ATTENTION: Inclusion teachers and self contained teachers PLEASE HELP

Jennifer - posted on 07/15/2009

I teach special education in a middle school in Wyoming.
1. To have a meaningful learning experience the learner needs to make an emotional connection to whatever is being taught. This could mean a child that has difficulty expressing their emotions is given cue card to choose from to hep them express an emotion and communicate that to their teacher. As far as a meaningful teaching experience, when you see what has been taught actually happen. For me, when I teach social skills and I see my students using them it makes me want to jump for joy, which I usually do and let me students know I saw you doing the right thing by walking in the hall!
2. A meaningful learning experience is absolutely crucial to my philosophy of education because if the learner can make a connection they can become a better citizen and contribute to our society.
3. I wanted to become a teacher because I like learning; specifically I like to see something actually change. I continue teaching because my job keeps me on my toes. I have never had one day be even remotely the same as previous days and I have been teaching for 3 years now!
4. One of my most rewarding teaching experiences is being part of a child's life and watching them grow into young adults that can communicate their needs, wants and feelings. After having a student of mine for 8 months he no longer needed to be on a behavior plan because the main problem was that he could not communicate to people around him. The most challenging experience is when I can't help students-like state testing, I have to sit and watch these kids fail even though we have been working on these standards for six months!
5. I would like to make all the teachers take at least 1 if not more special education classes so they can have a better understanding of the students in their classes. When people have a better understanding of what is really going on, they are more open to the student as well as more accommodating of that students' needs.

Hope this helps!

Barbi - posted on 07/15/2009

For reference purposes would you mind telling me what grade and state you teach in? Thanks again!

Jeanetta - posted on 07/14/2009

No problem. I just finished my master's, so I know what you are going through. Hang in there!

Barbi - posted on 07/14/2009

Jeanetta, Thank you so much for your response! I greatly appreicate the help. At the moment I feel like I have taken on a task bigger than I was prepared for. :-)

Jeanetta - posted on 07/14/2009

Congrats on going back to school. It will be a rough and rewarding experience. I'll answer your questions as best as I can, but I don't know if it's what you're looking for.



1. A meaningful and worthwhile teaching and learning experience requires mutual respect by all parties. Teachers must show their students compasion and respect if they expect to reach them. The material should be relevant to the learner. It helps when students know why they need to know something. It is not enough to say that they must.



2. For me, a meaningful learning experience is almost synonymous with my educational philosophy. I believe that students learn better when they feel valued, respected, and cared for. This is not to say that discipline has no place. I believe that students cannot learn well in chaos. I find, however, that mutual respect tends to decrease discipline issues.



3. I have always wanted to be a teacher, although I don't exactly know why. I always loved school and children. As a teacher, I find that I want to continue because I feel that I have an amazing opportunity to change lives. That makes everything worth it. I'm also somewhat addicted to that "ah-ha" moment that comes when students finally grasp a difficult concept.



4. I have the opportunity to teach many children with a variety of special needs that range from personal tragedies to learning disabilities to second language acquisition to poverty to emotional and behavioral disturbances. These students are all in my full inclusion classroom. They provide my greatest challenges AND my greatest rewards. Teaching such a wide variety of students has made me not only a better teacher, but a better person, as well.



5. I believe in accountability, but I think there has to be a better way to accomplish this than through high-stakes testing. This seems to be developmentally and educationally inappropriate. The tests do not measure growth, but they do drive instruction. The problem is that all that test driven instruction is not always in the best interest of the students.