Blog  #4

 Whom you observed and interacted with in your setting during this module?

In this module I interacted with a teacher who runs a program after school for children. This program provides services for children and it benefits parents as well.  This program provides services for children age 7 to 14 years old. This program helps children with homework how to create study habits and different techniques on how to stay focus and a float with school.

Any special learning experiences you may have had on an experience that provided you with insights about children and families including advocacy efforts?

I learned that this is a free program that is not funded by Chicago Public Schools and that it is profited by different organizations that usually helps different shelters around Chicago and the suburbs. No one is turned down regardless of ethnicity, income status and even disability. All children are welcomed and children learn different techniques on how to build study groups and bond with children who may have little or no support. This organization helps build children’s self-esteem and also social skills as well. It also helps children in different academic areas where there are different volunteers that come in to help children in academic areas that they may be struggling in as well.

At least two insights gained and from your observations, interactions and experiences with children families regarding advocacy efforts and needs related to your area of interest with the field of early childhood?

Two insights that I have gained from this organizations is that they work with families as well as helping children to stay on track with their academic studies. Parents can create a study guide chart for their children as to what they may want the child to focus on and what they may need to build strength in. This organization creates a study plan for children so that they can build their academic skills in areas that they may need a little boost in. Another insight that I gained is that these volunteers at this organization has a check chart that monitors children focus for the day. It’s recorded each an everyday whether or not they have met their task for the day or not. I also like the way there are volunteers that have specific focuses at this organization.  There is one lady here who children call her Mrs. B and she has children that helps her with children that have special needs. There are 5 children who I have observed in her setting two children have autism, another child is wheel chair bound with speech impairment, then there is a child who has Down syndrome and the last child has cerebral palsy. In this setting she creates different games that all the children may follow along with and gets them focus and energize. They are simple games that children in a preschool setting may do but it works for these children and they love it. In watching Mrs. B interact with these children she is determine to cheer these children’s days up before they leave her. They come in with sad faces and looks of exhaustion but she advocates for these children to create energy for them. The parents love her, and have told her she needs to look into becoming a special needs teacher, because she seems to have the energy and the passion to love and care for children who get mistreated so often. This relates to my field in early childhood because Special Needs is my concentration of study as a teacher. As an advocate I hope to gain and become as determined as Mrs. B in helping my children as well.

Blog 3

            In these past two weeks I have been fighting with time to get a formal interview with the principal, the teacher and a parent who has a child with special needs. My first interview was scheduled for a full hour but in that interview it seemed to be so much going on throughout the entire interview. My interview with the principal consisted of the different things that the school is required to provide for children with special needs. I wanted to know what type of funding is provided to the school to accommodate children with special needs for services and areas for academics. The response that I received was that the school has a budget that is just for children with special needs and this budget allows the school to provide special services for children such as; interpreters, specialists, learning devices and etc. The budget is provided every year to the school to help accommodate children with special needs but usually the budget is not enough and the children tend to go without unless funding is provide from other sources. Yet the budget that they have they try to make the best out of it and supply the most important things that children may require the most.

            Next, my interview with a special needs teacher was very interesting to me. I know that I am still in school and that I am gaining knowledge for the field that I am trying to obtain a degree in but this teacher just did not seem helpful at all to me. I started out observing her at first to see how she interacts with the children in the classroom. After about twenty minutes into my observation I did not gain anything on what it is that she supposes to do with these children. In interviewing her I asked her how does she incorporate lessons to fit the needs of all the children and her response was so shocking to me that I really could not believe she said that she just gives the student their assigned task and that she allow them to finish them at their own pace. She also stated that they normally take the entire day to finish assignments but the children are not forced to do the assignments. I then went on to ask how are the children assessed and how do you chart their strengths and their weaknesses? I was told that the children each have their different weaknesses and they all have specialist that come in and work with them and they keep track of their progress. I sort of cut this interview short because this teacher was really no help to me in obtaining information for my paper.

            Then, I actually was able to interview a parent who has a child with Down syndrome. From the information that I gathered she is not pleased with the teacher who her child has for the teacher. I could imagine why after interviewing with the teacher. She feels that the school does not provide enough stability for children with special needs and that the funding that the principal has for the child are not used appropriately to help the children who have special needs. Yet this parent has went beyond the school and has had services provided for her child to help her child meet the needs that she acquires.

            Finally after interviewing three different individuals on three different days I didn’t get the information that I was seeking. I have taken extra time out to try in set up interviews with others that may be able to help me with the information that I will need to help me in my research paper. I hope that these interviews will be much help to me but it seems I am back where I started with what I already know.

Module 2

I have been working along side a teacher who has been a teacher for more than 15 plus years and her name is Danielle Gross and she teaches the 2nd grade. She is responsible for a total of 27 student by herself and from what I have observed she rarely gets assistants with her class. I have learned that out of the 27 student that she has today, 21 of them have been with her since kindergarten. So its like every year she teaches a different grade. This is a Chicago Public school and of course it is a under privelage school who lacks books and much resources, but she make it work for her class. She tends to takes her own money from time to time to provide her students with certain resources like different reading materials and phonics games that can be programmed to the computer in her class. I have learned that if the school can not provide certain resources that the students need, sometimes for the children to get the necessary skills that they must acquire you as the teacher may have to spend a little money to do so. I have also learned that with having this many student by her self she tends to form small groups when doing certain assignments, and children are arranged in groups by the levels of achievement. This is her way of help out the children and giving them one-on-one correspondence. From the looks of things it really works. Mrs. Gross told me that she has been forming small groups with-in her class for quite some time and she has came up with different strategies but this is the only one that has worked for her and she has stuck with this form of teaching for the past 7 years. I commend her because out of these 27 students she does not have a disruptive class. I believe because most of her students have been with her so long she knows what they will and won't do and the students as well know not to test her as well. She is firm and doesn't slack when it comes to teaching and she stays on her children about reading and the way they should speak.  

Module 1 Interview

My first interview was with the teacher whose classroom I will be working in this quarter. She has been in the field for 17 years and loves what she does. She has worked in grades kindergarten through 5^th grade, it’s normally a surprise to her every year what grade she is going to teach. My primary focus right now is regarding inclusion with special needs so I started my interview off with these questions.

1.      What is your school’s philosophy regarding inclusion?

Inclusion has become a regular task for classrooms now and all students are now in the same classroom settings. Children with IEP’s may have shadows that may guide them through certain academic areas where they need to build on. Yet all children are treated equally regardless of their special needs or their work ethics. If children need further assistance there are aids that comes in depending on the area that needs attention or the teacher will offer extra one-on-one assistance to help that child.

2.      How many children who have been identified with special needs are you responsible for?

At this particular time I have 24 children in my classroom and there are 6 children that have been identified with special needs. I accommodate the children the best that I can, but giving the fact that I am usually the only one in my classroom. I have tutors that come in from time to time to help with the children who have IEP’s, but it’s not every day that they come in.

3.      Explain the ways in which you collaborate with parents/family members, as well as special professionals, to best build on the strengths and serve the needs of the children and their families who have special needs?

First, we set up a meeting with the family to discuss what we have found out regarding test that have been preformed and let the parents know that we are here to help them as well as the child. As we explain what is going on we then let them know what we think is best and set up another appointment for the children and the parent to meet with a specialist as well as with the teacher. Once that has been done we provide different sources for the parents and families to come to workshops and meeting that is set up to help parents and families.

4.      What strategies do you find most useful when implementing lessons?

The strategies that I find most useful is teaching to the class is allowing myself to make every assignment interesting somehow. This is how I keep my students engaged and interested in what I am teaching. It also lets me know what their interest are and how they are willing to work together to get the job done.

5.      What are some of the rewards and challenges of your work?

Some of my rewards are when I come to school on Monday and see all these faces ready for their next task, and there on point when we may go over something that we were working on last week. So I always try to keep my lesson interesting to them because they become more focused. My challenges when it comes to my job, is being able to implement instructions that entire class can understand and be able to do the lesson effectively.

6.      What do you believe are the advantages/or disadvantages to inclusive approach for children with special needs?

The advantage can be that the children with special needs can be included with their regular peers. The disadvantage can be that the child’s disability can be so severe that the child may not be able to function with their regular peers causing them to be disruptive and causing the others children to be disruptive.

7.      What do you believe are the advantages and/or disadvantages to inclusive approach for children in your classroom who have not been identified as having special needs?

The disadvantages for children that have not been identified with special needs are that they would not be getting the proper care or services that they need and it may hinder them in their achievements.

            These were some questions that I was able to get answered in a short amount of time that I had for the interview. I was surprised at how many children she had in her classroom that have special needs with the total number of student that she has in her classroom with no assistance daily. This is what we as teachers have to be ready for when you come into CPS. It’s the love of the job and dedication that will keep a coming back to teach our children.

            My second interviewee was an aid that comes in and helps this one particular special needs student. She comes in three times a week for 45 minutes and works with the child on her speech. The aid comes in when the class has their library time, and she comes in and works with the child on speech therapy. She says she has shadowed this child since she was in kindergarten and at first her speech was very badly broken where as though it was nearly impossible to understand what she was saying. She says that the school provided a phonics tool for her and she uses it 45 minutes for three days a week and it had done wonders for her speech at this point.

            As you can see my passion as well as my concentration is a special need. I have always had a soft spot when it comes to children with special needs it has been a call of duty for me, and I see in the near future that I will be the advocate and voice for children who have special needs.

  

Blogging

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