The hours I spent at St. Mary-Basha Catholic School brought many new experiences, one of which was working with an exceptional learner. I went into the classroom knowing that I was going to be interacting with an exceptional student, but I was a little uncertain at what I should expect. As I walked into the classroom for the first time, I thought to myself, “How should I act? What should I say?”  In all of the classes I had ever done service learning in, I had never encountered an exceptional learner. Or had I? After introducing myself to my mentor teacher, I sat down to observe and tried my hardest to find some kind of clue or sign as to who the exceptional learner was. I made my speculations and thought I had figured out who the special needs child was, when suddenly Mrs. Baker* pointed to a child who I had not even considered and said to me, “And that little boy over there, is Hunter*, the exceptional learner.” After I left the classroom that day, I realized that any of the number of students I had ever interacted with could have been exceptional learners.

 The hours I spent working with Hunter taught me so much about exceptional learners. The most important thing I learned, however, was just how normal these children can be. Just by looking at Hunter, I never would have imagined he was a special needs child. With the exception of his specialized tests, he was totally normal in his interactions with his peers and the teacher. During assignments, he was just as focused and hardworking as the children that surrounded him. Mrs. Baker treated him the same as everyone else, and I think that really helped Hunter feel like there was nothing exceptional about him and that made his accommodations a little less obvious class.

One of the most interesting things I learned about exceptionality in the classroom is that a good teacher goes out of his or her way to accommodate a special needs child. Mrs. Baker was wonderful at making accommodations for Hunter. Hunter’s learning disability prevented him from taking tests himself. He had memory and reading problems and therefore needed all his tests read to him. Mrs. Baker seemed to always be prepared beforehand and she did a wonderful job of testing the class at the same time she tested Hunter. She also created special multiple choice tests for him to make the whole process a lot simpler and less stressful for him. She was always willing to give him extra time on anything he needed and cut down work for him to make a difficult work load easier to bear.

In addition to accommodations, I also learned that patience and compassion are always a necessity when working with exceptional students. Special needs students carry a difficult burden. Life for them is not easy, and teachers should remember that. Encouraging words and a genuine interest in their wellbeing is a must, if teachers want their exceptional learners to succeed. Teachers should remember to be discreet when it comes to other students, because a lot of times, exceptional learners are very self conscious about their disabilities and can feel very discouraged and belittled when those disabilities are pointed out in front of their peers.

Another important thing I learned about exceptional students while I was at St. Mary’s was that good communication with parents is vital. Mrs. Baker e-mailed Hunter’s parents daily to report anything at all—a good deed, difficulty with a worksheet—anything. In addition, Mrs. Baker had weekly meetings with Hunter’s parents to keep them updated on his progress in the class. She called them regularly and wrote notes on Hunter’s homework that made it easy for them to help him. Mrs. Baker also kept a file in which she made notes to herself about Hunter’s improvements and setbacks. Also contained in that file, was a copy of Hunter’s IEP which she referenced frequently to make sure she was meeting her goals. As a way to keep track of her communication with Hunter’s parents, Mrs. Baker kept every single note and e-mail from his parents, to use as future references when meeting with them. I was very impressed with the time she put in to helping Hunter succeed in the fourth grade.

All in all, the experience I had at St. Mary-Basha really helped me to open my eyes to the exceptionalities of learners in our schools today. Through my interactions with Hunter, I learned that I am very capable of teaching exceptional learners. The hesitance I felt when I walked into the classroom that first day was erased and replaced with a desire to help a little boy who was just as brilliant as his peers. Working with Hunter taught me that I am capable of being a good teacher to exceptional learners. I no longer feel apprehensive about teaching special needs children. On the contrary, I am looking forward to working with exceptional learners in future service learning experiences and in my own classroom one day.