First day in Special Ed
Sep. 13th, 2004 05:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sugarplumkittyThe class was for severely impaired middle school kids. There are 9 in the class, two girls and seven boys. The girls and five of the boys are able to be taught as a group. The two remaining boys require constant attention to keep them from wandering off. The instructor impressed me. He's actively trying to teach these kids as much as they can learn. There was one other aide and myself to help him. All the kids attend to their own bodily needs. As it turns out, the person I was filling in for is my friend's ex-sister-in-law.
My first task was to work with one of the severely impaired boys on his alphabet. There were two foam alphabet puzzles. I took one apart and handed him the background square for the letter and had to make him say the letter in my hand before I'd give it to him. It was difficult in one way, I wasn't sure if he was unable to make certain sounds. I never did hear him say the first sound of "G" but after he said "E" a couple of times, I let him have the letter.
The other aide was doing the same with the other boy. When we finished that, they did simple jigsaw puzzles. The first boy decided he was done after the first puzzle and crawled under the table in the reading corner. The second boy wanted to do another puzzle and was given a harder puzzle of a lop eared rabbit. He started asking me if I was sad. This turned out to be a favorite theme with him. He'd ask if teacher was sad and if mother and father were sad. He asked if it was a sad day. I told him everyone and everything was happy today because it was such a pretty day. When he wasn't asking me if I was sad, he was talking about bugs. We determined that mother is afraid of beetles, I'm not afraid of beetles, wasps, honeybees, spiders or grasshoppers; but he is. I won't kiss any of the above. I won't eat any of the above. He won't eat any of the above but I think he would kiss them or squish them. He must like me because when I was sent to make copies of a form he followed me halfway to the office.
I showed each of the boys pictures their families had sent in and wrote down the words they said about them. Well, I tried. Neither of them speaks clearly. I don't think the second boy's family speaks english at home. The word he uses a lot is the Korean word for "gross" or "disgusting."
After that we did P.E. The rest of the class played whiffle ball. Both of the separate boys were led over by the teacher and had to kick a playground ball and run the bases. Then they came back to the edge of the playground. Boy #1 and I got a game of roll the ball going. He wouldn't roll it directly to me. He rolled it so it bounced against the fence and then came to me. I saw him smile for the first time when he lost control of the ball and I had to run to get it. He started losing it a lot so I told him it was his turn to get it. He wasn't too happy about that. LOL
The other boy just squatted in a patch of dirt and scratched at it with a rock or a stick. He said he was looking for bugs. He found a couple and squished them. He made a big mess by throwing the loose dirt onto the edge of the playground.
Then it was reading time. My assignment was to play with the alphabet puzzle with one of the more impaired boys while the teacher got the kids going on that day's assignment. There were questions about the book on one page and a simple crossword puzzle on another. They had read the last chapter of a book on Friday and had to fill out work sheets about it. Once my boy got tired of alphabet puzzle and refused to do any more, I went over and helped redirect one of the other kid's attention to his paperwork. He tried to tell me the crossword puzzle didn't have to be done yet even though all the other kids already had finished both pages. He tried to get his answers from his neighbor's paper. I made him look for that part of the story to get his answers. He looked proud when he succeeded. :)
At lunch, nobody in the teacher's lounge talked to me. :(
After lunch the science / math project was to make play dough. All the kids helped except for boy #2. He sat under the table and rocked. It was interesting at our table because we had the most functional kid in the class and the two least functional kids. The play dough came out beautifully! Boy #1 loved pouring and stirring. He wasn't allowed near the hot plate to cook it though. He wanted nothing to do with the dough once it was cooked. Boy #2 came out from under the table and played with it. The other aide and I took turns doing dishes. Then it was game time. I ended up playing Uno with four of the more functional kids while all the others played with the play dough... except for boy #1 who planted himself in the coat corner and rocked until it was time to go home.
The teacher thanked me for working hard, asked for my phone number and told the other aide to request me any time she was unable to come in. He said he was going to request me when he needed a sub. :)
You know what? I'm exhausted! It really was fun!
My first task was to work with one of the severely impaired boys on his alphabet. There were two foam alphabet puzzles. I took one apart and handed him the background square for the letter and had to make him say the letter in my hand before I'd give it to him. It was difficult in one way, I wasn't sure if he was unable to make certain sounds. I never did hear him say the first sound of "G" but after he said "E" a couple of times, I let him have the letter.
The other aide was doing the same with the other boy. When we finished that, they did simple jigsaw puzzles. The first boy decided he was done after the first puzzle and crawled under the table in the reading corner. The second boy wanted to do another puzzle and was given a harder puzzle of a lop eared rabbit. He started asking me if I was sad. This turned out to be a favorite theme with him. He'd ask if teacher was sad and if mother and father were sad. He asked if it was a sad day. I told him everyone and everything was happy today because it was such a pretty day. When he wasn't asking me if I was sad, he was talking about bugs. We determined that mother is afraid of beetles, I'm not afraid of beetles, wasps, honeybees, spiders or grasshoppers; but he is. I won't kiss any of the above. I won't eat any of the above. He won't eat any of the above but I think he would kiss them or squish them. He must like me because when I was sent to make copies of a form he followed me halfway to the office.
I showed each of the boys pictures their families had sent in and wrote down the words they said about them. Well, I tried. Neither of them speaks clearly. I don't think the second boy's family speaks english at home. The word he uses a lot is the Korean word for "gross" or "disgusting."
After that we did P.E. The rest of the class played whiffle ball. Both of the separate boys were led over by the teacher and had to kick a playground ball and run the bases. Then they came back to the edge of the playground. Boy #1 and I got a game of roll the ball going. He wouldn't roll it directly to me. He rolled it so it bounced against the fence and then came to me. I saw him smile for the first time when he lost control of the ball and I had to run to get it. He started losing it a lot so I told him it was his turn to get it. He wasn't too happy about that. LOL
The other boy just squatted in a patch of dirt and scratched at it with a rock or a stick. He said he was looking for bugs. He found a couple and squished them. He made a big mess by throwing the loose dirt onto the edge of the playground.
Then it was reading time. My assignment was to play with the alphabet puzzle with one of the more impaired boys while the teacher got the kids going on that day's assignment. There were questions about the book on one page and a simple crossword puzzle on another. They had read the last chapter of a book on Friday and had to fill out work sheets about it. Once my boy got tired of alphabet puzzle and refused to do any more, I went over and helped redirect one of the other kid's attention to his paperwork. He tried to tell me the crossword puzzle didn't have to be done yet even though all the other kids already had finished both pages. He tried to get his answers from his neighbor's paper. I made him look for that part of the story to get his answers. He looked proud when he succeeded. :)
At lunch, nobody in the teacher's lounge talked to me. :(
After lunch the science / math project was to make play dough. All the kids helped except for boy #2. He sat under the table and rocked. It was interesting at our table because we had the most functional kid in the class and the two least functional kids. The play dough came out beautifully! Boy #1 loved pouring and stirring. He wasn't allowed near the hot plate to cook it though. He wanted nothing to do with the dough once it was cooked. Boy #2 came out from under the table and played with it. The other aide and I took turns doing dishes. Then it was game time. I ended up playing Uno with four of the more functional kids while all the others played with the play dough... except for boy #1 who planted himself in the coat corner and rocked until it was time to go home.
The teacher thanked me for working hard, asked for my phone number and told the other aide to request me any time she was unable to come in. He said he was going to request me when he needed a sub. :)
You know what? I'm exhausted! It really was fun!
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-13 09:02 pm (UTC)Hoooray!!!!
Date: 2004-09-14 04:40 am (UTC)It sounds like you like the job and you're having a good time and doing great. Congratulations and hooray for you!
no subject
Date: 2004-09-14 07:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-14 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-20 08:58 am (UTC)