Reflection Nine

Week Nine Reflection
Clay Junior High School
Leigha Tracey- BSU Intern
October 14-18

Observation/Participation (35)

Topic – Newspaper Project

I had to extend work time for the third period newspaper class to this week. I had hoped they would be done with their projects, but definitely needed more time. On Wednesday I graded all of the individual and group projects. Truthfully, I was disappointed in the result. The writing was terrible and even with all of the class time offered and the template that I provided, the designs were weak. I did have an opportunity to talk to Mark about the project. I think he was frustrated with the projects as well. He asked me to tell him where I felt that the project had failed (since I had voiced this previously). I told him that I felt that the Maestro process was too advanced for intro- journalism students. In retrospect, I think it would be more appropriate to give them specific deadlines for each stage of project development. It was an excellent discussion and I felt much better (and not a failure) after talking to Mark. He asked me to articulate what my goals for the students were and in outlining those goals again, I found that they had learned. They learned teamwork, the difficulty of developing a newspaper, the frustrations and feelings of accomplishment, and the importance of each person’s job to the success of a publication. Mark mentioned that he was sorry that I wouldn’t be here to see the kids built back up after being torn down. Me, too.

Topic – Special Education Rotation

I had a wonderful experience on my special education rotation this week. Mrs. Merriman gave me a comprehensive schedule of classes to visit. I felt welcomed and embraced by the students and teachers alike. I observed the following:

• Resource Science
• Resource Language Arts
• Resource Study
• Life Skills
• Adaptive P.E.
• Adaptive Art
• Speech and Essential Skills
  

Observations

I found the program at Clay Junior High School to be well staffed and comprehensive. Students with varying levels of disability are well served through the special education program. I saw that the administration and the teachers at Clay are dedicated to mainstreaming and it seems to work fluidly because of this support.

Resource Science – This week was Survival Week for the general education kids and the special education students were right there with them. It was really wonderful to see them outside and participating. One thing I noticed immediately was that the students at Clay are very receptive (on the whole). The students I was shadowing were greeted and high-fived every time we were in the hallways. I was very impressed by this.

Resource Language Arts – Students in the resource classes are given intensive help with specific subject areas. I noticed that the classroom management in these classes is very pronounced. Students have a specific format for behavior and tasks that they must complete every day. This is purposeful and effective. The resource classes are very small so that helps the students to be accountable and in an environment where they feel a positive pressure to learn and succeed. I especially appreciated Mrs. Meredith’s abilities. She easily incorporated multi-culturalism and real world examples into her presentation. That was incredible to witness and she should be commended. Another technique that I thought was effective was updating time during an activity. She gave students a set amount of time to work and to keep them focused she updated how long they still had to complete the task.

IEP Parent Meeting- I had the opportunity to attend an IEP meeting with Mrs. Merriman. The students teachers were present as well as one of the vice principals. Each teacher presented the students grades at this point and discussed their impression of how the student was doing in the class. Mrs. Merriman did a great job of keeping the parent focused by giving praise for the students improvements and pointing out the areas that still needed work. One of the student’s goals is to work on organizational skills. I thought this was an excellent goal and I saw evidence of this same goal for many of the resource students. Basically, the student is held accountable for writing down each assignment, getting signatures from parents and teachers for completed homework assignments. Eventually the students are moved to a less restrictive program once they have shown that they can handle the details on their own. I though that this was very interesting and a good life skill for students to master. Parents that have students in resource get updates every six weeks. When the parent was leaving, she made a comment that stuck with me. She said, “I want to thank all of you for putting this kind of effort into my son.”

Interview with Kim Neim, Resource Teacher – Kim was very open and energetic when discussing her program. She runs Resource Study and is on it! She has a system and a plan for every student. There are strong rules, directives and procedures. Each assignment and given task is checked. Even with very few students to keep track of at one time, the amount of effort and work that is put into each student is exhaustive. I asked her about the Aides and what their job is. There are aides in each special education and resource class. Some students have personal aides if they have emotional, physical or behavioral issues. I asked if the aides were able to switch students throughout the week because my thought was that the aides would get burnt being with one student all of the time and the student would get sick of the aide. Apparently this is an area in need of reform. It was explained to me that aides are paid on different levels, so floating is impossible at this time.

Life Skills – This was my absolute favorite part of the week. I worked with Ms. Ruback (she is fantastic), “Mr. Dan” and Mrs. Hole. There were three Downs Syndrome students, one Cerebral Palsy, an epileptic and Ethan (mute, not deaf). They were so much fun and they each surprised me about every three minutes. We did computer learning games, spelling contests, and a few grueling games of UNO. I can’t say enough about the Life Skills teachers and the wonderful students they work with. It was an experience I will not forget.

Essential Skills – I observed an essential skills language arts class given by Deb Davis. She is very well known for her expertise and her curriculum for teaching LA essential skills. Her students are those that did not pass the ISTEP in sixth grade. She prepares them for eighth grade testing. Students learn the Power Writing technique, practice testing skills, break down requirements and learn general concepts. Deb says that her success rate it 65% passing eighth grade ISTEP. Deb also does ISTEP parent meetings to help parents understand the purpose of the class and provides pre-ISTEP study sessions.