For the SST program there are two levels:
Level 1- Students can meet the standards-- need support to do that-- extra time, take tests in SST, lessen amount of work/homework (15 problems instead of 25), etc.(Accommodations)
Level 2- Students need a different goal, and their goal is changed-- they have pull-out to work on additional instruction, or possibly alternate classes.
Student plans come with a contract that parent's have to sign in order for students to receive those services-- they also pay a fee to receive SST services. It is a contractual agreement with parent, teacher, and the school.
*** Side-note-- The student plan consists of 1-3 pages-- The first page is the history of the student's academic testing done by the SST Teacher or school psychologist (which is in Santo Domingo 2 hours away). The 2nd page has 3 sections of accommodation for the Classroom, Homework, and Testing. 2nd/3rd page is the signature by the classroom teacher to adhere to the agreement.
There are 650 students at SCS and 7% are the SST population.
At SCS, the ESL population is 90%. In order to qualify for ESL services, they go through the process of observation, collecting data, testing (department made testing + the WIDA-ACCESS testing-- results are compared to other SCS students, not other ESL students in the states), conference with parents/teachers. There is also a fee for these services.
There are 4 levels in ESL:
Level 1- Monitoring-- monitor grades, communicate with parent's about progress
Level 2- Support- in-class remediation strategies, support in/out 2 times a week
Level 3- Coaching- individual organization/study skills, support 3 times a week
Level 4- Instructing- one on one instruction, direct support meeting with student, support 4-5 days a week (as needed), conference with parents to discuss student's progress.
I got to meet with Mandi Pharis-- who is the High School SST teacher, and also the SST coordinator (my supervisor)-- I have more details as to what I will be doing -- I will have 1st-3rd grade students-- My first job as soon as school starts (or maybe sooner, I'm not sure) will be to get my students' contracts signed by their parent's. It is a very relational culture, so it won't be "send the contract in the backpack home and have them sign it." (Which is what I'm used to) Parent's will come in and talk with you and sign them. Thankfully, either Mandi or Stacey, my principal will be able to help with those.
I know I'll be teaching Wilson Phonics, a Visualize/Verbalize program (can't remember the exact name of the program), and maybe a Visualize/Verbalize Math program. The IT assistant came and got my computer set up, so I can now use my computer-- his English was very limited-- but we managed to communicate ok. Much of the Maintenance staff only speak Spanish, so it may be a bit challenging to communicate with them!
Today and tomorrow we have a former SCS teacher here (from Michigan) teaching about SIOP (Sheltered Instructional Observational Protocol)-- A framework to work with ESL/ELL students. When I was at Lakin (High Plains) we had quite a bit of training on SIOP, but it has been five years since I have used any of the information (thus there is quite a bit I've forgotten, but it's a good refresher), and Kathy our presenter, has done a wonderful job of making the information user-friendly.
My classroom-- I'm still in the very early process of getting it ready!! Monday is when the returning teachers will come back. We got our bus schedule, and we get picked up at 6:40. Some teachers get picked up as early as 5:50!-- to get everyone to school by at least 7:00.
Yesterday, Sheila (who is so wonderful at offering to drive us around, and taking us places), the Middle School principal, took a group of us to the La Sirena downtown. It is an absolutely huge store, with two stories and an escalator! The first floor is groceries, and the second story is clothes, household goods, etc. You could spend a lot of time in the store-- twice as big as a Wal-Mart!
Our maid Murielle came yesterday, and we can't seem to get the system down! (The week before, we didn't have a scrub brush, and she didn't see our rags, so she borrowed them from Darlene) We have a wonderful neighbor Darlene that we left the key with, for Murielle to pick up. Kyla and I had a gone to Baillon the day before to get it copied, and evidently, one of the keys didn't work. So Darlene called Max, the SCS maintenance guy, to come and bring a key to let her in-- and she didn't get started till after 9. We have a washing machine, but it is not working right, so she was using Darlene's machine-- taking our wash over to her place, and then hanging it up at our place. We just got a key to our roof the day before (which has a very pretty view), where we can hang wash (but Murielle didn't have the key)-- we had a clothes line hung in our apt, but its very small-- so she borrowed a clothes hanger from Darlene-- we have a porch area, but I guess we're not supposed to hang it there. We got home from La Sirena I think after 5, and she was there (which usually she's not). Hopefully next week will be a bit more smoother! I put a ticket in for maintenance to look at our washer, so I'm praying that something will be able to done with it.
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