In another reflection on the school year past, an upper-elementary special education teacher in New England wrote:
There are various levels to my reflecting. There is the surface or situational level. This is the level where I ask myself questions that affected this school year only. Questions like:
• Did I implement best practices that targeted my students’ IEP goals, while aligning with state standards and district grade level curriculum expectations? Check.
• Did I collaborate with colleagues in ways that enhanced the learning for our students? Check.
• Did the students’ academic and social development progress? Check.
• Did I initiate opportunities that helped me strengthen the bridge of communication between home and school? Check.
• Did I participate in meaningful professional development opportunities to guide my learning and growth both personally and professionally? Check.
There are more questions like these, but you get the point. It was a great year, from a big-picture point of view.
Then there’s my never-ending situational reflection, which happend day by day as I teach through the year. This is deeper and shifts me toward asking questions such as: How is what I am doing helping this child for tomorrow and beyond?
As a special education teacher in inclusion settings, it is easy to get caught up in driving the curriculum. This never felt right for me, but each year is a new year of swimming against the tide because I must work with colleagues who are definitely driven by the curriculum schedule, the testing schedule, the contrived teacher guides, and their grade books.
It’s my job to swim right alongside, yet I am constantly feeling the urgency to teach beyond the moment. As I reflect on this year, I can say I am proud that I never tired when striving to find the balance between my “teach beyond the moment” philosophy and some of my colleagues’ “teach for a grade...or a test...or just keep driving the curriculum along” philosophy. Even so, disappointments did occur.
We taught math every morning. We balanced whole class lessons with small group lessons and, when needed, individual instruction. Yet I was still up against that “learn this for a grade” philosophy. A few students did poorly on a practice test. Following the completion of their work, my co-teacher had the students switch papers and grade one another’s (ugh).
Once the “grade” was given, the students reviewed their work. My co-teacher and I worked with students one-to-one to provide additional examples. The first student was so disappointed that he did not get a good “grade.” With encouragement and determination, he attended to this reteaching session. I began to see the spark in his eyes. He had that moment that all teachers love to see…and he said, “Oh, yeah! I get it!” He was able to apply this knowledge by completing a few more problems. I worked to get his focus on his effort and determination, not the grade. He was beaming. I was thrilled.
Next came the moment when he was able to self-correct his practice test. The beam in his eyes was still present, but dimming as he walked back to me to hand in his self-corrections. I continued to focus on how proud he should be of his efforts and determination. I mentioned that this is exactly what all successful students need to do every time they learn. He looked like he wanted to say something. I asked him what he thought about what I said, and he answered, “That’s good. But what is my grade?” Sigh.
Grades are important. I understand that. Yet this student's love of learning is being squashed by the fact that he is mixed up in striving for grades that just put a number on the moment. His learning differences require him to work harder than his same-aged peers. In addition to teaching the facts, I have strongly focused on providing him with strategies to encourage and empower his learning process. However, the emphasis placed on grades and learning "just for the moment" (or the big test) was far too great in this situation for me to overcome. But I will continue to strive to helps students find the balance, working to guide the transfer of their confidence and knowledge to future situations.
My focus is not only the product, but the process. This can be a sensitive area when the world of special education and general education merge within the integrated classroom.
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