SOO i really wish that I wrote in this more..
but i wanted to blog a little bit about last week!
so we have been preparing for the ever important MAP tests for MONTHS and they are finally here. we started last week on thurdsay with a 2 hr WRITING test... WHICH MY KIDS DID AWEsome@!
first they were quiet and sat still for 2 hrs..which i have been told is amazing for kids of my age in a classroom! 2nd they ALLLLL made webs before startin their writing then they all wrote at least one page! looking over their shoulders andnot being able to tell them (don't forget tha period! spacing! spelling!) but overall they really made me proud!!! one of my girls said "ms. gerlach that was easy! u were right! we were ready!!!"
then friday totally different story. they musta been tired from testing the day before, but they could not stop talking! chatty chatty chatty! i was excited b/c it was day 1 of my 6 day unit on earth day! This lesson went all right, but after that i could not get them quiet or under control in hte hallway, in between lessons etc.
i got to the point where i finally said, fine, instead of watching the movie (they were going to watch charlotte's web with the other class since we read that book in class) we are oing to put our heads on our desks til i say. a couple kids who had been great got to go see the movie immediately while the others sat there as i called them to the back of the classroom 1 by 1 to call parents. HOPEFULLY this makes htem aware the threat "no recess, i'll call your parents" is NOT an empty threat.haha
but i'm super excited about this week. we start language arts testing tues, wed, thurs,but there's not much i can do at this point but hope they remember what they've learned. AND i have a week worth of fun earth day lessons so i hope it goes well!!!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
post spring break post
SOOOO today marks the last day of spring break. which means it's actually more work than ever (since i didn't do anything any other day) but it was TOTALLY worth it and wonderful to go home to see family friends and get to celebrate my birthday with them!
As i was sitting her i was working on a project for my special needs grad class.... and i realized that it actually helped me reflect on G my student with down syndrome and i wanted to share the last part of the report to help people see how working with a student like G has changed my view.
h. Reflective Narrative
I think that participating in this activity was extremely beneficial for I, as the teacher as well as G my student; we learned from one another. Going into the experience G was always the student in my class who sat in the back (where she would not really both me) and would be given a coloring page or a simple book to “read” to keep out of my way as I was trying to teach the rest of the students. This experience made me realize that she is ready for so much more than that.
During this experience I learned that G is able to learn quite a bit, even though it takes a lot more effort on the teacher’s part for her to learn. I learned that she IS able to read words (on a first grade reading level in English) and that she knows how to sound words out. I also learned that when pushed, she performs at a much higher level than when she is not given expectations. If you expect her to read a story with you, on most days she will read it.
I say on most days because G is not always the most predictable person; but when I thought about it, all my students have good and bad days. Even though on most days G can be expected to follow directions, stay on task and want to work hard, there are certain days where she will have no part of learning. I would get extremely frustrated with her because her demonstrations of refusal to learn are much more intense than other students (sitting under desk without moving, cursing out students, hitting her classmates). However, what I realized is that every single person in my class (including the teacher) has days they do not want to learn or to work hard. This does not mean that you should stop pushing the child but rather, that you have to work extra hard on those days to see what you can do to help the child learn even when they do not want to.
G proved to me that with developed strategies, such as using pictures to add or subtract, that she can perform and master material that in my years prior to working with students with down syndrome, I never thought would be possible. She can add like other students (not on her grade level, but once again on a first grade level). The only thing that still frustrates me about that, is that sometimes I wonder if she could do it without me. In class I always have to be with her every step of the way through problems. If we are subtracting I have to say: How much do we start with? How much do we take away? How much is left? This sometimes feels like “cheating” to me, but I think that I am starting to realize that it is ok to give her cues and other hints, because she does learn differently than other students, which is something I tell my students each and every day “We all learn differently.
The fact that we all learn differently is something that my students have come to comprehend in my class, but I worry that in the future years they might not be as understanding. I remember being a middle schooler and high schooler, and people that were different were always made fun of and often seemed miserable. Even though G is a happy little girl now and has lots of friends, I worry that this will change as she and her classmates get older. She is currently much smaller than all her classmates and I feel that this discrepancy, as well as her intellectual ability will cause her friends to slowly push away from her and choose other friends. I hope that this is not the case, and that I have taught my students that prejudice against people such as G is not right, and that we are all special and unique, but I fear that because they are only human and young kids, that the words of one or two teachers will not be able to combat the way they see students like G.
While this is a fear that I have for her and other students similar to her, I do know that students like G have much more hope than I ever believed prior to this experience. When I think about her and her accomplishments I am overwhelmed with the positive aspects that I find, and know that people’s ideas about others are changing as they become more comfortable and aware of people different than them. In order to understand others, one just needs to take some extra time, like I have with G, to really get to know a person and see them for who they are: all their strengths, and all their weaknesses.
As i was sitting her i was working on a project for my special needs grad class.... and i realized that it actually helped me reflect on G my student with down syndrome and i wanted to share the last part of the report to help people see how working with a student like G has changed my view.
h. Reflective Narrative
I think that participating in this activity was extremely beneficial for I, as the teacher as well as G my student; we learned from one another. Going into the experience G was always the student in my class who sat in the back (where she would not really both me) and would be given a coloring page or a simple book to “read” to keep out of my way as I was trying to teach the rest of the students. This experience made me realize that she is ready for so much more than that.
During this experience I learned that G is able to learn quite a bit, even though it takes a lot more effort on the teacher’s part for her to learn. I learned that she IS able to read words (on a first grade reading level in English) and that she knows how to sound words out. I also learned that when pushed, she performs at a much higher level than when she is not given expectations. If you expect her to read a story with you, on most days she will read it.
I say on most days because G is not always the most predictable person; but when I thought about it, all my students have good and bad days. Even though on most days G can be expected to follow directions, stay on task and want to work hard, there are certain days where she will have no part of learning. I would get extremely frustrated with her because her demonstrations of refusal to learn are much more intense than other students (sitting under desk without moving, cursing out students, hitting her classmates). However, what I realized is that every single person in my class (including the teacher) has days they do not want to learn or to work hard. This does not mean that you should stop pushing the child but rather, that you have to work extra hard on those days to see what you can do to help the child learn even when they do not want to.
G proved to me that with developed strategies, such as using pictures to add or subtract, that she can perform and master material that in my years prior to working with students with down syndrome, I never thought would be possible. She can add like other students (not on her grade level, but once again on a first grade level). The only thing that still frustrates me about that, is that sometimes I wonder if she could do it without me. In class I always have to be with her every step of the way through problems. If we are subtracting I have to say: How much do we start with? How much do we take away? How much is left? This sometimes feels like “cheating” to me, but I think that I am starting to realize that it is ok to give her cues and other hints, because she does learn differently than other students, which is something I tell my students each and every day “We all learn differently.
The fact that we all learn differently is something that my students have come to comprehend in my class, but I worry that in the future years they might not be as understanding. I remember being a middle schooler and high schooler, and people that were different were always made fun of and often seemed miserable. Even though G is a happy little girl now and has lots of friends, I worry that this will change as she and her classmates get older. She is currently much smaller than all her classmates and I feel that this discrepancy, as well as her intellectual ability will cause her friends to slowly push away from her and choose other friends. I hope that this is not the case, and that I have taught my students that prejudice against people such as G is not right, and that we are all special and unique, but I fear that because they are only human and young kids, that the words of one or two teachers will not be able to combat the way they see students like G.
While this is a fear that I have for her and other students similar to her, I do know that students like G have much more hope than I ever believed prior to this experience. When I think about her and her accomplishments I am overwhelmed with the positive aspects that I find, and know that people’s ideas about others are changing as they become more comfortable and aware of people different than them. In order to understand others, one just needs to take some extra time, like I have with G, to really get to know a person and see them for who they are: all their strengths, and all their weaknesses.
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