TeachSped

I may not have a research article to back this up, but I am guessing that there has been research done in these areas that may back up some of what I am sharing.

Self awareness:

I have learned so much about myself in the past two years while teaching. I would like to share just a few of them with everyone. I am assuming that for many, these revelations may have come early in your lives, but they have just revealed themselves to me.

Parenting Style v. Teaching Style:

What I learned about myself while teaching for the past two years was that I had been parented in an authoritarian style and that I was susceptible to teaching in that style. I was conscious of this and worked hard to teach in an authoritative style. I had to really pay attention and find out where my students where coming from and honor them in that place. One of the students that I have had from when I first started told me that they hated me at first and now they really like me. The reason was that I used to do things “my way” and now I have loosened up a bit. I told her that I have learned a lot from the students in the past two years.

Lesson Plans:

Another thing  that I have learned about myself is that as far as lesson planning goes, I can think of activities to do, but I am very weak at giving them independent work and assessments. I end up assisting them with most of their work; therefore, contributing to their learned helplessness. I would love to have a curriculum already laid out for me to use. I know that there are many out there, but it is difficult with the special needs population because I have to alter the activities and differentiate to each student. I am still trying to get the hang of that.

Collaboration:

I just began my 535 collaboration course this semester and I have already learned so much about working as a team. Understanding how different people are and how people solve problems differently helps to explain so many difficulties that I have had in the past. Also, learning about myself has helped me to understand myself better.

Inappropriate Behavior:

I have learned that it takes time to change and that the student’s inappropriate behaviors may continue for a while. My first year I struggled so much with what to do with students who were behaving inappropriately and I thought that I had to get them to stop before I could teach them academics.  Now I know that I may not get them to stop the behavior completely and that I have found ways to teach them even with their behaviors still being expressed.

If anyone has any thoughts that they would like to share with me, I will greatly appreciate them. Thank you,

Rosanna, Excellent reflection. I think one of the most important qualities in a good teacher is the ability to self-reflect. You may not have assessments down where you want them to be yet, but being able to look back at what works and what didn't, will guide you in your next steps. Your comments demonstrate your reflection skills and your ability to receive feedback. I especially like that you were able to hear what your students were saying-that is often hard to do! I would encourage you to allow your students to take some ownership on how they would like to be assessed. Can you develop a way for them to choose 1 of 3 ways to show what they know? Or depending on their ages, can you develop a way for them to assess each other and give each other feedback in addition to your feedback?

Dear Dr. Myers, Thank you for your positive comments and for your suggestions. I will try them and let you know how they work. Dr. Myers said:

Rosanna,
Excellent reflection. I think one of the most important qualities in a good teacher is the ability to self-reflect. You may not have assessments down where you want them to be yet, but being able to look back at what works and what didn't, will guide you in your next steps. Your comments demonstrate your reflection skills and your ability to receive feedback. I especially like that you were able to hear what your students were saying-that is often hard to do! I would encourage you to allow your students to take some ownership on how they would like to be assessed. Can you develop a way for them to choose 1 of 3 ways to show what they know? Or depending on their ages, can you develop a way for them to assess each other and give each other feedback in addition to your feedback?

Rosanna, I must tell you, as another teacher at your school, that you are loved! And I think it is great that you are able to take a seat and look at yourself and reflect. I know that you have come far in the past year and half and I am proud of you! As for more independent work, it is very difficult to do that in our classes- with the variety of student needs... take careful consideration of what they can do- what their abilties are and hold them accountable. I have one student who consistently asks for help or needs to have me look at what he is doing. It was not only impeding on my time with other students, but he was getting less work done because of it. I began setting a timer for 5 minutes and then 10 minutes at a time, and told him that he needed to work on his own and hold his questions. It worked! He still needs to be told the reason for the timer... but I think this student will always need that reminder.