Reality 101: CEC's blog for new teachers

Theresa: From Convention to Classroom

I had been looking forward to the CEC 2012 Convention & Expo ever since I found out I was selected to be one of the Reality 101 Bloggers. When I arrived at the Denver Convention Center, I was a little bit overwhelmed. Looking through the Convention program, I found myself wishing I could be in more than one place at a time. I took an initial look through the program, and found some sessions that interested me. I went back a little later and narrowed my choices down. Before I knew it, I picked sessions based on two themes—vocabulary instruction and math instruction (two of my loves!).

Richard: Professional Development Rejuvenates Motivation to Teach

On April 7th, I presented at the 2012 Harvard Student Research Conference, presenting a paper on disproportionality in ethnic groups severed under the EBD category. While there I had the honor and privilege to hear Dr. Eleanor Duckworth speak as the Keynote Address. Dr. Duckworth is the former student and translator of Jean Piaget. Dr. Duckworth spoke on the importance of teaching students to learn and not memorize and for students to embrace knowledge. She also talked about how teachers should never be complacent—teach to the potential and future of your students, not to the proficiency of a test.

Richard: Exploring the CEC 2012 Expo Hall

The CEC Convention & Expo is the event of the year for special education professionals and stakeholders in special education. There are many exciting opportunities to learn new strategies for teaching out students, updates from Washington, D.C. and the CEC on policy, and amazing fellowship opportunities.

Another exciting component of the Convention is the Expo. The Expo is a large showroom of hundreds of vendors from across the nation—all there to disseminate their products, information, educational programs, and even job opportunities. At first glance the Expo can be a bit overwhelming. You are greeted with smiling faces and aisle after aisle of colorful, moving, and exciting products for special education practitioners.

Jessica: Connections from Denver to the Classroom

I’m here in Denver right now, enjoying the CEC 2012 Convention & Expo, endeavoring to explore the vast, wild world of special education.

*Tip for attendees: use mini post-its to mark off the pages in your program with your desired sessions, and write the times on the post-its.

As a side note, I am also enjoying the metropolitan sights offered by downtown Denver, where I last set foot in 1993. A highlight of my stroll down the 16^th Street Pedestrian Mall was seeing a man on stilts dressed as Superman run down the sidewalk while a random passerby shouted, “Up, up, and away!” Ah, the city—my old friend.

Allisence: Bloggers and Students Engage at CEC 2012 Convention

Sunday night, I was so nervous that I couldn’t sleep. Even though it’s the point in the week where I usually sit there and wonder if I should still be a teacher, this past Sunday night was especially nerve-wracking. Not only was I experiencing my “normal” school day jitters, I still had to write lots of sub plans, and I was about to leave my room for three days.

Getting no sleep, trudging through those sub plans, and learning to accept that whatever happens while I’m gone is just the way it’s going to be has all been worth it now that I’m in Denver at the CEC 2012 Convention & Expo.

Theresa: Welcome to CEC 2012 Convention & Expo!

Greetings from Denver, the Mile High City!  I am very excited to be in Denver for the CEC 2012 Convention & Expo. My experience so far has been very welcoming, everywhere you look are huge signs that say “Denver Welcomes CEC!” I am so excited to be a part of the largest group of special education teachers gathered anywhere--5,000 strong. It’s also great to be celebrating CEC’s 90 years of serving children and youth with exceptionalities.

I can honestly say that I have been looking forward to the 2012 CEC Convention & Expo ever since I found out I was selected to be a Reality 101 Blogger. Getting ready for Denver hasn’t been as easy and carefree as I would have hoped for. I had 15 fourth graders to prepare for my absence (one of whom is Juan, just back from his extended stay in the hospital). So with lesson plans done, and extra work available if needed, I left my classroom in the capable hands of my substitute and the teacher assistant. So far I heard there has been a surprise fire drill, which threw off my to the minute lessons plans. However, I’m just glad it was a fire drill, and that my classroom didn’t actually catch on fire in my absence.

Jessica: Can We Really Save Them All?

While still working on my credential, I observed a teacher who reserves a space in her classroom for the students who don’t want to learn. Students can choose to sit in the back of the room and joke around quietly with each other rather than waste her time and take away from the students who actually do want to learn. After she installed that routine in her classroom, she noted a remarkable leap in productive instructional time. The students who wanted to learn improved by leaps and bounds as compared to when she tried to teach them alongside unwilling participants. At the time, I was horrified by her plan and wrote my assigned reflection on just that thought: horrified that someone would give up on kids. Here’s a quick quip from that reflection: “If I am to succeed in Special Ed, I have to believe that there should be better expectations than the simple one of ‘be quiet while I teach the others.’”

Allisence: School Day Jitters

Do you ever get so nervous that all you want to do is run? Maybe it’s before a big performance or right before making a speech in front of a large audience. Either way, those are situations where a little anxiety is expected, right? But how about going to work every day? Do you get nervous or scared about going to work everyday? Because I am always nervous about going to school.

It’s been seven months since the first day of school and every Sunday night, I still wonder if I can get up the next morning and make it to school so much so that sometimes, I think I should just quit. I honestly don’t know why I feel this way. My principal has told me that I’m pretty decent for a first year teacher, I know my students like me, and I really do love my job, but every Sunday night and especially the Sunday after a long break, all I want to do is run away and hide.