Discussion 2

  Respond to discussion 1 100 words per person

Felicia

The most challenging aspect for me to handle is time management. It seems that the paperwork is endless. My classroom management skills have improved a lot since last year. I have a good rapport with the students. Student engagement is critical to me; however, with so much paperwork, it’s always rushed.

During my first three months working at my school, I was a permanent substitute teacher, which led me to my full-time position. My principal offered me a full-time job on the last day of my three months. Covid was at its peak, and it was terrible. The students were getting sick one after the other. About 6 or 7 other students had to quarantine when one got sick. We had to teach the students that were left in class while teaching students virtually as well. Seven students returned to in-person learning as quickly as seven students were going out. 

This year was no different until the parents started complaining that their kids should not be sent from school if they didn’t have covid. Parents had to work, and it was very inconvenient to miss work to stay home with a perfectly healthy child sent home because they may have been in contact with a sick child. Things are getting better, and I have a perfect attendance of 98% of the week.

The strategy from the article Never Says Anything a kid can say that I’m implementing is using more Process questions that require students to think at a much higher level”(Rineheart, 2000 vol 8) Students tend to use yes and no answers as an easy way out. It is hard to determine if the students have learned the information. I’m also trying the grouping method this year; it works well. It gives the students more confidence.” No one is finished until all can explain the solution,” or an answer to the problem is such a great idea.

 I haven’t experienced many behavioral issues with this method because the students love it. Students were instructed in the beginning that if grouping becomes a problem, it will cease to exist in my classroom.

Train a child in the way he should go when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 NIV

Patrick

Part II. What aspect do you find the most difficult to handle?

Since I have been teaching, I sometimes have a hard time finding activities that are aligned to the state assessment. I always want my students to get plenty of practice so that I can see if they are grasping a skill before I assess them. It is difficult and very tedious to make my own, so sometimes I pull items from different states to help me out. I have spent so much money on Teachers Pay Teachers. Trying to Lesson Plan for four different subjects is difficult but I am trying to make a way. 

Part III. How has teaching changed for you since COVID? If this is your first year teaching, how are things different from what you envisioned?

Teaching during COVID made me have more compassion for my students. I saw how some of them struggled while we were in person, but they really struggled with virtual. Some of them had no one to wake them up for class, some of them were virtual still in the bed, some of them could not turn on their cameras because they were ashamed of their living environment, etc. This made me think that we teach our babies daily, but we have no idea what they are going through at home. We are now one hundred percent in person.

Part IV. What strategy from the article Never Say Anything A Kid Can Say will you focus on during this semester? In your response to other classmates, you may want to offer a solution you have found to help in their area of difficulty

I love the questioning strategy. This is a great strategy to check for student understanding. I do this a lot in my classroom already. Another strategy that I love is allowing the students to think to determine if they have the correct answer. I usually tell the students that they have the correct answer. Now, I will let them chat amongst their peers and allow them to think to determine if the answer is correct. I like when the author stated “As soon as I give students the answer, thinking stops” (Reinhart, 2000, p. 482). This strategy will be put to use in my class immediately.

Alexis

Part I. My name is Alexis Seaton and I currently hold the position of a Inclusion Teacher at John Hopkins Elementary. This is my fourth year teaching for the Jackson Public School District. I taught second grade for two years and kindergarten one year. What I find the most challenging about my current position is the lack of parental involvement and finding differentiated ways to make coming to my classroom when I am servicing these children. Some of them are embarrassed that they have an IEP and their behavior reflects that as well.  The parents can also be in denial about the their child’s present levels  as well.  I serve K-5 and  hold meetings and write IEP’s for children who are in public school who have a disability or other diagnosed condition.  Covid has not affected my teaching abilities because I was living in Nashville working from home with another agency, however I am seeing some results of students  being at home and being virtual and having not having consistent academic instruction.   

Part II. What aspect do you find the most difficult to handle? The aspect that I find the most difficult  to handle is not having enough staff regarding Exceptional Education, which can often lead to more children added to our case loads and having to rearrange schedules so that every child can be serviced and also coming up with different strategies to make the students who do have and IEP’s and behavior  plans enjoy their time in school. 

Part III. How has teaching changed for you since COVID? If this is your first year teaching, how are things different from what you envisioned?  Although this is not my first year teaching, this is my first year being an inclusion teacher. I also had a four year break from teaching as well.  Since school has started back, I have not noticed anything differently than when I taught fours ago. However, I can agree that some of these students did not grasp a lot of academic instruction during virtual schooling and some of those affects are being presented now in the classroom. 

Part IV. What strategy from the article Never Say Anything A Kid Can Say will you focus on during this semester? I enjoyed reading the article. I appreciate the educator being able to revise their teaching styles and accept that a different approach was needed. I will incorporate more  problem solving questions. I often time do not leave a lot of time for these questions because I am so focused on  explaining and checking for understanding. Sometimes getting students to think for themselves and ask or answer questions can be a better way for academic instruction.