SPED Behavior Supports

LRBI Manual : This document incorporates the model of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Response to Intervention (RtI). It suggests that effective educational practices remain implemented throughout the educational programming and across settings, even when more intensive and intrusive procedures are selected.

Issues with Bullying : The issue of bullying is particularly important for students with exceptionalities and therefore for special educators. It can be an unintended side effect of inclusion: when exceptional children are exposed to the general classroom, the risk of bullying increases.

Positive Behavior Systems   : Almost a decade of research has identified the most effective approach to addressing issues of behavior before they become a problem: schoolwide positive behavior support (SW-PBS). The most successful schools use this as part of a continuum of support that involves three levels.

Social Skills and Relationships :

Learning to successfully interact with others is one of the most important aspects of a child's development, with far-reaching implications. Although most children acquire social skills by example, and possibly osmosis, research clearly suggests children with learning disabilities (LD) may have difficulty making and keeping friends

Utah Mental Health Resources   : Provides a list of local services and agencies as well as support groups, personal advocacy resources and evidence based practices. Click on an area that pertains to your situation and see what schools are available. 

Wrap up

Overall, I feel like my experience was ....interesting.  I did not work with one particular student the whole time.  I saw the relationship between the special ed teacher and the gen ed teacher and found that I do not one like my current example.  I learned that respect and communication is key for corroborating with co-workers.  I would love to see another example of co-teaching in a positive light for a more well-rounded experience.

Three Days into One

2/29- SPRING BREAK! had the week off :)
3/7 - This day was quiet boring. My teacher didn't do anything but sit and observe next to me.  As I have spent my time here, she sits with me more and more and will not help out because there isn't much time to help other students.  Most of the time I am there is lecture from the General Educator.  I get more and more confused of why my teacher sits in the room.

The class lesson was about nouns, verbs, and adjectives. My teacher took notes on her iPad to help with after school lessons.

3/14 It was a reading day.  They spent three hours in their 1st period class reading.  She sent me home! haha Nothing to observe that day.

2/22

New exciting news: New BOOKS! She had a huge box of books for her classroom and stalked the shelves.  The school also announced that they raised $8,000 for the school! How great is that?! :)

I heard the teacher gave the class a compliment for the first time eve in three weeks.  The teacher seemed to be in a very good mood this morning.

Today, the students were learning about sentence structure and compared English and Spanish sentences. Most students did not understand sentence structure in either language. Then the students went to the computer lab.  We went to a Math classroom to switch things up a bit. The Math class was much more interesting to me because the students were much more engaged in their learning.  I vaguely remember how to do the sam math problems and the students were getting the problems better than me.  The teacher would talk around the room to the different groups and helped the students who asked for help. Some students however would just sit there and not do any work until a teacher would help them.  They didn't really need the help; they could do it, but just did not have the confidence to do so.

2/14

Class naturally divides themselves boys vs. girls

Beginning of class they read for 15 minutes but most of the students hate it.

The teacher I am shadowing was told to straighten up a bookshelf-she did- then the other teacher just shoved her aside and said "Actually, I can do this later. Just sit down." She said that in front of me and in front of the students... I felt so bad for her :(

However, the Gen Ed teacher was much softer than last time. So i think we're making progress...

For the class, they are learning about poetry and had to find different characteristics of poetry in songs they hear on the radio.  I really like this idea because most songs were rap/hip-hip songs, which the students seemed to enjoy.  Even though the students liked the activity, they still did not know poetry characteristics. My teacher walked around the room and tried to help but she did seem a little confused.  The Gen. Ed. teacher really shot her confidence for the day.

1st Observation

I have so many mixed feelings from the school so far.  When I got there, I had to park across the street in a Spanish Market place and walk through construction to get to the school.  I was about 10 minutes early and had to wait for the teacher to get there.  That was fine. It allowed me to check out the front office and see what happens everyday.

While I was waiting, this little girl came up to me and sat down.  She said "hi, What are you doing here?"  (she was the most adorable Kindergartener I have ever seen in my entire life).  I told her I was here to help out a teacher today.  She thought that was amazing and we started talking on the couch.  There was a binder on the floor along with tupperware.  She wondered if it was mine and then another (older) girl came up and said it was hers.  She sat down with us on the couch and started talking about her binder and the dough that was in her tupperware. She said that the dough was for her class.  They were going to make South America with the dough.  After talking for a bit, I looked around and there were about 6 six around me and we were all just talking and having fun.  I looked over at the secretaries and they were eyeing me down but didn't say anything.  They looked baffled more that anything...HA I was shocked too.  It's like the students just flocked to me and wanted to talk.  The principal came over and stood over me.  He didn't introduce himself or say anything to me.  It was very awkward actually but then after a minute he left.  After about 15 minutes, my teacher came in a rush.  She was late, she had to pee.  While she was getting settled in the teachers lounge, the first little girl found an stretched out paper clip and gave it to me asking what it was.  I told her it was a paper clip and she's like "what on earth is that?!" I explained it to her and tried to fold it back together to see if she could recognize it and she still didn't understand.  I told her it can come in different colors and she popped up and said, "can it come in pink?" I said yes and she said she'll keep it forever!

So far, it was one packed morning for only being there 15 minutes. haha.  Once the teacher came back from the lounge, we walked back into her classroom down the hall.  She had a decent sized classroom but said that she is hardly ever there, she goes out into the regular education classrooms and helps out her students that way.  I thought this was odd; i've never seen special education done this way before.  I was excited to see how SPED and GenED are mashed together.

We got into the classroom and waited for the teacher and students to come in. The GenEd teacher looked frazzled and came in half dressed.  She frankly looked like a mess.  Her hair wasn't done, her shirt wasnt tucked in, and her skirt was very wrinkled.  Normally i do not notice these types of things but she seemed all over the place.  She was tucking in her shirt while the students were coming in.  My teacher went over to explain why I was there and the teacher didn't seem to understand why I needed to be there but said it was fine.  My first impressions of the GenEd teacher were not very good.

The students picked up books and started reading for 15 minutes while the teacher put things together and got ready for the day.  She yelled at her class and said "If your book isn't even open, I know you cant possibly be reading".  She said this about 4 times.  Then she gave a speech of why reading was important first thing in the morning.

Next, they were finishing off their poetry presentations.  Half of the class didnt have anything ready and even forgot the poem they were supposed to present.  The teacher was furious and said she is going to call all of their parents; then sent them outside in the hallway to start all over again.  All of my teacher's students were part of this group.  She went out into the hallway with them and made sure they were quiet.  I stayed in the room, feeling awkward as ever.  I wasn't sure what to do with myself.

By the end of class, I was having a coughing fit and went in the hallway to get a drink and settle down for a bit so I dont disrupt her class.  While I was getting a drink, there was a boy who was walking to the door sulking.  He looked so depressed and just awful really.  He stood at the door for about a minute before I went over.  I asked if he was going to class; he just looked up at me and said, "I hate going to this class".  He had these poor pitiful eyes of sorrow.  I didn't know how to respond.  I was shocked.  I have NEVER seen a student so sad about going to school.  I opened the door and we both walked in together.

When it was my turn to leave, the SPED teacher walked me back to her classroom so I could get my things and she said that the GenEd teacher is strict and doesnt really understand the role of a Special Educator.  The teacher was being nice; she could have said some nasty things about the GenEd teacher but she didn't.  I could tell that there was not mutual respect for the two teachers and it just creates awkward tension in the room.



Hopefully my time this week will be much better! More Positivity! More Smiles!  I loved my teacher though! She made me feel right at home.  Such a sweet heart.

Before Observation

Before going into the school, I really had no idea what to expect.  I knew it was in a poor area and most people will be speaking Spanish but that did not really scare me or intimidate me. I felt fairly comfortable going to the school.  I was more nervous about being on time than actually observing.

When one of my classmates said that the doors were locked once you get into the front office, I realized security would be way more intense than a school where I'm from. She also said the principal didn't know what was going on and that made me nervous as well because I really needed to observe the school only at that time. I hoped that no big mishaps occur.

::Anxious Excited::

Goals of this class

My goals for this class are all over the place.  I want to know so much of everything!

- I want to know more about autism because it is always changing and evolving with new information.
- I also want to know how SPED can be put in a global scale! Even into 3rd world countries.  I dont know how to implement that or where to start, but that's where I want to go in life.
- How can you incorporate progressivism into a SPED classroom? like a Resource class?  Students are going in and out of that class about every hour and a teacher has different students all the time.
- IQ Achievement Discrepancy I think is a big problem.  I found out that the Canyons district is doing away with it but I wonder if it will really stick and other canyons will follow through.

Highly Qualified Teacher in Utah.

To be a qualified teacher in Utah, you have to pass the Praxis II in your subject area, pass background check, get finger prints done and have a Bachelors in Education from an accredited school.