My second day at school flew by so quickly! It was a pleasure to work with the Grade 6 class, and I am very thankful for the degree to which my SA allowed me to participate in the classroom. I shall offer a period-by-period breakdown of highlights of the day, with a particular focus on my observations on her communication style.

–          First period: French / lesson prep

o    This period was spent on lesson prep and administrative tasks (taking attendance, collecting and assessing homework) while another instructor taught French; my SA spent time guiding me through her organizational method and showed me her marking style and criteria, as well as how she communicates with students whom either forgot to complete their assigned spelling homework or had completed them incorrectly (quantitative as well as procedural errors)

• She stresses the value of accountability and self-sufficiency within her classroom. Children are expected to fully understand instructions and expectations and to adhere to classroom expectations at all times. Students who made minor mistakes were marked to have satisfactorily completed the assignment; students who made more serious mistakes (such as using the wrong list of words to create synonyms or making several errors in alphabetizing) were instructed to stay in at recess to correct their homework
• My SA sets very clear and strict guidelines for the manner in which students are expected to complete their assignments as an extension of the value of being able to follow instructions and perform tasks within defined parameters. Students who do not meet expectations (ie – words to be underlined were not underlined with a red pen and/or using a rule) are required to complete the task in the proper way, accompanied with a reminder of expectations, as well as the expectation that the class completes all future tasks in the appropriate fashion

–          Second period: PE

o    Students who had not brought their gym strip were noted, and the opportunity was used to remind the class of expectations – that all students must arrive with gym strip on PE days, that change rooms were for changing only (not for continuing conversations), and that students were to line up silently as they wait for entrance to the gym

o    My SA led the class in a practice of two fundamental volleyball skills – throwing the ball in a high arc, and bumping the ball in volleyball stance

• She gave a concise verbal description of the tasks, demonstrated them, and then separated the class into partners to practice the skills
• M (child with autism) was late in entering the gym due to a behaviour-related consequence; he entered during the instructional phase visibly upset, being verbally disruptive
  • She instructed her students to leave M be and concentrate on the lesson, which was generally obeyed (M’s behaviours have been disruptive, often causing students in the immediate vicinity to attend to his behaviours; this has been observed to be positively reinforcing for M, who occasionally engages in disruptive behaviour to elicit reactions)
• SA and I moved about the student pairs, giving suggestions and correcting technique on a case-to-case basis

–          Third period: math

o    SA teaches by writing on an overhead while introducing the lesson to the class; the topic today was especially challenging, and the students were generally found it difficult to follow

o    At the conclusion of the lesson, students were expected to complete the assignments on their own, raising their hands for assistance if required

• Initially there was some chatter throughout the class, as each individual student tried to figure out the new patterning concept, some turning to their neighbours to ask for their perspective
  • SA took notice of chatter in the room and reminded students that they were to work in silence and ask for assistance
• I proceeded around the room, asking children who appeared to be struggling if they required assistance – many of them preferred to work on their own
  • After a few minutes, several children whom I had helped the week prior sought my assistance, and eventually their classmates followed suit; some questions were fielded by myself, and some by my SA

o    It seemed to me that the children had tried earnestly to understand the concept on their own, and when that failed, reached out to their neighbours for help; only when that failed did they seek our assistance

o    Once several students were able to successfully figure out the questions with our assistance, others raised their hands more readily and before long, everybody was working diligently and continued to do so until the bell rang for lunch

–          Fourth period (transition): silent reading/photo day

o    Students are expected to begin silent reading having attended to all bathroom and water-related issues with one or more books available for reading

• Those whom wish to change books may do so, providing permission is granted and library passes are available (5 maximum)
  • One child had reported that she wished to change her book, as she realized halfway through that she had lost interest in it; my SA initially stressed the importance of making a determination while at the library before borrowing the book, and was in the process of doing so when several students began to leave their seats intending to also change their books

o    She immediately placed restrictions on the privilege of exchanging books, repeated classroom expectations, and addressed students’ concerns on a case-by-case basis (after they have been instructed to return to their seats)

• Another child made a request to fill her water bottle; her request was denied as a logical consequence of her not having done so during the appropriate time (during the second half of the lunch period)

o   I had noticed that she calls students over to her desk whenever she wished to speak with them in private – this, I believe, has a normalizing effect on being called to converse in private, as children often expect “bad news” and thus experience anxiety; she alleviates this using this method to communicate good news as well

–          Fifth period: science / socials

o    I missed much of the science portion, as I was assisting with making photocopies

• From an earlier discussion, my SA shared that she was preparing to give the students an assessment test consisting of concepts that should have been covered the previous year

o    As we lost some time to photo day, students were generally late in handing in their assessment test and retrieving a laptop from the computer room

• The students were to address four questions, the answers to which were to be found through following step-by-step instructions to access a specific webpage, read and assess the information, and then reproduce as answers
  • Perhaps owing the previous experiences in math class, students were much more open to the idea of asking for assistance

–          General notes

o    My SA places a strong emphasis on self-sufficiency through strict enforcement of silence during individual work and through the way in which she provides assistance – she utilizes the think speak method of demonstrating the proper tools, methods, or steps required to be undertaken to arrive at the solution

• The student is thereby given an opportunity to use those tools to discover the answer on her own, reaffirming their self-sufficiency

o    Adherence to classroom expectations are paramount, as they represent a respect for the learning environment, respect for the instructor, and respect for the student himself

• As such, any transgressions are quickly identified and explained, and the student is immediately requested to produce the appropriate and expected behaviour