Amber Pantaleo December 13, 2013

Phase 1 Integrated Reflection Going into my first phase of practicum I knew that I should expect all students to be different in the way they learn, develop, behave, interact, cultural background, etc. Through my experience working with a diverse group of students I learned how to tweak instruction in order to appeal to each students needs, strengths, and weaknesses. For example, when I worked on reading fluency one-onone with seven students throughout my school day I learned how to accommodate a students needs. The students would read a passage for one minute for six days. One student did not particularly like the activity and had a hard time concentrating on reading. So, I decided to provide the student with a simple sensory item/ fidgets to provide him with more movement at his seat in order to be successful. The student was allowed to fidget with the sensory item under the desk, in order to limit distraction, while reading the passage. The student responded well to the fidget and was able to successfully finish reading the passages throughout the rest of the semester. Everyday I went into the school for practicum, a student made my day. Going into practicum I knew that when working with children it is important to keep a young spiritand oh, was I right. I could write a book with all of the funny comments, stories, and questions the students said to me. One of the students I was working with was trying to guess my ageshe guessed 47 years old. That is more than double my age! I am thankful for all of my interactions with the students because it truly does keep my spirit young and help me remember that life doesnt have to be so serious all the time. Throughout practicum I was able to experience giving different types of assessment. I took informal assessments to assess a students progress throughout instruction, sight word reading assessments, reading fluency assessments, and behavior assessments. With the assessments I was also able to gain experience creating and interpreting data in order to develop instructional programs for the students. Please view the Informal Assessment I created. This Informal Assessment served as the basis for my instructional program. I did not realize how important it is to collect a lot of data in order to see if an instructional program actually has an effect on the students performance, and taking other

Amber Pantaleo December 13, 2013

factors into consideration. The data collected from the assessments allowed me to see the students progress, which was very satisfying to know that the work I was doing with them was useful. Every week, I would create a lesson plan for an activity/lesson I did with a student during the week. I learned how to write very specific plans so that if anyone had to teach my lesson, they would be able to. Each week I did very similar lessons so my plan did not change much. However, I learned how to modify and tweak the plan each week in order to improve my lesson and make sure I met all of the students needs. Please view and example of one of my Lesson plans. As well as creating lesson plans, I learned how to write my first Instructional Program. I created my Instructional Program based off of the data I collected in my informal assessment. I created my program around the needs of a single student and made sure it was appropriate for the student. I chose to deliver my instruction through activities the student enjoys, such as reading and playing games. I was able to make a sight word flash card activity into a game, which engaged and interested the student. This semester I had my first chance to focus on a students learning environment and promoting positive/desired behaviors in that environment. A student I worked with would often exhibit tired behaviors, such as putting her head down, rubbing her eyes, nodding off, verbalizing she was tired, etc. during math class. Her tired behaviors during class had a negative effect on her performance and completion of classwork, so I created a Managing the learning environment plan. In this plan I learned how to work directly with the student to come up with a plan. The plan consisted of five strategies for the student to use to self regulate when feeling tired, all of which the student and I brainstormed together. I thought it was very beneficial to include the student in creating the plan because it was her ideas of how she would be able to self-regulate when feeling tired during class. Applying the students direct input into the plan also helped me develop a positive relationship with the student because the student was able to trust me and knew I was looking out for her best interest. The student appreciated the five strategies and, after I collected data, I observed that the plan was

Amber Pantaleo December 13, 2013

successful for the student. I believe the plan would not have been so successful if I did not communicate with the student about what she thought would work best to help her self-regulate during class. That is why communication and building a collaborative relationship with students is important. For each of the programs and lessons I created, I structured off of the foundations I learned during the classes I took this semester. This semester, I was able to really understand what differentiated instruction consisted of. I was able to gain experience in differentiating instruction for the students I worked with. I worked on sight words with two students who were at different levels. I was able to teach the same lesson and activities to the students, however I differentiated the sight words each student worked on. The students had the same activities and lesson, but with a different list of sight words. Being professional is very important and necessary in order to respect others, as well as be respected. It is important to be professional in the way I represent myself, talk to others (verbalization, email, text, etc.), dress, and interact with students. I believe one of the hardest ways to be professional was through interacting with the students because I wanted the students to like me and respond well when I teach them, however I still need to be respected and seen as a leader and authority to the students. I have to remember that Im not the students friends; I am their role model, trusted adult, authority, teacher, leader, confidant, and advocate. One of the biggest ways I grew professionally was through the way I presented myself to others. I bought a whole new professional wardrobe in order to make myself look older to the students and professional to others. I also learned how to be more confidant in my work and when working with the students. One of the most important things I learned when working at the schools was how to collaborate with the other teachers. My cooperating teacher provided me with so much support throughout the semester. If I did not collaborate with the teachers of the students I worked with, I would not have known what would work best with the students, their strengths and weaknesses,

Amber Pantaleo December 13, 2013

target areas and goals, etc. My plans would not have been as successful without the collaboration I had with the teachers. An important part of this collaboration was the open communication I had with the teachers. I learned that teachers are very busy at all minutes of the school day, so sometimes I had to get creative in the way I communicated with the teachers. I often had to leave notes for the teacher, send an email, text, or even talk in code or mouth words to each other. For part of my day at the school, I would work in a general education classroom. I learned how to modify work to accommodate a students needs, however still give that student the same access to the general education curriculum as the other students. As a special education teacher working in a general education classroom, it is important the student does not feel stigmatized or an outcast from his/her peers. It is important that each student gets as much access to general education as possible.