Sickness struck the school last week, and about 50% of our fifth graders were out. It's hard to say exactly what the sickness was, but we know it was nasty. I felt tinges of it at the end of the week, and then received a full blown hit on Saturday which prevented me from attending a special personal event and left me in bed all day. The upside of getting the illness myself is the realization of just how terrible it was for the children.
Sickness like this will strike schools now and then. I remember the same thing happening when I was a young child. The nurse reacted with strength making sure that parents were informed, sick children sent home, and the whole school receiving an extra good clean-up to get rid of the germs.
This is one more reason that educators have to make sure they are taking care of themselves as much as possible. Hopefully next week the illness will mostly be gone, and we'll be back on track for our final week prior the holiday break. Onward.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Friday, December 15, 2017
Friday Musings: December 15, 2017
It was a good day after a week that included a considerable amount of student sickness as well as academic push prior to the vacation. The highlight was today's serenade by two fifth graders who put together a slide show of seasonal songs and then sang the songs to me. We also had some time for free choice where there was a lot of great creativity, kindergarten helping, and game playing.
Next week will find us having one more day to study for the unit test, a couple of hands-on learning experiences, celebrations, stories, and more. A good calming, completion week prior to the holiday break. Onward.
Next week will find us having one more day to study for the unit test, a couple of hands-on learning experiences, celebrations, stories, and more. A good calming, completion week prior to the holiday break. Onward.
Learners and Teachers Need Quiet Time
The past week was filled to the brim with events, so many events that time for quiet introspection and thought was greatly limited. Then yesterday due to unexpected circumstances I got a few hours of needed think time, and that made a big difference with regard to a number of issues that have been ruminating in my mind.
Educators and learners need think time--we need that kind of quiet, relaxed time to let the day's thoughts sift and sort in our minds. Without that time, we make mistakes, settle for less than what's possible, and get cranky too.
This is important as we consider systems and schedules. Where do we fit in that quiet time at home or at school for educators and learners to simply think, wonder, be curious, and create? How do we make time for this in our own schedules as educators? This is one more integral part of the teaching/learning puzzle. Onward.
Educators and learners need think time--we need that kind of quiet, relaxed time to let the day's thoughts sift and sort in our minds. Without that time, we make mistakes, settle for less than what's possible, and get cranky too.
This is important as we consider systems and schedules. Where do we fit in that quiet time at home or at school for educators and learners to simply think, wonder, be curious, and create? How do we make time for this in our own schedules as educators? This is one more integral part of the teaching/learning puzzle. Onward.
Is This a New Age of Inclusion?
The bright and talented educator came in to gather the students. I moaned as I thought, You can't take them now as we just started the lesson and they are just beginning to practice. With pressure and desire to move every child ahead in math, I knew that taking the students at that moment would mean they would not have the time to learn the skill, and I also knew that there's little to no other times to catch those students up.
Gruffly, I asked, "Do you have to take them now?"
In hindsight, I can clearly see the dilemma, one educator with a solid set of goals and another educator with a similar solid set of goals. Each with a desire to move a child forward in a particular area, each energized and ready to serve yet conflicting schedules. What's an educator to do?
First of all, it's essential to anticipate as many conflicts and challenges ahead of the student-school year as much as possible. In the best of circumstances, most scheduling is complete by the first day of school and services are seamlessly integrated into the students' day. All educators know that this is mostly a goal and not a reality in many schools given the constraints of time and personnel that exist. With that said, however, I don't think we should give up on this goal as I think it's a goal that we can meet with good use of planning, time, and resources. It's essential to build a good pattern of service delivery/teaching prior to the students' school year.
Next, we can't do it all. There are some tough questions that we need to answer as we look at the service delivery maps for every student, and in particular, students who receive multiple services. The time during the day doesn't afford students the time for the regular program plus multiple extra services. Therefore something has to give. School personnel need to work with each other, family members, and students to determine what will be prioritized and how those priorities will be addressed in a students' daily/weekly schedule.
Further, we need to be realistic and reasonable. As it stands now, what's written on paper is not doable in realtime, and when unrealistic and unreasonable expectations are set, stress results, and this kind of stress is not helpful with regard to the work we do to teach and learn well. It's also important to understand the reality of service delivery. For example one special educator no matter how gifted he or she is can't service four or five diverse special education students together in one thirty-minute period, it simply doesn't work as no one gets the time and attention they are supposed to get. This is a challenge schools all over the state are facing since the special education expectations and the reality of money and staffing makes it nearly impossible to meet the requirements set. I'm sure that's one reason why Massachusetts is requiring all regular educators to take special ed courses. Plus as we learn more about students and learning, it becomes clear that almost all students have special education needs in one way or another, and with growing understanding of the brain, technology, and teaching/learning strategy, there are countless creative ways to meet those needs.
I believe it's a new age of inclusion and a new age of special education-regular education intersection to teach all children well. I believe there's terrific potential for growth and development here, and I'm excited about exploring this more to better teach all children. I'm open to your thoughts and ideas related to this as I continue to think and learn.
Gruffly, I asked, "Do you have to take them now?"
In hindsight, I can clearly see the dilemma, one educator with a solid set of goals and another educator with a similar solid set of goals. Each with a desire to move a child forward in a particular area, each energized and ready to serve yet conflicting schedules. What's an educator to do?
First of all, it's essential to anticipate as many conflicts and challenges ahead of the student-school year as much as possible. In the best of circumstances, most scheduling is complete by the first day of school and services are seamlessly integrated into the students' day. All educators know that this is mostly a goal and not a reality in many schools given the constraints of time and personnel that exist. With that said, however, I don't think we should give up on this goal as I think it's a goal that we can meet with good use of planning, time, and resources. It's essential to build a good pattern of service delivery/teaching prior to the students' school year.
Next, we can't do it all. There are some tough questions that we need to answer as we look at the service delivery maps for every student, and in particular, students who receive multiple services. The time during the day doesn't afford students the time for the regular program plus multiple extra services. Therefore something has to give. School personnel need to work with each other, family members, and students to determine what will be prioritized and how those priorities will be addressed in a students' daily/weekly schedule.
Further, we need to be realistic and reasonable. As it stands now, what's written on paper is not doable in realtime, and when unrealistic and unreasonable expectations are set, stress results, and this kind of stress is not helpful with regard to the work we do to teach and learn well. It's also important to understand the reality of service delivery. For example one special educator no matter how gifted he or she is can't service four or five diverse special education students together in one thirty-minute period, it simply doesn't work as no one gets the time and attention they are supposed to get. This is a challenge schools all over the state are facing since the special education expectations and the reality of money and staffing makes it nearly impossible to meet the requirements set. I'm sure that's one reason why Massachusetts is requiring all regular educators to take special ed courses. Plus as we learn more about students and learning, it becomes clear that almost all students have special education needs in one way or another, and with growing understanding of the brain, technology, and teaching/learning strategy, there are countless creative ways to meet those needs.
I believe it's a new age of inclusion and a new age of special education-regular education intersection to teach all children well. I believe there's terrific potential for growth and development here, and I'm excited about exploring this more to better teach all children. I'm open to your thoughts and ideas related to this as I continue to think and learn.
The Intersection of Special Education and Regular Education
A positive intersection of special education and regular eduction is essential. With models of inclusion embedded into most schools, there is much to think about as we develop our collective efforts to serve every child and family successfully.
Our team is looking at ways to grow this intersection with greater depth and impact. What can we do?
Scheduling
Developing a pattern of service delivery or student service maps is essential to deepening the intersection of special education and regular education. There needs to be a mostly seamless pattern that educators and students follow, a pattern that leads to regular good teaching and learning. It's best if this scheduling is completed by the start of the student year, and updated as needed throughout the year.
Fidelity to the Schedule
It's essential that there is fidelity to the schedule set. If teacher don't show up or allow their students to receive the services, the blend of special education and regular education is not going to work. Currently many schools do not cover special educators with substitutes, and I think this is a practice that should change in order to keep fidelity to the schedule. Further, testing and re-evaluations should not diminish current service therefore special educators who test students should have time set aside for that. As much as possible schedules should be met with consistent, thoughtful service.
Goal Setting
Students' IEP's have goals, and those goals should match the actual curriculum work set to create common goals for teachers and learners. There should be time to discuss the goals and set learning paths with students to reach those goals. The goals should be assessed regularly, and the curriculum and learning program should be revised to meet those goals.
Curriculum Planning and Implementation
Both special educators and regular educations should be involved in curriculum planning and implementation. Led by the goals set, all teachers should be thinking about how the curriculum can be designed, planned, modified, enriched, and personalized to help students meet their goals. Ideally special educators and regular educators would have regular shared planning times, and those times would be used effectively to look deeply at curriculum and learning events to best meet the needs of each student.
Communication
Communication protocols should be set at the start of the year so special educators and regular educators know how they'll coordinate their work with the best interests of students and families in mind.
Assistive Technology
Both special educators and regular educators should be well versed with assistive technology resources to help students utilize the best resources with regard to successful learning.
I know that better collaboration with special educators will be a step towards meeting the goal I have for deeper and better teaching. We need to effectively collaborate with special educators to effectively meet the needs of all of our learners. I think we can better our processes for collaborative work at our PLCs and student planning meetings to work towards this end. I will continue to think about this in the days ahead. I welcome your ideas.
Our team is looking at ways to grow this intersection with greater depth and impact. What can we do?
Scheduling
Developing a pattern of service delivery or student service maps is essential to deepening the intersection of special education and regular education. There needs to be a mostly seamless pattern that educators and students follow, a pattern that leads to regular good teaching and learning. It's best if this scheduling is completed by the start of the student year, and updated as needed throughout the year.
Fidelity to the Schedule
It's essential that there is fidelity to the schedule set. If teacher don't show up or allow their students to receive the services, the blend of special education and regular education is not going to work. Currently many schools do not cover special educators with substitutes, and I think this is a practice that should change in order to keep fidelity to the schedule. Further, testing and re-evaluations should not diminish current service therefore special educators who test students should have time set aside for that. As much as possible schedules should be met with consistent, thoughtful service.
Goal Setting
Students' IEP's have goals, and those goals should match the actual curriculum work set to create common goals for teachers and learners. There should be time to discuss the goals and set learning paths with students to reach those goals. The goals should be assessed regularly, and the curriculum and learning program should be revised to meet those goals.
Curriculum Planning and Implementation
Both special educators and regular educations should be involved in curriculum planning and implementation. Led by the goals set, all teachers should be thinking about how the curriculum can be designed, planned, modified, enriched, and personalized to help students meet their goals. Ideally special educators and regular educators would have regular shared planning times, and those times would be used effectively to look deeply at curriculum and learning events to best meet the needs of each student.
Communication
Communication protocols should be set at the start of the year so special educators and regular educators know how they'll coordinate their work with the best interests of students and families in mind.
Assistive Technology
Both special educators and regular educators should be well versed with assistive technology resources to help students utilize the best resources with regard to successful learning.
I know that better collaboration with special educators will be a step towards meeting the goal I have for deeper and better teaching. We need to effectively collaborate with special educators to effectively meet the needs of all of our learners. I think we can better our processes for collaborative work at our PLCs and student planning meetings to work towards this end. I will continue to think about this in the days ahead. I welcome your ideas.
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