SPED 608 (My First Blog)

I'm going to assume (For this assignment) that I will be in Gold Beach next year. I'll have six students (Three at Riley Creek and three at Gold Beach High School). I'm not sure how many Instructional Assistants I'll get next year.

At Riley Creek, I'll have two seventh graders and one eighth grader. At the high school, I'll have a freshman, a junior, and a senior. Five of these students are Adaptive Life Skills students. The sixth student was a life skills last year, but was pulled out of life skills for next year, but readmitted.

The school districts in Coos and Curry counties changed the Adaptive Life Skills classrooms and the higher functioning students were removed from the program. My freshman student was officially removed from the program, but then added to the Life Skills program by the district. I don't understand how this worked out officially, but it had a lot to do with budgeting and less to do with academics

Last year was difficult. I had three classrooms (Two in Gold Beach and one in Port Orford), nine students, and eight instructional assistants. Communication was an issue with my instructional assistants (At least in Gold Beach). With three classrooms (In two different cities), I was more case manager than teacher. That didn't sit very well with my instructional assistants. Add a weekly trip to Eugene on Tuesdays (For class) and a difficult situation become much more difficult.

Next year will be different (At least in regards to this assignment 8). I'll be in Gold Beach and a presence within my classrooms. I'll be there every day and I'll be able to teach rather than manage (I hope). While I don't know who my instructional assistants will be next year, I'm sure that some (If not all) of them will be returning next year. I have several STRONG personalities among my instructional assistants. Communication was an issue last year (Communication among staff, to parents, to me as the teacher, etc.). Each one of these instructional assistants has strengths, but sometimes these strengths collide.

My primary concern for next year is managing my instructional assistants. I feel like I know my students, understand their needs, and have several good ideas for reaching their instructional goals. In order to do that, I'm going to need to create a team. There wasn't a team last year (And I suspect that this has been an issue for quite some time).

I feel that my Classroom Improvement Plan has to be centered on my staff rather than my students. If we can't present meaningful instruction, we are doing a disservice to our students. I feel that this was an issue last year and I hope to change that this year. Data collection, consistant instruction, and concrete schedules need to be implimented. Programs have been developed (And used), but the communication issues have weakened by that staff deficit.

I hope that I do get Gold Beach next year. Part of it is the "Devil you know", but a larger part of the placement is that I like the school, the students, and the community. I want to correct my mistakes from last year. I feel that the potential in Gold Beach has not been utilized and I want to reach that potential.