Field Experience

So I am home for the weekend and am doing field experience as a part of Psychology of the Exceptional Child.  I am observing a special education classroom in a high school.  Yesterday I went in for two hours and saw two study hall periods and a science class.  The students that I observed were at a higher level of thinking.  Most of them just had learning disabilities, so they struggled with reading, writing, and math.  There was one student with autism in the classroom.

I was surprised by the small number of students in the room at a time.  The most I saw in there during one period was four.  The science class only had two students!  I learned a lot from this experience though.  I found the science class particularly interesting.  They were studying for a test that is going to be over atoms.  Because the special education teacher was not qualified to teach science at the high school level, a science teacher from the building came in and taught the students while the special education teacher helped make sure the students understood.  I noticed the general education science teacher becoming frustrated when he could not get his points across to the students.  The special education teacher was much more patient and worked better with the students to help them understand.  I think that it was good for the general education teacher to be in the special education classroom teaching though, because I am sure there are some strategies that he could learn and bring back to his normal classroom to help the students who are struggling in there.

Today I am going back in to observe for another two hours.  I was supposed to go back to the same classroom, however the teacher is sick, so I may end up in a different special education classroom.  I am anxious to see what is in store for me today and see what other information I can glean from this experience.  I find it useful to see what I have learned and read about being put into practice.  It helps make the class more real.  I think that if it were possible, every class should do something like this.  Knowing that the information applies and is not just something to learn really helps make the learning worthwhile.  I think this is something I will run across more in college than I did in high school, especially at a smaller school like Wartburg.  Yet another reason why I am glad this is the school I chose!