Discussion Exercise # 1

04:757 Education of Children with Behavioral Disorders II

Breanna Delaquis
May 10, 2020
1. Describe your current experiences as a teacher dealing with isolation and its impact on
your work and your students. You should be able to describe this in 100 words or more.
This has certainly been a very interesting time and a challenging thing to navigate.

Although knowing that everyone is in a similar boat is a little more comforting. This is such a

unique experience and a definite learning curve. I teach in a small rural community, it is a K-8

school with 40 students and 2.5 teachers. Our learning from home approach has adjusted slightly

over time. We sent out a survey to parents after the first extended break when we were informed

that this would continue until the end of the school year. The general consensus from parents

was that they would like paper work packages with online support. Therefore we have created a

system where parents pick up and drop off work packages every two weeks. The middle years

classrooms use Google Classroom to connect with students daily and the elementary group uses

SeeSaw. With our small student population paper packages are doable and helpful to families as

there are many internet issues for our rural families. I myself have a shady internet connection

some days making it very challenging to connect with families online. I have had Google

Meetings with students and the internet connection was so poor we only went through a few

questions in an hour. Every student has such a different home environment which also poses a

challenge. For the most part our families are supportive and we have had some form of contact

with each family weekly. As supportive as they are, the expectations for our students can’t be

the same because they aren’t receiving the pre teaching and guidance they would at school.

Working from home with a toddler is certainly a learning curve as well. My “work” day

definitely revolves around his schedule. I try to find pockets of time to connect with students

and prepare work packages when he is sleeping. I am sure many people are in the same boat,

trying to work during odd hours just to get things done. This course will definitely be an

interesting addition to an already strange and busy schedule.

2. When schools and facilities finally reopen, how can you prepare for the emotional and
behavioral needs of students returning to school? Provide your best advice in 100 words or
more.
This is an interesting question and one our school and division has been thinking a lot

about. There is a lot of discussion about Learning Recovery and what that will look like. At this

time it is very unclear what that will look like. As a staff we are recording which students we are

connecting with regularly so we can flag any students that may need extra support upon return.

We have also discussed following a Strong Beginnings assessment format once we return to

school (assuming that happens in September). Some schools in our division had tried the Strong

Beginnings assessment format (adopted from other divisions) last year and it is something our

school was considering, but it is now for sure in our plans for next year. This form of assessment

will help us determine the strengths, weaknesses, and current levels of academic performance of

our students (Yell, Meadows, Drasgow, & Shriner, 2013, p. 55). Using what we learn from

these assessments we can work together as a staff to make plans to support each student. In

September (or whenever we return) teacher’s need to be patient and not feel the need to rush

back into the curriculum or overload the kids because they are “behind”. Focus on building or

rebuilding strong relationships with students will be beneficial to their overall success upon the

return to school (Scales, Van Boekel, Pekel, Syversten, & Roehlkepartain, 2020, p. 647). When

students have positive relationships with their teachers they are more likely to have a positive

attitude towards school and they will have more academic success (Yell, Meadows, Drasgow, &

Shriner, 2013, p. 221). Through time a new normal will be established in our schools and

classrooms and we will move forward.

 References

Scales, P. C., Van Boekel, M., Pekel, K., Syvertsen, A. K., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (2020).

Effects of developmental relationships with teachers on middle‐school students’

motivation and performance. Psychology in the Schools, 57(4), 646–677. https://doi-

org.berlioz.brandonu.ca/10.1002/pits.22350

Yell, M. L., Meadows, N. B., Drasgow, E., & Shriner, J. G. (2013). Evidence-Based Practices for

Educating Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN: 013268604X