My first week in Elliott - 4th grade inclusion classroom

            It felt strange walking up those unfamiliar school steps and approaching the security desk first thing Monday morning. Thanks to our summer program placement and training days, Ridge Street – the facility and faculty – were already very familiar by my first day of school.  However Mrs. Diaz and Ms. Gennaro immediately welcomed me into the classroom. The students were sweet and curious. The room looked huge to me with three loooong rows of students (We’ve thankfully changed back to groups.) After the pledge of allegiance, Mrs. Diaz told the students I was going to do an activity with them, and I was on. I took a deep breath as I stepped to the front of the class. There seemed to be SO many of them, but the teacher instinct kicked in, and I conducted a little True/False activity for the kids to get to know me better. They had fun getting to know the less obvious facts about me – jumped out of a plane, etc…- and I them, as I had them all introduce themselves and share their favorite activity.

            My class is a fourth grade inclusion classroom. There are 24 students with 10 students who are either classified, in the process of being classified, or have a 504 plan. There is one personal aide in the classroom, and she is actually a new addition. She was brought in for Aiden (diagnosed with autism) about a month ago, but the teachers tell me that Aiden’s behavior seems to have worsened with her presence rather than improved. I think she was previously an aide for younger grades and has expressed that she doesn’t feel comfortable redirecting (which often includes confronting Aiden). She refused, for example, to take responsibility for him on our trip to the Liberty Science Center. They are trying to work with her to give her more guidance for how she should be working with Aiden.

            With so many kids with needs (well beyond the 10% Dr. Lalyvani’s research suggests), there is always something for me to do and someone for me to help. The more open-nature of the instruction (reader/ writer’s workshop and small group work) also facilitates my assistance. My efforts to assist students 1-on-1 often annoyed Lisa because she believed they undermined efforts to make the students more independent. Mrs. Diaz and Ms. Gennaro don’t share this view. So, I have conducted small-guided reading groups as well as assisted students 1-on-1 during writing, reading, and math. I’ve worked a lot with  Issac, who has only just been classified through Mrs. Diaz and Ms. Gennaro’s efforts, but came in to the classroom reading at around a Kindergarten level.  I conducted my first “official” whole group lesson on Friday.

            I’ve witnessed the need to be flexible my first week as I’ve seen administrative decisions and other matters change quickly. We were informed Monday that we’d be taking a field trip on Wednesday to the Liberty Science Center. At the LSC, our school’s lunches were never deliverd, and so our student sat there for over an hour as the Ridge Street School group ate their lunches and then left. Finally, we got the OK to buy the cheapest item available for the kids to eat.  Sadly, all the confusion took up a great deal of the day at LSC, but otherwise the students had a great time, and it was a great way for me to get to know them almost immediately in a different way. As I left on Wednesday evening, both the teachers and the students said that they would miss me the next day.

            The biggest difference I noticed during my first week in special ed was in myself. I noticed I laughed more and joked more. I sang. I was myself. It was the first time I truly realized how much I was not myself in my previous placement. It makes a huge difference in my own personal sense of satisfaction, but I believe it will also make a difference in my ability to teach as well.