My day started off as it always does - greeting the students and have them start their morning work. Once they had finished, I did my usual job of correcting it with the classroom. After this, the students had to take an HOUR long reading test. Is it just me who thinks that's ridiculously long for second graders? And the worst part is that when they're done, they can't move. They have to sit at their seats with nothing but a pencil. Let's just say some handled it better than others.
My focus student had not taken his ADD medication that morning, and he was a walking tornado. Watching him have to sit through that hour was hard. He could not sit still, drew all over his legs, and probably put his jacket on and off twenty times.
After this, I had to teach my lesson plan while being observed by the CT. The reading test started late so I only had 20 minutes to teach my lesson because the children had to go to specials. I think this impacted my performance a lot as I was rushing and very conscious of the time. However, all of the students met my objective which made me one happy teacher! My focus student did not participate at all during this lesson, no matter how much I tried. This brings me back to my inquiry about him and his lack of participation. What else can I do to improve his participation in order to increase his literacy development? This also links to my professional goals that include increasing my disciplining of my students. If I was sterner with him would he participate more?
Because Billy had not taken his medicine, he truly was a handful. Today was the first day when I felt like giving up. He would not listen regardless of how many times I asked or even begged. He had reached a stage that could not be helped. I did my test to somewhat control him and prevent him from distracting others, but there was only so much I could have done. Let's just say I hope he never forgets to take his medicine again.
After school, I was lucky enough to experience parent-teacher conferences, and with my focus student too! I met Billy's dad and mother figure. They seem to be very involved in his life and aware of all his challenges and strengths. It was evident that they truly want the best for him, and want to see him do well in school. If I'm being honest, I had guessed that he had little family involvement. However, because of parent - teacher conferences I was able to see that I was wrong.
Hearing about Billy's home life from his parents gave me a lot more insight about who he is and I am very grateful for that!