Field Experience Reflective Report

By: Danielle Duffin

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: Introduction

1. Name of School
2. Location of school
3. Primary type of setting (mild/moderate, or severe)
4. Time you spent at the facility in hours
5. Name of mentor teacher at the school

PART II: Body of Report

1. The setting
2. The students
3. Curriculum:
4. Instruction:
5. Academic performance of students:
6. Social/ behavioral performance of students
7. Verbal and nonverbal communication techniques and assistive technology
devices:
8. Least restrictive environment
9. Collaboration and teaming:

PART III: Conclusions and Reflections

Name: Danielle Duffin Semester/Year: Winter/2018

 INTRODUCTION

Rigby Middle School

Rigby, Idaho

Hours Spent: 50

Mentor Teacher: Madilyn Myler

Mild/ Moderate Setting
 BODY OF REPORT

THE SETTING
Mrs. Myler’s classroom looks a lot like a normal classroom with the walls being

cinderblock and with the white board in the front of the classroom. Mrs. Myler has three white

boards in total. A smartboard in the front of the classroom, one on the left side and one on the

right side of her class. The one on the left side is where she gives her main instruction and the

one on the right side is for her Paraprofessional, Mrs. Anderson, to be able to explain the

information to students. In front of each of the two white boards are horse shoe desks with each

desk has four students at each table. I sat at one and Mrs. Anderson sat at the other table. There

was a reading corner next to Mrs. Myler’s desk which allowed the students to grab a book and sit

down on a bean bag and read. There are colored puffs in the corners of the classroom and a few

decorations to help lighten up the room. Mrs. Myler also has a positivity wall where students

write positive words about themselves and put them up. There are on average eight to ten

students in each of her classes.

THE STUDENTS

Each of Mrs. Myler’s students have a unique personality. D, although he was very slow at

processing things loved to joke. He constantly was telling his classmates new jokes he had heard.

L loved to read. L was very low in math and was in Mrs. Myler’s class specifically for math.

When Mrs. Myler, Mrs. Anderson, or myself were not teaching L was reading. He was extremely

smart when it came to comprehension. He could read a book and two weeks later tell you in

great detail about any chapter you asked him about. L also suffered from dyslexia but would
often catch himself when writing saying, “this word doesn’t look like the one I saw in my book.”

One student I really got along with was G. G at first did not like me, or Mrs. Myler at the

beginning of the year, but quickly changed his mind once we realized how he communicates. G

communicates in sarcasm. Mrs. Myler realized this one time when she was speaking to his mom

and her mom stated, “oh just be sarcastic with him. He doesn’t understand it unless you’re

sarcastic.” So since that day we started being more sarcastic with him and we started getting

along great. G is also dyslexic and always swore he would drop out of school in ninth grade to

become a rapper. One day I was working one on one with G on a math problem and noticed that

as I was explaining it she would just copy it but wasn’t able to tell me how to do the problem. So

I decided I would do it and then before he would finish writing the problem I would erase

everything I did so he had to do it himself. After the 6th time of us doing this he finally

understood how to do the problem. When I asked him to explain it to Mrs. Myler he wasn’t able

to do it, so I had him come up with a rap song to help him remember. To this day if you ask him

to solve a problem with like terms he can do it. I really fell in love with all of the other students

in Mrs. Myler’s class and became pretty close with each of them. I noticed that based on each

person’s disability they were taught differently. Mrs. Myler would teach the general topic to

everyone and then would go around individually to each student to help them in ways specific to

their disability. This allowed all of the students to be introduced to the topic and then receive

specific instruction from there. This approach also helped her students from feeling lost in her

classroom or embarrassed to ask questions due to her being right there with them.

THE CURRICULUM
 The curriculum that was chosen for the class wasn’t a set curriculum. Instead Mrs. Myler

would notice what homework her students were getting and what the reoccurring issue was with

the homework from other teacher and would teach to that. If the students were learning about

PEMDAS, Mrs. Myler would teach it till they understood it. Therefore the curriculum was

always changing.

INSTRUCTION

It was always very interesting for me to watch Mrs. Myler teach. She always related the

topic to real life situations. For example there was once a student who said he didn’t need to

write because both his parents didn’t know how to write. She then explained how even though

they didn’t know how to write they still were great examples to him and that he could be a great

example to them by teaching them to write. So instead of having him write papers his

assignments were to teach his parents how to write letters. This gave the student more of a

purpose and he even wrote a very good paper on how he changed his parent’s life. There was

another student whose dogs had just had puppies. He talked about it nonstop for about a week.

So Mrs. Myler for the math lesson had the class work on substituting variables. So she had D for

Dog and had the student put in the number of puppies the student’s dog had and calculate how

much money they could make by selling them if he sold them for $700 a puppy. This engaged

the student as well as all the other students as well. I really admired how Mrs. Myler’s

instruction was always directed towards her students. She never just did something just because,

it always had a purpose.

ACADEMIC PERFORMACE OF STUDENTS

I definitely observed many students bettering their performance week by week. It amazed me

how many students started the class barely being able to keep up with their classes and keep up

their grades. By the end of the semester they all were way more organized and more on top of

their classes and assignments. They also were more willing to participate in class discussions as

well as in helping out their classmates. Lots of the students were achieving the goals of their

IEPS as well as personal goals they had with Mrs. Myler.

SOCIAL/ BEHAVIORAL PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS

There was definitely a strict respect aspect of the classroom. It was more of if you respect

me then I respect you kind of atmosphere. When students refused to do the work Mrs. Myler

would kindly remind them that their entire grade for that day is based off of their participation.

Most of the students in the classroom do not have behavior issues and only one last trimester was

on a BIP. J had behavior issues and was only in Mrs. Myler’s class to learn social skills and to

remove him from a teacher who wanted almost nothing to do with him. It was interesting how

Mrs. Myler helped him learn the social skills he needed as well as didn’t ever do anything to

make him feel upset.

VERBAL AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES AND ASSISTIVE

TECHNOLOGY

Mrs. Myler often would use real life images or use things the students liked to motivate

them to learn. She would ask as soon as a child started acting out would call their name and give

them a look of warning. Often times the students would ignore the warning look and would start

to continue to act out. If that were the case she would politely invite them to her desk and ask
them why they feel that that behavior is appropriate. She would then invite them to remember

that there are set rules and then when there are not following those rules specific actions must be

taken to keep everyone accountable and safe. I really enjoyed how Mrs. Myler spoke to her

students with such a calming but yet assertive tone, even if you know she was livid. As far as

assistive technology, there wasn’t really any other than the smart board that she hardly used.

LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT

I personally believe that every student was placed in his or her correct LRE. Each student

was around the same age as their peers, as well as at at or near the same level in both math and

reading. Each student got along with their peers and was able to do the assigned work. Many

times we would see students who would struggle but before we could get to them another student

was already there helping them. I also believe that each student was more than capable to

succeed in the classroom as well as progress and achieve their goals. The most important part of

LRE is that they are progressing. I believe and have witnessed each and every student do just that

in Mrs. Myler’s classroom.

COLLABERATION AND TEAMING

Mrs. Myler was an excellent example of collaborating and teaming up with others. First off,

when it came to her IEP meetings she always made sure that everyone had a say and they they

were able to state their opinions. She also would allow each person time in the IEP meeting to

speak and voice their concerns. She also would collaborate with her Paraprofessional about what

subjects were appropriate and most beneficial to the students. They would them come up with a
curriculum for that week and execute it. That way if Mrs. Myler was not there Mrs. Anderson

was able to teach exactly what Mrs. Myler was planning.

CONCLUSIONS AND REFLECTIONS

1. What was learned from the visit and how will it help you as a special education major?

Provide specific examples of what you saw.

I learned that you still can get along with your students and still have the respect

that is needed to be a teacher. I also learned that by talking to the students calmly,

you are able to defuse the situation a lot faster than if you showed your

frustration.

2. What positive things did you observe at the facility? Again, provide specific, detailed

examples of what you saw and then provide an explanation as to why you believe this to

be positive.

I saw a school that was unified in helping each and every individual student. They

also showed that the special education department was their biggest concern and

would do anything to provide the best FAPE they could provide. It was also clear

that each teacher was respected and their views were all treated the same.

3. If you could change something at this facility, what would it be? Explain why.
 I personally would chose not to change anything in the school facility due to the loving

environment that is provided. If I did have to choose I would chose to get ride of FLEX.

Which is a 3om minute class to help all students raise their grades in specific classes. I

just don’t understand how this is part of FERPA because each student in that 30 minute

class knows the other ones are failing as well. I’m sure after school tutoring or some

other program would be better and would benefit the students more that having FLEX.

Name: Danielle Duffin Semester/Year: Winter 2018