excited to teach my functional science as well. I just created a power point from a packet that my teacher printed off from “Science A-Z.” I created this power point because we have a student who has a hard time concentrating on reading and can have behaviors because of it. I wanted to see if technology would help this matter at all.

I only have three students in my daily living skills class. In this class, we work on helping our students for when they are out high school and to be prepared for the daily life and its challenges. On Monday went through our recipe book and the students were able to pick what they wanted to make. On Wednesday, we took the students to the grocery store and they had to find the ingredients in the store independently. We ended up making the recipe on Friday and I enjoyed watching the students work in the kitchen. This week I will start a unit with my students. I looked through a book and found a section on “how to run a household.”

In my vocational class the students are given specific tasks to do around the high school. For example three of my students will work in the cafeteria to help the lunch ladies clean the dishes after lunch. Other students will help clean the tables or mop the floors. I have two higher level students that will work out of the Dean’s and Guidance off and will deliver messages or mail to the mail boxes or to the classrooms. They are with me for the last twenty minutes where they have to fill out their time sheet and get “Sandberg dollars” for the work they do in the school.

My last class is functional math. In this class we work through a textbook and students use math that will be used in daily life. For example they balance a checkbook, figure out an annual salary, and other areas that the student needs to know in order to succeed independently.

This week we had parent teacher conferences. The students did not have class on Thursday and Friday because of this. We had our first conference at 12pm and the last one at 7:50pm.  Since my teacher and I had a couple of hours in the afternoon she took me through the whole process she takes to write an IEP on “Easy IEP.” It was great learning about this since many schools use this program. She also taught me the process on how to change a part of the IEP which they call an “Amendments.” I have always felt insecure about handling IEP’s on my own in my own future classroom and this meeting really helped me to learn more about it and the process my teacher takes in order to accomplish this. She currently has thirteen students in her case load and is charge of writing an IEP for each of those students.

Chapter 6: Great Teacher's Know a Hemingway When They See One

Chapter six has offered me a lot to think about. I love the idea of getting the students interested to write by using codes. I feel has a if I were still a student and a teacher gave me a task like this that I would really enjoy it without realizing what my teacher was doing.

I am currently in a Special Education placement and am teaching an array of classes. I have two classes were my student are high functioning and will take notes on what I will be teaching at the board. The first is for science. Every day this are assigned a part in a chapter where they have to write the key terms and then we will read the chapter as a class. We will then go over the important parts that we learned and write that on the board for the students to copy down in their notes. After they have finished this, we read over the review questions and they use their notes and key words to answer the questions. My second class is for math where the majority of the writing is math situated. As for the rest of my classes we do not focus on writing since many of my students do not have the fine motor skills and we work more on daily living and social skills.  

Week 8: First Week At Carl Sandburg

I started my second placement at Carl Sandburg High School. I was very nervous going into this placement because of the size and how different it was going to be from pervious student teaching. At the same time I have never been more excited! I fought so hard to be at this school because this is the type of placement that I want to be doing the rest of my life. I love being in a large district and I love the type of classroom that I am in. I will be able to teach six different subjects. They are: Science, a second science at a lower level, daily living skills, vocational, and daily math.

This week was a hectic one for me. I was very ill the whole weekend and I ended up missing my first day at Sandburg. On Tuesday I pulled up into one of their many lots and walked until I found the main office. I was able to meet the principal and dean of the school and have a sit down and talk to them on why I want to be a special educator. It was so great that they took an interest in me and I felt so welcomed in their school.

I took this week to observe on how my teacher not only runs her classroom but how she handles all her staff as well. My cooperating teacher has been teaching at Sandburg for about 10 years and is involved in many things within the school. She runs two programs called Snowball and Friendship Connections. These programs are created for the general education students to make friends with students within the special education program and to help them out in their social areas. I was able to experience one meeting on Wednesday and there is so much that goes into it and I cannot give my teacher enough gratitude on what she does for her students.

On Friday, my teacher allowed me to go to the Special Games with our students. It was held in Lincoln Way Center in New Lenox. This was such an amazing experience! I was able to experience my first Special Games (five districts take part in creating “games” for the students to participate in such as: 100 meter dash, 55 meter, ball throw, free throws, bowling and many more. At the end, the school with the most sprite receives the spirit stick. The students were so excited for this event and it was easy to say why. This event was created for the students to succeed and to see that they can do so many things in life and be supported and cheered for. Each student was given a mentor from “Friendship Connections” (general education student who volunteers to take their “buddy” out once a week). The student had the job of being their coach, number one fan and to help them through their events. It was such a great opportunity for me to talk to both my students and other staff at Sandburg.

I cannot wait for the experiences that I will be introduced to at Carl Sandburg. It is going to be an incredible 10 weeks!

Week Seven: Last Week At Hamlin Upper Grades

I cannot believe that I finished my student teaching at Hamlin Upper Grades. In the seven weeks that I spent there, I was able to learn more about myself in that short amount of time of my own teaching than any other time in my education career. I learned about classroom management, differentiation, IEP’s, and so much more in action over these past several weeks.

 I could not have asked for a better cooperating teacher. She was patient and let me be a big part of her classroom from the beginning. My teacher was never possessive about her class but never saw me as a way to get out of the classroom. She was my support and rock through all of this and I could not be more grateful for her. Not only did I gain valuable experience but a friend. She allowed me to teach when I was comfortable and was also there for advice when I needed it. My cooperating teacher has help me grow so much and it was great to see a teacher who truly loves what she does and sets standards that I want for myself.

This last week at Hamlin was incredible. It was my last week of full time teaching and I was glad that I saved my observations for the week before so that I could spend the last five days with my class and cooperating teacher. They had a little party for me on Thursday and I never could have thought that I would grow so attached to my class in that short amount of time. Friday was a blast for me, classes were cut short so that during 7^th period we could have a staff vs. students volleyball game. My teacher wasn’t interested so I was able to take her place. It was so freeing to have fun with all the students and spend my last day laughing with the school.

I will also look back at Hamlin and be grateful for the experiences that it has provided me. It took what I have been learning and studying at Trinity and put it all in front of me in real life terms. I was able to take what I have learned over the past four years and do the best as I could in this placement. I am proud of what I have accomplished in these short weeks and I will never forget how I started in my middle school classroom. I am so happy with my first placement and it has made me feel secure as I move on to my next placement at Carl Sandburg High School.