Pekin School Reflection

I decided to attend Pekin schools to complete my field experience hours for my exceptional learner’s class. I chose Pekin because I have a classmate in this class that went to high school there. When we attended they were all very welcoming and helped us understand things that we may have been confusing why they were doing what they were doing.

I got to experience a lot of different age groups, and the different exceptionalities that students had by bouncing back and forth from the different wings in the school. When observing the children in 3rd grade special education, I noticed that they use a lot more assistive technology to help improve the students they use the for the kindergarten through 2nd graders.

A few instructional strategies

that I observed were that the teacher kept things really simple for the students. It’s important to keep things brief and not complicated. Another thing that the teachers did was using a visual to help the students out. Instead of using only one sense, it helps if you use more than one sense. In this situation, they used a lot of hearing and sight and the same time. The last instructional strategy that helps out with special education is to ensure the student that you are there to help them, make them feel safe, make them want to talk about things with you. Promoting a good relationship with your students is very important. Promoting that good relationship, as well as social, and emotional interaction is key.
Curricular needs that the special education teachers use are taking more time to complete a test. Instead of finishing their test in their normal classroom, make sure that there is extra time for that student to get some extra instruction. As a future teacher, they showed me that it is important to not use really tough words, but also don’t make them feel stupid, or treat them like they are babies.
The environmental needs that I observed are that they have their own room. This helps them because some learn best in a small group. I noticed that they use different chairs in the special education classroom than in a normal classroom. One chair they used is a stool that wobbles, which helps the student get their fidgeting out while doing their work. For the students who always have to be moving, these stools are absolutely perfect even for a regular classroom.
One Learner support that I observed was IEP. One of the teachers went through a whole IEP with us, showing us all the paperwork and meetings that are involved. We were asked to sit in on an IEP meeting that was over the phone, but unfortunately, our schedules didn’t match up so we weren’t able to do that. Some other basic learner support was the teacher support and the positive influences in the school. The teachers work really well together and are always thinking of ways to help out a student. It truly shows that the school has very dedicated teachers that are there for the right reasons.
My observation hours impacted me as a teacher because I never thought that I would ever have any interest in special education. After putting in my hours it really made me rethink getting an endorsement in special education. I am super excited to see what the future holds for me as a future teacher.