Standard One: Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning
Connecting students’ prior knowledge, life experience, and interests with learning goals
Using a variety of instructional strategies and resources to respond to students’ diverse needs
Facilitating learning experiences that promote autonomy, interaction, and choice
Engaging students in problem solving, critical thinking, and other activities that make subject matter meaningful
Promoting self direction, reflective learning for all students
Whether working with SDC students, Functional Skills students, or subbing in a regular ed class, I find that I have a good report with the students as they are respectful and generally compliant. In my teaching space on Wednesday’s, the students who are low functioning, have different responses to stimulus at different times, and I have to keep up with the current effective methodology. I confer with Ms. Snow and the Instructional Assistants each week on Monday and a few moments before I begin on Wednesday to get the update on what seems to work for the emergent behaviors. In the SDC room, I am conferring with Mr. Camillucci and the Instructional aides on Monday, to make sure I am current on the disciplinary and instructional modes that seem to be working for the population that passes through room 205 for the two days I am teaching them. I frequently email Stephanie McManus (my partner teacher) or call her at home to get the update on the students, or I will stop by on my own time Wednesday morning to transition her into her teaching week, or on Friday afternoon to determine any information for my Monday teaching day. It is always my goal to grow the students from where they are, so communication with the students and their IEP’s and learning goals are key to making the instruction meaningful and autonomous.
Standard Two: Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning
Creating a physical environment that engages students
Establishing a climate that promotes fairness and respect
Promoting social development and group responsibility
Establishing and maintaining standards for student behavior
Planning and implementing classroom procedures and routines that support students learning
Using instructional time effectively
I feel that the visual stimulus in my art room (204) is upbeat and perky, and I feel that it is a safe place to create. I encourage positive statements, respect and honesty in my students by modeling it. I use careful humor with all my students to get them to respond and comply, and try to encourage them to be successful at all times. In Room 205 (SDC), I follow the monetary system that is preset in the room, having students pay for phone or computer use, and I follow up on paychecks, and check registrar information. In our Workability program, I have worked with students in directly teaching the pragmatics of being a good worker, and give them feedback that allows them to be successful outside of the classroom environment. In Room 210 (Functional Skills), I plan lessons that match the prevalent curriculum, depending on the subject matter at hand, and I try to encourage students to use their instructional time with respect and it is always my goal to help them grow in either social, intellectual, artistic or emotional skills.
Standard Three: Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for Student Learning
Demonstrating knowledge of subject matter content and student development
Organizing curriculum to support student understanding of subject matter areas
Interrelating ideas and information within and across subject matter areas
Development student understanding through instructional strategies that are appropriate to the subject matter
Using materials, resources and technologies to make subject matter accessible to students
I have an elementary background, so the academic curriculum is quite manageable for me in the SDC and the Functional Skill teaching assignments. My students have a variety of levels that they work with, so I am frequently assessing their present skill level, so as to provide them with current skill building techniques. (Math) I work with students on an itinerant basis, so the bulk of their instruction time during the week is with another instructor. I am, however, the only one teaching these students (both SDC and Functional Skills students) a variety of art lessons that generally align with the Fine Arts State Framework. The Math and Language Arts that I teach primarily with the SDC kids, though I do some Writing skills with the Functional Skills students, where I have them choose photos of the previous week’s adventures and write one to five sentences about the photo. The concepts of working in a book, writing from left to right, and telling related ideas to the photo of themselves seems to engage the low functioning students through the higher skilled students, and allows them to hone their skills of story telling as well as creates a visual record of their activities when I am with them. The Workability and smoothie crew are always given opportunities for real life experiences, and some pragmatic teaching of work ethic, health and safety guidelines allows for students to improve their functioning in the “real world” of work with the safety net of School to help them to be successful.
Standard Four: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for All Students
Drawing on and valuing student’s backgrounds, interests and developmental learning needs
Establishing and articulating goals for student learning
Developing and sequencing instructional activities and materials for student learning
Designing short-term and long-term plans to foster student learning
Modifying instructional plan to adjust to student needs
Special education is all about this standard. I find that the above listed skills are required daily for functioning in SDC and Functional Skills. Each of our students is unique, and it is a valid and reasonable tact to engage with them as individuals. With the pre-set Smoothie Business, those who can, make change… those who can’t practice to make change in their SDC lower level Math class. I add cooking and cleaning to our calendar as I am able, in order to give the students another area to shine. I work to engage students in the job skills curriculum, and tie in the students who have more experience on the job site, to discuss their successes and difficulties in other jobs that they are working in on their own time. We talk about the behaviors that are ideal and the behaviors that we are experiencing and make a plan about how to go from what is going on to the new level of what should be going on at the work site. The Functional Skills students are reminded about their success, and redirected when they are not successful, but their short term memory issues preclude a great deal of connections, though routine is vital for their success. They are most successful with short instructions that are shown over time, than the longer term goal setting that might be possible in regular ed. Modification of instruction is required every day to support progress in student learning.
Standard Five: Assessing Student Learning
Establishing and communicating learning goals for all students
Collecting and using multiple sources of information to assess student learning
Involving and guiding all students in assessing their own learning
Using the results of assessments to guide instruction
Communicating with students, families, and other audiences about student progress
This area is easy in some ways, because Special Education is all about the student goals and the work that leads them to grow from one IEP to the next. In Math, I reviewed the students math goals, and we created a chart to help them to see that they are able to work towards the goal. Since all students are unique, it is almost mandatory to individualize the instruction in an academic area. In Language Arts, we have adopted a new text, which is rather structured, and micro teaches skills. The students are at different levels, but the solidity of basic grammar and sentence structure and simple reading skills allows each person to solidify what they know and scaffold up to a new level. The art that I have been teaching has had a free drawing component all year, that consisits of a quiet time to draw, and the individual choice drawing is date stamped and saved. This has been fascinating, as students who started the year at a beginning phase of The Scribbling Stage (Lowenfeld’s levels of art development) which is usually achieved by a 3-5 year old with random straight lines, have transitioned to the next circle making phase of the art development studied by Lowenfeld in the 1960’s. It has been fascinating to allow the Functional Skills students to have the freedom to create at the beginning of the period, and then offer a new art media, lesson or skill in the latter part of the lesson. The students have amassed quite a large portfolio that documents the changes that are also showing up in their school work. One student who has shown the most growth in the art development is starting to address his schoolwork (Xerox copies that the children have free choice with in the morning arrival time) from the left to right. His random circles are starting on the left and moving across the page to the right, and in his free drawing space, he is doing the same thing. The students are also working with free choice in the writing assignments that I spoke of earlier. They choose the pictures, which will have their ideas written on the same page as the pictures are stuck… This is an evaluation, and a leveling. Those who can write and spell are encouraged to, and those who aren’t so hot at communication are asked questions, and give responses to them. Created spelling is acknowledged, and corrected spelling is added to the bottom of the page to aide in teacher and student reading. Parents will receive the books at the end of the year.
Standard Six: Developing as a Professional Educator
Reflecting on teaching practice and planning professional development
Establishing professional goals and pursuing opportunities to grow professionally
Working with communities to improve professional practice
Working with families to improve professional practice
Working with colleagues to improve professional practice
I am 6 weeks away from completing the course work on my Level 1 Special Education Credential. I am due to complete my Masters in Special Education in October of 2007, and am currently scheduled to complete my Level 2 Special Education Credential in April of 2008. I am planning on taking the CSET in Art Instruction Spring/Summer of 2007, so that I can be a highly qualified teacher for Art history instruction for AP students in 2008/2009 school year, should I be selected for that honor. I am regularly required, as a part of my credential and Master’s work to reflect on things that work and do not work in my teaching space. I have achieved straight A’s in my academics at Chapman University, and have racked up 21 units this school year (since entering Chapman in August of 2006). I have applied for and received the APLE loan assumption, which requires that I teach in Special Education for 3 years after receiving my Credential, in order to assume $21,000 in student loans, so my commitment to Placer High School Special Education Department is firm and strong. I took and passed the State test for a Class B driver’s license at my own expense this year, and now I am able to drive the school 10 passenger vans to student events, a skill that has assisted both the Band and the SDC Smoothie crew in field trips and competition events. This past summer I took and passed the CLAD exam and currently hold my CLAD credential. I completed a staff art show in October of 2006 in order to showcase the talents of our creative staff at Placer High, and completed a collage of all the teacher and staff photos that will serve as an assist to Niko who is doing a Senior Project for the incoming freshmen next year, hooking up schedules with their new teachers, easing the transition to the high School environment. I regularly conference with the teachers I work with to keep the lines of communication open in our shared teaching spaces, and I worked to help Mr. Lawrenson as a chaperone for the Disneyland trip, as well as supporting the Jazz Band by driving the school vans to several competitions. I also confer with Toby Covich, Tim Johnson, and Larry Alberts, sharing art ideas, and had a con fab with them early in the year, where I created a usable dvd from the outdated disks that came with their art text books. I have communicated with Kim Brown, Mrs. Rohde, and Mr. Hilton to assist SDC students to catch up with their grades and backlog of work. I worked with Mr. Prather to hang the SDC/Functional Skill beginning of the year Self Portrait panel art piece in the upper hall of the office by the career Center. I have also substituted in several classrooms, facilitating my understanding of Resource, my SDC students in Mr. Faulkner’s class this fall. I have assisted 4 seniors in their progress with their Senior Papers, and have served as a mentor to one who successfully mounted an art show earlier in the month. Collaboration with my contemporaries in Curriculum Camp allowed for the Self Portrait panel pieces to be cut by Mr. Denicore, Mr. Paul’s lockers were installed in my art room, and his students kindly removed the locks that would inhibit my students ability to use the lockers. I was also asked to serve on the fish bowl Q and A during the WASC visitation in March, 2007.
