Entry #2 - Fitting in

This week I had a wonderful time getting to know the students in my class better. I knew right off the top which ones might need some extra care and attention; this week I was able to watch them carefully and test out some management strategies to find which might be effective for each child. I did find a few wonderful strategies that I will continue to use. I did teach my first lesson and was very impressed with how it all went. We were learning about triangles, so I asked them to make me triangle shapes with their bodies in as many ways as possible. It was neat to see them being active, and the results were so creative.

This week I also went ahead and made up a better plan for how I will learn about our special needs student in the older grades. This week, I spoke to my teacher about strategies that she had tried with him in Kindergarten, and inquired as to why these same strategies that appeared to be helping were not implemented in later grades. Honestly though, no one seemed to be able to tell me, and so, I will continue this next week with the principal.

Week one: Learn about the needs of the child, and chat with his current teacher about strategies he is using and whether or not they are working.

Week two: Ask the principal what she thinks might be the next step in dealing with the situation. This child is without doubt a danger to himself, other children, teachers, and EA's. He has been through 8 EA's already. Is there anything that the principal can do at this point without parental support? Where is the last straw?

Week Three: Talk to the student in question. Ask him what he think of school and if he likes meeting the new "helper friends" every few months. Ask him what he thinks should happen if he hurts someone, and ask him what really does happen. How does this student feel?

Week Four: Learn about Autism spectrum disorder, and try and find out if there are strategies to severe behaviour children that could useful to the school. Because one of the problems is that this student doesn't have the supporting tools he needs, because he is only funded for point five EA and no additional funding, then some new strategies might be something worth trying.

Week Five: Find out all of the schools in the district who are able to work with this particular special need and have the resources needed. Learn what they are using, and how it is working, and who is in those classrooms everyday.

Week six: Try and find out what teachers in other schools do when they are in similar situations with students who have serious behaviours, no proper resources to help (i.e. no needed tools), and have EA's who won't stay around.

Week seven: Learn why the student has been enabled to get worse over the years, and why no one has stepped in to take action while there is a child in the school who is a danger to their children. And why are the parents not wanting to be involved in the healing of their child, as opposed to the detriments of others and himself? I might try to speak to a parent, but I don't want to be rude, point fingers, or be reprimanding in any way, so I may not speak to them.

Week Eight: Think for myself what I would do in this situation. What would I do, Where would I go next?

Entry One...my classroom and my goals

I am very excited about the classroom that I am in. It is a full day Kindergarten, but I have two separate classes, a Monday/Wednesday and a Tuesday/Thursday. The classes alternate Friday's which works very well for catching up classes if a day is missed or for working on something extra special over a few weeks.

The community is a small rural community about an hour south of the city. The children have exposure to cities, but are far enough away that they are far more used to the slower, quieter, rural life.

In our classes, we have approx. 19 children. The M/W class gained yet another child just this past week which sent us all for an unexpected loop as this student brings with him several legal battles and interesting home situations. As for the rest of the class, the students are at varying capabilities in their reading and writing, however, I would say most are "normal".

In our M/W class we do have three Mild/Moderate for speech, and one PUF student, and in our T/TH class we also have a PUF funded child, who has a severe expressive language delay and will be joining us every day after christmas break as he needs to grow in a few more directions before he will be ready for grade 1.

AS far as special needs in the school, I am very impressed with the way that our school has moved towards inclusion in the recent years. I have heard rumor that no less that five years ago, there was still a "special education room" where every child with a special need was taught from every grade. However, a new principal stepped in recently and changed everything around to full inclusion. I am most encouraged by this step, but am very much surprised by the flack she receives from other teachers and parents to this day.

There is one student in particular who has spent all of his years at this school and is currently in grade 4. This student has been diagnosed wtih a very severe autism, and honestly, I am truly wondering how he is still allowed in a public school system. I have never seen a student stab a teacher, bite them, swear at the top of their lungs to anyone who is listening, and though I have not seen the numbers, I would like to argue that having this student in a normal classroom is hindering the learning of the rest of this classmates as well. However, what does one do? He is only government funded for 50% EA time, and his parents are adimate that he remain in the public system...even after he has been through 8 EA's (and yes, they all quit). I don't know what I can do to help. I know this student is not receiving the type of care that he needs, perhaps a snoozean (sp?) room, or a weighted vert, a squeeze box or sqing, but our school does not get the funding to beable to bring in all of those things for one student, and so, he will continue to not recieve proper care, and is sending a very wrong message to other students. Teachers are fed up, but feel they have no options.

I am not sure what to do, but I will try to find something out.

One small step - a bloggers introduction

I am very excited to be learning yet another media form. Blogging. I am making a small technological step today, and you are lucky enough to be a witness of this near monumental occasion.

Welcome.

I am thrilled to share my growth and learning with you both in the fields of teaching and computer. I feel that this is a stellar opportunity for everyone in the class, and am looking forward to the assignment; but without further adieu, enjoy the following weeks.

-Talia