One of the great things about running an online community like TheRookieTeacher.ca is that we get to hear feedback from all over the province, country, and the world! This week we heard from Dante Luciani who asked to share his story about being an EA & the experiences leading him to teaching:
Everyone is different. It is one of the many beautiful aspects of mankind. Everyone is blessed with abilities and face their own challenges. Although at times it seems some face more challenges than others. For a year and a half I worked with students who faced many challenges, physically, mentally, and emotionally. As an Educational Assistant my job was to educate these students in basic life skills and to modify curriculum expectations to allow them to learn to their full potential. This quickly became the most rewarding experience of my entire life and taught me invaluable lessons that will no doubt assist me as a teacher in the future.
The students I worked with were identified with a number of exceptionalities placed over the entire special education spectrum. The students’ needs varied a great deal. Some students just needed guidance in an inclusive classroom whereas others required a great deal of support and assistance, sometimes the care of up to three EAs. Having myself been a young student that was assisted by an EA, I understood much of the frustration that some of these students felt. With this in mind I knew how far positive encouragement and support could go. Given their circumstances, these students have experienced much difficulty in the classroom often combined with feelings of exclusion. Providing these students with a positive learning environment goes a long way in helping them feel included in the classroom and the school community. Nevertheless, the students who were of much higher needs required far more than just a positive learning environment to reach their full potential. Many of the students in our Life Skills classroom required much attention and assistance with basic tasks such as communication, feeding and toileting. I was to care for students in ways I never thought I would. It was definitely a learning experience and one that will make me a better person. The high-needs students’ curriculum consisted of learning basic life skills that will allow them to one day possibly be able to assist themselves. The challenges that these students face each day are unimaginable to me. Both the students as well as their families possess a rare strength that many of us could not imagine having. It was the most rewarding experience to see these students accomplish such basic tasks. Everyday tasks that we so often take for granted such as repeating a sentence or taking a bite out of a sandwich on their own became accomplishments that deserved much celebration. Seeing these children learn and develop right before your very eyes was one of the best feelings you could feel and ensured me that there is nowhere else that I would rather be than in education.
photo: D.Luciani
Over that year and a half, I learned the art of patience and saw its importance in the classroom. Every student is wired differently. They each work in different ways and at different paces. As teachers it is important that we understand and appreciate these differences because that is what makes everyone special. It is amazing what we can accomplish with a little guidance and positive support. I learned more from these students than they could possibly have learned from me. Working with these students created the most genuine positive environment to work in and I will forever be grateful for this experience.
So, next time you are faced with a student who is becoming a challenge for you, try embracing their differences and showing them a little care. You never know what other challenges they face on their own…….. A little love goes a long way!
The Lounge is a biweekly podcast brought to you by TheRookieTeacher[dot]ca.
photo: N.Dunn
On this episode, two RookieTeachers discuss professional development. Being a Rookie is exactly what it sounds like – being new – meaning we have lots of energy, fresh ideas, and looking forward to hit a homerun! Sometimes it helps to put a name or philosophy behind our ideas to help explain ourselves in interviews or during collaboration projects (so that we are using common language), or to provide a foundation/research for what we are doing in the classroom. After the overwhelming response we had to Marsha’s previous post about AQs, we knew that this topic had to be discussed on The Lounge.
SHOW NOTES
Each episode features three segments:
Topic Discussion
Quick Tip for Tomorrow
The Rookie Resource Bank
Topic: Professional Development
Quick Tip for Tomorrow: Something you could do the next day in class with little or no prep and is applicable to most grade levels.
Andrew: Reading Beads
Natasha: Partner/Group making strategies (avoid getting left out)
The Rookie Resource Bank: any electronic, print, or event resource that we found helpful in our first few years of teaching. Of course, these are all applicable to all teachers.
Really exciting news – earlier this month we had our first 200+ views/day. We want to thank everyone who is showing support for our new project. Thank you for spreading the word and please continue to drop by our site and join in on the discussion. We look forward to hearing from you soon
We want to be your New Teacher Resource – Facebook poll – what are you looking for in a new-teacher website?
Thanks for listening. Join us for our next episode when we discuss BACHELOR OF EDUCATION ALTERNATIVES: How are you using your B.Ed outside the classroom?
Whether you are a teacher candidate, new to the profession or even a veteran teacher, you probably know, what I call, the “AQ race”. I remember when the push to take AQ (additional qualification) courses began early in my practicum experience. If you spoke to a new teacher they would tell you that getting your Special Education Part 1 was the key to getting a job, while others began to push the ESL course as a way to market yourself, and still others would promote Reading Part 1. It wasn’t until talking to a mentor of mine that I was able to step back from “the race” and consider what AQ courses meant to me.
Now, without a boring description of self discovery, I’d love to share my perspective with you in short. AQ courses are a wonderful way that teachers can become life long learners! These course offer us an introduction to some of the latest classroom strategies, and better yet a support community. To rush through a course with the sole intent of using it as a marketing tactic on a resume or point of conversation in an interview simply diminishes the golden value that AQs have to offer.
I look forward to one day enrolling in an AQ course like Reading Part 1 or Technology in the Classroom, when I can take my new learning from one session and apply it the next day to my classroom. With a community around me that shares in my learning, I’ll seek support, advice and of course share my stories of success and failure.
So, this leads me to asking… What do AQ courses mean to you? What value do they offer? Or maybe, you have questions about AQ courses (as I had in teacher’s college, and still have today) and wish to ask them now!
Announcify is a great little extension for Google Chrome and Android Devices and it works like this: (a) transfers any website to a text page, (b) zooms in and highlights, (c) reads the text aloud.
<<note: While testing this extension, I ran into one problem…occasionally it will read aloud the html code from the webpage.>>
Ideas for Tomorrow
Announcify listening center (all you need is a laptop & some headphones)
Have students create websites then listen back to what they wrote
The Rookie Teacher is committed to facilitating new teacher collaboration, offering ideas, information, and resources, and inspiring a future of life long learners. A wise educator once said, “Take Chances, Make Mistakes and Get Messy.” Thank you for visiting our blog and joining in on the discussion. Please take a moment to listen to The Lounge podcast.
So, this leads me to asking… What do AQ courses mean to you? What value do they offer? Or maybe, you have questions about AQ courses (as I had in teacher’s college, and still have today) and wish to ask them now!
