Placement+1+Week+6+Experience

Week of February 22nd, 2010

2/22/10

Yeesh! Today was a tough day. I really feel like not much got accomplished, but in the grand scheme of things I suppose it all evens out in the end.

The students - especially the little boy I've been working with so closely - were all happy to see me this morning. We talked about how some of them had been able to visit the county fair that was in town over the long weekend. One student even shared how he had won second place for showing his goat called Nibbles in a 4-H event!

With a pleasant start to the morning, I had hoped the rest of the day would follow just as nicely. Wrong! Before lunchtime, Mrs. Herring had the class whittled down to just four students as the others left for doctor's appointments or were sent to the nurse for vomiting and all over not feeling well. And wouldn't ya know it, one of the boys who was left decided to be in a rotten mood, not wanting to complete any of his class work. He turned it all into the biggest pile of confetti and decided to climb the tallest bookshelves in class like a monkey.

He called me a "Guinea Pig" and kept hitting himself in the head with his little, balled up fists. Then he smooshed all the points of the dry-erase markers in so that they weren't good for writing on the board anymore. It was the most random, pathetic display of attention-seeking behavior I had seen in a long time.

Eventually, Mrs. Herring, her paraprofessionals, and I were all able to accomplish a little work with each of the remaining students, but it just made me giggle at our efforts - we were three against four and still struggling to meet our goals! Wow, what a struggle exceptional education can be some days!

2/23/10

I have learned that each day I spend interacting with Mrs. Herring and her students brings new insight into the world of teaching. You can plan and be prepared, but you never know how the day will go until the students do the deciding!

I was happy that my student came ready to work in the morning. However, he was quick to become upset when he misunderstood the contingency placed on his participating so nicely in Speech class. Mrs. Herring had told him that if he did well today - paid attention, played nicely, and participated in the class - that he could go straight to a favorite game during computer time. He thought this meant that he could use the computer right after he returned from Speech. With a little compassionate explaining, he settled down to work again on the next subject, but he maintained his frustrated attitude for the rest of the day.

Despite that little drawback and a few emotional moments when he remembered that he could not draw on the marker board because he had chosen to destroy the markers yesterday, my student did well. I think it is helpful for him to see that his choices have consequences, and that listening carefully will help you get what you want in the end.

We're still working on writing from left to right and sight words, too. My student is sharing a painting he made of a tall, red cat. You can see how he labeled his work - TAC.