April 17, 2007 Field Advisory
Dave uses this daily activity planner to
help non-verbal students communicate
and to give them a sense of what will be
happening throughout the day.
The final STEP=UP field advisory on April 17 was productive yet bittersweet. Both mentors and students seemed to approach the meeting as a last chance to have extended meaningful contact with one another and everyone was eager to take advantage of the FA to get as much from their interaction as possible.
The literacy artifacts brought in by mentors related to very specific lesson strategies that may also be applied more broadly. Dave Rench brought in a daily activity planner his students use based on picture communication exchange. Not only does this give students a graphic organizer with which to plan and prepare for their day but it includes pictures for things like "use the bathroom," "get a drink of water" and other incidental activities that are important for them to be able to communicate throughout the day. (See photograph at right.) Aaron Brown brought ACT questions that his students have been working on in preparation for upcoming testing sessions. He clarified the process of preparing students for standardized testing and answered numerous questions from UIC students about the logistics of test administration.
Jennifer Clayton brought in a reading passage that she had given to one of her students as an individualized activity. At the beginning of the year she prepared individual binders for each student with age and level-appropriate materials that they could work on independently. Often she differentiates instruction by working with the whole class and so students who complete the objectives for the lesson quickly then have time to work on individual projects. She emphasized that this particular passage was not content-related but rather was about a popular musician. The message she wanted to get across to UIC students with this passage is that they can show their own students that reading is not always work--it can be fun AND informative. UIC students commented that it can be difficult to find reading that meets each student's needs and abilities. All the mentors sympathized with this sentiment and encouraged UIC students to have constant focus on this in their teaching.
UIC and CPS Partners discuss
issues of practice.
Many STEP=UP students are preparing for student teaching experiences and so the majority of the issues they brought up related to both mundane and unique aspects of this new role. The UIC students wanted to know what it was really like to plan a lesson in the context of ones larger educational goals for the semester. They asked about how to prepare themselves and their students to move through a series of lessons and activities towards a primary objective. The consensus among mentors was that thoughtful preparation is absolutely necessary as a special education teacher. Some students wanted to know how they should manage their personal beliefs about students and teaching with the rhetoric of a school district, principal, or other faculty as well as how to negotiate differences of opinion with colleagues. Again the mentors could sympathize and warned the soon-to-be teachers not to take things personally while still having the strength of their convictions. A new teacher does not want to "rock the boat" but also wants to be sure that his or her students are getting as much benefit for classes as possible. This can be challenging to manage and so mentors responses tended to be anecdotal; their main point was to be careful but be strong when faced with these kinds of dilemmas.
When it was all over the UIC students left expressing great admiration and gratitude for their mentors as well as great excitement about working with them again or finally working alongside them in CPS schools.
Belinda, Donn and Mary shares thoughts on classroom artifacts.
This literacy artifact helps students connect the
word "fall" with images from the season.
Morgan shares a sample of his students' work. Students made this in
connection with a lesson on natural disasters.
