Week 14

This week started with me getting a text at 4:15 in the morning on Monday telling me that Sue's father-in-law passed away and she would not be in that week. That was very unexpected as we had all thought he had at least a few more weeks. I felt so bad for her. So, my week went on. It was crazy. Sue ended up being able to come the day that Dr. Powell came to observe me, which was really awesome. But even though Sue was there, she was not really around. She was trying to catch up on stuff from when she was gone and for when she was gone again. When Sue is gone, I do not normally take a lunch break. But I decided to take a 15 minute break just to clear my head the one day. While I was gone, the girl that I have been working with had her first seizure in our classroom. A grand mal that lasted about 3 minutes. I came in and felt so bad about leaving. It would have happened anyway, but it would have happened differently. At least that's how I feel.
Also while Sue was gone, we got a new student. This makes 9 students in a classroom that caps at 8. She is on a ventilator and comes with a nurse. Now we had 8 adults in the room. Literally there was no room to move anywhere and it was difficult to know where to place students, because this new little girl took up about an 8 foot corner of our room.
It was strange to be telling the aides what to do. Sue wasn't there to back me up. I feel as though I rose to the challenge and by the end of the week I think they really respected me.
I have seen myself change a lot throughout this whole placement. Dr. Powell also said she could see a difference from when she visited me the first time and when she visited me this week. I understand these students a lot more and I genuinely care for them and want what's best for them. I have learned to change what I'm doing to fit their needs as best I can. I'm trying to make everything more tactile and sensory. Whenever I am going to teach something, I have to think about what manipulatives and tactile aspects I can bring into the lesson. I have also learned to roll with the punches. Maybe one of the more difficult things for me to do. There's a plaque I came across that reads, "Smile and pretend it's on the lesson plan." I am definitely learning to do that. I am learning how to handle that better, probably better than at any of my other placements. My students teach me something new everyday. They teach me how to handle things differently, things about themselves, and how to make them happy. It's a very rewarding place to be and I am starting to see myself working with this population.