Today was a challenging day for me. One of my students, who has extreme behavior, was having "one of those days" again. She is a child who I truly like and enjoy having her in my class. At 9, she has seen some hardships in her life, and just does not have the skill set to manage the behavior on her own. I feel for her and am doing my best at giving her the tools she needs. With 25 other students to attend to, I have to make some very critical decisions. Do I stop teaching my group lesson and address the behavior in that moment, leaving these other students to fend for themselves until I can return my attention to them? On the other hand, do I ignore the behavior and continue with my group, leaving (we will call her Olivia) Olivia without the tools she needs to learn the right behavior? Today, Olivia made that choice easy for me. I had to turn my attention to her. I feel guilty that the other students do not get the attention they deserve from me. Is it wrong that I look forward to getting Olivia in the right placement (which means leaving this school) so I am able to focus my energy back on my other students? As a special education teacher I have learned that often, there are no easy answers! To this I say, "BLOG GONE IT!"Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Why Not?
And I say, "BLOG GONE IT!" What better day to start my blog? I was inspired to start a blog because one of my dearest friends invited me to view her blog. I was so honored! I truly enjoy reading her blog and I got to thinking - Why not? So, here I am completing my first entry.
Today was a challenging day for me. One of my students, who has extreme behavior, was having "one of those days" again. She is a child who I truly like and enjoy having her in my class. At 9, she has seen some hardships in her life, and just does not have the skill set to manage the behavior on her own. I feel for her and am doing my best at giving her the tools she needs. With 25 other students to attend to, I have to make some very critical decisions. Do I stop teaching my group lesson and address the behavior in that moment, leaving these other students to fend for themselves until I can return my attention to them? On the other hand, do I ignore the behavior and continue with my group, leaving (we will call her Olivia) Olivia without the tools she needs to learn the right behavior? Today, Olivia made that choice easy for me. I had to turn my attention to her. I feel guilty that the other students do not get the attention they deserve from me. Is it wrong that I look forward to getting Olivia in the right placement (which means leaving this school) so I am able to focus my energy back on my other students? As a special education teacher I have learned that often, there are no easy answers! To this I say, "BLOG GONE IT!"
Today was a challenging day for me. One of my students, who has extreme behavior, was having "one of those days" again. She is a child who I truly like and enjoy having her in my class. At 9, she has seen some hardships in her life, and just does not have the skill set to manage the behavior on her own. I feel for her and am doing my best at giving her the tools she needs. With 25 other students to attend to, I have to make some very critical decisions. Do I stop teaching my group lesson and address the behavior in that moment, leaving these other students to fend for themselves until I can return my attention to them? On the other hand, do I ignore the behavior and continue with my group, leaving (we will call her Olivia) Olivia without the tools she needs to learn the right behavior? Today, Olivia made that choice easy for me. I had to turn my attention to her. I feel guilty that the other students do not get the attention they deserve from me. Is it wrong that I look forward to getting Olivia in the right placement (which means leaving this school) so I am able to focus my energy back on my other students? As a special education teacher I have learned that often, there are no easy answers! To this I say, "BLOG GONE IT!"
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Welcome friend! I LOVE your blog title!
ReplyDeleteI do think you gave your other students what they needed. They needed to see an adult care enough about another child to show her love and compassion throug setting boundaries and following through. Kids rarely say, "Hey! Give me more boundaries." But it is so oftten what they need. I think you gave all 26 of your students what they needed today.