Today I braved my third day of training and walked out three hours later feeling as though I had just earned a colored karate belt. While yesterday I learned about simple blocks and defensive moves that will help me protect myself should a ten year old ever become aggressive, today I learned holds and maneuvers to use in order to keep any child from hurting him/herself or anyone else. Anyway, it was a little exhausting and very overwhelming. If I thought I was stepping out of my comfort zone yesterday, today I was forced to get to know my fellow trainees in a whole new way, whether I liked it or not (they're all very nice people, of course).
Well, before I knew it, I was being put into positions in which I lost all control of my body. Strangely enough, I was extremely glad we were forced to do this because it gave me a better idea of how the students subject to our CPI training will feel. I have never before had a better understanding of how helpless it feels to have a disability or be subject to restraint. It was eye-opening to say the very least.
After three hours, we had been shown over 10 different ways to hold, transport, and restrain people of varying heights, strengths, and abilities. Needless to say, I felt a bit overwhelmed as I walked out of that class (with my CPI certificate pending, based on the results of a pencil and paper exam-- crazy, right?) knowing that I would be responsible for completing these restraint techniques if the moment should ever arise.
Well, that completed the third day of my training for student teaching. I left the room, my head swimming with maneuvers and CPI keywords, and walked into the Elim cafeteria feeling lost and out of place to find my cooperating teacher. I was told that my class had lunch at that time and was sent to find them with ultimately no direction or help. Anyway, I finally ended up in the right classroom, found my teacher, and ate lunch with her as we talked about the basics of the classroom.
Then, I met my students. There are seven of them; most are nonverbal, three are in wheelchairs, and all have varying disabilities and levels of cognition. After being introduced, I sat in the back of the room and observed the classroom, my teacher, the paras, the behavior specialists, speech pathologist, other therapists, and the resulting organized chaos of a typical Wednesday afternoon. So, as I sat, I began collecting the essential preliminary information that I need to know about these seven wonderful middle school kids -- bathroom schedules, communication devices, behavior difficulties, preferred activities, feeding needs, corresponding paraprofessionals, etc.
Essentially, as I climbed into my (family's) van at 4:03 today, I began discarding just about every assumption about what this semester would entail for me. I had made predictions about my responsibilities, curriculum, students, Elim, and just about everything else, but none of it seemed to apply to my situation anymore. While I was frustrated about this at first, I began to think about the possibilities and opportunities that God has carefully arranged for my spring semester at Trinity ultimately coming to the realization that I am blessed beyond belief to have been given this placement at this school with this teacher.
It's going to be a blast.
And I'm going to learn a ton. And I'm going to try to enjoy every single minute of it.
Aquí vamos!
Lindsay! I wanted to check how your first week went. You're so right about throwing your assumptions out of the window. I can't wait to hear about all that you learned during your CPI training. That's really valuable information and practice that I'm sure you will be able to put to use in any special ed classroom. Although it's a lot of information to take in at one time, you may be glad you were trained once you find yourself in a situation when you can use what you've learned. I want to hear more about your placement and, of course, all about your trip to Italia! Bienvenidos a la escuela de Elim! Oh wait...that's Spanish. Was I close to Italian?
ReplyDeleteLindsay,
ReplyDeleteI did not realize you had three days of a workshop on restraining children. WOW! I never had that and yet it seems quite useful in your setting. Your's and Molly's setting seem quite similar and it will be fun to compare experiences. You will be amazed on how your perceptions will change as your students become much more than their disability but a whole person. As I told Molly, look for that spark of goodness in each of them. As that spark meets the spark in you, you will find the joy that comes from working with special needs students. This does not come through language but through the Holy Spirit. There's a word for that: Namaste. God bless you in your experiences at Elim.