Day 1

So my first official day as Zack's teacher is over, and it was such a huge learning experience. When I met him this morning, I put my hand on his shoulder and introduced myself and welcomed him in. Poor little guy--if he hadn't had his paraprofessional with him, he would have been completely lost in the chaos. I wonder what it's like for him. . .all of the sounds of new students and their parents, the announcements going on in the background, and he can't see any of it. Once everyone was settled, we went on a tour of the school to learn about the proper behavior in certain areas. He likes to talk to his para (who wouldn't--he has someone with him all day), and I had to ask him to be quiet a few more times than the other kids. He is very respectful, though, and always responds to my redirections by correcting his behavior.
The other children were a little unsure of him at the beginning of the day, but after we returned from the tour to hear a story and play a name game, they were warming up to him. As we were reading the story, I started thinking about how much he was missing without the pictures. I'd try to describe every page to the whole class for his benefit, pointing out details and important pieces. I didn't know what else to do--I need to talk to his team to find out what they think about this. When we played the name game (the kids introduced themselves after a rhyme), I ran into a problem when I would point to a child we had already heard from and ask, "Who is this?" There was no way for him to know what I was doing, but his para would whisper in his ear where I was pointing. I tried to have them say "hello" before we said their name so he could have another chance to connect names to voices, but it was hard for the kids to understand what I was asking them to do. I gave up on it about half-way through as the kids starting getting antsy.
When we had our group discussion about the rules, I tried to repeatedly mention his name and include him. His team told me the more I could include him in the discussion the better, but I didn't want to include him significantly more than the other children. I was much more aware of trying to say every child's name at some point in the discussion to help them to stay engaged, and I think my work with Zack may help me to become more aware of my students' participation in discussions.
I became a little frustrated with myself today when I realized how often I tell my students to look at me or to put their eyes on me or to look over at something. I rely heavily on visual cues, and I am going to have to be proactive in order to correct this. I tried to say "point your body toward me" or "turn toward me" and to give exact locations instead of saying "over there" and pointing. We'll see. . .it will definitely be a learning process!
The adults in my classroom today were phenomenal, and it couldn't have gone better. Our previous meetings in which we discussed my role in Zack's discipline (I am to be the primary disciplinarian) and how important it is for me to treat him just like the other kids was really helpful. The vision team was so sweet and encouraging, and I think we will work well together. Their suggestions for adding braille to a few additional things around the room were great, and I'm anxious to meet with them to debrief about what I can work on.
The kids warmed up to Zack in the afternoon today when we were choosing the name for our time out / refocus area. He (possibly being a little bit clownish--he tends to like to get a laugh) suggested the name "The Egg," and the kids voted for his name by an overwhelming majority. I think they were excited for him that his name was the winner, and they seemed much more eager to sit with him at the carpet. I need to talk to the vision team about what to teach the kids when they interact with them. I told them today that they needed to tell him who they were when they sat next to him or came up and sat behind him so they wouldn't startle him if he didn't know they were there. They seemed to take to the idea just fine (and to understand the purpose of saying, "Hi Zack, my name is ____, and I'm sitting behind you." We'll see. . .I have so much to learn!