This week's readings were very intriguing for me and were very applicable to my placement. I really liked the story about Marcus, and think that it is important as a teacher to make accomodations for kids, even if it is a pain at times. Every child learns differently and you cannot treat them all equally. Some children need more attention than others and need to be catered to in order to be able to function in the same way as other children.
Last semester, I noticed that my CT was very lax with his rules for how the students are supposed to be while he is teaching. Some kids sit on their feet and move around in their chairs while others sit sideways or even backwards in their chairs. I thought this was weird, but kind of nice in a way as it made the classroom more of a comfortable atmosphere as opposed to a strict and uptight place to be. A couple weeks after I noticed it, my CT specifically pointed it out one day in class. One of the students who always sat with his feet on the seat of the chair and then sat on his feet was a little more hyper than usual and almost fell out of his chair. My CT said, "----, now I let you sit on your chair like that because I know you need to move around in order to focus, but you need to keep it in control or I'm not going to let you sit like that anymore". I thought it was kind of cool for an elementary aged teacher to give such freedom in the class, but the kids still knew they had to respect it. I think that's a good thing because I remember not liking a lot of the rules (especially sitting up straight and having both feet on the floor, etc). Although, I'm not sure how this strategy would work out for younger kids.
I liked these readings because they showed how every student is different and it is ok to break the typical routine and rules if it helps a child perform and learn better. It is also good to be aware of these things so you know how to deal with them in the future. ADD and ADHD are also more common (or at least more diagnosed) nowadays and it is important to know how to deal with that in your classroom. In the past, I had CT's who had to specially deal with students whose parents refused to put them on medication. They had to separate that student from the rest of the class so that they could simply focus on their work, and she had to have a separate behavior system for that student as well.
Do you guys see this sort of lax/accomodation type of thing in your classrooms now at all? Do you think you would make accomodations for kids in your future classrooms, or do you think it is better to hold all students to the same standards and rules?
I absolutely agree with everything Kelsey has said in her post. My philosophy is that if it is not distracting the rest of the class than I can ignore it too. I do find it hard though when dealing with some of these behaviors. While I am able to ignore it, I also want to make sure that the student is attending to what is going on. Here is an example from my class. I think I may have mentioned it before, but it still applies. There is one student in my class who is constantly cracking open his desk and playing in it. This is one behavior that seems to drive my CT nuts. For the most part she ignores these behaviors, but not this one. I’ve sat next to this student and I’ve found that he is just finding little things to hold in his hands. Most of the time he is still paying attention. He often follows directions after the CT is done talking which indicates he was following along. He is just one of those students that needs to keep his hands busy. However, when he is directly asked to do work he finds excuses not to. I think this contributes to her frustration. Is he following along or not? Does he understand and not want to put it on paper? What is holding him back? What accommodations should be made for him?
ReplyDeleteAt the same time there is also an autistic child in my class. There are clearly defined procedures for helping him through his daily routines. There are picture charts as the one article discussed. The CT is very patient at allowing some inappropriate interaction from him and in general he his doing well in the class. However, from our conversations I can see that it is clear that she struggles with all of this. I think the point I’m trying to make is that it is clear to me that students need to be treated as individuals. Some may need more accommodations than others. Does this add work for us as teachers? Sure it does, but we are past the days where we can teach every child the same and just let some fall through the cracks. I want to create an environment where I can help every child learn in a manner that best suits them.
The Maples article also struck a note with me. My son’s first grade teacher used that same assignment at the beginning of this school year. I thought she was just being a smart ass and wanted the standard crap. I thought she wanted to make an attempt to show she was learning about the kids without really doing anything. After all she wasn’t calling, visiting, or reaching out. She just wanted a paper from us and I was sick of writing papers. However I fell for it. Since I’m somewhat of a smart ass myself she got 4 ½ pages of my best stuff. If her attitude was anything like this teacher’s she got exactly what she wanted. However, I must point out that this falls short. She may have felt a connection, but I felt none. I haven’t gotten to know her at all. I don’t know what she thinks about my son. I do know that she has struggled with some of his behaviors all year, but I only get very superficial communication. I’ll admit some is my fault because I do want a job there in a couple of years and don’t want to alienate anyone, but I still feel a missing connection. There has to be more.
I think I’ll end with what I think was the best form of personal contact that a teacher made with me. It was in kindergarten, 30 years ago, and I still remember it. My teacher at that time invited families to her house for one of the best pancake dinners ever. I had never seen sprinkles, cherries, chocolate, etc. for pancakes before. Did I learn something about her? Yep. Did she learn about my family too? Again, I say yes. I also remember that we made many foods in class that year like home churned butter and home made applesauce. It has been something that stuck with me and I hope to use it in my classroom as well.
I also just realized that I didn't comment on the what would you do article at all. I think that Mrs. Potter has her hands full. She has to find a way to connect with all of those different learning styles. Lupita shows problem solving skills with the puzzles especially since she didn't have them growing up. Maybe there's a way to make more of her work puzzle oriented. Jonathan is having trouble reading, but she hasn't really taken time to figure out why. She needs more one on one time with him to figure out what the problem is. Is there a learning disability involved? Does he not find the subject matter interesting? Did he miss some key part of the reading process? There could be many explanations and it is going to take time for her to figure it out. Eddie needs some diagnosis too. It seems that he may not be an oral listener. She has to figure out if that is true. If so, why? This is the perfect example though of what I talked at length about before. We must get to know our students so we can help them.
ReplyDeleteI will have to agree with everything you both said as well! To Kelsey: I liked the story about Marcus as well and can relate to it, however I think your CT sounds a little more laid back than mine. My CT does not like students sitting on their knees or anything of that sort. She does let some students who can't focus do other things to keep busy during work time. For example, one student recently started to bring in a sticky ball that she can roll around in her hands when she can't focus, and I have noticed that she is much quieter and more productive! There is another student who (I'm not positive) but may be ADD. When he can't sit still, my CT has him do push ups. I've never seen this strategy, but for him it seems to work. He doesn't mind it, and he knows why he's doing it. After the push ups he can usually get back to focusing on his work. I will defiantly make sure to teach to accommodate all students, fully understanding that they all have different needs.
ReplyDeleteTo Joel- The example you gave it just like the two I gave from my classroom that have recently started focusing more! Maybe having something in their hands is helping them to focus? Maybe they are struggling and so they do something else instead of their work? I really enjoy your Kindergarten story as well as your son's first grade teacher story. These are both such important stories that lead to one point- make a connection with the child and family!!
As for the what do you think article, I found this very interesting. It sounds as though Lupita is shy and possibly a little uncomfortable in her new environment. However, she stated that she had little experience with puzzles and then began working with them and helping other students. She even finish her assignment early (and I'm assuming correct since it was not stated). I wouldn't be worried about her academically but rather socially, which could affect her academically. Instead of not calling on her and accidentally forgetting she was there, find a way to get her to speak up. Maybe have her do an assignment on living in Mexico and teaching the class about it.
If Jonathan continues to struggle now, it will be hard for him to succeed in literacy in higher grades. He may be too shy or embarrassed to ask for help since he succeeds in other things like math and baseball. This might be the type of situation where you need to find time to work one-on-one with him. If it's not possible, send home more basic assignments with his family and see where he is struggling. Maybe it's his vocabulary, or his comprehension, and he needs to work on that to be a more successful reader. She could also give him other tasks in class related to literacy, maybe a literacy game, and see if this helps at all.
Eddie sounds a lot like the examples we mentioned in our post. He could have an attention disorder or just a hard time focusing. He could bring something in or do an activity to help him focus when he gets off topic. She could have him fill out specific questions about assignments, where he gets to look at the questions before hand, and this may help him focus and listen. It sounds like he can't sit still and could really have a problem listening and focusing.
I think that these relate to the stories about accommodating all students needs. This may mean making specific assignments for these students to better their learning experience, while still teaching the other children the normal classroom curriculum.