Speakers: Becky Marine and Shanna McMullin

Today we had two guest speakers come in: Becky Marine, who is a special education teacher, and Shanna McMullin, an alternative education teacher. Both women provided me with a lot of insight in regards to special education and alternative education. I especially found learning about alternative education helpful because it is an area in education that I do not think too much about. I've known about the type of students who benefit from it, but I didn't know the details. I learned from Shanna about how at-risk students function in the classroom and what their mindset might be when they seem to be unfocused or unmotivated in the classroom, as they might be wondering what they'll eat today, or whether or not their parent(s) will be drinking today. I also learned the importance of conversing with students about their work and give them the opportunity to make changes if it does not meet the criteria or includes illicit elements, especially at-risk students who are used to failing. Hearing what Shanna had to say opened my eyes to how I should treat at-risk students in my classroom, especially given the backgrounds they may come from, and also how I can create lessons that these students can actively engage in.

Becky discussed special education students in the art room and how it is a chance and challenge to differentiate lessons according to each disability. While I have had some experience doing this, I have not had to differentiate lessons for students with disabilities such as cerebral palsy or low-functioning autism. While Becky talked about this, I found myself thinking about how I could differentiate my lesson that I've been preparing to teach at my placement to fit these students' learning needs, not that they exist at my placement, but if they did. It's good to think about the different types of disabilities that students might have, and how to effectively plan lessons so that these students are learning the necessary skills and learning objectives and are able to take part in the project, if possible. Becky also talked about the importance of taking part in IEP meetings, especially if I have a student with an IEP, which would help me to know the student better and how to help them meet their learning goals.

I'm glad these ladies came in to talk about these topics and their experiences. I found myself actively thinking about ways to reach these students, and how to take upon myself the challenge to get over myself and allow my students to really be who they are, especially students who are at-risk, so that they will feel comfortable with me, which I want.