9.09.2005
The Bad, the Ugly, and the Good
Hello world. I am a brand new teacher, working in at an elementary school in Las Vegas.
Though I'll try and be specific for the occasional wanderer who doesn't already know me, this site is primarily so that I may record my thoughts somewhat constructively and systematically (til now, journaling was never my thing), utilizing a medium that I've basically had to give up since I got a "real job."
So here's the basic premise: I'm an Intermediate Resource Specialist, which means I'm responsible for providing special education assistance to the third, fourth and fifth graders on my caseload. These are not kids who go to class in the self-contained classroom that most people erroneously picture when they think of "special ed." These are kids who have been determined to have specific learning disabilities which, varying from kid to kid may make it difficult to learn how to read, write, and/or visualize certain mathematical concepts--or any number of other possibilities or combinations. Note--I said, "difficult," NOT "impossible" or "insurmountable." Think of swiss cheese--it goes from bottom all the way to the top, it's just got some holes here and there that need to be accounted for--and in an educational setting, that means by teachers who are flexible enough to teach the content according to the kid's needs, not according to the teacher's preferred style. (Let's all take a moment to reflect on the one thing all your lousy teachers had in common: did it have something to do with a refusal to budge from his or her way of antiquated thinking? Just a lucky guess.)
Anyway, so in order to keep me thinking positively, I am hoping to reflect on the proverbial Good, Bad and Ugly moments from each day--just not in that order. Usually it'll be the Bad, Ugly, and Good (hence the title! A gold star for you!). Clichéd? Buzz off. This isn't supposed to be literary--it's just a journal.
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Though I'll try and be specific for the occasional wanderer who doesn't already know me, this site is primarily so that I may record my thoughts somewhat constructively and systematically (til now, journaling was never my thing), utilizing a medium that I've basically had to give up since I got a "real job."
So here's the basic premise: I'm an Intermediate Resource Specialist, which means I'm responsible for providing special education assistance to the third, fourth and fifth graders on my caseload. These are not kids who go to class in the self-contained classroom that most people erroneously picture when they think of "special ed." These are kids who have been determined to have specific learning disabilities which, varying from kid to kid may make it difficult to learn how to read, write, and/or visualize certain mathematical concepts--or any number of other possibilities or combinations. Note--I said, "difficult," NOT "impossible" or "insurmountable." Think of swiss cheese--it goes from bottom all the way to the top, it's just got some holes here and there that need to be accounted for--and in an educational setting, that means by teachers who are flexible enough to teach the content according to the kid's needs, not according to the teacher's preferred style. (Let's all take a moment to reflect on the one thing all your lousy teachers had in common: did it have something to do with a refusal to budge from his or her way of antiquated thinking? Just a lucky guess.)
Anyway, so in order to keep me thinking positively, I am hoping to reflect on the proverbial Good, Bad and Ugly moments from each day--just not in that order. Usually it'll be the Bad, Ugly, and Good (hence the title! A gold star for you!). Clichéd? Buzz off. This isn't supposed to be literary--it's just a journal.
// posted by Tom @ 8:05 PM 
