EDUC 519-Week of 2-7-10-2-12-10
February 13, 2010 at 4:17 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentThis week was really fun in 2nd grade. I like evreyone else am teaching more and more as the weeks arrive. I was teaching Math again this week seeing how I picked that up the first week, and I added a reading group this week. Both I had a great time teaching! I gave my first math assessment this Friday because it was the end of the Unit, so weird! And it was crazy! The kids actually did really well, for the most part so that made me happy! The reading groups were interesting because I have a very very very challenging group this week. I had already done a full week of reading groups with them to kind of prep them when I first came back in January, but then I stopped and then it was like back to square one. I don’t know, the kids were fine most of the days but 3 out of the 6 kids in my group have SEVERE learning challenges, and BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION plans set in place.
That made it almost nearly impossible to get through any lesson without having an at least one issue any day. Then, of course on Friday during my observation of this reading group with Jennifer every possible behavior problem thta could possibly go wrong, DID! It was insane, meanwhile….our SmartBoard blew up in the background, made a huge pop, then began to smell like a fire. Then one child thought it would be okay to just leave reading group, while another was not sitting properly or reading during my lesson. Another child thought it would be okay to skip chapters in his book, and then go back. Another child thought that a question about Valentine’s day candies was more important so he got up and was asking our TA questions about that. Then, when I tried to help another child by writing the directions in his journal when it came time for the reading activity-he made it very clear he did not want my help. This was a strategy that I discussed with several teachers and him, and he refused to let me write it. I gave him a chance and then he went back to work and had nothing written after about 5 minutes. Luckily when I went to check on him I asked to see his journal becasue I told him I was going to write the directions, he almost melted down and responded with, “BUT YOUR DIRECTIONS WERE NOT CLEAR”. They were verrrrrrrrrrry clear. So the OT teacher told him he needs to let me write in his journal. To say the least, it was the craziest guided reading lesson I have ever had to deal with. Overall my objectives were met, but with many many distractinos. But…now Jennifer has seen what I get to do each day!! 
ha ha (but she already knew that)…Also, it was good for some of the other Support teachers to see the way he was acting because some of them had not seen how directly defiant he has been.
Math went really well this week- and most of the guided reading lessons were fine the other days..jut Friday..WOW! (but…it also was the Valentine’s Day things, and Jump Rope for heart, so may of them were excited and just did not want to be doing school work!) ha ha..hey, at least most of them did really well on the math assessment:) Next week should be interesting!
Basically I try my very hardest to get through each day just modeling EXACTLY how my teacher has treated and worked with these challenging students because I have no other experience dealing with students like this, and so far it seems to be working really well. It is just really overwhelming because I feel like I am being mean, even though I know I am not, and things that are said and done are just NEEDED when it comes down to it. We give them choices and if they choose not to follow them, there are consequences.
EDUC 517-Chapter 7
February 13, 2010 at 4:02 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 CommentsI didn’t really like chapter 7 in the Salend text at all. I feel like this chapter kept giving examples of challenging behavior and it never seemed to explain what to do. Luckily I am in a classroom where I have to deal with challenging behavior coming from more than half of my class in some shape or form. If it were for my experiences in the classroom seeting I am currently in for student-teaching, I would never even begin to know where to start if I had challenging behaviors. I think that it would have been super beneficial to put more practice into this text. I don’t want to sit and read about something that I will be encountering in my classroom and then not really be told what to do about it. (sorry if that sounds mean, it is just how I feel.) I honestly feel like I wasted time reading this. I mean don’t get me wrong, the stories were great, but WHAT DO WE DO……?
So in my classroom now with the challenging behavior we have so many students who have their own intervention behavior plans becasue the regular classroom management upsets them, and then they end up acting out even more. I am blessed because I am learning how to handle a classroom when you can have multiple outburst occurring at the same time. What my CT and I have done is we contacted and communicated with our support teachers and administrators and put specific action plans together for each child who needed one. Typically these are in place becasue the regular classroom management system is not enough to keep them safe, or others safe. So I would like to have read more about, “what if those strategies do not work, then what?” Luckily for me they have been working, but that does not mean they always will.
I don’t know..I just really hope the next reading is more informative.I am learning way more by being in a classroom where these behavior crisis’ happen on a daily basis-sometimes more than one at a time and I learn by watching what my teacher has done, and what I have been directed to do by the administrative teams. To me, that is more time worthy. However, not everyone in EDUC 517 are going to have classrooms that are like this, therefore not everyone is going to have the opportunity to learn what to do, which is why a book with more examples of what to do would be more realistic.
-Holly
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