Field Experience in an Emotional Support Classroom!
In Mrs. Edney’s Emotional Support classroom in Mercer Area Elementary School she has about 5 students who she works with every day. I was able to work with 3 students during my field experience visits. The 3 students I worked with were labeled with Autism and Emotionally Disturbed. It was a very challenging field experience and I never knew how the students would be feeling when I stepped foot in the classroom. Most days, they were compliant and loved working with me. Other days they did not want anything to do with me. One of the most important components that I associated this field experience with was creating a rapport and knowing your students. It is critical in the special education field to know the needs of each student and know that those needs are all different but each one needs to be met.
The classroom was not a diverse classroom physically, but every need was different. The students were on different grade levels and doing different assignments, but Mrs. Edney and I were able to help all of the students to fulfill their academic needs.
Technology was only used in the classroom for science, looking up research articles, and as a rewarding system. For science class, the students would watch a Magic School Bus episode off of the projector. The 6th grade student would use the computer to research topics and find information for his reports. Mrs. Edney has an iPad in her classroom and uses as a reward system for another 6th boy.
The assessments in Mrs. Edney’s classroom is similar to the regular education assessment. The teachers in the Emotional Support room read the students’ test aloud and they have extra time to finish their tests.