Reality 101: CEC's blog for new teachers

Kaylie: Three...No, Four Cheers for 4-H!

As a teacher of students with severe disabilities in a self-contained special education classroom, I’m constantly hunting for opportunities for life skills, community-based and social skills instruction. Of course, you can create these opportunities in artificial classroom activities, but the best way to learn them are in genuine, real-life situations. Last week, an answer to many of my silent prayers for such opportunities was answered.

It all began when one of my parents inquired about the 4-H Club at our school. I’m sure many of your schools have active 4-H clubs, but, if not, I highly encourage you to learn more about 4-H Club. I made a call to the local 4-H office and spoke with their representative, who works in our county’s schools (it just so happens we were acquaintances from high school -- one of the benefits of living in a tiny town). When I explained my reason for calling, he immediately began to show an interest in doing some things for and with my class.

John: New Year, New Classes

I felt good coming into this year. I was teaching the same three classes I taught last semester, and I learned a ton from last semester. I had a new behavior plan I was ready to use. My long range plans were all finished last semester. I had begun developing individual lesson plans. My class sizes were smaller. I was better prepared. Even the grass was greener.

I said the class sizes were smaller, but one of them was much smaller. When I left last semester, I had five students enrolled in my third period class. For a high school class of students in non-diploma classes, I prefer 5-10 students. Any less and it seems too quiet. Any more and it gets to be too much to handle. Of my original five, I slowly began losing students, each for a different reason.

Kaylie: The Reason for the Season

As soon as December arrived, the Christmas activity planning went into full swing. Everyone is in full holiday mode—scheduling parties, programs, luncheons, etc. Many are also looking for opportunities to give and spread joy during the season. 

One of the first phone calls I received regarding Christmas activities was from a large corporation in our town who does an annual philanthropy project. The majority of employees from this company take money from their paychecks each month to put toward the charitable cause chosen for the year. For the past two years, their project has been to buy gifts for every student in self-contained special education classrooms in our county. That’s six classrooms! And it doesn’t stop there. They spend approximately $100 on each student, buying them things they need, as well as things they want.

John: Singing Lessons

One of my favorite lessons is coming up next week. I love using music in the classroom. The vast majority of my students are major fans of this genre. When I can, I like to incorporate the strong interest my students have for music into my lessons.

I went to a workshop last year on using music in the classroom and decided I wanted to use music to reinforce the material I was teaching. I was surprised by how many songs reference job skills in some way (strong work ethic, staying in school, supporting a family, being responsible, paying bills, etc.). While listening to my students talk about favorite songs, I found one that incorporates many of the skills we talk about regularly.

John: Teacher, Job Coach, and Barista?

What a couple of weeks it has been! Inservice week is over, and I am finished with the first week of school. I haven’t said much about the classes I teach so let me tell you what I do.

My school has a four block schedule. I teach for three of them. Because I also coach soccer, I have my planning period during fourth period so that I can prepare for practice during that time. Right now I don’t have any coaching responsibilities during my planning period, but stay tuned during the spring semester to hear how juggling coaching, teaching, and spring IEP season is going.

Richard: Reflections of My First Year Teaching

This year was my first year teaching and the last year of my masters program. I still remember the first week of school when I had to excuse myself from the room and find a quiet place to reflect on if teaching is really what I wanted to do. I had just restrained a student, my other students were putting me through a vetting process, and I didn't feel as though I was doing well. I am so very happy I was able to come back to the classroom, get control, and pass their test.

I have learned a lot this year about teaching, which no teacher education program can prepare you for. I have learned how to cope with the stresses of the educational bureaucracy while teaching students with EBD. I have learned to maintain excellent grades in school and have some resemblance of a personal life. I have learned how to advocate for children in a manner in which no party feels defensive and I am able to mediate nearly any situation with students, parents, teachers, or any combination.

Richard: Going Out with a Bang

As the year wrapped up for my students, I was able to take them on two exciting field trips within two weeks of each other.

As a motivator for good behavior during testing, I took them to the infamous Georgia Aquarium. We started our day in the park with lunch and explored the aquarium. Most saw aquatic animals for the first time, touched sharks, and asked so many questions. My students are often labeled as lost and are not included by many teachers because they are misunderstood. It has been part of my mission to dispel that myth and this trip helped to do that.

Theresa: Taking Learning Outside the Classroom

I feel like I have been going nonstop these last couple of weeks—between wrapping up the state audit, all of my new responsibilities as union rep, and keeping my students busy and interested in learning this last month or so of school. To break up the weeks my students and I have gone on three fieldtrips in the last two weeks, and we still have one more coming up this week!

While taking a group of students with special needs on a field trip can be somewhat hectic, I know it is worthwhile because they get so much out of it. My students rarely leave the neighborhood that they live in, so any time they leave it’s like leaving the country for them.

Allisence: Field Trip Fun – Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Did you know that helicopters have two rotors — one main rotor and one tail rotor? And did you know that helicopters can seat anywhere between two and 60 people? Well, these seemingly random facts are now things my students can rattle off at a moment’s notice thanks to our most recent life experience trip, otherwise known as a field trip.

As the self-declared Queen of Field Trips, the school secretary and I brainstormed all kinds of adventures my class could go on for our big end-of-the-year field trip finale. We tossed around the Children’s Museum, the Science Center, a light rail trip to the public library, and a few impossible ones too like Disneyland. In the end, we decided to take advantage of the fact that my husband is in the military and has connections at the local army aviation National Guard base.

Jessica: Social Skills—Then and Now

While at the CEC Conference & Expo, I attended the Sunshine State Social, which was a party for CEC members from California and Florida. While I’m a California girl now, I grew up in Florida, so this social felt like it was made just for me.* Among the people I met at the social were representatives from Talent Assessment, a reading curriculum researcher, a SELPA director, and a couple CEC chapter heads. We talked about the paths that led to our job choices and our experiences within the field. Overall, it wound up a highly entertaining evening that ended with making new professional acquaintances. In short, I networked.

Allisence: Queen of Crazy Field Trips

I am the Queen of Crazy Field Trips. Every time I hand the school secretary a field trip permission form, she laughs and asks where we’re going this time. The joke is that we’re headed for Disneyland come May; she’s already volunteered to chaperone.

Let me assure you we are not headed for Disneyland—ever. Even still, I don’t plan on relinquishing my title any time soon.

This all started when I brought my fifth grader to the 99-cent store across the street from school. He had money goals, so it made sense. Then we headed (as an entire class) to PetSmart, as we had been studying animal vocabulary and PetSmart is a billion times cheaper than the Phoenix Zoo. In fact, all my crazy field trips are free.

Allisence: Inspiration from a Haboob

If you live in Phoenix — the city of 100-degree temps even after midnight — San Diego sounds like a dream. It’s by the ocean, it’s within driving distance, it experiences perfect weather all year round, and it’s not the desert.

My lucky, lucky parents happen to live in San Diego, so a friend and I road-tripped on over to the City of Perfect Weather for the Labor Day weekend. While we were there, we went to the beach, saw wild dolphins jumping around in the ocean, and ate both seafood and home-cooked Chinese food. It was pretty much a perfect long weekend and a great escape from the desert heat.

On our 5.5-hour drive back to Phoenix, we were hit by a haboob. What’s a haboob, you ask? Well, a haboob is a type of intense dust storm commonly observed in arid regions around the world like the Middle East and, of course, central and southern Arizona. While I’ve experienced haboobs and dust storms before, this one hit me especially hard: 1) physically because I was driving at the time and 2) mentally because it reminded me that while I’m able to escape from the desert on a whim, none of my students have that option.

Jessica: Conflicts and Conflict Resolution

Tell me if you’ve ever experienced something like this:

Student: Teacher, Guy called me stupid.
Guy: Only because Student said I was a jerk.
Student: But he took my lunch spot.
Guy: I got to the table first.
Student: No, I got to it first.
Guy: No, I did!

(a quick glance at the lunchroom shows a good 20 empty seats)

Name-calling and petty arguments are the types of conflicts that most commonly occur at my school, and they are difficult for a third party such as myself to resolve. This is because of emotional investment.

Brad: Songs of Summer

Shortly after the last day of school, I spent some time in the Midwest and managed to visit friends and family, get married, then drive north and relax for a few days — all before returning to Alaska to begin teaching summer school.

Teaching summer school is enjoyable because it’s an opportunity to work with a new set of co-workers while instructing students who are often at a very different educational level. Much of it is teaching the very important skills of basic communication, social interaction, and participation. So much of what we do in life depends on our skills in these areas and committing to improve any areas of weakness.

One tool I use to develop vital communication and participation skills is music. At its most basic level, music is a medium that allows us to choose the way we’d like to respond. Some of us hum along, some dance in their chairs, and others even sing (some in tune, some out of tune). Wherever there’s a crowd of people gathered, somebody inevitably chooses to communicate through song. Individual reactions vary, usually depending on who or where you are and what type of music you appreciate. At any rate, many of my students with severe intellectual disabilities connect to and respond well to music.

Each morning our students gather for circle time, where we review the day of the week, the weather, and the daily plan. I happen to play guitar and harmonica, so we also take a few minutes to sing songs and react to the music. I notice that when I talk and play guitar, most students are much more engaged and connected to the topic of conversation — and they’re also more likely to communicate with others when prompted.

Brad: Flying Alaska with Students, and an Anthony Update

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Bethel, Alaska, with two other teachers and 11 students. This was our first experience traveling anywhere off Alaska’s road system and for a few of the students, it was their first time on an airplane. We were invited to Bethel by the local high school’s Partners Club, who hosted a Unified Track and Basketball Tournament.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. We practiced preparing and packing for the trip, checking-in at the airport, and navigating security. One of my life-skills students had his first experience with the TSA, which included a professional swab of his nervous and sweaty palm.

I realize not every class gets to leave the classroom often — much less fly somewhere 400 miles away — so I’d like to share how we found the support and fundraised the money to do it. In two words: espresso and community.

Brad: Teaching Youth with Emotional Disabilities: The Long and Winding Road



The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines emotional disturbance as follows:

 “...a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance:

 (A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.

 (B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.

 (C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
 
 (D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.

 (E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.”

I can remember a time not too long ago when I didn’t have a clue about what I would need to know in the future. I wasn’t worried about it. The future would come. And it did, along with many tough lessons about how not to handle certain situations.

When we’re young, most of us are capable of learning lessons through direct experience, even if we aren’t paying attention when our parents, teacher, school counselor, and Aunt Lydia try to tell us that it isn’t a good idea to play by the river in winter (just as an example).

Brad: Mai’s Story: Education’s Enduring Support

Over time, I’ve found that when I’m called to a conversation in a quiet and empty hallway, it’s usually a situation I’m capable of handling. But last fall, I encountered one that I was sure I couldn’t handle.

Mai, a 17-year-old student in our life skills program, stood with her back to the blue ceramic tile wall. She stared at a point on the floor just beyond her tiny sandaled feet. Ms. Lynn, our classroom’s teacher assistant, put her hand on Mai’s shoulder: “Mai, go on and tell Mr. B what you told me.”

Lakes of tears welled in Mai’s eyes and as she turned her head toward the long emptiness of the hallway she said, “I think I’m pregnant and I’m scared.”

Once the words registered, I looked to Ms. Lynn. She drew a long breath and let it out with a sigh. Mai put her head back down and sniffled. Without really knowing it, in the moment I began to speak, I placed my faith in what our school would do to help and abandoned words like could or should. Could and should are words for political, philosophical, and hypothetical situations, not real ones like Mai’s.

Within the next few days, Mai’s pregnancy was confirmed and we learned that the father was her boyfriend, another student in our life skills classroom. We met with Mai’s family and her boyfriend’s family. We helped Mai set up the necessary pre-natal care appointments and helped arrange transportation supervision and training so she could attend them. A short time later, when Mai lost the support of her family, we helped arrange foster placement and began to teach Mai the basics of caring for herself and preparing for a baby. I also learned that our district has a school that offers a curriculum and community support for pregnant teens, so we began to think of ways we could tailor that program for a student who receives special education services, like Mai.

Brad: Getting Students to Go Beyond the Classroom

“The journey itself is delight.”— Rousseau

Last week Partners Club (a group I co-sponsor that connects students with and without disabilities through athletics and social activities) resumed its weekly ski outings. Although it had been uncharacteristically warm throughout the last week or so, there was still plenty of snow on the mountain.

As the kids climbed the hill in sets of twos and threes, I was genuinely moved by how our club really does impact every student beyond the classroom. In every sport, but especially in skiing, there’s a level of trust and care required to get students not only up the hill in cold weather, but also down again in a way that respects their level of athletic, psychological, and spiritual comfort. However, long before a student with a disability buckles into ski boots, he or she must hop over the first hurdle to getting involved with the club: getting out of the house.

Each Monday morning, my class discusses what they did that weekend, and the only response more common than watching television, playing video games, or sleeping is the ever-ubiquitous “nothing.” I often find that for some students this response is the ticket out of talking. But for a few of them, I realize that “nothing” is really an accurate summation of their weekend. And for a teacher who values student skills like connectedness, independence, and engagement, that realization is tough to make.

Melissa: Another Holiday Project in the Bag

I’m excited to write this follow-up to my last blog post about the Mouse Project. (Glad you all enjoyed reading about it!)

My students did a great job on our second annual fundraiser project. We “adopted” a local family of three boys whose parents both have cancer. We decided to shake it up and make snowflake ornaments instead of the mice ornaments we made last year. And, silly me, I only got two bottles of tacky glue again, so my students had to share.

One of them asked if we could serve cookies to our “shoppers” this year. I thought that was an awesome idea, and a great way to sneak in some more social skills and life skills lessons. So we bundled up and headed off to the grocery store; each student had to find two or three items, and then go through the check-out themselves.

We returned to school, where the students had to quarter the original recipe (sneaky math!) and each mix up his own batch of dough, which he later rolled out and cut into cookies. I also discovered one of my students is a frosting-making whiz; he whipped up several shades of green frosting in about two minutes. I was very impressed—I even used his method when making cookies at home!

Melissa: The Mouse Project

It’s the most wonderful lesson plan of the year! Last year, my class participated in a trip where people with disabilities could shop for the holidays with a little extra assistance. Most of my students brought money to purchase items for their families, but not all were able to do so. So what was I going to have them do while the others shopped ‘til they dropped (that they would genuinely like and that would not cause a behavior problem in public)?

Thus was born what became known as The Mouse Project. I thought it would be fun for my students to buy holiday gifts for a local family in need. Where would we get the money for these gifts? Well, we would run a little business from our classroom, of course!

The class worked together to make holiday ornaments that looked like mice. And silly me, I didn’t get enough glue for each student to have their own bottle. They had to take turns, ask nicely, and say “please” and “thank you.” They did a wonderful job of making each mouse unique—and practiced lots of social skills along the way.

Brad: Social-Emotional Temperature

One recent morning, I’m standing next to my desk, flipping through piles of permissions slips and saying hello to students coming through the door. Some have walked to school in the dark. Others have just gotten off the bus. Some have climbed out of cabs or mom’s van, or have been dropped off by foster parents or other caregivers. They amble into my classroom, half-sleeping. Most say hello, drop their binders onto the table, and march out to the commons to get a breakfast that isn’t available at home.

One student sits in the chair next to my desk and rubs his eyes. He knows I’ll ask about his weekend, as I always do. It’ll be hard for him to answer—and I can see the mental gymnastics as he replies to my questions, the same ones I always ask: What did you do this weekend? How’s your dad? Are you awake?

I have a plan for the day, but I’m also willing to change it based on a student preferences or ability levels. What I don’t yet know is that the most important lesson I’ll teach today isn’t actually in the lesson plans at all.

Kathy: Are WE ready for Our Students to Date?

I work with 18-to-26 year-old students. And what do most young adults spend much of their time thinking about? That’s right, the opposite sex.

My students, who have mild disabilities, are no different. One young man has a crush on one of the young ladies in our school. They started “dating.” Then one day, he came to school crying and told me that his parents did not feel he was ready to date. I thought to myself, maybe his parents are not ready for their child to date.

But I noticed that within a couple of days, their “dating” behavior returned. Our administrator has tried to ban any PDA (public displays of affection)—notice the verb “tried.” Ready or not, parents and teachers, these young adults are entering the dating phase.

Here is what I have observed from my own daughter with special needs, as well as my students. They want to be like their peers; they want to be able to say they have a boyfriend or girlfriend. And it is important to find out what exactly that means to them.