What do you know about your students? (Week Three)

Some of the most important things an educator should know about their students are things like the following:

• Nicknames; preferred to be called by
• Best contact
• Stimulates the mind; make happy. infuriates. personal interests.
• How they learn best; visual. auditory. intrigued by numbers.
• Know where they come from; about family.
• Keep record of achievement
• Dreams
• Personality

What I have specifically learned about the students in my classroom is that each one of them has a disability. Their disabilities range from severe autism, to moderate autism, ADD, ADHD, OCD, adult dementia, and Down's syndrome. They are in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade and all have class together. Their teacher, Ms. Thompkins, teaches them all relatively the same material, but depending on the student, she tests them differently based upon their academic level and progress. Their worksheets differ depending on the student. 

There are three assistant teachers in the classroom as well that help Ms. Thompkins. Two of them are in charge of taking the students to classes like art, gym, drama, keyboarding, etc., while Ms. Thompkins prepares her next lessons. They also sit in on the students' regular classes and monitor their behavior as Ms. Thompkins teaches. Her third assistant works specifically with the one student who has the severe/violent autism. 

The student's interests vary. Many of them love sports, especially basketball. March Madness, The Final Four, has been a hot topic in class. Other interests include their favorite bands, such as One Direction and Cody Simpson, their favorite kinds of foods, such as pizza, their favorite movies, such as Frozen and Despicable Me, and their favorite things to do outside of school, such as hanging out at a friend's house. 

The students are Caucasian and African American. They all have great personalities. They are always cracking jokes and trying to make you laugh. I have found them to be very interesting individuals and positive in many situations they are put in, especially their transition from Mitchell to Starbuck. They seem to have taken the fire at Mitchell the best they can, even though they are sad about what has happened. Also, the majority of them come from broken homes and either lives with their grandparents or aunts and uncles. Their backgrounds on where they have come from are just devastating. My heart goes out to each one of them. They are very brave and strong-willed, especially for how young they are.  

Their learning styles are all different. Not one student is on the exact same level as another. Through observation, they seem to work best by visual learning. They rely upon Ms. Thompkins providing examples or writing it down for them, so they can see what it is exactly she is talking about. Because of what I know about the students, it greatly impacts on how I teach them and plan my micro teaching lessons. It is very important that I talk slowly, so they can hear me and have enough time to respond to what it is I am asking of them to do. I also make sure to provide them with an example before I expect them to continue on the lesson it is I am having them work on. I practice the gradual release model. I am also trying to manage giving each student the attention they deserve. I am finding it challenging not only having to work with one or two students with a disability, but six or seven. They all want my attention and I am trying to figure out how to multitask in a situation like this.  

Overall, I am really enjoying my classroom. I can better appreciate special education teachers, like Ms. Thompkins, for her hard work and dedication to her students. She has developed such a positive learning environment and the students really seem to admire her.