"We are the next generation"
I absolutely loved my second site visit back to Crooked Creek Elementary. I came into today with a completely new lens then the previous semester when I visited. In 299 we are heavily focused on the developmental level of the child and how we can best accommodate them where they are. We had the opportunity to travel to 4 different classrooms which was an extremely awesome experience. In doing this, I was able to experience a wide range of developmental levels and standards as I popped in and out of classrooms ranging from grades K-3. What I was most prepared for in terms of developmental levels was a lot of hands-on work; working with motor skills. We also had the opportunity to speak to Butler grad, Emily Alaimo, someone who personally inspires me. She double majored in Elementary Ed and Special Ed and is a prominent member of the Special Ed community at Crooked Creek.
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Emily Alaimo |
"Focused on developing the whole child inside and outside of the classroom; to develop each student as an inquirer, problem solver and a lifelong learner. " |
School Analysis
Having an elementary school on an International Baccalaureate diploma track seems unique at such a young age. However, Crooked Creek believes in producing critical-thinkers immediately. Crooked Creek is a part of the PYP program. PYP stands for Primary Years Program which includes all students grades K-5. In these years, they are focused on "developing the whole child inside and outside of the classroom." The overall goal, as you can in the image to the left, is to breed reflective, knowledgeable, caring, principled, open-minded thinkers, communicators and risk-takers. Although this may seem contradictory and unaligned with the developmental theories of this age level, Crooked Creek is giving its students the chance to thrive in higher-level curriculum from such a young age which is an extremely rare opportunity. In order to ensure success, they take the time to analyze each student's learners' profile and develop an individualized learning plan in order to incorporate each student's attributes into their learning. |
A moment that stood out most to me during this site visit took place in the very first classroom I observed. Mrs. Blanton is a second grade teacher with a student teacher named Miss. McBride. Mrs. Blanton was sick for the day which caused Miss. McBride to take over for the day. It was awesome to see how attentive the students were to her- I did not even know that she was a student teacher at first (very impressive of both her and the students). Most kids were sitting at their individual desks which formed a sort of square formation in the middle of the classroom.
However, one particular student, Caleb was sitting somewhat in the corner alone. In addition to his desk being separated, Caleb had a set of headphones on. After talking to Emily, we learned that these were noise-cancelling headphones. These headphones are a necessity to aiding Caleb in his learning due to his sensory needs. Emily went more into depth to explain to us that Caleb is oftentimes overstimulated by noise and these headphones help turn loud noises into whisper like sounds that keep him calm and engaged. I noticed that Miss. McBride was particularly patient with him and the questions that he asked. I also paid particular attention to when he would ask questions. Caleb would stand up and walk a few steps forward before he asked questions. Although I am not exactly sure why this is, I'm sure it has something to do with Caleb's particular needs / IEP (individualized education program). After this "incident" that stuck out to me, I was more aware of my surroundings in terms of special education at Crooked Creek. I noticed that some teachers had facilities such as the "calming corner" and "cool down bike" (seen in pictures below) used to center students who may need an extra push to refocus. |
"Cool down bike""Calming corner" |
Feelings
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Thoughts
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