This quarter has been interesting. The content and the lessons have been great, but we experienced something that has a tremendous impact on students’ learning – school schedule conflicts. It seems like it is a rare occurrence when students have a full week of school without interruptions, like assemblies, early release, or modified schedules. This has troubled me because it seems to affect their learning and their learning potential. With all of the interruptions, how can teachers fulfill the requirements of the curriculum? As it is, teachers are working against the clock to teach all of the material that the district is mandating. Then, and most importantly, the students are forgetting information and do not have the adequate exposure to material before it’s being tested on, so they are end up either not succeeding to their full potential, or failing all together. In a day when teachers are evaluated upon test scores and achievement, schools need to consider the impact of scheduling assemblies and the like. Can a teacher adequately teach or can the student learn in just 35 minutes? I would think not.
Another problem that I’ve had is the lack of textbooks or text material supplied to students for the units they are learning. Students have been relying on worksheets and teacher instruction to learn, but what about the students that need to read information in order to process it? What about the students that miss a day of instruction? They simply aren’t able to access the lesson. Sure, the students can go online and watch a video tutorial, but does that replace the textbook? Is the district overlooking this need when supplying curriculum material? When I was a student, I always knew where I could find help, information, or explanations, and that was in my textbook.
I’ve had mixed feelings about the integration of students with special needs in the general classroom. Yes, I see the benefits of doing this, but I am now seeing many drawbacks. Especially in my dyad placement, we have many students that need special accommodations, but as a teacher with only a 45 or 50 minute class period, can you accommodate all of these students while also fulfilling the needs of the rest of the class? There are certain students that need one-on-one teaching, but I don’t see that they will necessarily be receiving this when there is only 1 teacher. I understand that the students are also supposed to be receiving assistance from the special ed teacher, but there’s another resources that the students are not receiving. If the students continue on to this path, their grade level will increase, but their learning level may not be increasing at the same rate, and they may not be able to fill the difference gap. Then, there’s the case of MSP, because the students are tested at actual grade level, not developmental grade level. This is unfortunate for those students academically, but also personally, since their confidence may be squashed because they are constantly receiving failing grades or test scores.
There is one student in particular that worries me. He is a very good kid that tries hard in math, and works much better when I work with him one-on-one. By the end of these lessons, he leaves with confidence and a smile on his face. On the last unit test, he received a failing grade, but I was so proud of him for getting as many correct as he did. He was so close to getting half of his test correct, something that he was not doing before. Unfortunately, this is not seen by administration. Then, when the student is in the general classroom, he seems more disengaged. So, he really needs the individualized attention in order to succeed, but it is rarely provided. This story will stick with me as I become a teacher and thinking about how I can differentiate instruction and activities, and manage my time, so I can work with the students that need this individualized help and instruction.
