This past week I did a great deal of reading on special needs, the IEP process, and differentiation in the classroom. I really was inspired by some of the ideas on how to help struggling students and how simple it can be to help someone learn better. It made me really wish I had a classroom to try out some of these techniques on!
I am really enjoying the format of this programs learning, they pretty much giving you a starting point of research, and it’s up to you to springboard off that to complete the projects. It is enjoyable to find the topics that really resonate with me while searching for information to complete submission requirements. I love going down rabbit holes (but oh lord, it is not good for time management!)
Special Education is very dear to me as my brother was in special education all his student life. Teachers who work with special needs children and those with learning disabilities have incredible workloads of paperwork, meetings, and creating a classroom that benefits each student and accommodates their needs. As maddening as that sounds, I very much believe I will work in special education one day. As I am abroad now there isn’t an opportunity to student-teach in a special ed classroom, but an endorsement in the future is possible.
Back to the learning experience, one thing that stuck out is how obnoxious working as a team can be. Most my cohort is excellent and we all work and contribute in a thoughtful, timely manner. However, this week we had a group assignment that would be affected if some members did not contribute. Well, its due and two people are MIA. We have a group chat and still they’re unreachable. One person is a serial late-submission type a guy, so many of us are rather peeved. It is so rude to not do your work when EVERYONE is dependent on your participation.
I guess we will see what these people’s actions mean for the group. We tried to communicate, but there is always someone(s) who drop the ball. I understand that sometimes we have to help carry others along, but there needs to be a point where they are held accountable for their own learning and performance outcomes…and not anybody else’s.