When I went to learn and serve for the second week the class was getting ready to work on math when I got there. The class is a self-contained class and there are kindergartners, first and second graders. For math they split into their grades and work on different skills and worksheets. I was asked to work with the second grade group and that was a challenge to me. The students were reluctant to do the worksheets and some were more advanced than the others. They all wanted me to work with them at the same time and did not have any patients. I sent some of them to do math on the computers while I helped others with the worksheets. After that i walked around and tried to help the students keep their focus during a science lesson using the smart board.
In class on October 1st we went to the class room first and got assigned a card with a term or topic from the assigned chapter. Then we walked to the gorge and periodically stopped to discuss the topics we were given. This was to prepare us for our quiz and I think that it helped a lot but at the same time it was hard for people who are not auditory learners. The hike to the gorge was an interesting way to have class because we had different surroundings. I enjoyed the hike and the walk to Professor McLaughlin's house. When we threw a rock into the water to relieve our stress I thought that was an interesting task and I enjoyed it. Our assignment to take five pictures while we were walking to tell a story really got me to use my imagination and I enjoyed it. The reason that our professor chose to do this activity and have class outside was to get us thinking of different ways to teach children material. If you teach a child the same boring or traditional ways day in and day out they will begin to stop listening and not learn as efficiently.
A metaphor similar to the umbrella metaphor we were shown for students with IDD could be, Children with IDD are ovens, you turn the heart or intensity up as needed. With students with IDD their surrport system has 4 different levels of intensity. First in the Intermittent, which is needed support but support that is not present at all times, that would be like a low temperate, just warming something up. Second is limited which is support given on a regualr basis, third is extensive, which is ongoing regular involvement with the students. Last is the most intense type of support, this would be like cooking something that is froze and completely raw. This is called the pervasive level of support, where there is constant help provided for these students and this may also involve more than one staff member helping the student in more than one specialty area.
Today my learn and serve showed my a totally different side of the students. They were very misbehaved and had very short attention spans today. They went to the library and when they got back they sat on the carpet and were given instruction, which they didn't follow. They were split into three groups to combine math and science activities. I worked with small groups of students to pick out pictures to represent the seasons and put them on a circle which we cut into quarters. Then they had to write the seasons names and draw another picture to go with them. They were once again impatient, all wanting my help at the same time. They were also very protective of their work, they did not want the other students working at the table to see their work. The last two students I worked with brought me great challenge. One of them had very little to no verbal skills and the other student was at a very low level of abilities. I had to modify their assignments. For the student who had a low level of ability, I wrote the words for her and she traced them and I also talked to her about the weather and type of clothing you wear during the seasons rather than trying to have her memorize the names of the seasons. For the student who had very little vocal skills I showed him the picture and talked about the season while he repeated me, then I helped him draw pictures, I would draw and he would try and draw the same thing or he would guide my hand while I wrote or drew a picture. Learn and serve opened my eyes to the patients I will have to have and the different levels of ability that students of the same age group can truly have.
Connection to Chapter Five:
In class we adapted our lesson and learning enviornment by being given a term from the chapter, looking it up and leaving for the gorge. While we were hiking the gorge we walked a while then stopped and discuessed one groups term and continued on. This was also the questions to our quiz so for people who are not auditory learners, this could have been a difficult task. As we walked we learned more and more about the chapter and the questions that were going to be on our quiz.
Today my learn and serve showed my a totally different side of the students. They were very misbehaved and had very short attention spans today. They went to the library and when they got back they sat on the carpet and were given instruction, which they didn't follow. They were split into three groups to combine math and science activities. I worked with small groups of students to pick out pictures to represent the seasons and put them on a circle which we cut into quarters. Then they had to write the seasons names and draw another picture to go with them. They were once again impatient, all wanting my help at the same time. They were also very protective of their work, they did not want the other students working at the table to see their work. The last two students I worked with brought me great challenge. One of them had very little to no verbal skills and the other student was at a very low level of abilities. I had to modify their assignments. For the student who had a low level of ability, I wrote the words for her and she traced them and I also talked to her about the weather and type of clothing you wear during the seasons rather than trying to have her memorize the names of the seasons. For the student who had very little vocal skills I showed him the picture and talked about the season while he repeated me, then I helped him draw pictures, I would draw and he would try and draw the same thing or he would guide my hand while I wrote or drew a picture. Learn and serve opened my eyes to the patients I will have to have and the different levels of ability that students of the same age group can truly have.
Connection to Chapter Five:
In class we adapted our lesson and learning enviornment by being given a term from the chapter, looking it up and leaving for the gorge. While we were hiking the gorge we walked a while then stopped and discuessed one groups term and continued on. This was also the questions to our quiz so for people who are not auditory learners, this could have been a difficult task. As we walked we learned more and more about the chapter and the questions that were going to be on our quiz.
H - nice posting.
ReplyDeleteYour blog provides a lot of details and the nice aspect of your writing is that you add emotion/reflection to your retelling. Bravo.
Next posting, try to add some hyperlinks and at least one image. For example, it would have been interesting to see a picture of the work kids were doing, also a link to a Smart Board science lesson online would be beneficial. It's always good to post a hyperlink to resources so you can extend your teaching in your placement.
I was also interested in your comments and thoughts about worksheets. These kids are young - how do you think they are experiencing and learning to "do school" ?
Like you - rockthrowing is one of my favorite stress relievers. It sure beats ice cream.