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Joni Miller

Dr. Ellis

EDUC 1301.200

April 27th 2018

Observation Reflecting Paper

Hi, my name is Joni Miller I was assigned to do my 16 hours student observation at

Everett Elementary which is one on the North Lamar I.S.D campus for the 2nd and 3rd graders. I

got the privilege to work under Mark Caldwell who teaches 2nd and 3rd grade ECC which is a

special education class. Mark Caldwell worked with me on getting my 16 hours in with him by

doing an hour or two a day. At first, I was a little scared because it’s been a long time since I

worked with the ECC kids, but after my first day, it made me realized why I want to be a special

education teacher.

On my first day Mark Caldwell introduce me to his students as Mrs. Joni and explained

to them that I will be in their class helping for a few weeks. The first thing that I learned about

these kids was that they have a daily routine schedule. So, on early release day or field trip days,

it throws their routine off they whole day and they are not happy at all. After the morning

announcements, he does the calendar and his lesson for the day. I found out that his students are

more alert in the morning than in the afternoon. Mr. Caldwell had me working with some of the

students on tracing their names and letters while he had some of the other students working on

their shapes.
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While working with the kids, I learned that there are some positive and negative things

about teaching a special education class. One of the bad things about teaching a ECC class would

be that some of the kids might have accidents and you would have to clean them up, but with me

being a mom already it doesn’t bother me one bit. Another down fall would be getting slapped in

the face, hair pulling or even biting, but this doesn’t happen all the time just when they are in a

bad mood and don’t get their way. Yes, there can be some outburst from time to time but what

classroom doesn’t have theirs ups and down. Mr. Caldwell has his own way on disciplining his

students and it works. Just because these kids are special does not mean you don’t punish them

for their wrong doing. I loved the way Mr. Caldwell reward his students when they complete

their assignment, he lets them get on the computers or tablets and if the child does not do his or

her work they must sit there until they finish.

Another thing I notice about Mr. Caldwell’s teaching is that he always seemed to get the

class attention when he was talking. They would most of the time stop what they were doing and

look at him when he was explaining on what they will be doing next. I also notice how each

student would just run up to him and give him hugs and kisses not just to him, but to the aides as

well that helps in his classroom. I’ve also notice that he is using a verity way of teaching his

class not just through one method. I kind of guess you have to since you are working with a

group of different kinds of kids, because not all ECC kids are the same.

After observing Mark Caldwell’s class this semester, it has open my eyes even more on

why I want to become a special education teacher. I couldn’t have asked for a better teacher to

work under. I have enjoyed every second of my time in the ECC class this semester and I hope

someday I can have a class just like Mark Caldwell’s.

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