Lesson 7

This lesson gives us information about how to handle special education students and students with behavior problems. Although I believe that special education children are easier to teach than regular education children, every child must be taught how to behave in and out of the classroom. All children will experience hardship at some point in their lives and if he or she are not receiving the proper care at home then it will be up to the teacher to model the correct behavior for them.

In a couple of paragraphs, describe Jacinto.

Jacinto lived with his grandmother at age sixteen, when he left his second foster home she took him in. Jacinto was an angry person with issues obviously who needed anger management. He was placed in a special education classroom. His mother was a drug user and his dad was an abusive man whom never was a part of his life. Jacinto was a troubled person who just needed a little extra attention and learning in the classroom and guidance from someone who seem to care about him. He was a tall, handsome, muscular 16 year old with a witty but caustic sense of humor.

•When Jacinto told his teacher (Tom McIntyre) to "blank" Off - what was the teacher's response?

When Jacinto told his teacher Mr. McIntyre to “blank” off Mr. McIntyre responded by saying to never end a sentence with a proposition. He told him that the word “off” was a preposition and to rephrase that statement. His teacher understood the importance of seeing the student through the behavior. He was testing to see are they different or the same as the other teachers who have given up on him. The students are testing for soft spots. Teachers of students like that need to develop the ability to take it while using that moment to devise a supportive and professional intervention for a younger person who is in crisis.

•What happened to Jacinto?

Jacinto wasn’t punished for it, they tried to just steer in a different direction and recognize the good. Jacinto knew what he did was wrong. I believe that some consequences should’ve been put into place because Jacinto knew exactly what he had done wrong.

•Based on what happened to Jacinto, why do you think the teacher, Tom McIntyre, wanted to share this story?

Mr. McIntyre wanted to share this story because he saw himself within Jacinto. I believe that he experienced similar or the same behaviors or lifestyle as Jacinto. McIntyre knows that these students are capable of changing for the better if only they could stay in a positive environment and be taught by teachers that they will be around long enough to build a trusting relationship and eventually began to model the correct behavior that was taught.

•Describe two of the most important (in your opinion) things you learned by listening to this story.

Two of the most important things that I’ve learned by listening to this story us as teachers will never know what a child is experiencing in their life and we must learn to cope with children of this nature. Also I learned that we as teachers should never give up on our students because it really can make a difference in someone’s life and you would never know until make you make that difference.

•Did the community let Jacinto down? Why or why not?

Some people within the community did let Jacinto down by giving up on him but you had some that didn’t. Jacinto had people that helped him and cared but he did what he wanted to do and got into the situations he was in by himself. People can only do so much to help someone, they have to want to do right for themselves.

Summary: Individuals that are in the education field should make sure they are choosing the right career for them. Dealing with neglected students who have been through many foster homes and have emotional or/and behavioral disorders need much encouragement in their lives. They need someone who is going to be positive and uplift them.

Research Question: What are ways that you can make a child feel as though they belong?

Reference:http://www.teachpreschool.org/2014/07/every-child-needs-to-feel-like-they-belong/

Research Analysis: Belonging is a key component to a healthy life. When people feel like they belong, they care about what those around them think of them. There is a reciprocity to belonging: If you care, I care – if you don’t care, I don’t care. In conducting teacher workshops, the author has encountered growing numbers of teachers who report there is a whole new class of students who act as if they don’t care about their behavior and for whom authority has little or no meaning. This article discusses strategies for creating belonging, even with students who reject the idea.

One of the factors that I have found very important in determining how much students care about their behavior is how valued they feel by the people around them. If they feel unimportant and are treated like “a number” instead of a special individual, then why should they care what other people think? Think about your own reactions to being “anonymous.” When you are with people whom you care about, whose opinion you respect, then you contain your impulses because you care how you treat them and what they think. You are interested in preserving those relationships. When you are with strangers you believe you will never see again, you may give in to your impulses, thinking, “Who cares, these people don’t know me or care about me, and 1 won’t see them again.”

Research Summary: I really like my research question because as a future educator it is important to know ways that you could make your students feel as though they belong. Overall this entire lesson helped me a lot.