I have been watching the pre-k class practice for their graduation. It is so cute to see how excited they are to perform for their families. They will be singing songs and receive their diplomas from their teacher. It is a small class of only 8 children. Zachary a boy with obvious special needs is in this class. In one part of the ceremony the teacher asks the children to tell "everyone" what they want to be when they grow up. When it was Zachary's turn he became very agitated and looked as if he was ready to cry. He kept saying" I don't know, I don't know". The teacher gave him some suggestions but he broke down into tears . It was very sad. I'm not sure what his reaction was about. The next day at practice he excitedly announced "I know what I want to be!!" The teacher asked him what he had decided on and he said" A TEACHER"! Awww....that touched my heart so much. Zachary has only been receiving special services for a few months. His classroom teacher suggested to his mom having him evaluated for speech and motor issues. His mother was very grateful and receptive because she knew he had issues but was told by other social service agencies that he didn't have a problem. Zachary now receives private speech therapy and physical therapy on a weekly basis. Yesterday was graduation day for his class of preschoolers. It was so much fun watching the ceremony and seeing how proud the families were. Zachary stood front and center and talked to his mom a lot during the ceremony. This brought giggles from the audience. When he proudly announced his desire to become a teacher a loud 'AWWWW..." came from everyone. This is one example of why I want to teach children with special needs. They need us as teachers to be role models and advocates to insure they receive the best education possible.
I loved the idea of the mystery reader coming inside of the classroom and reading to the children. I also love that it could be anyone from the student’s family that can come in and share with them. I was wondering if there was a newsletter given the time that families can come in and read to the class. Have the teacher ever had more than one person to show up and how does she split the time? I think that students will be more involved in activities when families are involved actively. Also another great idea that the teacher had was taking pictures with the teachers and the mystery reader holding the book will allow students to look and the pictures of the mystery readers and talk about the book and what they remembered most. At the end of the year it would be good to send pictures home with the students of the mystery readers as kind of keep sake. It sound like you had a great experience.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you observe in regards to you advocacy plan? Did you have any insights you gained?
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