edu.doc.

I began visting Poca High School on October 15, 2008. Principal Donaldson instructed me to visit the school the week before my observation and to meet with him. Upon arriving in the school's main office I noticed the television was on. Students in a media class were giving the school news. Moments late Mr. Donaldson found me and he introduced me to the Vice Principal. He then told me that he decided to place me in Ms. Farley's resource history class. As soon as he introduced me to her I could tell we would get along just fine. The school is set up with special education, resource, average, honors, and then A.P. courses. THey have a specific teacher for special education and a number of teachers for resource. The school is one building with two floors.
All of Ms. Farley's students have Individual Education Plan's (IEP's). Some have Attention Deficiet Disorder and others have Attention Deficiet Hyper-Activity Disorder, behaviorl disorders, learning disabilities, and reading disabilities. Many of Mrs. Cotrill's math students (I observed her during second block) had disabilities like dyslecia and would switch their numbers around. In the English resource room (that I only observed once) many of the students had reading disabilities and one even had a langugage problem. Mary* seemed very isolated and did not talk in class at all unless spokent to by the teacher. When she did speak, her voice did not sound like a girl her age (about 16) but at about the age of an eight year old girl. Upon visitng the history class, (I was there for two blocks everyday except one in which I observed the resource English class and I always observed a resource Math class during each visit.) I noticed many students usually forgot their history books as well.
Each teacher seemed to closely follow their students accommodations, by using devices such as repetition, larger print, consisten ways of learning such as worksheets and doing work as a group on the dry-erase boards, and going back over un-mastered information. Each resource teacher gives the students to option of a five minute restroom break or the students can sit in class and talk for five minutes. If the students significantly misbehave (I.e. had several warnings concerning their misconduct) they get their break take from them. Trust me, they LOVE their restroom break. ALso, Ms. Farley helps her stuents to do their worksheets by lettimg them ask her questions about where teh answer is located. Lately when student take tests in her class she reads the test to them and repeats whatever they ask her to, especially when the students took the PSAT.
In general education classrooms teachers tend to let their students do their worksheets on their one, every so often answering a question to help them. In resouce classes it appears that teachers help students and students are asked to help one another (peer tutoring) in order to complete worksheets. Also, in general education classrooms teachers do not have as much tolerance for disruption and misbehaving as a resource teacher. In a resource class you are going ot have more disruption. The reason for this is that many students do not catch non-verbal cues or the teacher is trying to answer another students question and it is silent in the room and another student asks a question. The teacher nicely informs the unintentionally interrupting student that he or she will help him or her in a few minutes after she is finished dealing with Johnny*. Many general education teachers barely tolerate one interruption and usually two or more and the student is sent to the office or out into the hallway. Also, in a resource class if the student is having troubl focusing on an assignment they can ask to go to the In School Suspension Room (ISS room) which is a highly structured and monitered room for students for doing queit work. It is usually used as an In School Suspension room, but if there is enough room to take a resource student long enough for him or her to complete his or her work then the student may use that room as long as he or she behaves.
I have noticed and feel that Poca high school is a very successful school. All the resource teachers are constantly meeting and working together, especially toward helping freshman resource students reach at least one general education (concerning Math, History, English, or Science) class before they graduate. Oftentimes students reach that goal, and also many of them never enter a general education classroom. The Principal is very involved in resource classrooms. I would often observe him coming in and talking to the teachers and asking how Mary* and Johnny* were doing. The students often joked with the principal and he joked back. I can tell they must have good raport and a healthy-appropriate relationship.
The only factors outside school that could be influenceing these students would be their home-life (or lack there-of). I have not asked any of the students about his or her home-life. However, I am certain that Johnny* has not had a pleasant home-life. I over-heard him chatting one day with another student about how he had been in five foster homes and within the last year he has been adopted. Out of the thirty hours I was at Poca high school that was the only time I heard or saw Johnny* speaking. He seems to be unusually isolated from his peers and even Ms. Farley who desparately is trying to reach out to him. All students, all human beings, face challenges, however these resource students with IEP's do not only face everyday life, but they also confront learning disabilities, and behavioral disorders. All in all, I am extremely glad that Poca high school was my place. I have learned so much and more importantly I have learned to have even more patience and understanding of diverse learners.