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.