Susan Barry

Summative Reflective Essay

I believe that we are all learners. I cannot answer the questions about what is
going on inside my 12 year old fifth grade girls mind who has Down syndrome when
all she wants to do on the playground is get the attention from boys and yet will
cover her eyes to hide when she walks in to a classroom of students she has been
with for the whole year and sit by the door instead of joining friends at a table.
But, I see progress. She is going in! I see progress in our fourth grade
Intellectually Disabled student who is learning the initial 75 first grade sight
words with 67% accuracy-she is learning them! I see progress with our hearing
impaired boy who also has signs of autism, when he takes a deep breath and self
regulates his anxiety, when he doesnt leave for his next class at exactly 8:40, or
10:20 or 12:15. Progress is our Special Learning Needs fifth grade girl who
previously would collapsed physically with her head on the desk at the thought or
mention of multiplication and who is now happily doing division problems as well.
Whoever said, It takes a special kind of person to care for students with special
needs? I agree with another quote that says, A child with special needs will
inspire you to be a special kind of person.

When I first started working in Special Education at Timothy Murphy School, a

school for students who were Emotionally Disabled and lived in a residential
treatment center, I felt blessed-not in a Christian sense, but just overall. People
would say how patient and what unique qualities I must have to be working in such a
challenging place. But, I felt selfish. I wasnt doing it for the kids. I was doing it
for myself. I loved my job and it made me feel whole. The students made me laugh
usually, and cry on a couple of occasions, but generally they made me feel involved
and passionate. And the staff that I worked with supported and guided the
decisions I made, even when I was first learning and had no experience. They
empowered me and helped me understand the students. I probably never would
have left that job, I loved it so much. When circumstances created a change, I
continued on in Special Education, with students who had mild to moderate needs in
a Special Day Class at a public school. This was a different population, but was just
as powerful in invoking my compassion.
Working in Special Education requires a responsive relationship to the students
we are responsible for. A relationship to each childs character, personality, and
learning needs that validates their humanness, since unfortunately they are
overlooked by mainstream society many times. This is the heart of our work. To
advocate for our students and give them their right to participate with other

students in a normal way. A good teacher will discover what will help a child be
successful in school, create a positive and safe learning environment in the
classroom, provide opportunities for the student to work at their own level and to
interact respectfully with others in the classroom and school setting. The SDC
teacher will help a student to become more independent within the school setting,
scaffolding and releasing responsibility to the student in increments.
During my student teaching, I appreciated my directing teacher in the Special
Day Class for being the anchor of maintaining an organized and well balanced
classroom community. She made running the class seem effortless, yet I know she
had reports to write, maintained ongoing communication with parents, collaborated
with General Education teachers and the Resource Staff, scheduled each students
day with an aide to assist them when necessary and was constantly researching the
creative implementation of lesson and behavior plans for each student, as well as
analyzing the students needs with special service providers. The students knew
their expectations for behavior and were engaged in learning at their own level.
Their abilities varied and were unique, but each student felt that they belonged to
our class and knew the parameters.
My student teaching experience in the SDC classroom gave me a chance to
realize the major juggling act that a SDC teacher has while managing the

classroom. As I became more aware of the amount of work involved, I wondered,

What am I getting myself in to? I loved being an aide in the class and enjoying
the students helping them to learn. Being a Special Education teacher holds so
much responsibility that it seemed that the teacher has diminished time for the
actual enjoyment of the students. But over time I have seen that this isnt so. In
assessing students, writing Behavior Plans, and IEPs and helping to facilitate an IEP
and interacting with parents, I realize that as a teacher, I will have a more
influential impact on the students life and I am very excited about that.
Im sure that I will be overwhelmed in my first job and I will try to reach out to
the other teachers and the Resource Specialists that I know will help me, because
I will help them as well, whenever I can. I will need to improve my organizational
skills, and stay on top of my report writing as I create lessons at varying levels for
my classroom needs. I will be challenged to stay on top of assessing my students so
that I am aware of how they are progressing, and can provide them with
appropriate level instruction. I plan to have a calendar of progressive behavioral
and academic expectations for my students at the beginning of the year so I can
evaluate my own progress with the students as the year goes by. I realize that for
Special Education this isnt a typical type of calendar and that I will need to be

flexible and responsive to the needs of the students, but this will serve as a
reflection on how I am doing and where I should adjust my teaching.
I am looking forward to having my first official teaching job. I feel as ready as
I can be at this point knowing I have a lot to learn. But, my next step in learning
how to best serve my students will be on the job. I will put my heart into creating a
successful classroom and look forward to the faces looking back at me each day.