Wednesday, July 11, 2012

First 2 days...crazy

The first two days with students at the Summer Learning Place have been very busy and chaotic.  I have been so happy with the students, and their abundance of knowledge, language, and problem solving skills.  They are quite different from my regular class of students with autism.  While I am admiring all of the skills being used in our classroom, I am also feeling slightly overwhelmed with the amount of work that is requred to teach these 7 students each day.  Materials are very limited, and it is difficult to determine the right materials for all of the various levels we have in our classroom.  I feel very anxious about this and the fact that I may not be able to accomodate all of my students various abilities.

While I am not excited about our lack of materials, I feel very greatful for the fact that I have a wonderful coteacher by my side.  I most definitely could not teach in the Summer Learning Place all alone. Leane is very supportive and innovative and comes up with great ideas to use in our classroom. Leane and I work together like a well oiled machine and this will benefit our wonderful students. 

I am looking forward to the coming weeks and anticipating the challenges and suprises that will come in the Summer Learning Place.  However, I am mostly looking forward to the pay raise that we will all recieve after these three weeks are complete :)

6 comments:

  1. I, too, share the same opinion about the lack of materials. But, you certainly are making do with what you have (or what Petsmart has!). I mean, oh my, fish! The kids are obviously loving every minute!

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  2. I wish there were more materials for you but unfortunately this is pretty common in a lot of schools that I have taught at. I remember having to go to a dumpster to find books for my students. Usually there isn't a lot of money for special ed and with the economy in the shape it is, I'm afraid it will only get worse. At least you will be more prepared if you ever had a job in this kind of situation.

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  3. Co-teacher!

    I'm also nervous about meeting the needs of all of our wonderful students. The level of abilities varies and I'm sure we will need to continue to collaborate inside and outside of class to develop effective strategies. I'm glad we work so well together! We should probably get hired as a team. :)

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  4. That is wonderful that you and Leane work so well together. The lack of materials is something I am struggling with as well. I am also struggling because my students are older but on a lower grade level. I want to make sure while I am using materials that are on their skill level are also on their level for things they enjoy.

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  5. You've done a great job this week!

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  6. It has been interesting looking for materials to meet the students needs. I have discovered some interesting websites and wished I had not given away so much of my second grade teaching materials.

    You and Leane are a great team and doing a lot of wonderful things in your classroom! I know your kids are loving it! They will come away with many new experiences and a great love for exploring and learning!

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