Making sense of multi level special ed teaching
Probably around the time of my last post I was given an added challenge. I now teach my Bridges group (6 strong!) at the same time as I teach an 8 student learning centre group.
Yes, at the same time.
I am teaching in the original one room school house, with ages ranging from 12-19.
8 periods of the cycle I have the Bridges group on their own and 3 of those periods are on the same day, which happened to be yesterday. I arranged that so that we could have a day reserved for travel training. It is also a fabulous chance for us to bond as a group and for me to create connections with them, my most vulnerable of all of my students due to their age and literacy levels – Bridges students range in age from 15-19 and are all at risk of dropping out of school because of their literacy levels.
We had SO MUCH FUN YESTERDAY! We took the bus and the metro to an area in Montreal called The Plateau (”it’s just like New York, eh, Miss?”) and then walked over to Mont Royal where we hiked up to the top and saw panoramic views of Montreal. We coached one of our members up the steep steps at the end of the hike – he’s afraid of heights – and I was so proud of how empathetic the others were to his fear.
We then rolled down part of the way – got covered in mud and banged up a bit but we were laughing the whole time.
Today I will be back at work multi-planning and multi-teaching and multi-caring. It is definitely difficult for me to try to create this program at the same time as manage the work and classroom management for 14 students with the range of special needs that mine have. I am worried that I am not doing what I had planned, or even planning what I am doing sometimes!… for the Bridges group. I’ve started to use some tools to help me keep organized though.
for long-term planning. I am basically filling it in with bits of curriculum as I go. I see it more as a place to store information and thinking for years to come. I am trying to match the curriculum they need with QEP (Quebec Education Program) competencies. My goal is to create curriculum for students who fall into Bridges programming (and not off the bridge…) that is recognized by the government and allows them to qualify for something! It is pretty bare bones for now, but it is a start.
to communicate with all of my students, to promote the use of blogging tools for reflection and connection.
and most recently
Room W125 Wiki
which so far seems to be a good place to organize individual student work assignments as well as to put assignments that are more collaborative.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Sunrise on a bridge as a metaphor for emergent design in education
Dom Luis Bridge at Sunrise, Santarém, Portugal
Originally uploaded by bridgepix
I love the imagery here of the sun rising mid-bridge. It reminds me that while the destination is the ultimate goal, crossing the bridge – the journey – is what makes it meaningful.
It is very much in keeping with the design principles I am using for this program as well as my image of education. Marg O’Connell of ed(ge)ucation design asked me for my thoughts on emergent design process. Here are some.
Like with the bridge, the starting points and objectives are crucial. I need to know where my students are now and where they need to go, but what we do with what they already know and can already do and how we do it is where the beauty of education lies for me.
It’s learning how to negotiate in ambiguity that is the secret for success in teaching in a way that harbours true success for all participants.
When I say negotiate in ambiguity, I don’t mean to clamber around in the dark! I mean to have a good sense, a very good sense, of the competencies I want my students to acquire and how I will assess that they have acquired them. And to have the same good sense of my students’ abilities, interests, and learning styles. The ambiguity lies in allowing those two sets – essentially curriculum and students – to interact and create learning situations that are meaningful, purposeful, and fun for both student and teacher.
It is emergent because the design emerges dependent on the variables in the two sets – the specific curriculum and the specific group of students, the latter of which changes throughout the year as interests, abilities, and styles grow and change with the students.
That is the beginning of my take on emergent design, Marg. I will be returning to this idea many times this year, I am sure 
mind maps, emotional intelligence: the learning begins
Emotional intelligence mind map, the 1st
I will eventually set up some kind of cooperative learning program for my students, peppered with some academics like reading, math, science, and personal development all rolled into project-based learning activities.
Until then, we are learning strategies to organize our thoughts and regulate our emotions – both of which I am discovering are key areas we need to work on.
I refuse to believe that any student has ‘plateaued’ or can’t learn.
One of my students has come to 3 of the 12 periods we have had so far this year. I need to find a way to get him to stay so I can work with him and convince him he can achieve success at school – he hasn’t had all that much of THAT in his past. I’m meeting with him, his mom, and our administrator later this week.
Good vibes accepted from any who wish to send them
Oh, as well as any info on cooperative learning programs, where students learn job skills while they complete stagesÂ
first day…
One of my students left after homeroom. He attended 1st period, then homeroom, and never came back for 2nd or 3rd period.
oops.
Allowing curriculum planning to remain curious
I’ll be meeting my students tomorrow. All 3 of them. There may be 4, but most likely 3. There also maybe a few more before the next month or so is over.
I’m wondering a little bit what exactly we will do together all day long
Things I am planning:
An academic curriculum, steeped in their goals for the future.
The students I will have are from 16-19 years old, have very limited academic skills, a diverse range of language ability (from Anglo to bilingual), and need to learn basic life skills.
Some may ask – why an academic curriculum? I call it academic, though life skills will certainly play a large role. I respect my students too much to not keep my expectations and goals for them rigorous.
Our first unit will be on the theme of Bridges. We’ll explore imagery, poetry, construction, social skills, personal goals…all kinds of things can be explored around bridges.
I also want to use photography. For those who don’t find words to come easily, we will still develop sequencing and story-telling skills through visual essays. VoiceThread should be helpful here.
We will also develop vocabulary – in both English and French. I will be incorporating a word wall into our classroom for sure!
What else…
Possible landscaping. There are these courtyards throughout the building that are filled with overgrown plants and some weeds. But we won’t just be weeding and cleaning up. I’d like to see them possibly design the areas into usable space. There is a greenhouse in the school, so we can do some work over the winter as well.
Morals and Ethics – learning how to take a considered opinion, how to gather data in order to do so – both internal (emotions) and external data.
Math to do with travel, cooking, planning.
But a lot of my planning needs to be done after I meet these students. The curriculum is up to me. So I will be basing it on their very specific needs, interests, abilities, and styles peppered with my own
So, while I have some great ideas brewing, I need to focus on being curious about my students first.
