Running head: REFLECTION !

Observation Reflection: In the Company of the Passionate

Natalie Rose

Paris Junior College

EDUC 2301.400

Dr. Ellis, Instructor

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Observation Reflection: In the Company of the Passionate

Perhaps few more satisfying joys exist than to spend hours in the company of passionate

people with whom one agrees. People who are deeply in love with what they do and for whom

they do it inspire a similar degree of affection in those who are privileged to observe them. Such

was the experience afforded me at Rockwall ISD’s Linda Lyon Elementary, with the Early

Childhood Special Education (ECSE), pre-kindergarten (preK), and Behavioral Adaptive Social

Emotional program (BASE) teachers.

I have organized this reflection into two parts as follows: the first part deals directly with

the students and how they responded to the environment the teachers created; the second part

deals with the processes and attitudes of the teachers themselves.

Firstly, in the classrooms I was allowed to observe, students drove everything the

teachers did. Not surprisingly, the learning styles accommodated by the preK and ECSE teachers

were less describable by textbook terms, but accurately describable by the question “Learning

styles? They are three to five years old!” In other words, as a teacher of young children, I will

best serve them by following their lead, rather than by being overly concerned about whether I

am identifying their learning style accurately or not. With the older children, in BASE, the

plethora of strict guidelines did not exist because a grumpy teacher wanted things done in a

particular way, but rather because a compassionate teacher wanted her students to succeed so

they could reenter their mainstream classroom as soon as possible. I witnessed in the ECSE room

that children absolutely love to help their teacher. During circle time, Ms. J (ECSE teacher)

allowed her students to press the computer “buttons” projected onto the dry-erase board. No

child refused to take up the teacher’s pointer for the job, and they were often loathe to give it up
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after their turn! As a teacher, I can foster an environment of caring and cooperation by

encouraging my students to “buy-in” to their educational experiences.

Secondly, I observed the expressions of teachers and aides who thoroughly love their

jobs. In fact, in my observation notes, on the very first day I wrote that those ladies love their

job! As one teacher said in response to my observation that they were all so happy, “We like to

say this is Disney Land.” That enthusiasm for teaching was as infectious as it was apparent.

Indeed, I could read in the children’s faces a security from being enjoyed by their teachers. I, too,

felt it. I eagerly looked forward to each Friday, when again I would be able to observe.

Additionally, those ladies showed me that they are not ashamed of their students’ disabilities and

differences. They never acted as though they wished the children would just do better—just be

better! Rather, they lovingly and quite patiently worked and reasoned with the students until they

received the desired behavior. Ms. J once told me that her goal is to work herself out of a job.

(She had explained that one of their little boys was able to fully mainstream into his own general

education classroom that week.) Further on the practical side, Ms. J also informed me that

Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings may take a long time—as in, she had been part of

a six-hour IEP meeting the Monday prior! She also told me that her advice to a new teacher

working with special populations is to require the verbally-struggling students to say as much as

possible, even when she knows what the child wants.

If it was not made clear by the preceding paragraphs, I do indeed still intend to be a

teacher. Inspiring is the most accurate word to describe my time at Linda Lyon Elementary. After

experiencing the teachers’ happiness and love for children, I am now, even more than before,

excited to begin my own teaching career as a Special Education teacher.