I am currently enrolled in the Post Baccaleaureate dual certification program, which will allow me to obtain certification in both General Special Education and Elementary Education once I have completed the program (my estimated date of completion will be Spring of 2009). The program is very flexible, as it is field-based, which is nice because it allows me to work while completing the coursework. I am working with a small group of students right now with math skills, and have had the opportunity to teach a unit to these sixth graders on place value and word problem solving. Most of the first few lessons were a review, but as we delve deeper into the content, the lessons are frequently more and more challenging for the students. I am looking forward to finally completing certification next year, and hopefully everything falls into place so that I can find a "home" right away with a grade I love, and a school I love! I am hoping also to find a "home" for my daughter, Kaitlyn, as she'll begin kindergarten next year, and it would be nice if we could find a school where we could enroll her in the program as well. We'll see, but I'm sure all of this hard work is going to pay off in the long run!
Here are some images of a completed poster that my sixth grade small math group did as part of a culminating project for a decimal rules unit. The pictures don't do it justice! The students had a lot of fun working on this, and it had some really cool interactive components to it.
