Reflection and Rationale

This will be my second year as an Adaptive Life Skills teacher with South Coast ESD. I will be working in Gold Beach at Riley Creek (K-8 school) and Gold Beach High School. Gold Beach is a small town on the Southern Oregon Coast. It is south of Port Orford (About 30 miles away), Bandon (About 50 miles away), and Coos Bay (About 70 miles away). I have four students at Riley Creek and three students at the high school. I will have two instructional assistants at Riley Creek (One Full Time and one Part Time) and three instructional assistants at the high school (Two Full Time and one Part Time; one of the Full Time assistants is a district employee under my supervision).

The Adaptive Life Skills classroom at Riley Creek is a large classroom. If you face the calendar (The west side of the room), the entrance is on the north side of the room, the windows on the south side of the room. The room is divided into a kitchen area (Near the entrance), the calendar area (North side of the room), the teachers area (Northwest corner), a student work area (Southwest corner), and the main work table (South side of the room). The main work table is a kidney shaped table (The teacher sits on the U side of the table, the students on the other side of the table). My work group had four students around the table with me while we worked. We did change rooms during the summer so this description will be changed a bit for next year.

Gold Beach High School is an older building and the Adaptive Life Skills classroom is also a large room with two smaller rooms near the back. As you enter through the door, there is a small open teacher area to your right. In the far right corner, there is a standing hammock swing with windows on that wall (Covered in plexiglass for safety reasons). Desks line that wall under the windows. To the left of the door, there is a calendar, computer area, and desks. In the left corner of the room (Window side), there is an enclosed kitchen area. In the other left corner is a small room that is mostly utilized by a specific student.

Last year was difficult for everyone involved (Although despite these difficulties, all of my students made gains). I had three classrooms (Two in Gold Beach and one in Port Orford), nine students, and eight instructional assistants. 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 classes) and a difficult situation become much more difficult.

This year will be different. I will only 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 have the same instructional assistants (Four SCESD employees and one district employee).

I feel that my Improvement Plan has to be centered on staff rather than students. Communication is the underlying problem and I'll approach each category (Thinking and learning, the learning context, technology, instructional strategies, and classroom management) with that in mind.