I have heard many times “It takes a special person to work with special children.” I find it more of a calling. Working with special children is a gift that we receive from God. 1 Corinthians 12:7 says, “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.” I consider serving the special needs community my gift.
Over the years, the only difficult issue I have had is working with students who have become disabled from the neglect of others. Near drowning victims, physical abuse victims, and emotionally abused victims are difficult for me to work with because they have become disabled or have developed learning disabilities at the hands of other people.
As I have children of my own, I find this difficult to deal with emotionally and I cannot fathom the torture this must cause the parents. Meaningful Learning Experience
In the two self-contained classroom interviews the teachers were very positive in speaking about their profession. They both want to have happy experiences for the students. One teacher explains that we need to be positive in our behavior. Positive attitudes are contagious and the students will be negative if the teacher is negative.
Other points explained were to be engaged in the subject and to know the student’s IEP. Another important aspect of keeping the teaching and learning experience worthwhile is to teach out of the IEP. This is a concept that we have not read in any of our literature.
The Term Paper on Does Social Network Site Use Affect Student Grades And Learning?
Research on social networking sites and learning achievement is particularly slight when compared to studies of privacy, safety, social capital, and psychological well-being. To date, two studies exemplify the debate surrounding SNS, youth, and educational achievement. A conference paper by Karpinski (2009) received much media attention with findings that college Facebook users have lower GPAs ...
Teach outside the IEP? How can we do that? Think of this concept as out of the box thinking rather than out of the IEP. Teaching other things in a limited way can keep the students engaged in school longer. There is a lot of repetition in teaching students with special needs because the repetition helps them learn and retain, that sometimes they can get bored and disengage.
Basically both self-contained classroom teachers believe that in order to have a worthwhile learning experience, the teaching has to be about the student and you need to love teaching. While both inclusive-classroom teachers focused on the student, one focused on the engagement of the student and the other focused on the classroom environment. The teacher I interviewed from a classroom at Tomahawk Elementary School, Mary Garcia, focused on getting to know the students.
She believes in knowing the student’s IEP very well but to also know the student very well. She bonds with her students every year. She tries to actively engage in their social lives by asking questions about their hobbies, interests and who their friends are. The teacher in the other inclusive classroo
m focuses on classroom environment and believes that a teacher should make sure that the classroom is an open and safe place. A safe classroom can mean a number of things. It can mean that the classroom is free of obstruction for all levels of physical abilities and it can mean that the students feel safe from harm and they trust the teacher. Philosophies Affecting Teaching
Every teacher responded to the question “How is a meaningful learning experience for students related to the teachers’ philosophies of education?” in the same way. All four believe that a teacher’s philosophy of education will let you know how she is going to teach. How, then, do you tell how they will teach if it is vague?
A teacher from the written interviews provided by our instructor said, “I teach with the philosophy every child has the right and ability to explore.” In this portion of her philosophy in education, what does that mean? This does not tell me how this teacher teaches. Does she teach with books, lectures, music, etc? Why Teach?
The Homework on Student Teaching Paper Students Immediately Teacher
Student Teaching Graduate Paper Spring 2004 As the time approached, my attitude toward student-teaching was one of confidence and in some ways overconfidence. I believed that I was equipped with all of the tools necessary to be a superior teacher. Little did I know what truly goes on behind the scenes of a teacher. Between grading papers, attending meetings, and preparing lessons, I would often ...
Each teacher wants to give. Whether they want to give back because they had a special need, they want to change what is happening in classrooms, or because they want to develop the youth of today, they are doing it because they are givers. This attitude goes directly back to what I believe about 1 Corinthians 12:7. These teachers were given a gift and now it is their turn to give it back. Challenges and Rewards
Two of the four teachers I interviewed explained that the rewarding teaching experiences were when students behaved. One teacher explained that overcoming behavioral issues is difficult because students may not have these issues at home and the parents do not believe or support any techniques the teacher suggests.
Only one teacher explained something different that overcoming behavior. This teacher explains that a rewarding experience is when a student is struggling with a concept and one day it just clicks! I can see how overcoming behavior issues and finally seeing a light bulb go on in a student’s head would be rewarding.
The challenging aspects of teaching are described differently by each teacher. Of course behavioral issues are challenging but emotional issues related to students are also difficult to over come.
One teacher says that one of the most difficult challenges she has is when she knows that a student is struggling emotionally but she can do nothing about it. This is a challenge I face when I have sympathy for a family of a student has been a victim of abuse that has caused a disability. Change What?
It is interesting to me that this is one of the shortest answers that these teachers gave. They were asked about their philosophies and how to provide meaningful learning experiences and their answers were several paragraphs long.
As a matter of fact, each teacher answered this question with what they would change about assessment, not teaching. T hey all said that state standardized testing was not the best way to assess a student. They do not want to change teaching; they want to change the assessment. Working Together
The Term Paper on General Reader Teacher Student Students
In Peter Elbow's, Writing for Teachers, he states, "Teachers are one of the trickiest audiences of all, yet they also illustrate the paradox that audiences sometimes help you and sometimes get in your way." A teacher's experience can give a student author valuable insight to the development of his writing, while at the same time offer criticism that may prove beneficial. Unfortunately, the ...
Three of the four teachers from my interviews simply said that regular education and special education teachers need to work together to brainstorm and come up with strategies to help the special needs student. One teacher said that if there is a challenge in the inclusive classroom, then it probably is a problem in special education classroom.
If that is the case, both teachers need to work together to resolve the issue and handle it in the same manner so the student can predict the repercussions to their actions. Only one teacher said that both types of educators need to reach out to their administration to get help and training. The administration should provide an environment that will help and encourage the teachers to learn from each other.
I have learned, from these interviews, that there are very passionate teachers in the field for the right reasons. It encourages me to know that there are supportive, professional teachers offering their help and collaboration to new teachers who need their mentor.
I am glad to know that teachers want to provide a safe environment for students and they want them to succeed. The philosophies of these teachers, that have the student put first, is what makes my desire to be a teacher even stronger. Our professions are about the people we teach.
