What do you do?

At school I am the resource teacher. Now some of you may think to yourself, "What is a resource teacher?" I will tell you. I work with students that have mild/moderate disabilities. The students may have a specific learning disability (which means they do fine in most subjects, but need help in reading, writing or math), autism (mild/moderate), emotional disturbance, other health impairments (usually kids with ADHD), intellectual impairments/mental retardation, hearing impairments, speech impairment or a communication disorder.

The kids are usually in a normal classroom for the majority of the day. I pull them out of their class for a predetermined amount of time. Some students I see only 2-3 times a week for 20-30 minutes. Other students I have for 3 hours every day.

Each student I work with has an Individual Education Program (IEP). The IEP has goals that are specific for the student. Although an IEP can have functional goals (i.e. tie shoes, brush teeth, etc.), I mostly work on academic goals with my students. The goals are very specific and measurable. I send a progress report to the parents every 9 weeks. Once a year I meet with the IEP team to update goals and evaluate the student's need for resource. We also write any accommodations the student may have in the classroom and on tests (end of year or classroom). Accommodations may include the test being read aloud, use of a multiplication chart or calculator, small group setting, multiple breaks, etc. The IEP team (which helps create the IEP) consists of the principal/vice principal, the general education teacher, the resource/special education teacher, and the parents. Depending on the services provided to the student, the psychologist, speech therapist, and/or occupational therapist may be invited. In Texas, there is a diagnostician that also attends. The diagnostician runs the meetings here. In Utah, I ran all of the meetings. Every three years, the students in special education (resource) must be re-evaluated to see if they still qualify.

Depending on the student, sometimes I am responsible for giving them a grade and sometimes the general education teacher is responsible (it is decided during the IEP meeting). Right now I am working with students in kinder, second, third, fourth and fifth grade. I am qualified/licensed to teach students in pre-school to twelfth grade.

I have really enjoyed teaching in the elementary school. The kids are really fun in elementary. I can also decorate my classroom for the season and the kids love it. My class, classroom and schedule is constantly changing as students are being added throughout the entire year. I work with the general education teachers to find a time to pull students out of class and work with them. I currently have 16 students to work with. Their needs vary, as does their length in my classroom.

Right now my classroom looks like this:


The pink chair is a favorite for students. This is the language arts side of my room.

This is the math side of my room.

I like being a resource teacher. I have learned a lot about the public education system. I feel lucky to have chosen a career that I really enjoy.

Door Contest

This last week at school has been college week. We were asked to decorate our door for the contest. I included both universities as there are a number of kids at the school that recognize BYU (their parents went there). I ended up winning a gift card for the door!

Lice!!

As many of you know, I am a primary teacher at church. This year I have a CTR 5 class. The kids are sometimes a handful, but they are also a lot of fun. With the new year, church has also moved times. We now meet at 1:00. I have one little guy who is so tired by the time he gets to primary that I usually have to keep him in my lap to keep him awake (I make him sit up straight, not lean back into me). Well today when he came in, I had him sit in a chair and I told him that he would need to stay sitting up in it (sometimes he puts his head through the back of the chair or on his neighbors chair) or else I would put him in my lap. Well about 5 minutes later he was sprawled out on 2 chairs almost asleep. I went and picked him up and put him in my lap. He woke up and I sent him back to his chair. When he started to fall asleep sitting up, I decided to let him be. Pretty soon he was back across the 2 chairs. I figured that since he was quiet and obviously very tired I would let him be. Eventually his head started to slide and he was almost going to fall in between the crack. A member of the primary presidency had pity on him and let him rest his head on her lap. As she sat looking at his long blond hair (it goes past his chin), she became a bit concerned. I heard her say, "Julie... Julie... come here..." I sneak over to the end of the row. "What do you see in his hair?" she asks me. I look, and then I look closer. All over his hair and head are tiny black lice. YUCK!!! I tell her I will go find his mother. Luckily, she was just outside the primary room. She was coming to get him and his brother right after primary (she needed to run a relative to the airport). I explained the situation to her. She came in and was shocked to see her boy had lice. She apologized and took him out of the room quickly. She was planning to go right to the store (yes, even on Sunday) to get shampoo to wash his hair with. I text Rob so he could come and research about lice (the iPhone is the best!). In the primary room, we sprayed the chairs he was sitting on with Lysol. The lady in the primary presidency and I both left church early to get home, shower and throw all of our clothes in the wash. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the lice didn't have time to crawl onto our heads! Yuck!

***UPDATE: I do NOT have lice. :) I guess the lady shaved all of her kids heads (luckily they are all boys). Hopefully that will be the one and only time I have a run in with lice.

Freezing Rain

When we woke up today we were surprised to hear pounding rain outside (last Saturday it was in the 70s). It has rained and rained all day. As the temperature dropped the rain did NOT turn into snow, but rather just started to freeze. There are little icicles all over the trees, hanging off buildings, and off the car. It is just bizarre. I just had to snap a few pictures...

The ice covers everything...

branches...

bushes...

You can see in this picture that there is no snow or ice on the ground (cement or grass). Everything else is just wet!

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words...

Coming June 26, 2009...