Field Journal 1.3

Rachel Lorenzo

09/12/11

LAE 4530.001

Tara Payor & Nina Graham

Field Journal 1.3

Today guest speaker Dr. Patty McHatton came to our classroom to speak to us about exceptional students and answer our questions about how to be better teachers for these students. Dr. McHatton did not stop there; she made us laugh and was a great inspiration to me as she reminded me of how fun it can be to work with children. I learned a lot about her from practical advice to strategies for diffusing problems and turning them around to one’s benefit as the teacher.

One thing she mentioned I have heard throughout my career as a university student: teaching should be done with students’ individual interests in mind. This is something I completely agree with. Later in the class we watched the beginning of Freedom Writers and the class was discussing how Romeo and Juliet would not be relevant to such students. I wholeheartedly disagree and think that the play serves as a link between their world and the classic literary world. Within the play itself there are two families or “gangs” that hate and kill each other, because a love sparks between young members of the opposing families, the reader is able to understand the cruelties and silliness of these mini-wars. Students in gangs or similar situations can connect to the play if the teacher does something like what Dr. McHatton advocated: make it relevant to the student. While reading the play, teachers can have students in groups reenact each act as a group project. They can choose as a class to make revise it as a gang setting, school setting, whatever they feel closest to.

Several small points that Dr. McHatton made were strong points in my mind because I have wanted to practice them in my own classrooms. Having a classroom environment that is warm and easy on the sense is important to me. Fluorescent lighting has always disturbed my sensitive eyes and made me feel as though I am not seeing well. This can be uncomfortable and distressing to students. Natural lighting when possible has always been my goal. I liked Dr. McHatton’s idea of having plants and a nice smelling classroom as well. A connection to the natural world is relaxing to the mind and unfortunately something that people are losing as the years and technology progress. This is something cosmetic probably allows for subtle positive changes in mood within students and for teachers.

Other pieces of advice I liked were to discipline in a corner, somewhere where the teaching is not going on. Having class discussions was something I liked in one of my classrooms in college, hearing that Dr. McHatton had discussions with her class made me excited to be able to do the same in a public classroom. I would like my discussions to be starting points to get the class thinking. If we were to read the poem by Shel Silverstein “The Language of Flowers,” for example, before they knew we were going to read poems at all, I would ask the class to move to one side of the room if they know the language of flowers and to the other if they have forgotten it or never knew it. Then I would ask questions as to why they believe they do or don’t know the language. This would be about 5 to 10 minutes long at the start of a week, simply to get them thinking about the material that would be gone over without knowing it.

Dr. McHatton’s visit really got me thinking creatively as a teacher and now I feel more excited and confident. Her advice on handling ESE students was also helpful, I now have a better understanding of why one can’t assume every student with a specific disability will behave the same way. Thank you for having Dr. McHatton as our guest speaker.