I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to do a job shadow at the Gengras center in West Hartford, CT. The Gengras center is located on campus of the University of Saint Joseph. I shadowed Kristen Sperandio-Mitera and her classroom of high-schoolers. Going into this experience I was very nervous, I was not sure how the students would react to me being there, which is out of their daily routine. I was also excited because I could see what it was really like to be a special education teacher. I knew that this experience would help me with a future career in special education.
During the job shadow, I witnessed how much set up the daily activities take. Mrs. Mitera had to set up each table with different activities all for her reading lesson. This was because some of her students were mute and pressed a button that played the recorded story in Mrs. Mitera’s voice. The Paraprofessionals in her classroom each worked at a different table that suited each students needs, while Mrs. Mitera bounced from table to table. When I first arrived the students were in their physical education class. Mrs. Mitera gave me some basic information on what to expect when the students get back and also what to do if a code blue or red should happen.
When the students came in some of them ignored the fact that I was there while others walked up to me and stared. One student came up to me about three times before waving hello. I knew it would be different for them having me in the room. I observed as Mrs. Mitera went over their schedule with them and started the reading activity. I mainly observed the lessons until the math lesson. During the math lesson, a student wanted me to sit next to him and help him work. They were given place-mat type cards with a number and a picture. They were also given a bag of matching pictures. The students had to read the card and place the correct number of the correct pictures on the card. An example would be “three red apples” and the student will have to find the apples, select three and place them on the card. At the near end of my experience another student wanted to listen to her favorite song, Willow Smith’s Whip my hair, and wanted me to dance with her. I also met the speech pathologist who works with different children one on one. She does many different activities with many of the children in the school. Overall it was a very good and eye opening experience.
Through this experience I learned how much patience, understanding, preparation and time this career takes. When speaking with some of the paraprofessionals they told me I was pretty young to know that I wanted to work in special education and that many of them went through other educational careers before going into special education. This made me think more about whether this was really what I wanted to do. I then started looking into the University of Saint Joseph a few months later and saw all of what they had to offer for that career field. I knew for a while that I wanted to work in special education but I wanted to study psychology. USJ had exactly what I was looking for, an Autism concentration within a psychology major. My experience at the Gengras center further affirmed my feelings towards special needs students and helped me to set a concrete foundation for what major I would like to pursue. I am very glad and thankful that I was given this opportunity.
During the job shadow, I witnessed how much set up the daily activities take. Mrs. Mitera had to set up each table with different activities all for her reading lesson. This was because some of her students were mute and pressed a button that played the recorded story in Mrs. Mitera’s voice. The Paraprofessionals in her classroom each worked at a different table that suited each students needs, while Mrs. Mitera bounced from table to table. When I first arrived the students were in their physical education class. Mrs. Mitera gave me some basic information on what to expect when the students get back and also what to do if a code blue or red should happen.
When the students came in some of them ignored the fact that I was there while others walked up to me and stared. One student came up to me about three times before waving hello. I knew it would be different for them having me in the room. I observed as Mrs. Mitera went over their schedule with them and started the reading activity. I mainly observed the lessons until the math lesson. During the math lesson, a student wanted me to sit next to him and help him work. They were given place-mat type cards with a number and a picture. They were also given a bag of matching pictures. The students had to read the card and place the correct number of the correct pictures on the card. An example would be “three red apples” and the student will have to find the apples, select three and place them on the card. At the near end of my experience another student wanted to listen to her favorite song, Willow Smith’s Whip my hair, and wanted me to dance with her. I also met the speech pathologist who works with different children one on one. She does many different activities with many of the children in the school. Overall it was a very good and eye opening experience.
Through this experience I learned how much patience, understanding, preparation and time this career takes. When speaking with some of the paraprofessionals they told me I was pretty young to know that I wanted to work in special education and that many of them went through other educational careers before going into special education. This made me think more about whether this was really what I wanted to do. I then started looking into the University of Saint Joseph a few months later and saw all of what they had to offer for that career field. I knew for a while that I wanted to work in special education but I wanted to study psychology. USJ had exactly what I was looking for, an Autism concentration within a psychology major. My experience at the Gengras center further affirmed my feelings towards special needs students and helped me to set a concrete foundation for what major I would like to pursue. I am very glad and thankful that I was given this opportunity.