blog 3 10/05/2013

This week I helped with a second grade classroom during their rotations. Although all of the kids are at different academic and developmental levels, none of the students were special needs. As a result I wasn't able to witness the ways in which the teacher dealt with a special needs student, but i did take note of the way the classroom was set up for the different abilities of the students. I helped with what the class called "reader's workshop" which encourages the kids to read and take an interest in books. The children had been assigned an alphabet letter according to how well their current reading level is. Every Wednesday morning the students select five books from the shelf with their assigned letter and put them in a book bag that they keep on the back of their chair. During reader's workshop the students read these books. While I read with them and kept an eye on the class the teacher called several students to her desk to help them with the things they are currently struggling with. In asking the teacher about students who might have needs beyond what she can fulfill and she told me about a program the school has implemented called "star students". Basically students with emotional, physical, or mental needs are removed from the classroom by specialized teachers who work one on one with them in a separate classroom. In this way the students receive help that is tailored to them and can more quickly progress. I loved working with the second graders! Their little personalities are still so fresh and unique. At this point they teach me so much more than I teach them.