Emma Firment

Lauren DePalma

R.K. Mellon Elementary

Life Skills (K-4)

2/29-3/3

I accomplished a lot during my four-day visit at R.K. Mellon Elementary. I chose to observe Mrs. Lauren DePalma’s Life Skills class. She currently has nine students in class. Out of the nine students, eight are on the autism spectrum. Out of those eight, six of the students have aids. The other student has medical issues that affect his ability to learn and concentrate.

I was happy to see that the Life Skills room is very student friendly. It is decorated with many sensory decorations such as mirrors, beanbags, and sparkly posters, large print rules and reminders, a large timer at the front of the room, and organized stations for different activities.

I not only observed the students, but I actively participated in class with them as well. I would help some students out with their bellwork assignments, participated in ‘circle time,’ attended ‘stations’ with them, and even taught a couple lessons. Although I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the lessons, it was also interesting to observe the Criterion Referenced Test being given, the Pennsylvania Alternative System of Assessment (PASA).

The PASA is a statewide alternate assessment designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities. It is intended for those who are unable to participate meaningfully in the PSSA, even with accommodations. It is also filmed, so the panel grading it can see whether or not the teacher prompted the student. The test is quite strict and scripted as to what the teacher is to tell the student taking the test. The student I observed (we will refer to her as ‘Faith’ for privacy purposes) was visually impaired and had cerebral palsy. Faith took the math and reading versions of the PASA, and was the first student I’ve ever observed who was happy about taking a test! Her aid informed me that math was her favorite subject, and it definitely showed while I was observing the math portion. She answered the questions with ease and performed well (attaining 100% accuracy). Faith also did well on the reading test, however this one took a bit longer and she seemed to get frustrated. Mrs. DePalma, Faith’s aid, and I knew she did well on the test, but they will not know the exact results until the panel reviews the videos.

After observing a statewide test, I asked Mrs. DePalma about her own assessments she gives. As far as grading goes, some students aren’t graded on work, only on their IEP goals. Some students are graded daily though, depending on their disability. Mrs. DePalma, although would prefer to use a mastery based system, uses point system because that is what the school district goes by. She stated that a mastery-based system would be more efficient to communicate to parents and you can effectively show data to back it up. I agree with her on this, and can definitely see myself implementing (or doing my best to do so) a system like this in my future classroom.

Mrs. DePalma gives summative assessments every Friday. Each assessment is different and correlates with what the student is learning that week, focusing on one subject at a time. She uses the results to help her plan what the students should work on for the following week.

She also keeps a very open line of communication with the parents. Everyday, a folder goes home with them that includes worksheets done in class and notes from the teachers and aids. The parents are to read through the folder and sign a sheet in it and send it back with the student to school the next day. The parents can also add notes of their own if they wish.

Overall, I really liked what I observed in the Life Skills class. I could see myself using a lot of the tactics that Mrs. DePalma does in her class, whether I am teaching in a music classroom or special education room. A couple of these tactics include individualized instruction and weekly summative assessments. I believe that it is important for an educator to teach to individual students; especially they are struggling in the class. This doesn’t mean that all of the teacher’s focus has to be on the one student however. Pairing them with a buddy who may have already mastered the concept could be a big help too. This way, both students are being acknowledged and have access to all the help they can get. I also liked Mrs. DePalma’s weekly summative assessments. Giving weekly assessments and conducting ongoing assessments in general help the students and the teacher. The student knows what they need to work on and the teacher knows what they need to change/improve in their lessons and strategies for the next week.