Module 4 Blog

During this module, I was able to interact with two people that helped guide my research for my paper. The first person I interacted with was an observer from the state. She came into one of the classrooms to observe and we begin discussing how the children have change over time. She stated how children are faced with more problems today than ten years ago. She said," our children are not getting what they need early so it is having an affect on their learning." This statement alone gave me something to think about.

The next person I observed was a five year old boy. This child was able to complete tasks around the classroom but have problem with making friends or building relationships. He did not want the children to sit next to him at the table or on the rug. When the teacher tried to talk to him he never gave eye contact or a verbal reaction. I did observe him talking during his play time so his communications skills is fine.

The one thing that I was surprised about is the lack of time the teachers was giving him. He have been in the program for seven months so I think he should be interacting a little better now. The teachers should be modeling or providing activities to him him become engaged with others. I even thought about maybe he is having hearing issues but that was not the case. As a teacher and an observer this was mind bottling.

Module Three Blog

In the last week or so, I have learned two things that is beneficial to the topic I am researching. I was talking to the director of the center and found out that she was a Special Education Teacher Assistant in the Chicago Public Schools some years ago. This is the first piece of information that is good for my paper. She stated how she did face challenges as an assistant. One of them was not having the collaboration and cooperation of the administrative staff to help meet the needs of the students.

The second thing that I learned, was the lack of preparation as an assistant. She stated that she felt that she needed more training to help children with special needs. She talked about how she became stressed because she was helpless to the students. This was her guide to open her own center. This information was useful and knowledgeable to the topic I am researching, which is inclusion.