December 6th

Looking back on the semester, I don't think I could explain all the ways I learned and grew over the semester in a simple blog. I feel a big difference in myself from just a few short months ago and I learned a lot about myself in the process. I learned that the classroom is so much more fun when I make sure that I am animated and engaged. I learned that planning was probably not one of my strongest points in the beginning of the semester, but I feel that I improved over time. I learned that I actually know more about the children than I thought I did. Being in class with them every day, I began to see what they liked and what they didn't like, and how to adapt plans to different children based on their abilities and personalities. I learned that progress hard fought for is really worth it in the end. And I also learned that I think I may want to be in the special education field one day. But for now, I have to see where early childhood takes me. I will be in the K-3 blocks next semester leading a whole classroom, which is what I enjoy a lot about teaching. I also will learn how I fit in a general ed classroom since I have been in special ed settings for the last 2 semesters.

December 1st

As the semester and my lead teaching come to a close, I am looking back on what I have learned and what I know about the children's abilities. I see that the knowledge of children's specific abilities comes especially during specific parts of the day. For instance, I may occasionally have to change the difficulty for each child at smart board based on their abilities. When we do the counting boards, I ask the children who can count how many of each object there is, and then to choose the correct answer. For mainly the ASD children who cannot count, I would count the objects on the screen for the entire class and then give the child a one step command to choose the correct number we counted to. One of the students observing out in the hall today asked me how we are able to plan lessons that incorporate both the ASD and typical children. I had to stop and think for a moment because I realized it was really a difficult task. I told him that you really just had to know the children well and think of activities that they both generally liked, or take an activity and adapt it for both groups. I know that knowledge of the children in the future will be a valuable thing acquired over time and one of the biggest influences of my daily planning.