What is an important part of your professional training where you feel you need more training?
Honestly, I feel that every future teacher could use more training in every aspect. However, eventually we just need to take the plunge and learn from our mistakes and successes, not just from someone else's suggestions. If I had to pick a part of my professional training where I would most like to have more training however, it would be in the arena of special education and students with various disabilities or extra abilities. In my classroom, I hope to be able to include all students by varying my instruction to adapt to their own special needs. I worry that I don't necessarily know enough about all of the disabilities out there, especially the ones I will exposed to the most in my classroom such as ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, high functioning forms of autism, etc. I want to be able to help these students as much as I help my "regular education" students. I wish I had more training, resources, and ideas for these students. As I write my lesson plans, I worry that I don't have enough extensions for the wide spectrum of learners, and I would love to be able to fix this.
I also feel that we don't spend nearly enough time in our preparations discussing gifted and/or advanced students. I would like to know more about how to extend their learning appropriately without making them feel singled out/pushed to hard or making other students feel left out. Overall, I think I will be able to overcome this potential lack in training by doing my one research and creating my own resource collection and gaining information from my mother (who is an occupational therapist) of how to really reach these students and make their educational experience the best it can be.
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2 comments:
I know what you mean about wanting more training for special need students. It is difficult to try to understand what is going on and know how you are supposed to react if you do not understand what is going on in those students' minds.
Still, I think your ideas of simply plunging in and learning from mistakes is what is going to help you the most. One lesson I have learned with special needs students is to have nearly infinite patience.
If you can be patient in every situation and be able to see that it is not their fault that they are acting a certain way (in many situations), then you see them for the loveable children that they are. Show them that you want to help them figure out how to release their frustration, and figure out what is making them frustrated.
I realize that I seem to have generalized all special needs students into one category here, but I have been in a few situations, and I believe that patience and care are the keys.
I think you’ve made a very good point here. I would agree with Kyle that the thing that is probably going to end up helping you the mot I to learn from your mistakes along the way. I too feel that in many cases I may not be adequately prepared to help special needs students, be it those with disabilities or gifted students in the general classroom. It is important to be sure the lessons we teach are reaching them as well.
In my education course work I have only had one class where the focus has been on special needs students and their education. I do not know if one course is nearly enough to help future teachers properly prepare to serve these students optimally. I am glad that you shared this, and by simply addressing this topic you have already shown that you will be a dedicated teacher who will try to reach all of the students in her classroom.
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