Week Off Work

So in reading my text this week, I have seen what has been done and what is a constant reminder. One definite thing is documentation. That is all I have ever lived and breathed from here on out. This is the biggest thing I know. I know most teachers on in constant fear of being sued over things or being fired. One problem I have seen though, is once teachers get tenor they don't care about anything. They will try anything and come as close as they can without getting into serious trouble. I get it, but at the same time..... really?! I know the legal issues are a growing concern and I know we are a sue happy nation, but wow. I find myself very frustrated often times because teachers are either terrified and bite their tongue till they have earned their time or they just don't care. How do either of these help the children. What I did like about this text in particular was compelling state interests, which like mentioned, I previously knew nothing about....

One Hectic Week

Wow. Work was crazy. The kids have a week off this coming week for the Thanksgiving holidays. In turn, that's all they could think about. The more I get acquainted with these young adults it is easier to pick out those who are willing to work and those who won't and don't care too. One in particular had my blood pumping. School is not a positive for him. He really does not care at all. He would rather do nothing, literally nothing. The students have been working on a group project. This particular child was almost no help. He did not want to anything. Thursday they had to come up with questions for the class about their assignment. We had gone over everything numerous times, yet he had no clue what we were talking about. I grew very angry. So with the Love & Logic, I tried to come up with something that asked him how he would feel about this. He said that didn't know to everything I said. I was at a standstill and had no idea where to go with this. I told him we would discuss it when we got back from break and see how he acts then...........

oh boy....

So it came to my attention I completely missed a week. Very sad and very dumb mistake, but what do you do?????? In my new setting I am seeing that somethings do not work for the older kids as they did for the younger. However, going to the principals office here, works for these children more. They have completely understand the area of a principal and what it means. There is one teacher who I work with that decided there is a time for change and now is time. She is working on choices, not as specific in love and logic, but trying to get them more involved which is wonderful to see. They are doing well, and have seen some great improvement in some of the students behavior.

1st day of new placement

Going into this I was terrified..... middle school = lots of attitude. But as it turns out, all was well. The students were great! The teacher is phenomenal and the staff as well! I think it will be a great experience. I already sat in an IEP meeting for a transfer student. Althought I didn't know much about the child, I was able to learn a bit and discover it wasn't too different from the elementary setting. The actual schedule is however. They do a lot of co-teaching, even though the general education teacher pretty much takes the lead. The sped teacher just provides help. They don't really plan ahead, which is mostly due to the gen ed teacher. All in all it was wonderful! I am excited about my upcoming events!

End of first placement!

It's sad to say yesterday was the last day of my first placement. I am truly sad leaving. I learned so much and met so many wonderful people - kids included! It was an eye opener. Between policies and treatments. They are just so different than I expected. They don't take the initiative at times, that as a parent I believe I would want, and fight for. They do many incredible things, just some unexpected as well! I learned more about myself as a teacher than I thought I would and am happy with my progress! I couldn't have asked for a better starting out point!

Day: Frazzled!

Wow oh wow, a four day week makes for a crazy one!

Tuesday started off normal. The child who is normally in with us, came in well, did his work, received his rewards and even went to general education class without issues. During however, he got frustrated and shut down. After that he was unwilling to do anything and becuase of this he had homework.

Wednesday was awful! He refused to get on the sped bus. Mom had to drag him into the classroom, and he literally sat under the window all day. When it came time for going home he was furious because he had homework. He sat on his backpack and wouldn't get up from it. A staff member had to pull it out from under him. Once the books were in, the bag was left on the table and the child immediately went to take everything out and fling (books, papers, etc) on the floor and table. The bag again had to be taken away and then put outside so he couldn't get it. He then refused to go to the bus or even home, because he would have to work. In the end, he had to physically be put on the bus via the principal and bus staff. That same day a child came to our room in the morning and wanted to make animal noises all day. We rebuttled with louder noise that made him angry and almost to the point of tears. It turned out however that the next day would prove to be uneventful as he did not like being in that setting that way. He thought he would be able to get away with noises all day and telling adults to shut up and no one cares and they are stupid.

Today prevailed to be wonderful (until I got done with class that is). The student who is with us full time came in, did his work, went to PE, had lunch with his peers, and went home without homework! He did wonderful. Our other child (3rd grader) came in the classroom in the morning but decided he was going to do his work and wanted to be in the regular education classroom. He has difficulty in math and had to come back to us. But after learning how to do the work and cool off time, he was able to go back to class and was very excited to do so!

It seems things are working, but you just never know what a day will hold! School for me is absolutely frustrating and to a point I wouldn't have it any other way. It keeps me on my toes. It's exhausting but I know it will all be worth it in the end. There literally are not enough hours in the day for me to get all I need done, completed!

Day 27

The child came in well this morning. Seemed to be a little frazzled but very okay. He was able to complete all his work by 1:30. He did go over to one of the Aide's desk and work with her and two other students (one in his designated classroom) on Math. He has missed quite a bit of instruction but picked all the information up quickly. He did sit with them and when he started getting flustered (another teacher noticed) he quickly slowed down the situation and the child quickly got right back on task.
A child yesterday had told me of a situation with her family. I know she has a rough homelife, but yesterday was worse. She was worried about her parents arguing and their power being shut off. I asked her what she would like to do in her spare time, one thing was to color. I went home and printed off things I knew she liked and today I was able to give her a few. I tried to talk to her about how when they are arguing that this could be something she does to stay away and keep calm and keep her mind off it. I am hoping it helps....
I was able to do a lot with the teachers in the new implementation of recording... hopefully this will be kicking off tomorrow!!!