Middle School English

I am just the Ed Specialist helping out in an English class.  This students sit at their desks and write on the computer.  The teacher sits at his desk on his computer as well.  The assignments are listed on the white board in front of the class.  I have yet to find a student who wants any help.  Half way through the class, the teacher annouces to move to your partner and start writing your short story.  Students move and now there is more talking in the class.  Teacher is still sitting at his computer.  I have walked around a few times.  I have asked students to stop playing a game.  I get up again and now two students are playing a game instead of writing their story.  The teacher then shouts out who has not replied to the prompt in Google Classroom.  I still don’t understand the purpose to co-teaching.  I don’t feel helpful in the middle school classroom.

Why Our Children Are So Bored at School

This was published May 16, 2016 and I can’t find more details about the OT who published this.

The author feels our students come to school emotionally unavailable for learning. I am having trouble with this keyboard as it is putting in periods whenever it feels like it..  I. Hope I can remember to correct all of this...

She feels children’s brains are affected by

1. Technology I have a 1st. Grade Student who does not want to be at school. Because he would rather be home playing Minecraft.  Now in second grade he cannot write well enough.  To read what he writes..   School. Is. Too. Boring for.  Him
.
2.. Kids are getting everything they want. When they want it. Parents are forgetting to teach delayed gratification. Students are used to getting what ever they want when they wanted it.


3. Kids rule.  The world. Students won’t eat the school lunch because they don’t like the food. Children are dictating how to parent them. Students arrive at school irritable, anxious and inattentive.

4.  Endless fun.  We have created a world with no dull moments. For our children.  “ This basic. Monotonous work that trains the brain to be workable and function under. ‘Boredom,,’. Which is the same ‘Muscle’ that is required to eventually be teachable at school.”

5.  Limited social interaction.  We are all so busy. We give out electronics to help our kids be busy and. Quiet.  Technology has replaced outdoor time.
Make Note — “The brain is just like a muscle that is trainable and re-trainable.  If you want. Your child. To be able to wait, you need to teach him patience.”

So you should...
1. Limit. Technology
2. Have family dinners, play board game, have family nights.
3.. Delay. Gratification — make them wait.

Avoid technology use. In cars and restaurants
Limit. Constant snacking.

Set limits

Develop chores for them to help you
Teach social skills.

What Doesn’t Work: Literacy Practice We Should Abandon

This is from an article from www.edutopica.org blog.  published 11/12/18

I am currently teaching Special Education at Ocean Beach Elementary.  I run a phonics group for both 3rd grade and 4th grade. The article opens with calendar time as a waste of time using 20 minutes of valuable time per day.

1.  Looking up vocabulary words with a dictionary.  This does not seem to increase vocabulary in the students.  I have adapted this and let a student look up one word while the other students are each looking up a word.  I comply this information in a google slide show which we practice through out the week.  The student runs their word by showing a picture, reading a sentence and then having students guess at the meaning at each step.  By the end of the week, most students scored an A on a test.

2. Giving students prizes for reading.  Making reading exciting and letting students pick the books for read aloud show more long term reading motivation.  I also pull vocabulary words from the books we are reading so I integrate both.

3.  Weekly spelling tests.  Yes students can do this but it does not carry over into their writing. I think a spelling test where they are editing an article containing their spelling words might be a better use of time. Also bonus points if they use their words in their writing.

4.  Unsupported Independent Reading. - many of my students were just looking at pictures and not really reading at all Partner reading where their is evaluation works better.

5..  Taking Away Recess as Punishment. — I hate this.   Many of my students have ADHD and. Not letting them release their energy creates more problems.  I had my students come in before school or stay after school to complete their class work..

We do need to get rid of things that are not working in the classroom and not do things that way because we always do things that way.

Helping Students with Executive Functioning

When students have attention deficit their brain's executive functioning is off?  Do you know as a teacher you are able to help these and all of your students improve their executive functioning?  This information is from Dr. Donna Wilson and Marcus Conyers called Brain Based Learning which has been posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, published September 12, 2016.

Teachers need to explain some students have good brains which act like the head of the company, a coach of a team or the drum major leading the band.  Their brain can tell them what to do, what is due when, and what might the possible consequences be for possible actions.  BUT students who are lacking this!!!

These students are:
impulsive
move too much
have trouble following directions
can start work,
can't plan work or behavior
can't stay focused
can't keep in memory what they need to learn
cognitive flexibility which means to adjust one's thinking based on new information

Middle School Cont.

It appears that the special education teacher assigned to this class rarely attends as their is an aide scheduled to work it as well.  I ask students if I can help and they state, “I do not need help and you make me uncomfortable if you stand near me.”  So why am I here?

Students are working in groups on their computers.  There is light chatter going on around the room.  It is unclear the purpose of having a second teacher in the room.  The substitute aide says the same thing happens in the next period where I am supposed to support students.

I think I prefer to just test students.  Making me attend classes to support students, that they don’t even go to seems awkward.

In the next period, there was an epic fail and not one student had the google doc created from their form.  I was able to retrieve data for one student.  I was also able to show two other students how to reclaim their data from the form.  Tedious but doable.

In math class, I was able to help some students do the classwork.  Once they completed 8 out of 20 problems they stopped and just chatted.  They said they new enough to take the test.

Back in another English class, they are quite talkative.  The teacher blocked some sites using LAN School.  They is wonderful.  Students should not be able to go to sites and just play games or goof off.  I try to help students but they said they turned in their perfect paragraph and their I am poem.  I can’t see who has turned in what so I have to take them at their word.  One boy is throwing paper balls across the classroom.    IT feels like the class is out of control.  There is a sub runnning the class.  I was here last week and there was a sub as well.

Middle School

I have been reassigned to a Middle School one day a week.  Supposedly we do not have enough students for me to work at Ocean Beach Elementary.  I had 19 but was bumped.  Now I have 19 and only get to work four days a week to get all my work done.  I just love San Diego School District.

At the middle school, I sit in classes so their Spec Ed teachers can have a period off to do their work. I am supposed to co-teach but usually just get to sit in the back and watch the general education teacher teach.

I don’t even know who in the class is a special education student.  I see many bright students not care and do not do the work.  During tests, I am not even allowed to read the problem to the students.  It seems like a waste.  I would like to help but do not know how to help.

In this classroom, all the students are on their computers.  They are supposed to be working on writing a narrative as a group project.  Today there is another aide in the classroom.  The last two times I was here there was not an aide present.

I will keep you posted on how my day goes.

The Best Reading Position for Nearsighted Children

By An Lukits, The Wall Street Journal August 2, 2016

Did you know position when reading can matter?  I had not idea but according to a study by Acta Ophthalmologica reading while on their backs is best fore nearsighted children.  This position seems to slow the progression of the eye condition, myopia.

Nearsightedness affects 41% of all students.  Studies showed that limited time outdoors while growing up and too much time on close work (ie iphones, ipods, itouch, tablets, etc) can increase myopia. But lying on ones back to read reduces myopia.

So encourage students to lie on their back to read as an alternative to reading at their seats and perhaps they won't need glasses as soon.