Tara Hamilton

ED 271
April 10, 2016
Journal 1

This past week I was out sick on Tuesday from my practicum. Thursday was a very
interesting day. I knew going in that it was going to be the hottest day so far this year, I just
didnt realize how much that would affect the class. It ended up being about 90 degrees out
which I honestly dont think the parents realized or were prepared for. I know the staff wasnt.
By 11 am it was already over 70 degrees in the classroom.
The morning went like normal with us doing stations and going to PE. I got to work 1 on
1 with the most verbal student and we read a story and typed sentences into his iPad. I then got to
play the game Sorry! with him. I hadnt played it in years so he taught me how to play. We did
snack like normal around 11 am and then instead of stations the teacher decided to let the
students watch part of a movie. It was technically their Friday as there was no school the next
day. This also allowed for us to keep the shades down and the lights off. It was getting really
warm and the children were starting to wear out.
Initially the movie went great, but that all changed when the 8th student returned from the
sensory room. They were extremely aggravated and pinched 1 child and hit another within
seconds of entering the class. This caused chaos to erupt as we tried to move other students away
to safer distances while 2 paras attended to the disruptive student. After that, the students didnt
really settle back down and we spent a lot of time redirecting them to their seats.

After lunch we went out to the playground for recess and to wait for all the paras to be
back from their lunches (myself included). After that we went over to the park across the street.
We knew there was shade over there but the teacher was a bit worried about 4 of the students
who had begun acting out since lunch. Since the park is not fenced in she assigned 3 of us and
herself to 1 on 1 with those students. The other 2 paras were responsible for overall
supervision/assistance. I was assigned to one of the kids that has a tendency to run.
I think this was the best decision of the day as it was apparent very quickly that these
students were going to be pushing boundaries. I did appreciate though that the teacher didnt
change the plan and return to the school as the other 5 students were extremely content at the
park and they had been excited all day about going over there. I know that it took a full team
effort to keep everyone safe. I also know that it may have been easier to simply stay on the
playground which is fenced. This to me showed how this teacher considers ALL of her students
needs and desires as well as the staffs capabilities when planning activities.
I am still loving my placement. I still believe that I was meant to be a paraeducator. I
think that I still have much to learn, but that I have benefitted immensely from being in this
classroom. I am excited to see how the students learn and grow over the remained of the school
year. I know some are moving on to middle school next year and that soon transitioning will be
planned and begun to be implemented.