Log of Experiences

This internship process has been an AMAZING learning experience for me.  I never really understood how much I would be able to learn in the classroom only being there two days a week.  However, I quickly began to appreciate being eased in to the process after my full week experience.  My log of experiences is broken down into weeks and again by each day.  

The names used in the experiences have been changed to keep the students' identities private.  

Week 1:  1/19 & 1/21 

 Week 2:  1/26 & 1/28

Tuesday:  The day started like my first day of internship, the weather was cold outside, the students all seemed excited to arrive at school.  I met Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Laurel in the classroom.  Mrs. Monique did not come in today, she was feeling under the weather.  The students did not seem to mind having a substitute para though.  In fact, the para that subbed for Mrs. Monique was one of the original paras for the class at the beginning of the school year.  I pushed Johnny into the Cafeteria for breakfast today.  Johnny has a Mitochondrial disorder and communicates though hand gestures and a voice output device.  Both Johnny and Terrell are able to point to choices, but Johnny has greater fine motor skills and is more independent.                                                                                                                                                                                                     
     After all of the students finished with their therapy, we went out to recess.  The students have their recess on the kindergarten playground because it is closer to the room and the area is fenced off.  During recess all of the students tendencies come out.  Darren is a very rough and tumble boy, while Lucas is much more laid back.  Neal likes to stand in the center of the playground and watch everybody.  Terrell and Johnny are confined to their chairs, but are given a choice of toys to bring outside.  Margot likes to swing on the same swing every recess.  Lastly, Andy does a little of everything.  Most of the time he tries to sneak sips of water from the water fountain, so one of the adults usually guards it to make sure he does not get too much water.  Today, I was in charge of keeping Andy out of the water fountain.  It is amazing how unrelenting he was when he wanted to play in the water.  I think he actually thinks of it as a game, and it was fun for him to run back and fourth from the swings to the water fountain during recess.  Today the students' special area was art.  Mrs. Kelly explained to me that some of the students really enjoy are, but others do not seem to like it very much. The class was running behind schedule when we got back from art, so Mrs. Kelly told the class to keep their jackets on when we get back to the room because we were going to go right to lunch. 
     At lunch, I sat next to Darren and Lucas.  They are very independent and only need help opening certain items.  They also need reminders about manners, like sitting up at the table or remembering to use their napkins.  Lunch was very easy today.  In fact, the lunch was tacos, a class favorite, so everybody that bought lunch left with a full stomach. Nothing extraordinary happened the rest of the day, and almost everybody earned treasure box.  Andy was the only student that did not get enough stickers to earn a prize. 
     After all of the students went home for the day, Mrs. Kelly and I had a faculty meeting.  During the meeting all of the grades sit together, per the principal's instructions.  The information in the meeting was more specific to Gen Ed teachers, but there were some parts that everybody needed to hear.  For example, the dates for the school fire and tornado drills were given, and all of the interns were introduced.  All in all, the day was very successful.  Some of the students had their ups and downs, but everything went as expected.   

Thursday:  Today, Neal was absent and James missed again as well.  Mrs Kelly told me that during our planning period she was going to call James' parents to make sure everything is okay.  I had an easy morning.  I walked next to Darren and Lucas on the way to breakfast.  The only issue involved with that is making sure Darren remembers there is no talking in line, and making sure Lucas keeps up with the rest of the class.  Mrs. Monique was sick again and we had a different substitute para, Mrs. Susan.  The students were familiar with Mrs. Susan as well because some of them had worked with her when they were younger and she subs frequently.  Breakfast went so well that I thought if the whole day went even half as smooth, the day was going to fly by.  After circle time this morning, Mrs. Kelly told me that she wanted me to do circle time for the next class.  As soon as she said that, my stomach dropped.  I was nervous just thinking about it.  During small groups, I worked with Terrell.  Terrell's IEP objectives cover more basic goals, like distinguishing between upper and lower case letters.  During this first placement, I really developed an interest in CP.  I had initially wanted to focus on autism, but I really enjoyed the activities I got to work with Terrell.  I feel like there is so much that could be going on in their minds, but they just can't express it.  I actually thought about the book "Stuck in Neutral" by Terry Trueman when I would work with Terrell. 
     The weather had been wet, so the students were told to be extra careful at recess today.  We brought a towel to wipe off the slide at recess so the student would be able to use the jungle gym.  Mrs. Laurel wiped off the main slides, and the students were given free reign of the playground.  For some reason, Margot did not want to spend the whole day swinging.  She decided to go down on of the slides.  Unfortunately, it was one of the slides Mrs. Laurel did not wipe off.  SPLASH!! Margot was soaked from the waste down.  Surprisingly though, she did not mind.  She kept playing, but quickly returned back to her trusty swing.  When we got back into the classroom, Margot was the first one in the bathroom where Mrs Laurel changed her. 
     After lunch, I worked one on one with Darren.  I had an assignment to complete a case study on a student for another class, and decided to use Darren because I had built the most rapport with him.  The assignment was to create and implement interventions to improve reading comprehension.  Because Darren has not developed reading skills, the case study was modified to measure concepts of print, letter recognition, and phonological awareness.  However, today Darren was only given an interest survey and metacognitive survey.  After we completed the surveys, I worked with Darren on his handwriting and fine motor skills. 
     Leisure time was fun today as well.  It is amazing how some of the students love to use the computer, while others could care less.  You can really start to see the students' individual personalities growing. Today was the first day that Terrell and Johnny were able to get out of their chairs for leisure time.  Terrell really loves being part of the group, and simply being out of his chair for 20 minutes put the biggest smile on his face because he got to play with his friends.  Johnny enjoys being out of his chair, but gets tired after a short while and actually asks to go back in. 
When it was time to go home, I helped Johnny get on to the bus.  I had never loaded a student on the bus, so of course I accidentally started to load Johnny in backwards.  The bus driver was really helpful though and showed me the easiest way to get the students on.  After that, I became a pro.
Today went very well.  In fact, everybody except Andy and Johnny earned treasure box.  Today was the first day I felt like I was really getting a hang of everything. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 3:  2/2 & 2/4 

Tuesday:  Today was the day I got to do circle time.  Although right before I did it, it felt more like today was the day I HAD to do circle time.  I wasn't really nervous about what the students would think.  I was more nervous about what the other adults would think.  During breakfast, I kept going over the order of activities in circle time so I didn't leave anything out.  To make matters worse, there was only one verbal student in class today.  James, Darren, and Terrell were out sick, and Lucas was being very shy because none of his buddies were in class.  Mrs. Kelly jokingly told me that it was going to be difficult because it would feel like I was talking to myself.  We made our way back to the classroom after breakfast, and my heart began to race.  I couldn't believe how nervous I felt.  Once all of the students got in their chairs, I was on.  I pushed play on the CD player to start the "Hello" song and it was showtime.  I sang the song, alone.  I discussed the calendar, alone.  I did the alphabet and numbers, alone.  I did get help with weather and the class rules, because the students do not have to verbalize the choices.  I felt like a huge failure when I was finished, but Mrs. Kelly told me what a great job I had done considering I didn't have any talkers.  I did start to feel better about everything once I started because the adults in the class were busy toileting students and keeping Andy from running around the room.  I'm just not a big fan of singing, but it is what the students like, so I made the best out of it. 
     During small groups, I had my own group because Mrs. Kelly had to start the Florida Alternate Assessment.  While she worked one on one with a student, I worked with Terrell and Andy.  After small groups, I realized that Mrs. Kelly was going to let me run the class all day.  She asked me to handle stickers and transitioning for the next activities.  I felt excited because it felt like the class was mine and I had three awesome paras.  The special area for the day was PE.  I wondered what day the students went to the library, because it never seemed to come up in the rotation of special area.  I later found out, during my full week of internship, that media center is on Monday and is a special special area.  While the students were in PE, Mrs. Kelly and I used the planning period to finish interviews for and assignments for different classes.  She was called out midway though and asked if I wanted to stay and get the class ready for lunch.  It was a great opportunity to see how much I had been paying attention to the students at lunch.  I packed the special cups for Margot, Nick, and Johnny.  I packed Johnny's bib, and two wet wash clothes.  I had everything ready for the class to go to lunch.  When Mrs. Kelly got back, she seemed impressed that I didn't forget anything.  We then headed out the door to pick up the class from PE.  When we got back, I handed out stickers for following the rules at PE and reviewed the students' choices for lunch.  So far, the day was going very smooth. 
     During lunch, the class got a token for good behavior.  I didn't think the day could go any better.  Because Darren and James were absent, I worked with Lucas one on one after lunch.  We spent a good thirty minutes working on writing letters, numbers, and other fine motor skills.  After the rest of the class was finished using the bathroom and brushing their teeth, I instructed Lucas to check his schedule and take his turn in the bathroom and brushing his teeth.  The class moved to leisure time very early because so many students were absent.  Mrs. Kelly decided that we should try another whole class activity, but Margot and Andy had a tantrum when their routine was changed.  Mrs. Kelly then decided it might be best if the whole group activity was canceled.  The students ended their day as usual with leisure time.  When it came time for treasure box, I was excited because I got to be in charge.  Every student but Andy earned treasure box.  It was the first time I had seen Johnny earn it, and he was so excited.  I could not wait to tell him mom what a great day he had.  Despite my rough start, I was very pleased with the day.  I knew that I would get better with circle time. 

Thursday:  Today I did circle time again, and as soon as we headed to the cafeteria I knew it would be better because everybody was in school today.  Today was James' first day back in over a week, so I had a feeling he was going to be unfocused today.  We collectively made it in to the cafeteria and went through the line.  I walked with James because he was distracted with the new person hanging around with the class.  Breakfast went very well, everybody followed all of the class rules and cleaned up their trays.  We made it back to the classroom right on time.  I thought how everything seemed to be going too smooth. 
      When everybody finished putting their jackets and backpacks in their cubbies and got into their seats, I started recording and turned on the CD player.  It was so nice to have the class sing the "Hello" song with me.  This time during circle time I also remembered to individually shake every student's hand, something I forgot to do the first time.  WE discussed the calendar, WE did the alphabet and numbers, WE finished the weather chart, and WE went over the class rules together.  I couldn't have asked for a better lesson to record.  After circle time was finished, we began the small groups.  Mrs. Kelly was still testing individual students, so I had Darren, Lucas, and James in small groups.  As I expected, it was very hard for James to focus during small groups, and it eventually distracted Darren and Lucas.  Slowly the class was starting to unravel. 
We went out to recess after small groups.  Today was different because when we got out to the playground, the mixed pre-k class was on the playground as well.  The students is Mrs. Kelly's class really enjoyed having the opportunity to play with different kids on the playground.  Some of the students enjoyed it a little too much and refused to leave.  The day that started out so promising was quickly becoming a nightmare.  After recess, James had to sit out for snack time because he refused to come inside.  At this point, the only stickers most of the students had were from circle time.  Story time went well, all of the students participated and earned stickers, but it was not time for music. 
      On the way back to the classroom, Mrs. Kelly told me that on days like this, she feels like crying on the way home.  I didn't really feel too frazzled, but I guess because it was the first really bad day, I was able to accept it.  We ate lunch during the department meeting and headed out to pick the students up.  As soon as we turned the corner from the classroom we saw the class already heading back with the paras.  Margot was screaming and Andy was refusing to walk.  My heart sank for Mrs. Kelly because I could tell the day was really getting to her.  Mrs. Laurel told us that Margot screamed the entire class and the only students that earned stickers were Darren and Lucas. 
      I helped with brushing teeth and toileting after lunch.  I was responsible for getting Andy's and Neal's teeth brushed.  Nick had no problem brushing his teeth on his own.  He only needed to be prompted with each step.  Andy on the other hand was a different story.  I had to watch my fingers a few times because Andy did not enjoy any part of the process.  The day was just about over.  We only had to get through toy time and wrap up before the students were sent home.  Toy time was exactly like the rest of the day.  A few of the students followed all of the class rules, but most of them had a hard time cleaning up when it was finished.  At wrap up, NONE of the students earned stickers.  I felt relieved after we loaded the last student onto their bus and was heading back to the classroom to prepare for Friday.  I remember thinking how tired I felt as I was walking out to my car to head home. 

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Week 4:  2/9 & 2/11 

Tuesday:  When I walked into the classroom this morning Mrs. Kelly told me that Terrell has pneumonia and would not be in class the whole week.  I was disappointed because Terrell always has a happy expression on his face.  We call him Mr. Social because he waves says hello to everybody he passes.  He also is one of the most vocal students in class, making circle time and other activities easier for the teacher.  James was also absent again.  Mrs. Kelly told me that his parents called him out because of health issues.  I really feel bad when students have to miss school frequently because of health problems.  It is hard on both ends because when the student returns they are out of the routine, and it usually takes them a few days to get back in it. 
     On another note, breakfast went well with the exception of Darren getting sick after he finished eating.  Mrs. Kelly told me that he had been throwing up after breakfast the past few mornings.  We were in circle time when it happened.  Darren asked if he could have the trash can by him just in case.  When he got sick, he asked if he could lay down for a while.  We of course let him lay down and relax, and after about five minutes, it had been like nothing happened.  I mentioned to Mrs. Kelly about Darren feeling sick after eating dairy products and possibly getting sick from the sugar in the flavored milk.  She said she hadn't thought about that before and was going to start monitoring it. Everybody was fine through the rest of circle time and small groups.  Every student earned a sticker for each activity.  At recess, all of the students interacted well with each other, with the exception of Andy.  I was in charge of keeping him from playing in the water fountain.  After I chased him away the second time, we ended by the swings.  Andy grabbed my hand and directed my to push him.  I did not expect him to be entertained for very long, but to my surprise, he stayed on the swing for the remainder of recess.  He lined up to head back in and did not have any behavior problems the whole way back to class. 
I was really impressed with the improvement in behavior I experienced from a little positive attention.  I think because Andy has a hard time expressing himself, it is easy for others to misinterpret his outbursts as bad behavior. 
     The special area for the day was art.  Everybody lined up and made their way to the art room.  I walked with Andy and noticed he had still not had any outbursts.  After our planning period, we picked the students up from special area.  Mrs. Laurel told us that Andy had not followed all of the class rules in art and did not participate at all.  The wind had been let out of my sails.  I just hoped the unwillingness to cooperate would not continue for the remainder of the day. 
     I worked with Andy at lunch.  That experience was something I would have never expected.  I had seen Mrs. Kelly work with him.  She made it seem so easy.  Andy would use his spork to eat, he used his napkin when he needed one (with prompting), and he wouldn't try to steal the other students' food.  Maybe Mrs. Kelly made it look too easy because I did not have as much success.  It is very difficult to get somebody to use a spork when they really do not want to use one.  Every time I prompted Andy to use his napkin, he threw it across the table, and he tried to steal other students' food as soon as he finished his own.  The experience taught me that I still had quite a lot to learn.  Also, Darren got sick again during lunch.  He did drink his milk and had a sugary fruit popsicle.
     The remainder of the day went by fairly smooth.  I worked with Darren, who was feeling fine by the time we made it back to the room, on concepts of print.  I had to administer a concepts of print assessment for my reading diagnostics class.  It was a really great learning experience for me because I had never proctored this assessment before.  I had to rephrase a few of the questions for Darren during the exam and remember to give him plenty of breaks, but everything went very well.  There were a few times I could tell Darren was getting frustrated with the whole assessment process, but he pushed on and was able to finish the entire assessment.  After completing the assessment, we colored for a few minutes to relax.  Darren actually provided me with a work sample, but he thought it was relaxing. 
     Toy time was interesting today because nobody chose the computer.  Also, the students developed an annoying habit of turning all of the musical toys on full volume.  Mrs. Kelly told me that the students had been doing that the last few days.  When the students turned the toy's volume up, one of the adults would turn it down.  If they turned it back up, they had to choose another toy.  The intervention seemed to work, but was not something I would want to deal with everyday.  After the students went home for the day, I suggested that Mrs. Kelly add a bit of hot glue in the spot to slide the volume.  Because the volume worked on a slider, the hot glue would keep the students from turning the volume too high.  Mrs. Kelly loved the idea and said she was going to bring all of the toys home and modify them that night.  She also told me that she would let me know Thursday if any of the students had a tantrum when they realized they could not turn up the volume to max. 
     The day ended strong with most students earning treasure box.  Andy was again the only student that did not earn enough stickers.  I hoped that I would see him earn it one of the days I was in class, but wasn't sure if six stickers was too much for him to earn.  I reminded myself how important it is to hold every student to high standards and made my way to the office so I could sign out. 

Thursday:  Today I did not feel well, I had a runny nose and sore throat.  Most of the students have had runny noses or had been coughing from the first day of my internship, and I think everything finally caught up to me.  I asked Mrs. Kelly to take over circle time for the day because of everything that was going on with my throat.  I still was involved in it, I just did not talk as much as I usually would.  James was also back today, and he seemed like he was in a great mood the moment he got off the bus.  I just hoped that he would be ready to work the whole day.  I sat by Darren at breakfast to make sure he did not eat too fast and to make sure he used his manners while eating.  Although he did not eat too fast, Darren still got sick after breakfast.  Mrs. Kelly told me that she was going to inform the school nurse and write home to the parents just to make them aware. 
     We headed back to the classroom after breakfast.   When we got in, Mrs. Kelly started circle time.  The students all continued on as if I wasn't even there.  I decided to use this time to observe Darren for my case study project.  During the alphabet, I noticed he has now problem with letter recognition because he has either memorized the order or the song.  However, when circle time was over I noticed that if the letters are random, like when we are working on IEP objectives, he struggles with certain letters.  I also noticed that Darren has a difficult time distinguishing between "I" and "L".  Sometimes he will even refer to both letters as "1".
     The part of the day after small groups is usually my favorite because we get to go outside and everybody gets so excited.  Today we had to have inside recess though because of the rain.  It effected Margot and Andy the most because of the change in routine, but they eventually got in rhythm and started playing with their toys.  Speaking of toys, Mrs. Kelly told me that the students did notice the hot glue, but none of them had a tantrum when the volume could not be adjusted.  I did notice that the toys that had different volume settings were not used as much though.  I guess the students figured if they could not control the volume, they didn't want to play with the toy. 
     During snack time I tried to have a larger role.  Usually, I just helped Terrell or Johnny, but I decided that I wanted more responsibility.  I handed out the juice and passed out the plates.  When it came time to pass out the snacks, I used picture exchange with Margot and Andy to determine which snack they wanted (part of their IEP objectives) and used the communication board with Johnny and Neal to determine which snacks they wanted (part of their IEP objectives).  I liked having more responsibility because it felt like I was really helping the students work towards something and it gave the other adults more of a break. 
     Nothing else extraordinary happened the rest of the day until wrap up.  Andy earned treasure box!  It was awesome because I just thought the day before about 6 stickers being too difficult for him.  That was enough proof for me that it is important to keep expectations high and hold each student in the class to the same standards.  Andy didn't really know what he wanted to choose from the treasure box.  I think he picked a snack of some sorts.  I didn't notice because it was quickly devoured. 
     After class I felt like I had a ton of energy.  Even though we missed my favorite part of the day (outside recess), it felt like this was one of the best days we had since I started coming in.
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Week 5:  2/16 & 2/18 

Tuesday:  The weather was getting much nicer, and everybody was in school today.  I couldn't have asked for a better start.  Mrs. Kelly told me that she wanted me to take over the class days that I was with the class on our way to breakfast.  It was exciting news because I would get more practice with the students in more of teacher type role, and I would get more practice in the areas I was still developing in, like circle time.  It is important to share that I no longer felt nervous to do circle time, or any activity in front of the class for that matter.  I sat by Lucas for breakfast, and we worked on him using more verbal communication to express his needs.  For example, when he needs help opening something, he would sign it rather than ask.  Usually that would be great, but Lucas is fully capable of asking for help, and Mrs. Kelly wanted to increase his verbal communication skills.  When Lucas signed that he needed help opening his milk, I told him I would gladly help, but he first had to ask with words.  Lucas dropped his head, and it was a standoff at that point.  I knew I wouldn't lose though because Lucas always has his milk.  It was just a matter of time before he caved and asked.  Eventually Lucas asked me to help him with his milk, and I quickly praised him for asking and got his milk started for him.  Then it was time to order.  Lucas had to ask for the menu rather than sign for it.  He dropped his head down and I thought, "Here we go again."  I figured it would be a matter of time before he asked for the menu, but that time never came.  Lucas refused to ask for the menu.  It was a bad day for him to not order lunch because it was his turn to bring the attendance to the office, but because he didn't order lunch he wasn't allowed to bring the attendance to the office.
     The setback with Lucas at breakfast caused him to have a slow start.  He did not want to participate in the "Hello" song or the calendar.  However, by the time we got to the weather he was ready to join in with the class.  I was relieved when he raised his hand to take a turn with the weather chart.  Lucas did not earn a sticker for circle time because he refused to participate in every activity, but everybody else did.
      During small groups I worked with Margot and Neal because they would eventually have speech, and that was something I really wanted to see.  During speech, Mrs. Debbie read a story to the group and each student took turns pointing out the different items on the page.  During the story, Nick had practice using his voice output device, and at the end all of the students had a chance to ask for a specific toy, either verbally, through picture exchange, or with the voice output device.  Every student earned a sticker during speech or small groups. 
     The weather was still great, so we got to have outside recess today.  One of the slides still had some water on it from the day before though.  Of course Margot went down that slide.  I began to think she was like a magnet drawn to wet slides.  Like before she didn't seem to mind and went back to her favorite swing for the remainder of recess.  Andy had began to request, by request I mean pull me over to the swings, that I push him during recess on a regular basis.  Mrs. Kelly told me what an important bonding experience it was to push Andy on the swings.  I believed it because he was much more willing to cooperate with me than he had been at the start of my internship.  During juice I kept my newly assumed role of passing out drinks and plates, and having the students communicate their choices for snacks.  Also, Lucas had still not requested the menu to order lunch, so he did not receive any of his special privileges.
     At story time, I read to the class.  We read "The Princess and the Frog".  I don't think the students really like the story as much as they like pushing the side bar to make the different sounds during the story.  I used the story time to determine Darren's listening comprehension for my case study.  He was able to recall a few explicit questions, but he did not successfully answer any implicit questions. 
     During lunch today, Darren got sick again.  He ate limited dairy products, we were trying to determine what was making him sick, and some jello.  At that point, I thought he was eating too much sugar and it was upsetting his stomach.  Mrs. Kelly informed the nurse and sent another note home. 
     I worked with Darren after lunch on IEP objectives and administered a letter recognition assessment.  The assessment was basically the same as part of the IEP work we do in small groups but in a one on one setting.  The day ended well with almost every student earning treasure box.  Two students, Lucas and Andy, missed earning treasure box by one sticker. 

Thursday: It was another nice day for weather, but there were some students absent.  James, Margot, and Neal were all out sick today.  Looking back on my internship to this point, there have only been a few times when we have had a full class.  Although some times it feels like there are twenty students present.  Breakfast seemed to go by very fast today also.  I worked with Terrell at breakfast.  I was pleased with myself because I had gotten used to working with Terrell.  We were actually one of the first students finished eating.  Terrell was on a role today too because he asked to order lunch right away also.  During circle time, Darren's mother came in to take Darren to the doctor.  Darren was having blood work done to try and determine what was making him sick after breakfast and/or lunch.
     Circle time was a little quiet without Darren.  I had gotten used to him and Terrell filling up the quiet space I was still leaving during the transition from one activity to the next.  We made it through on time though, and everybody participated in every activity.  That means everybody earned stickers.  Small group was different, because every student I was supposed to work with was out of the classroom.  I observed Mrs. Kelly wither her students and took mental notes.  It was really impressive to see how Mrs. Kelly was able to work with one student but keep the other student engaged in the task.  While she was working with Terrell, she was able to keep Andy from leaving the table.  Andy is definitely the largest challenge in the classroom.  He really keeps you on your toes.  The last time I worked with Terrell and Andy, it did not look like it did for Mrs. Kelly.  While I was working with Terrell, Andy threw his work materials across the table.  I would be able to put what I had learned form Mrs. Kelly to the test on Tuesday because on Tuesday I was supposed to work with Andy and Terrell. 
     After small groups we went outside for recess, and I was put into a minor situation.  Andy usually likes for me to push him, but today Lucas asked me to push him on the swings.  Because Lucas asked first, I agreed to push him.  Andy would need patiently wait until it was his turn.  This didn't work out very well because it is difficult to rationalize with Andy.  After about 6 minutes of swinging, Lucas got bored and decided to play with the other students.  Andy must have been watching because as soon as Lucas got up, Andy was pulling my towards his swing. 
     After juice and story time, we took the class to music.  Today's music class was in the main music room.  For some reason, the students enjoy music class much more in the main room than in the music portable.  While the students were in music, Mrs. Kelly and I went to our department meeting.  The teachers discussed how they were going to allocate funds to order supplies for the next school year.  I didn't really find the meetings interesting at first, but I got more used to them as my internship went on. When we got back into the classroom, I asked if I could write the letters home.  I wanted to begin communicating with the parents in a more official capacity (it was also a good way to get some internship requirements finished).  Mrs. Kelly agreed to let me write the letters, and before we left I got them all started.  Just before we went back to pick up the students, Darren returned with a bandage on his arm from where he gave blood.  He was excited to be back.  His mother told Mrs. Kelly that they should have the results very soon.
     After lunch, we had a fire drill.  I thought that was it.  I thought for sure that our class was going to fall apart.  To my surprise, the class handled the fire drill very well.  None of the students had a tantrum, or talked when the weren't supposed to.  The fire drill eliminated Darren and Logan's chance to have a second small group.  That meant that I would not get to work on my case study with Darren. 
     The rest of the day was great because after the excitement of the fire drill, the students had leisure time.  Everybody must have been excited because everybody wanted to play the entire time.  That made writing the parent letters very easy because the students were all occupied with each other.  I was nervous that I would write the wrong thing or say something I shouldn't.  When Mrs. Kelly started putting the letters in the students' backpacks without reading them.  I figured she was either really confident in me, or knew that most of the parents did not read the daily letter home.  I hoped she was just really confident in me.  I asked her about not reading the letter just before the students headed out the door, and she told me that she did read them.  I guess I didn't even notice her do it.  After all the students went home, Mrs. Kelly and I went to another faculty meeting.  I didn't realize that teachers had to go to so many meetings.  
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Week 6:  2/23 & 2/25 

Tuesday:  I came in to the classroom really excited, then Mrs. Kelly told me that Terrell was going to be absent.  I was disappointed because I was really looking forward to trying to work with Terrell and Andy.  However, everybody else was in school, and I still wanted to make the best out of the day, so I kept the good attitude going into breakfast.  I worked next to Neal and Margot today at breakfast.  Margot does not need any prompting until the end of breakfast, and that is get her to throw away her trash and wipe off her tray.  Neal needs more prompting throughout breakfast.  For example, he needs to prompted to open his lunch box and to open his yogurt container.  Also, Neal does not know how to scoop.  When he eats his yogurt, he puts the spoon in and eats the little bit of yogurt that is stuck to it.  That is it for Neal; he doesn't eat anything else for breakfast or drink anything.  During circle time Darren, Lucas, and James had their fingerprints done at school.  That meant I had circle time with Johnny, Neal, Margot, and Andy (all non verbal students).  Fortunately, I had gotten so used to singing the song, it didn't really faze me.  We flew though circle time because half of the class was gone and the other students participate by pointing. 
     Just as we were separating into small groups, James, Darren, and Lucas came back into class.  They were so funny, all of them still had ink on their fingers, and they were all excited from where they just came from.  Small groups was difficult though because Darren, Lucas, and James are all in the same group.  Their excitement made it difficult for them to focus on their IEP objectives.  Needless to say, they did not earn stickers for small groups.  I was really glad that Andy was not distracted by the other students' inability to calm down.
     During recess, Lucas and Andy both wanted to swing.  This tested my ability to multitask.  I knew I would have to time it right, but I thought it would be possible to push Lucas with my right and and Andy with my left hand.  I was actually getting really good at it when Lucas got bored and decided to play with the rest of the class.  I was disappointed a little because I knew he was just bored from not going high enough.  When it was time to go back inside every student lined up quickly except James.  James refused to get out from under the jungle gym.  Mrs. Kelly told me that I could take the rest of the class back to the room and that her and James would be right behind us.  After 2 or 3 minutes of playing the waiting game, Mrs. Kelly got James out from under the jungle gym.  She told me that he would not be participating in snack time and that he was going to miss leisure time as well.  I was definitely able to see how absences effected student progress.  James' inconsistency was a clear example of how difficult it is to progress when a student misses a lot of school. 
      During story time, I read the class my favorite story, "Where the Wild Things Are".  It must be a class favorite also because all of the students listened without getting up.  That meant I got to give every student a sticker for story time.  For those keeping track today, that is 3 stickers for Margot, Neal, Johnny, and Andy, 2 stickers for Darren and Lucas, and 1 for James. 
     To be completely honest, the rest of the day was very standard.  I sat next to Andy during lunch.  I had gotten much better at getting him to use is spork and napkin.  I was also able to keep him from going after anybody's food.  Our class earned another token for lunch today.  Mr. Harms, the vice principal, even gave the token to Andy. 
     Today I helped with toileting and teeth brushing.  I had to brush Johnny's teeth.  Mrs. Laurel warned me that some times Johnny would try to bite the tooth brush to keep anybody from brushing his teeth.  I guess he doesn't like the taste of his tooth paste.  If somebody walked into the classroom they would think I was hurting Johnny from the groaning he was making when I was trying to get his teeth brushed, and he continued to make that noise until he was able to get the the computer during leisure time. 
     By the end of the day, the sticker count was 6 stickers Johnny, Margot, and Neal, 5 stickers for Andy, Darren, and Lucas, and 2 stickers for James.  I could tell that Mrs. Kelly was frustrated with James, even I was frustrated with him and I haven't worked with him much because of his absences.  Mrs. Kelly told me what a great job I was doing, and thanked me for all of my help and I headed home. 

Thursday: I was excited about the day because it was my last day before the full week of internship.  It also was a little sad because it that meant I would many more days in school with this class.  On my way to school, I thought about how far I had come in just a short time, and really gained a new appreciation for the internship process.  I went in to the classroom and met with Mrs. Kelly and Mrs. Laurel before heading out to the bus loop to meet the students.  Mrs. Kelly told me that teachers were supposed to at school by 7:30.  She later told me that she usually gets there by 7:15.  I wondered why I never had to wait for her.  When we went out to the bus loop, Margot was not waiting with her dad.  That most likely meant that she would not be in school today.  Also, James was not on his bus which most likely meant he would not be in school today either.  Andy's bus pulled up, and it was time to see if he would be in.  Mrs. Kelly said that he was acting like he was not feeling well.  Andy walked off the bus, with no socks or shoes.  The bus driver told us that he kicked his shoes off and threw his socks at one of the students.  It was going to be a fun day..  Every other student made it to school.  It was amazing how much easier the class was to manage with 2 less students.  I worked with Johnny at breakfast.  Every morning Johnny has 2 pieces crunchy toast, cut into quarters, and chocolate milk.  During breakfast, I worked with Johnny on his communication skills by having him request more milk or toast and confirm decisions using his communication board. 
     Circle time had started to feel natural to me.  I was able to work with all of the students and make note of which objectives the students were working on during the lesson.  For example, Andy was supposed to shake hands when it was initiated by an adult.  I had even learned most of the signs to sign the song along with the students.  The thing that amazed me most is how none of the students got tired of the routine.  The actually needed it.  If anything changed, they would notice and it would cause a problem in the class.  During small groups, I worked with Darren and Lucas with Mrs. Kelly.  She wanted to observe me in the small group setting and in a one on one situation.  Today was unique because Darren did not want to work.  I gave him multiple chances to participate in the beginning of the lesson, but he said he did not want to work and that he did not want a sticker.  I said okay and we sat at the table.  I read over the IEP objectives we should have been working on, and he sat with his head down.  After about 20 minutes, he started to try to work with the materials Lucas was using.  I told him that he chose to not work at the beginning of the lesson and that he would have to wait until the next activity.  I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do, but after small groups Kelly told me I handled the situation perfectly, and that Darren was testing his boundaries with me.  
     Darren was disappointed when he did not earn his sticker, but I told him that he would have another chance to earn a sticker for work after lunch.  His morale picked up and we headed out to recess as a class.  During recess, Darren seemed like nothing had happened and was his usual chipper self.  When we headed back to the room, we received a page over the intercom that Darren's mother was her to take him to the doctor again.  She told us that he needed to get more blood work done.  We finished snack time and story corner with nothing out of the ordinary happening.  After story corner the class headed back to their seats to check their schedule.  The class had art today.  It seemed like they were always going to art or music, but I remembered that I had only been seeing 2 days a week.  I would get a better idea of their schedule on the full week. 
     Darren came back to school just as we were coming back from art.  His mother said that they had not heard anything, but asked if we would keep him from having dairy.  Darren could only have juice at lunch, which I still thought wasn't the best option, but I kept my opinions to myself.  Mrs Kelly asked me if I would eat with Johnny for lunch.  Johnny has the same thing for lunch everyday also.  He has a sandwich, pringles, a pudding, and milk.  I cut Johnny's sandwich into 12 pieces, but he wanted his pringles.  We set up a deal, he would have to eat three pieces of sandwich before he could have some chips.  We made it through the entire sandwich, all of the pringles, and all of his milk with that system.  When I asked Johnny if he wanted his pudding, he responded "No" on his communication board.  I knew at that point I was being accepted in the class because initially, Johnny did not respond to me. 
     After lunch, Darren had his opportunity to redeem himself for not working earlier that morning.  The trip to the doctor's must have changed his attitude though because he decided that he did not want to cooperate again.  He sat with his head down and said he wanted to go home.  I tried to coax him into working for a little and explained we were almost done for the day, but he was not interested in what I had to say.  After the second small group, Darren and Lucas waited for their turn to go to the bathroom and brush their teeth.  While they waited, I gave Lucas his sticker for working so hard again while Darren pouted.  Because Darren refused to work again, Mrs. Kelly suggested that he sit out for part of leisure time.  I agreed, and Darren had to wait in his chair while the other students selected toys and started to play.  After about 10 minutes, I talked to Darren about his attitude and asked him if he wanted to play.  He said he did not want to play and remained in his chair until it was time to clean up.  At the end of the day, the only students that did not earn treasure box were Darren and Andy.  Everybody else had a great day. 
     Today was the first day I got discouraged.  I had a built a great relationship with Darren and took it personally when he didn't have a good day.  I know that I maybe shouldn't have felt like that, but I did.  When the students were all gone, Mrs. Kelly told me again how good I was doing and encouraged me not to get discouraged.  She said that it was good that I get to experience the whole gamut of behaviors early on.   
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Week 7:  Full Week 3/1 - 3/8 

Monday:  Today was the first day of my full week of internship.  I was really excited about everything because it would be my first chance to see what it feels like to be a teacher.  I had not been to school for five consecutive days since I was in high school.  The weather on the way to school was perfect.  When I walked into the office, I noticed "Thing 1 and Thing 2" on the entrance doors.  After I signed in, I noticed students walking around in crazy outfits.  I made my way to the classroom and met with Mrs. Kelly so we could head out to the bus loop.  Lucas began the week very strong.  Usually when he comes up with his mom, his head is tucked into her arm, but today he came walking up very alert and with a big smile on his face.  Everybody was at school except James.  When the last student arrived, we headed off the the cafeteria. 
     The morning announcements had been playing randomly each morning during my internship, and today they were came on just as the students were sitting down with their breakfast.  Dr. May, the school principal, announced that it was Dr. Seuss' birthday (Thing 1 and Thing 2 now made sense), it was my wife's birthday as well, and that each day there would be a different theme for students and teachers to follow.  It reminded me of homecoming week in high school.  I even found out there would be an assembly on Thursday and Friday, kind of like an elementary school version of a pep rally.  Today's theme was crazy outfits.  None of the students in my class dressed up though. 
     When we got in the classroom after breakfast, Margot went directly into the bathroom.  She is usually first, but today she was very quick to get in.  We waited a few minutes to start circle time, but decided not to wait too long.  As soon as we turned on the music, Margot quickly came out of the bathroom.  Mrs. Laurel said that she wasn't being serious, and as soon as she heard the music, Margot hurried back into her routine.  She must have been disappointed though because she didn't participate in the song, and she started trying to pinch everybody around her.  I thought maybe she wasn't feeling well, and this was her way of expressing that.  Despite the minor setbacks during circle time everybody else stayed focused.  During small groups, the momentum carried on.  I worked with Johnny, and he was great during circle time.  I was really impressed with how bright he is.  During the first semester of the year, Mrs. Kelly told me that Johnny was very unmotivated and the behavior specialist came in to complete an FBA on him.  They created an 8 intervention plan to try and eliminate Johnny's behavioral issues.  The system they created was certainly working because the improvements were incredible from the beginning of internship to now.  The specialist recommended that we allow Johnny to select a toy he is fond of, and every time Johnny completes a task, he is giving his toy for 2 minutes.  I know it seems simple, but it has been extremely effective in circle time and small group situations. 
     After groups and recess, we headed over to the media center.  Finally, I got to see how the students acted in a special area.  I had an idea because I had read to the class before, but I wanted to see them in a new setting.  When we walked into the media center, Mrs. Fay had gathered the students in the center of the media center.  She got a new rug, and our class was the first to use it.  Mrs. Kelly quipped, "That could be dangerous."  I listened as Mrs. Fay read the class "My Many Colored Days" by Dr. Seuss.  The class did not really seem interested, there was so much going on around them.  I imagine it was hard for them to focus with different classes going in and out of the media center.  At the end, Darren and Lucas were allowed to borrow a book form the library, they were the only student that had their parents return the liability forms back.  Darren selected a book quickly and came running back to show me; he chose a book about airplanes.  Lucas selected the book that Mrs. Fay read to the class last week.  Apparently he really enjoyed the story and wanted to have it in class for the rest of the week. 
     We came back to the room and got ready for special area after snack time.  The class had music in the main music room today.  We learned that they worked on an interactive web page that played music as you navigated through it.  The class didn't seem to enthusiastic about it when we picked them up.  To be honest, I was glad that the class wasn't too pumped up because we were running late to lunch and had to really move through the transition. 
     I continued working with Darren and Logan after lunch.  We used the junior scholastic and talked about brushing teeth.  The were excited about the content because it was something they had experience in.  I was excited about the lesson too because it covered some of the areas I needed to specifically work on with Darren, like concepts of print and phonological awareness. 
     The end of the day came very quick.  I was glad to think about the different activities that Mrs. Kelly and I talked about for the class.

Tuesday:  Inside recess = Today, the weather was awful!  It was so bad that we had to take a detour to the cafeteria so we could remain under cover the entire way there.  This of course was not good for Margot because the routine was slightly different.  Margot had a tantrum for about a half hour after we returned to class.  There was nothing anybody could do to calm her down either.  It certainly did not help that we had to have inside recess either.  Fortunately, she had calmed down by the time we needed to leave for art.  UNfortunately, Mrs. Laurel said that Margot spent the entire period trying to grab other people and pinch.  The day could have easily been considered a disaster in a conventional sense, but I looked at it as a learning experience.  I wasn't sure why Margot acted the way she did all day, but I was sure I needed to experience it.  I definitely will not be caught off guard when it happens in my classroom.  Plus, it couldn't get much worse..

Wednesday:  Today, it got worse.  Andy bit Margot during art.  We had been suspecting that Andy was not feeling well because he was acting out of sorts the past few days.  He didn't have much of an appetite, which is COMPLETELY uncharacteristic, and he was acting out much more than usual.  Because the incident happened in art, Mrs. Kelly or I was not there to see it.  Mrs. Laurel and Mrs. Joy did their best to explain what happened, but it all happened very fast even for them.  Oddly enough, Margot took it very well.  She wasn't crying, and she didn't act out at all the remainder of the day.  Maybe she was in shock.  Mrs. Kelly informed Dr. May and the school nurse.  She also called each parent to explain to them what happened as well.  It was a great chance for me to see how to handle parent communication in a very extreme situation.  Right before we were set to leave for the day, Mrs. Kelly got an email from Dr. May.  It said that she would have to have Mrs. Fischer, the art teacher, fill out an incident report because it happened in her class.  I was very relieved to be on my way home after today, and I couldn't wait to see what tomorrow had in store for me. 

Thursday:  Today there was an assembly in the cafeteria.  This meant that the we had to finish breakfast earlier that usual so that the students would be finished before the other classes made their way in.  Usually, we would be able to finish early, but parents were waiting for the assembly to start.  The students were instantly distracted as soon as we walked into the cafeteria.  Once the classes started coming into the cafeteria, I knew that breakfast was unofficially over.  As more and more classes entered the cafeteria everybody in our class started to really take notice.  I wasn't sure how the assembly was going to go over.  Mrs. Kelly was ready with Andy in case he needed to be taken outside.  I figured most of the class would be fine with the assembly, but I wasn't sure how long they would be able to focus.  As soon as the music started, the class was mesmerized.  They were totally engaged for the entire assembly.  In fact, Neal was actually dancing in his chair.  I was so happy that everybody was able to stay inside for the entire assembly. 
     Despite having to move everything back about 30 minutes, the class did very well.  Margot started a little slow, but everybody followed the class rules and participated.  Andy seemed a little out of sorts, but we expected that had something to do with how he was feeling.  When it was time to work in small groups, I worked with Margot.  She started very strong and was consistently working on her objectives.  However, after about 15 minutes she quickly lost focus and started screaming.  I did my best to calm her, but a tantrum was brewing.  All of a sudden, there it was.  Full on screaming for the remainder of small groups.  Luckily, it did not seem to bother any of the other students.  I hoped recess would help her to calm down, but then I remembered that leisure time and recess and been switched to accommodate for FCAT scheduling.  That meant more of the same behavior for Margot.  All of the screaming must have really gotten to Andy because he stated to act out as well.  Mrs. Kelly called the school nurse to inform her about her suspicions of Andy's health, or lack there of.  It seemed like today was going to be a very long day.  Something new happened today also, during leisure time Terrell and Lucas asked if they could play with bubbles at leisure time.  I remembered how much the students loved playing with bubbles last year and was surprised they had not brought them up until now. 
     On our way back from music, Andy's mom came to take him home.  It was actually perfect timing because Andy had just dropped to his knees and refused to move.  Once he saw his mother he popped up and they headed home. 
      I hate saying it, but with Andy gone, the whole class dynamic changed.  It became very calm, and the students seemed to be more at ease.  I think they could sense that Andy did not feel well, and it affected them almost as much. 
     It was time to see how the class would handle the move of recess.  Lucas asked if I would bring the bubbles outside and most of the students seemed excited to play with other classes.  However, Neal and Margot were having a hard time with the change.  Neal just wasn't sure what was happening and seemed a bit confused.  Margot was upset that recess was at a different time.  To make matters much worse, EVERY swing was being used.  You can probably imaging what happened next.  Margot screamed the entire recess.  Some of the kindergartners asked why she was upset, and Mrs. Kelly explained that she was just sad about not being able to have her favorite swing.  It was really fun watching all of our students interact with the Gen Ed. kindergartners.  Almost everybody seemed to be having a great time. 
     When it was time to go home, Margot seemed like nothing was wrong.  She must of been ready to get home.  Neal did not want to put is backpack on.  He must have not realized that it was time for him to go home too.  After we got Neal to put on his backpack and head outside, he saw his dad.  Neal's dad was there to pick him up on his motorcycle (there was a side car).  It was really cool to see Neal ride of in the side car with his special jacket and helmet.  Seeing all the students head home in a good mood helped me to do the same.  I figured if they could let stress of the day go so could I. 

Friday:  Remember when I said it is important to remember that every school day starts with the students having their breakfast in the cafeteria?  Well today we didn't, and you would not believe the problems that happened from it.  It took 5 adults to get 7 (James was still out sick) students to the classroom!!  Here's what happened.  Mrs. Kelly told me that we were going to have lunch in the classroom this morning with a breakfast party in celebration of my last day of the full week.  There was also the assembly in the cafeteria, and we would be rushed through breakfast if we stayed in the cafeteria.  We started out like normal, everybody walked in to the cafeteria (that's where the routine stopped).  Instead of dropping off our jackets and backpacks, we went directly through the breakfast line, so far so good.  Then when it was normally time to sit at our table, we lined up like we were going to leave.  At that point Margot flipped out.  She screamed at the top of her lungs and started stomping her feet.  Mrs. Kelly quickly tried to hurry her outside and line up.  Andrew freaked out because he thought we wasn't going to get breakfast and quickly dropped to his knees.  I was pushing Terrell and carrying his tray and I was making sure Darren and Lucas remained in line.  So, while Mrs. Kelly was trying to keep Margot from having a total meltdown outside the classroom, Mrs. Laurel had to push Johnny.  That still left Andy and Neal.  Neal was able to walk on his own, but he was frazzled by everything that was going on and didn't want to go any where near Margot.  Fortunately, Mr. Harms and a Para from another Multi class were close by to offer assistance.  They got Andy up and bypassed the line, getting him into our classroom as quick as possible.  Mrs. Kelly followed suit and went ahead with everybody else.  Mrs. Laurel and I were left with the other 5 students to get them in the room. 
     Needless to say, the breakfast party did not go according to plan, and I'm sure that Margot could be heard during the assembly.  As soon as we got Andy at the table and put his food in front of him, he was fine.  It was as if nothing happened.  Margot on the other hand was still screaming.  She wanted nothing to do with our breakfast party.  Once all of the students finished eating and the routine was restored, Margot was fine.  Friday is a special day because the students do not work in small groups after circle time.  Instead, they cook.  Today, the class was cooking oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for yours truly.  It was awesome to watch the students take turns following the instructions on the back of the package.  When it was all said and done, the class baked a bunch of delicious cookies.  Order seemed to be restored.  I just hoped it would continue because recess and leisure time were still switched thanks to the FCAT schedule.  Lucas asked if we could play with the bubbles again, and I gladly agreed.  Margot remained in a relatively good mood, and she actually tried to pop some bubbles with Lucas and me.  Andy's was still acting under the weather, so Mrs. Kelly called the school nurse.  By the end of inside recess, Andy's dad was there to take him home. 
     When we went outside for recess at the end of the day, Margot handled it much better than she had yesterday.  She had her swing and tried to pop bubbles with the other classes that were outside.
     Because most of this week was so chaotic, I neglected to share what a great week Lucas had.  He was the only student to earn treasure box every day.  He certainly made my full week easier just by working so hard.  In fact, I don't think he missed one opportunity to earn a sticker.  I think I am going to suggest to Mrs. Kelly that he be awarded the "Horizon Terrific Kid" award for her class.