Graduation Speech : My Easterling

At 1:00 p.m. I entered into Evoline C. West Elementary school on Thursday, July 12 2012 for an interview with Mrs. Yolanda Lawrence. As I entered the classroom, I was greeted by Mrs. Lawrence, the head teacher in this classroom. Mrs. Lawrence has no assistant at this present because of it being in the summer. After I entered into the classroom, the entire class welcomed me with “hello Ms. Flournoy”. It made my day to see all of those smiley faces greeting me. This was a 2nd grade classroom which consisted of 17 students of which 8 were girls and 9 were boys. This interview and observation was a total of 2

My contribution to NYC public schools children in education has been extensive. I first began working in NYC public schools as a speech pathologist in 1980. I would examine expressive and receptive language skills of children and through task analyses develop strategies of language acquisition. In short, I was able to gets students to improve their reading and writing skills in order to master grade level competencies. In my educational journey, I was recruited by Principal Louis Rapport to become an Assistant Principal. Principal Rapport ran an after-school program for teachers who wanted to become school leaders. I worked in coordinating summer programs at George Westinghouse Vocational High School in 1986. I worked hand in hand with the principal to build community partners for our school which offered twelve or more trade programs and internships for students ranging form optical to jewelry making. In 1989, I was selected to serve as Assistant Principal of Special Education at Automotive High School, with Principal Steve Gilbert, who has since passed away. Principal Gilbert much like Principal Rapport was my mentors in leadership within the educational arena. With the support of Principal Gilbert, I was able to go to a Harvard Graduate School of Education and participate in a Summer Seminar in 1995. This was the season of “Inclusion in Schools”. Principal Gilbert recommended me for a program, Assistant Principal to Principal Program

Special education programs and services are available in many school and are fast growing. In a high school, a principal named Debbie Young has been presented with a situation with the parents of a special education student. Mrs. Young has been a special education teacher and assistant principal in a progressive and affluent school district in the South. Mrs. Young was approached by the parents of Jonathan a severely disabled tenth grader whose parents want him to attend one of the schools in the district. He is profoundly mentally disabled, has spastic quadriplegia, and has a seizure disorder. Mrs. Young refuses his parent’s request because of the huge expenses and the school is not an appropriate place for Jonathan.

On February 1st, I visited the Britton Macon Area School. The teacher I observed was Ms. Richardson. She teaches a self-contained classroom for middle and high school grades. I started the observation at 8:00 A.M. until 11:32 A.M.

Week two of field observation at Crestone Charter School. My Second week of field observations was really fun and interactive. I had the opportunity to work with several students from the k-1 class with special needs. We traveled to several reading stations and did a read along with the fourth and fifth-grade students. At arrival, I met with the main Para, Ammie Morphet and was informed that Lexi whom is one of the charter schools highest priority/needs students was the student I would be working with. Lexi usually has a personal in class Para that works with her throughout the day, but she was out sick. Since I know Lexi and have personal experience working with her we came to the conclusion that it would be best if I assisted with Lexis daily routine and any other classroom needs. This allowed Mrs. Morphet to attend to the other students she had previously scheduled for us to meet with.

Joni had worked for over 25 years in the local school system as an Educational Tech II, otherwise known as a teacher’s aide. In this capacity, she got to know generations of teachers, students and their families. In addition, working with high needs students with challenging intellectual disabilities, she sought to identify opportunities for her students to gain practical knowledge in local organizations and life skills to ensure their dignity as adults. To create these connections she often interacted with numerous small businesses, non-profits, and community-based organizations.

When I was in this program, I found that working with these young children was very rewarding. It was rewarding to me because I felt like I had a positive influence on them and their education. It made me happy to know that I was going to leave a mark on them and potentially help them flourish into a wonderful, well-rounded adult. Some of the challenges that I faced when working with these young children was communicating with them and their parents. Sometimes, the parents would get upset and wonder why we are

General Observations: My past field placements have been in much larger schools; therefore, I was excited to have the opportunity to experience a rural setting. St. Rose is a small public school with a unique location. St. Rose is attached to the St. Rose Catholic Church. When I arrived, students were attending religion classes while teachers met in the teacher’s lounge to grade papers, make copies, and prepare for the day. Once religion classes were over, the “school day” started. I immediately obvious the students were very well-behaved; for example, students held the door open for one another and the noise level was appropriate in the hallway and classroom. Coincidentally, I attended a private school K-7th grade; for that reason, the atmosphere and behaviors observed were familiar.

I observed Mrs.Delks classroom and right away I noticed that she and her classroom was very welcoming. Her classroom was very organized every day and you could tell the students really respected her. The children never back talked her and even at times when they did have time that they got in trouble for something she never had to yell or made them feel unfordable. You could tell that there was some type of love/trust relationship she had with her children. During the days that I was able to visit her classroom she had a student teacher at the time. She was very upfront with me and she told me that having help from her student teacher helped her out a lot. She said it was very hard to do everything on her own every day.

For my Eudora teaching experience, I had the opportunity to teach a wonderful class of kindergarteners. When I got to the school, I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of the classroom. I had talked briefly to Kelly about the set up of the classroom before going, so I had a little bit of an idea of what I was walking into. My first impression of the school was that it was very similar to the elementary schools that I grew up in in Spring Hill. The secretaries were very nice, and seemed to know exactly what I was there for. I was escorted to the classroom instead of being given directions. This was very nice, because in past situations where I was new to a school, I was simply given directions as to where to go and that was it.

I have had a chance first hand this year to see Mrs. VanSoelen, Mrs Nevinger and Miss Boss in their classroom and I can not express how impressed I am with them as a team. The joy the children

When Ms. Caterson, the Director, came out to greet me, she was very professional and friendly. We went back to her office and she gave me a very thorough overview of the school. She answered any questions I had and also educated me on how the education for children with disabilities has changed over the years. She discussed with me that she had been with the

First I would love to reflect on my experiences in my fieldwork classroom. I have to say I was quite nervous the first day I arrived. I have had experiences with special education students with my own family and other students I had to opportunity to work with, but never in this capacity. Emily was a great mentor teacher, she

In that class, the student learns about different teaching methods and how to care for children. As part of the curriculum, we volunteered at Long Elementary as teacher aides. Working with 4th grade students and observing an everyday class room was such an awe-inspiring experience. I had a completely new perspective about teachers. I have so much more respect as before. Teachers put so much time and effort into helping children for their benefits. I knew from the first day I helped with Ms. Williams’ 4th grade class, how much a teacher is a positive influence on children. There is an overwhelming feeling when you help a student with a problem and in return they give you the most heart-warming smile. The experience at Long Elementary helped me make my final decision on whether I wanted to teach elementary or secondary school. As much as I enjoyed helping elementary students, in my heart I knew secondary school was the path God had in store for me.

Talking with Shelly and reflecting on what I know about Marie, her family, her home life, and her academics, and her strengths and challenges I now have much better grasp on what it is like working with parents who have a child with special needs in and out of the classroom. I was very pleased to hear that Marie’s school experiences have overall been positives ones throughout her elementary years. Knowing her teachers are always for her and her family inspires me to be one of them in my future career. I hope to be always be there to listen, to encourage, and to support my families, paying particular attention to those ones with special needs children.