Week 15

Last blog post reflection.Wow, time has really flown by! I cannot believe that I have only one more week left of student teaching. At the start of this placement, I did not expect to be so upset when it was done, but I am. I have really grown to love my teacher, paraprofessionals, and students. I will miss this.

This past week was a wonderful week. I learned a lot about what some of the challenges are that special education teachers face. My teacher has moved classrooms a lot since she has been hired in as a special education teacher. She also has had her fair share of paraprofessionals as well. I have learned how stressful it can be not knowing where you will be the upcoming year and who you will be working with. I also have had some good conversations with my teacher about what it is like to be a new teacher working with staff. I was able to hear about some of her challenges her first few years and get advice as to how to prepare for new school years and working with new staff.

Another thing I learned this week was how important it is for students to have community outings. We have many field trips and community outings for these students and it is sad to learn how little most of these families take their children out. This week I planned a trip to Walmart to look or needs and wants. I provided a list of items for a scavenger hunt in Walmart looking for things the students would need or want in a certain scenario. Each student was paired with a staff member and ran around the store looking for items. It was a good experience for my students to learn how to navigate the store, ask workers where items are located, and learn about different items in the store. They had a blast! We also had a chance to go to the zoo. At the zoo they learned how to take turns, wait in line, and learn the names of animals. We also talked about the needs and wants of various zoo animals. It was awesome to see them grown and enjoy their time!

What I hope to learn next week is what it is like for my students when they are pushed into the general education classes. I would like to follow them to some classes and see how they handle them. 

This week was great. My staff threw me a surprise wedding shower! How lucky am I? I feel so loved and blessed by them all! I hate that this is my last blog post and my last week ahead of me. I have so many mixed feelings, but I know that the people and the things I have learned will carry over into my new job in Florida. I cannot wait to see how God uses my experiences for his glory!