In the previous memo, I mentioned there is a student who has “special needs” in my observed classroom. He seems “obsessed” with the teacher assistant because he always want to stayed with the TA which made him cannot participate in daily class activities. Moreover, when the TA left the classroom or did her own things, this student drove crazy and kept yelling and calling her name to seek her attention.
On my last visit, I was a little late and the class has begun. When I entered the classroom, I could feel there is something different than previous visit. I saw that student was running in the classroom and kept calling TA’s name loudly. Mrs. Smythe asked him to stop and he refused and kept running and yelling. At that time, the teacher assistant became extremely angry and he yelled to that student that go fit on the chair. Mrs. Smythe asked TA to ignore it, then TA got up and asked Mrs. Smyth she needs a break and she left the classroom. When she came back I asked her whether she was ok or not, she said she is fine, there are a lot of things happened in the morning and this “special needs” just kept pushing her.
My first thought when I heard her explanation was I feel the same just like her. A bunch of students cried in the morning which required her to take care of her. She was tired because experienced that. Then she felt the pressure from this “special needs” students, the loud yelling and obsession made her crazy. Then, when I rethink her reaction, I felt like what she did, the yelling, was very unprofessional as an teacher assistant. That students’ behavior was cannot be properly controlled because of his “special needs”. His obsession has became a established fact and cannot be changed by Mrs. Smythe and Ms. Miguel. They can not do something to fulfill student’s “special needs” because they have to take care other students in the classroom. Besides, they were not taken related training about how to deal with this kinds of “special needs”. Although they tried their best to take care this students, Mrs. Miguel did misbehave in the classroom. She could avoid yelling to this student in the classroom because this student cannot able to control his “obsession”. Moreover, when she yelling to this student, other students were watching this. The yelling may impact other students who do not have “special needs”. Her yelling may made other students afraid of her and have a nightmare at night because her loud voice and angry attitude. These students are too young to accept many things, her yelling may sacred others and create some chain reactions by other students. She should control herself properly even face the “obsession” of that student.
According to Neito (2017), “Yolanda was working as a paraprofessional with students with special needs… Many other educations, she says, believe students such as hers ‘are the troubled kids, the kids that are not going to go anywhere in life, the kids that are going to end up in jail or dead” (pp. 205). I cannot say that student with “special needs” will going to end up in jail or dead, because he is too young and his life path is still long. It is too early to define this student. However, I am seeing that both teachers are losing patience to him, which is pathetic. From the TA yelling to him, I could see that this students is breaking down the teacher assistant. From these visits, at first both teachers could patiently talked to him and asked him to behave properly. Right now, they just want to ignore his so called crazy behaviors and focused on other “normal” students, that was pathetic.
This student’s behaviors create series event. First would be the teacher’s reaction. Teachers were patient and willing to help them, at the end teachers are losing patient and they had no ideas about what to do with him and how to do with him. Besides, his behaviors also interrupt the whole classroom. When he was yelling and calling TA’s name, other students paid their attention to him and stop to listen to teachers. His behavior broke some class activities. Right now the semester goes to the end, teachers and students can have a break on winter. What are they going to do with this student on next semester? I don’t know. I think they really should have a conversation with his parents to talk about his plan of next semester to figure out the best way for him.
Reference
Nieto, Sonia. Language, Culture, and Teaching : Critical Perspectives, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.tc.idm.oclc.org/lib/teacherscollege-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5015631.