Where I am today

I have really enjoyed my experience at Rio Salado the last two years. I feel like there wasn’t one single class or textbook that was a waste of time to dive into.

My weaknesses right now revolve around my organizational skills and schedule. I know I need to improve my consistency with pull-outs and push-ins. With our classrooms being so flexible, it is easy to fall into a trap of coming and going as it works for the lead teachers, and me as long as everyone is getting service minutes for the week. Having said that, one of my students shared with me that she was disappointed when I didn’t come right at 10:00 to get her because I was still working with someone else. I need to remember that some of these kiddos thrive on consistency, and I need to be more mindful.

I believe my strengths as a special education teacher revolves around my compassionate nature and rapport with the kids. I know they really enjoy coming to me including when I go to their classrooms as well. In fact, several times a week regular education students ask me when their turn is to come see me or work with me.

ELL

The strategy I use most with ELL students is vocabulary development. I feel that the first things that need to be taught are the academic words and language needed to be successful in school. I have found that when a ELL student can read and write proficiently in their native language, they are so much more successful as an English language learner.

Last year, I had a student that was ELL at his last school, but in the fourth grade was evaluated for special education. I found this process so interesting, as working with the two aspects together was challenging. I didn’t realize how much time and effort were needed to decipher if his issues were a language barrier or a learning disability. We decided to provide PsychEd testing in his native language to rule out a learning disability, and were shocked to see that his intelligence was in the gifted range, and his performance (even in his native language) in reading comprehension showed a huge discrepancy. His ILLP was immediately replaced with an IEP, and he has made great progress in his reading. His English language acquisition has also sped up since the implementation of the IEP.

IEPs

Our school was just give two huge recognitions by the Arizona Department of Education. In addition to our school receiving the 2104 Charter School of the Year, the Exceptional Student Services folks (the head honchos) came out to meet with my boss Liza, our other elementary special education teacher, the principal, and me. They came out to tell us that we were considered a “High Flyer” in regards to our special education students’ performance.

At our school, the entire team meets and discusses IEP goals, but it is only the special education director that writes the IEPs. We do it this way so that the special education teachers can spend the majority of their time with the students and not doing paperwork. After many conversations with the team from ADE, they concluded that this was a huge part of our success story.

Classroom Management

Now that I’m in a setting more similar to a resource room, the aspect of classroom management isn’t at the forefront. In my job now, I service students in either the pull-out or push-in setting, and don’t really ever have a large group in my room at one time. In years past though, classroom management was one of the things that took me several years to get down. I definitely was the softer side in my earlier teaching years, but grew in the area as the years went by. The First Days of School by Harry Wong was always a helpful summer read for me. It reminded me that it is best to start the year off a bit harder and ease up as you go.

Emotional Disturbance in the Classroom

In addition to my class work here at Rio, I have received training on how to properly restrain if ever needed. The classes I took on Emotional disabilities were very helpful and eye opening, but my special education director has been the most helpful if a situation does occur.  If a student at our school was in crisis, we call in a small team of people consisting of the special education director, the school counselor, and if possible the special education teacher for that level.

In my experience as a special education teacher, I’ve only had one pretty significant situation involving a middle school student in crisis. With my training from my special education director I felt prepared to handle the situation until helped arrived.

Classroom Management

Classroom Management / Positive Incentive Plan

The end of the year isn’t easy for anyone. If the teacher feels “checked out” along with the students, this can be a catastrophe. It is so important, especially this time of year, to remain focused and excited about new lessons as well as established procedures. Weekly Newsflashes to parents is a good way to keep everyone in the loop with what’s happening in the classroom so everyone is on the same page. Until the last day of school, we need to stay on our game, and not let the kids feel as though there is nothing new to learn.

Active Engagement

I feel like if you aren’t excited about the lesson you are teaching, the kids won’t either. I’m lucky in this area. The Montessori materials used in so many of my lessons make it very easy to obtain and hold student engagement. One strategy I try to practice is always changing up the way I present a new lesson. My students’ love when I tell stories about when I was their age, a personal story about my family, or even about something I did over the weekend. It’s so important to keep that personal connection. I believe that maintaining a positive rapport with your students as well as using engagement strategies not only is more fun for the students, but it makes it so much more fun to teach.