Today, I observed my sister at her job. Dhelal is a pre-k/kindergarten Special Ed teacher at Hyde Elementary School in Washington D.C. My purpose of shadowing her was to gain insight into what the job really entails, get a feel of how a classroom should be, and gain ideas and practices so I can implement them in the classroom if I do decide to teach again.
If you wish to live abroad, teaching is the way to go. Hence the reason i decided to shadow my sister. Given that I am American, getting a teaching job abroad is extremely easy. I do however; feel guilty to be one since I know I am not the best person for the job.
I taught 5-17 yr olds while living in Egypt, and as you may recall from my previous posts, I had 5 classrooms with 30-45 students... do you remember how nervous i was?? wow, I can't begin to tell you if you didnt. I found it very difficult. Never mind that you need to acquire different skills than the skills you would possess with a business degree, being a teacher was a huge emotional responsibility.
I don’t have an education degree so I know I wasn't expected to be the very best but I knew i could do better. In Egypt, I remember constantly feeling overwhelmed, thinking and searching for new strategies to use. I wanted my students to be engaged heavily because they wanted to, bc they felt it was fun-not boring. Determined to learn, I began to follow and question Dhelal's every move.
This is how my day at Hyde Elementary went:
7:45 A.M. We arrive at her school, During this time, Dhelal prepares all coursework necessary and gathers books/activities needed for the day.
On a typical day, she teaches three students, two with D.S. and the third with Autism, each requiring significantly different demands. These students are all part of a homeroom classroom, but because these students need individual attention, Dhelal's job is to provide direct instruction and behavior modification to these students on a one-on-one basis either in their home classroom or in her office; this method is known to Special Ed teachers as "pull-in" and "pull-out".
By observing different classrooms and teachers I was able to gain different teaching strategies. Since Dhelal is a special ed teacher, i found that she uses instruction and repetition a lot as her main method. My main area of concern in Egypt was how to get the students to comprehend what was asked of them. and with time more and more questions arose. I wanted to understand how she gets her students to do what is asked? how does she communicate the objectives to her students or better yet, even keep these objectives in the forefront of their minds throughout the lesson?
before i knew it, it was 8:45 AM and the kids begin to roll in. Dhelal's day was just about to begin.
I took out my notebook and started to take notes immediately, noting her behaviors with the students and the students reactions to certain focus areas.
Anyone would be able to tell u that Dhelal is an incredible teacher. That's not because every other teacher at Hyde kept telling me so, but because her heart is completely in it. Passionate about teaching, she instructs with excitement and enthusiasm. The success of the students is owed to her strong belief and determination of education. Dhelal is knowledgeable and clearly engaged with all of her students and because of this she has been able to build an incredible relationship with them. In Dhelal's eyes these students are her very own children. She strives for the very best and challenges her "children" to reach for the sky.
Here I am shadowing to “learn” skills and ideas, while Dhelal’s acquires all of these, naturally. She wasn’t afraid to do mistakes or try something new. Her personality along with her determination is what helps Dhelal generate exceptional academic performances from her students.
Her students are very responsive and very much aware of their specific routines, such as raising their hands when asking a question, going to the bathroom, and they even knew when to transition from one activity to another (a big thing for students with special needs especially) Her students are also highly engaged, probably due to the fact that she maintains a positive attitude and jokes around with them.
Shadowing her was fun. I got some new ideas about routines that I want to incorporate into my teaching style. I also learned that the best trick in getting the students enthusiastic about learning is to find a key that will work with each individual student. Each student is different, thus each will require something special.
I found this to be Dhelal's best advice
"if we try to force a student’s success by using the same methods with all the students we’ll be setting ourselves up for failure. But by awarding their achievements, the more they will want to continue to do whatever their achievement was."
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