Welcome to Jen's Pond

I finished a 3-day workshop this past week.... Phew! It was a good one....it refreshed my brain, getting it thinking again on ways to help my students. It's called TEACCH. I'm not real happy with the name of it, as it doesn't use People First Language in the name, but the training was good. Like I said, it reenergized my brain, giving me ideas, knowledge, and new contacts for help. I did have some difficulty with some other special educators attending it though. A great many of them (I won't say all, but it sure seemed like it) didn't use People First Language and would say things like "autistic kid" and "he belongs in the autistic class." Then, when I'd have a comment towards placing a child with autism in a general ed. classroom it was like open season on me. Wow, did the other teachers go after that, saying things like "he can't" but never giving me an actual reason that it wouldn't work. I think that I may approach the s...

Changes in the educational system have been begun throughout our nation, attempting to improve our students’ education and ultimately, their test scores. Special education has also gone through much change since the first authorization of public law 94-142 to the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (I.D.E.A.). We are now continuing much change with the implementations of the “No Child Left Behind Act,” but what many school systems haven’t changed (or tried) is educating all students together, no matter the disability. The overwhelming thought is to contain students who have disabilities in another classroom, providing remediation. Unfortunately, as a special educator, I have seen too many cases of the special education room "dumbing down" our students. As I reflect on my years of teaching, I think of 1 year where I saw students whom I served really succeed and improve their skills. One was way back in the 1997-1998 school year, where I had t...

I just finished a weekend training....wow, am I tired, yet enthused. I have had the wonderful opportunity to hear Dr. Patrick Schwarz...for the 3rd time! He is such a wonderful and knowledgeable man. He spoke to us on inclusion... Something I'd love to see happen in my school district for all students. I know that we will still need the option of self-contained special education, as this may be one's choice for their child, but I so hope and wish for the opposite. This world is not self-contained.......so why do we continue to focus on this type of placement? I have decided to try to encourage others in my district to do a Pilot Project/Study and implement inclusion in an elementary school...that's what I first wanted. But then, I was thinking last night... Having the option of being educated in the general classroom in the elementary would be great, but what would happen after elementary? So now I've decided to tackle something more.... What if we could hav...

Summer has come and gone and school is back in session. I begin job tomorrow, teaching at a new school and a new grade level. For years I've taught at the high school level...and now I'm going to teach at the elementary level. I'm excited for this change in my life, but totally scared to death, as I have no idea what to expect! I hope for support from the other teachers and my new administrator... That would make this year awesome. I hope that I can create the environment that will get students to have confidence in themselves and to want to learn...and to want to dream, to dream big... I can't help but be excited for this new change, although a part of me is still wishing to be back at the school that I've been teaching at for years... The kids that I served and those whom I didn't, but knew, the teachers that I worked with (most of them), the school building, the noises during class, the smells...sometimes the smells aren't real nice, but I'll ...

It's almost summer time. I don't know if I am excited or sad. I have always enjoyed working at camp, and this summer I can't go. My shoulder is injured and the doc says 4 wks of therapy...if that doesn't help, then I may have surgery...I'll have just enough time to get ready for the next school year. But then there's camp. I think I'm going to miss my friends the most, especially the camp director. I've worked for him since 1995 and enjoy it. He's a good man to work for. We get along well too. I love working for him, but I also just like shooting the breeze with him. He may be my boss, but I think of him as my friend too.

I've been reading a book that I got way back in February this year. It's taken me a while to finish it, as I usually just keep it in the car and read it when I'm waiting somewhere (I can wait almost anywhere if I have a good book, which this is.). It's hard "saving" it for these occasions, as it is an enjoyable read, yet it is difficult to read, as I've found myself wiping tears away while reading entries. This book was written by many teenagers in California and is called "The Freedom Writers Diary." The book is made up of journal entries that they had written throughout their high school years, as well as having entries from their teacher. If you have not read it, I encourage you to. It will give you a different view of things.....and a very smart view as well. Warning: It's not a book to read without kleenex readily available!