Severely Multiply Handicapped, or SMH, teacher Robert Rhodes spends his days teaching about fractions, baking pies and playing dominoes; or at least that is what he was doing on November 21.
Rhodes works with three other paras to accommodate the four full time students in his room. Josie Miller, Billy Baker, Helen Somiari and Daniel Barnhill, all seniors. Miller, Somiari and Barnhill are all in wheelchairs and are not able to speak. Baker can walk on his own and communicate limitedly with short, simple words, but his eye sight is inhibited. Other, more higher functioning students will come and spend time in the room as well.
Rhodes says what he likes best about his job is the variety he gets.
“There is no day like the next day; they are all different. No matter how hard you plan, it is always changing, and that is the fun part.”
Morning:
At 8:20 a.m., Miller, Somiari and Barnhill are finishing up breakfast. Down the hallway in Music Therapy, Baker and another student from a different room are with two of the Music Therapists. They use songs to talk about days of the week, months and Thanksgiving food. Clapping is used during these songs and it seems to help Baker and the other student understand the song better. At 9 a.m. Music Therapy is over and Baker goes back to Rhodes’s room.
When he returns, Baker works with Braille shapes. These shapes help him learn how to use his sense of touch, rather than eyesight to work. In the corner of the room, there is a science experiment they are conducting. I also find out there are nine total Special Education rooms and that they are broken down into levels of severity. Rhodes’s room is the most severe.
Somiari returns from physical therapy in the pool. Baker, Barnhill and Miller all continue to work with their paras. They use things like the Braille blocks and block that teach fractions. When they have worked for awhile they get a break on the computer. In the room there is a refrigerator, microwave, and stove. On the whiteboard there is a schedule for each of them. Hanging from the ceiling there is a model of the solar system and diagrams of cells that they have made.
At the beginning of third hour Somiari, Barnhill and Miller go off to music therapy while Baker continues to work with braille blocks. Owen Phariss, Heather Whitman and Amanda Van Buren come in to work with Rhodes. Today, they work on measuring liquids. At 10:55 a.m. Somiari, Barnhill and Miller come back from Music Therapy. Owen, Heather and Amanda leave and the other four begin lunch. Baker is able to feed himself, but the other three require assistance.
Afternoon:
At the beginning of fifth hour, Baker has left for the rest of the afternoon to go work at Cottonwood, an organization that allows people who are handicapped to work. Somiari leaves to go to one of the other Special Ed rooms to work with other IPS students.
Senior Kyanne Hall and Social Studies teacher Cris Hunt are in the room to help Miller, Barnhill and Rhodes bake a sweet potato pie for their Thanksgiving feast the next day. Miller and Barnhill have tools that allow them to dump ingredients into a bowl at the push of a button. Miller uses her hand to push the button while Barnhill uses his head. They finish and put in the oven within the hour.
Hall and Hunt leave while Somiari returns from class. Phariss also comes back and a competitive game of dominoes ensues. The game is a lot of fun and there is a definite sense of wanting to win. Phariss wins the first game fairly quickly. However, the second game takes up the rest of the hour. With about five minutes left of sixth hour Phariss, Miller, Somiari, Baker and Barnhill put on their coats and head out to the buses.
The main thing that Rhodes wants people to know is that he and the other paras in room 118 are not babysitters. After spending a day in the room, this is extremely clear. The students are constantly working on things to help them learn. Not only do these students work during the day, they do it with a strong work ethic.