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Home : 2001 : August : 16
Congrats on the job! I am a third-year ED teacher in an elementary school. I am considered "Resource" so my kids are not self-contained, although I could probably argue that some days! As far as organizing
I really don't have too much choice as far as scheduling goes..... my day revolves around the regular ed. teachers and what they are planning, so kids come at any time (I also have some kids with learning disabilities) so scheduling reading, writing, and math blocks-- I work out with the reg. ed teacher. I do run a "Social Skills" group 45min-1hr a week for my kids with Emotional Disabilities.... I group the kids- 1st-2nd graders together, and 3rd-5th graders together.... if you have questions about that, feel free to ask. As far as parent-teacher correspondance, I am fortunate enough to have a phone in my room. Near the phone I have a list of all my students and their parents' home/work/cell numbers. I have a fwe students who I am in contact with their parents DAILY or every other day. After awhile you just memorize numbers! I really leave it up to the parent how much communication they prefer to have with me. Some want a lot, some want none, and some want the occasional call. Also depends on the child- how severe the behavior, if they are on/off/switching meds....etc.... I do make it a point to call parents when something really good happens- they are so used to calls when their child is misbehaving or in some kind of trouble..... they really e njoy a "positive" call-it sounds like common sense and like "oh of course I will do that" but you will find that you are so busy and trying to get through the day sometimes, that making those calls often gets put at the bottom of the list. Each of my ED kids have behavior charts. Each child is different, and so is his/her chart. Some students I monitor on a 1/2 hour basis, some can go for 2-3 hours at a time, one of my students actually prefers being assessed for each class (and came up with the format of his own chart). In each box, the child can earn a 2 (completion of goal) 1 (partial completion of goal) or a 0 (unsuccessful completion fo goal) -- they check in with me the first 5 minutes of school and I see that they have parent signatures, and at the end of the day we figure out their score. (Add up all of the boxes and divide that by the possible points they could have achieved for the day- a percentage) Ask if you are confused- I was VERY confused when initially settin gup my behavior charts. The kids can daily and weekly rewards. If they have a score over 90% they get a raffle ticket that goes in a jar. On Fridays I pick 3 tickets and the kids geta little prize. On Fridays we add up their scores and if they have enough points they can get a level A prize. If they choose to save their points they can get a level B prize the next week. Prizes consist of little candies, pencils, erasers, and level B prizes are things from the dollar store- don't spend a lot of money on these! the kids just like to earn ANYTHING! If you have any questions, just email me- I'd be happy to help.... I start the 27th as well- it's coming up soon! Good luck!
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