After conversation with my mentor there are things that he outlined that I did well as well

as areas of improvement. He explained that I exhibit a lot of patience when working with

students. This is an essential quality when working with students with disabilities. They will test

your patience but may not intend to or know that they are doing so. Sometimes it can be the kind

of day that they are having and do not realize what they are doing. Another thing that he

explained that went well is that I clearly outline each problem or question. By doing this the

students know exactly what is expected of them and understand how to complete each problem.

They can refer back to the original question and use it as an example. One thing that he noticed

that I was not aware of is that when some of the students log onto Zoom for assistance they try to

use me as a crutch. They try to get me to outline each problem for them and want me to walk

them through each step. This is very time consuming and prevents me from assisting other

students if I am tied up with explaining each step. It seemed like a couple students had a ‘learned

helplessness’ attitude about them and did not want to put in the effort. My mentor suggested that

I explain to the students that I am not going to walk them through every question. We are there to

support them if they need help or assistance but we will not do the work for them. He also

expressed that each student has examples from their teacher that they can refer back to and use

that as a way to assist them. The students need to be more independent learners and try to solve

each problem on their own. Lastly, my mentor expressed that every student has the opportunity

to essentially have one on one assistance from their general education teacher. All they have to

do is ask and set up a meeting with them on Wednesdays. I then relayed this information to the

students and told them that they need to take advantage of this opportunity if they have more

specific questions.