Addition to Entry 2

I am so excited because the teacher that I have been volunteering for has been giving me more opportunities to help out. I have been aiding students with their computer assignments, passing out spelling tests, and helping keep the class in order. I am getting to know my students more. I am loving it. I think when I am a teacher however, I will have a very different teaching style than the teacher I work for. The teacher I work for has no tolerance for anything. She does not allow the students to have fun and express themselves. I agree that there needs to be order in a classroom, but at the same time kids need to be kids. One experience I have had working one on one with a student was when we were in the computer lab, the students were supposed to make two short sentences into one long sentence. One kid was struggling. I was able to teach him different words he could use and how to use commas to make the sentence work. It felt great helping the student because the teacher was busy with other things and I could help both her and the student.

Entry 2

I began working at Barret Elementary school this week. The very first day I was there, the teacher was sick so I did not do much. The next day I was there, I was able to get a clearer view of the order of the classroom. I am working with fifth graders which is quite new to me. Working in a regular glass is so different than working with disabled students.It is hard to work one on one with my students at Barret elementary school because I am only there for a short time. In that time the students have an assignment where they work by themselves. My job is to make sure that no one is talking or driving the teacher crazy. I wish I could spend more time in the class room so that I could get to know my students more and be able to help out. Unfortunately, due to my real job, I am only allowed to volunteer for a half an hour during my lunch break. However, I get to spend plenty of time with my special needs students. I learn from them every day. I work with those students one on one and in a groups daily. I learn how to help them want to learn. I cannot force them to do anything. I am learning ways to make learning fun for the students.

Entry 1

For my first entry I want to share a few things about working at Dan Peterson School. Each of the students in the class I work in have many differences. I cannot give many details due to confidentiality. However, I can say that some of my students are very good at working independently and others need much more prompts. Some need quite a bit of attention and others do not. Many of my student have developed challenging behaviors due and we are working on changing those behaviors to become good behaviors. I am saying this to let people know that even though my students have the same type of disability, they have developed differently from their peers. Each student I work with deal with different challenges, therefore, as a teacher I need to be aware of each child individually. I need to understand the needs of each of the students and their developmental differences. Doing this will help me to develop lessons and activities that can be personal to each of my students. That will give each child a chance to learn in his or her own way. 

Introduction

Hello, this is Cynthia Virgile. I have been teaching children with disabilities for two years now. I plan to get my elementary degree. From there on I want to get a masters degree in special education. For my fieldwork assignment for my intro to education class I plan on working at Barritt Elementary school in the Alpine School District. Also, I will relate some experiences I have while working at Dan Peterson school for special needs students which is also in the Alpine School District.