Union Middle School Reflection

During the next two decades, the focus of reading instruction shifted away from phonics based basal reading programs. Instead, research suggested teaching children how to think and

This is a very important component in education to be aware of and when you are a teacher. I interviewed a first-grade teacher at my local elementary school to gain more information about the processes that our local schools go through for professional training, interventions, and in the classroom to ensure that students are developing their abilities in reading. My main focus was on what our school’s process was, how support is given, professional training offered, and what more is needed to be done to increase success for students.

She mentioned to me that the special education teachers work with small groups of children that are ELL, IEP, and 504 students. She mentioned to me that the classrooms have about 20- 25 students and that those students need ones on ones and special attention from teachers and sometimes it is better for them to work in smaller groups. She informed me that these students are taken out the class about 3 times a week to work in small groups with the special education teacher. Once this is done the special education teacher shares the result with the head teacher. Then the two teachers work on possible strategies to help that

In response to the Gamewell Middle School student hazing, I never lost my patience or “cool” with these students and encouraged them to be inquisitive. I also told them if I did not know the answer, I would look it up. We even made a game out of the situation. If a student knew about at topic relevant to the curriculum that I did not, he or she was awarded extra credit for outsmarting the teacher. Internally, I was always nervous regarding whether or not I was good enough to be teaching this course, as it was out of my comfort zone. I also felt like to them it was a bit of a slap in the face as the majority of my students were North Carolinians; I did not feel I had the right to intrude on their territory when they knew much more about the

In Skyline Elementary School, there are many individuals that are involved in implementing the reading program. Core instruction begins within the students’ classroom. Throughout the year, the principal observes the teacher’s techniques and style when implementing the school literacy program. Within the classroom, the teacher uses Basal reading programs. Basal is grade leveled textbooks that has an emphasis on phonemic awareness, decoding, and reading for understanding (comprehension). When intervention is needed, tier 2 is implemented. Together as a team, the classroom teacher, title teachers, principal, and literacy coach create a plan. The literacy coach meets with grade level teachers once a week and plan with teachers to help improve

Mrs. Heaten gave me a piece of advice, when it came to reading intervention the first thing a teacher needs to do to help her students be better readers is to build a relationship with your students. The students will not respond to an intervention unless they feel the teacher is there to help them. Student may feel upset and need to be reassured that there is nothing wrong with having trouble with

With our high school I believe that all of us as educators really do our best at including special education

I am trying to advocate as much as I can for my program. Collaborating with the teachers in the elementary is challenging. Though I’ve been in the district a long time I am just getting to know some of the elementary teachers. It is a relief to see a familiar face when I go into a building. Some of my former students are now elementary teachers, which makes the collaboration easier. I have familiarized myself with the curriculum in the elementary schools and am gearing my lessons to fit in with the topics the teachers are covering in class. Most teachers have been responsive. I find that it is most important to clearly let the special education teachers know my plans and gain their input for differentiation strategies and modifications.

Evidence was collected and documented through the use of a student survey, a parent survey, a teacher survey, and running records. The purpose of the student survey was to gain insight on the students’ perceptions of the importance of reading and how well they understood what they read. The purpose of the parent survey was to gain insight on the parents’ perceptions of their family’s reading habits at home The purpose of the teacher survey was to gain insight regarding other teachers’ perceptions of reading comprehension, problems they encountered, and solutions they implemented in their classrooms. The purpose of the running records was to find each student’s instructional reading level so that comprehension activities could be implemented for every student with a text that could be easily read by them. Over one fourth of the students were reading and comprehending below grade level.

We all have a collective responsibility to support and meet the needs of our youngest citizens so they can grow, achieve, reach their full potential, and live a fulfilling life. Educators have a special role to play in identifying barriers to learning and a duty to work to overcome these barriers. My philosophy of special education comes not just from what college taught me, but from my work experience in the field through out the school, what I continue to learn everyday, and my general beliefs and values about people. This view is not static, it is evolving. I seek to practice what I know to be effective and right, to reflect upon what works and what does not, and to change when change is needed.

Some of the most important skills for all educators are efficient communication and collaboration skills. But this is especially true for special education teacher who work closely with students, families, and other school professionals. Both effective communication and successful collaboration skills are intertwined, and both need to be developed for each aspect to be effective in and out of the classroom setting.

After completing the school safety inspection checklist at Falling Creek Middle school there were some strengths and some weakness observed. The first strength was signage and entrances system. In the course of my walk-through I witnessed the officer manager and secretary have all visitors sign in on a clipboard and then send their license through the rafter system before entering the main part of the school building. I truly appreciated noticing this process as an educator. As a result of this procedure it safeguards students in the building and protect all staff member. Equally important to the signage and entrances system the amount of exiting sign in the building stood out to me as being strength. I have worked at Falling Creek Middle for

Sharpe and Hawes tell their readers that “there is no shortage of creative and innovative strategies to promote collaborative relationships between general and special education personnel” (pg. 3). Even though both general education teachers and special education teachers are provided with many strategies and idea, they struggle with learning how to apply it in the classroom.

In conclusion, collaboration with school officials, parents, and the child are very important. Inclusion within the main classroom is vital to nondisabled and disabled students because it creates awareness and understanding of the differences. Labeling students without really getting to know them just jeopardizes their future where their self-esteem is real low. General teachers and ESS teachers need to have that collaboration in order for that child to succeed in school. So everyone needs to act professional and know that ESS students need a lot of help along the

The week of October16th through October 20th was pretty busy. I had three ARD meetings this week but none of them depicted any issues. All the parents were very complimentary of the teachers and their assistance in providing their children with the necessary tools to be academically successfully. We had our school homecoming on Monday so I was busy assisting the committee on preparation for the evening event. All eight grade teachers are required to be a part of this committee so that includes me. I enjoy events like this because when you participate the students (most) appreciate your hard work and seeing you there at their special event. After school on Monday, October 16th I assisted the band director, cheerleading coach, and football coach in lining up the students outside so we could have a couple run through practices on how the evening would transpire. It was nice seeing all the students and faculty coming together to coordinate and plan such a memorable event. As usual, on Tuesday and Thursday of this week I went to Alexander High School immediately after finishing at Trautmann (whew!). We continued working with the students whose STAAR, benchmark, and CBA scores were low last year so that we can bring them up to par. We have been mainly focusing on seniors, special education, and ELL students so that we can continue documenting procedural safeguards on these students. So far, the numbers have been slowly increasing as we continue calling in students and