Observing Experience

This Friday I had my first encounter observing at the elementary school. At first I was rather nervous about what to expect, but once I got settled in with my host teacher, I enjoyed walking around and following her. My host teacher is a Special Education teacher who spends her day popping into a 4th and 5th grade classroom, to assist the general education teacher, as well as the students who are having trouble in the class. My host teacher has a select few children who she takes out of the room for testing, reads to them, and creates work sheets that allows the students to better understand material that is hard for them. I enjoyed seeing how different students work during the day, and how different accommodations do make a difference. I also thought it was very helpful to see how the students go about their day, as well as seeing those children with behavioral issues deal with their emotions. One child in the 4th grade classroom experienced a meltdown in which consisted of tossing a book and excluding himself from the group activity. It was helpful to see how my host teacher went about making situations like that calm and better for the student, and everyone else in the classroom, including the general education teacher. I wonder whats in store for me next week!