The class I will be working with is a fifth grade inclusion class at Bedford Elementary School. There are 18 students in the class, four of which are identified as needing special education services. I work in the afternoons, during the reading block, from 1:00 to 2:30 each day. The desks are set up in clusters of three. Technology in the class includes a document camera, which the teacher uses daily to present teacher modeling of new concepts being taught. There are also five laptops and two desktop computers. The first 30 minutes the teacher is doing a whole group lesson on a particular reading or language arts skill. At 1:30 the students break into three groups. One group works with a teacher, one group on the computers accessing Razkids, …show more content…
(An online reading program) or another computer related activity, and one group completing classwork. Only two students from this class will work with me in the small group.
Three students from another class join me for the small group session, making a total of five. Every 20 minutes the groups rotate, allowing each student an opportunity to work on the computers and complete classwork. When my group is finished I support the special education students with completing the class work. When entering the room all students appear to know what they are doing. The class is not quiet but has a low hum as the children are all busy doing various activities. They are a friendly group and it is common to see students helping each other. All students appear comfortable and confident in the class. The teacher is soft spoken and approachable. They are aware of my position in the class and one or two students that need assistance will often move to the back table as soon as I enter in order to get help with an assignment. Others will move to the back table even though they don’t need help. They like to sit in a small group where it is easier to ask questions if one …show more content…
arises. The reading groups are based on PALs scores.
The students in my group are reading at an oral reading level of 2nd/3rd grade. Comprehension is accurate at this level. Each student that I will be working with was given a Learning Style Assessment, an ‘I’ Graph to chart how well they feel they perform in certain areas, and a Learning Interest Survey. The ‘I’ Graph asked each student to create a bar graph, coloring each column to represent how they felt they were able to perform in each area. All five of the students indicated that reading was an area they needed to work on, though only one student felt she wasn’t good at it. Most of the students felt that they were good at reading but only if they worked hard. All the students indicated that they were more confident in Math, Science and History. Social activities like being a friend or singing were given higher scores by all the students. One of the students gave himself very low scores in all academic areas and only fair scores in the extracurricular. He is the lowest of my readers and the one that also receives day treatment services for behavioral difficulties. He does not have confidence in his abilities and approaches all activities carefully. He works better in a small group and it is in this setting that he shines. The students took this assessment very seriously and they gave a lot of thought to each response. All the students gave their highest scores to the question on how you rate yourself as a friend. I was pleased
with this response and a little saddened. The special needs students in my group have social difficulties. They struggle with creating and sustaining friendships with peers. They were also given an Interest Survey which required them to circle things that they enjoy. All the students indicated that they liked to think alone and daydream, taking care of animals and spending time on the computer. Everyone except one likes to argue or debate. Some of them indicated an enjoyment of music or working in a group. On the Learning Style assessment the students had different results. Two of them were Tactile, one was auditory, one was auditory/tactile and one was visual/tactile. My small group will need to be a variety of visual, auditory and kinesthetic activities. When observing the students in the classroom it was noted that focusing for extended periods of time is difficult. The rotating groups is beneficial for the kinesthetic learner. The students had indicated on the Learning Style assessments that people walking by them is more distracting to them than loud noises. Most of the students indicated that they like to figure things out for themselves rather than asking for help. This has been noted during the independent classwork session. One of the students has frustration issues and will often display disruptive behaviors when the work is too difficult. He indicated on his assessment that he will yell and scream when he is mad. When asked what he did when he was happy he replied that he never smiled. Though his responses on the survey were on the negative side it has been noted in the class that he will play and laugh appropriately. Careful planning for this group, using a variety of strategies, to avoid frustration and keep them motivated will be essential. Due to the variability of learning styles I will plan a balanced reading group where we will read, listen, play games as we work towards mastery of their IEP goals and 5th grade SOL benchmarks.
According to Stout (2001) the concept of inclusion can be differentiated into mainstreaming, inclusion and full inclusion each describing the amount of time special education students become part of a normal education classes. “Inclusion is a term which expresses the commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent possible, in the school and classroom he or she would otherwise attend” (definitions section, para. 2). This commitment is based on the belief that special needs students would profit from the regular classroom environment (Noll, 2014, p. 225). According to Stout (2001) research based evidence supports this belief as “Recent meta-analyses confirm a small to moderate beneficial effect of inclusion education on the academic and social outcome of special needs students” (Research section, para. 3). There are many who also believe that inclusion is good for the overall class as it can teach empathy, and “teaches us to think about we rather than I” (Sapon-Shevin, 2008, p227). There are others however, who feel that “Contrary to some egalitarians, a good society honors those who through intelligent good will, artistic talent, athletic prowess, or plain honest hard work make our lives better” (Carpenter, 2008, p.235) and therefore believe that it is ok to think of “I” and not we.
Moreover, I learned the act of administering an assessment of this nature in a one-on-one setting. As a future teacher, I will need to assess my students informally, formally, and quite frequently. This particular assessment was great practice. Something to consider is completing running records in a
The disabilities identified were Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Emotional Disturbance (ED), and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). The special education teacher began to interact with all of the students right as they entered the classroom and also while the teacher provided them with instruction. She was extremely personable and approachable. It was apparent that even though it was a three- week summer school session, she had established a connection with the students and, therefore, developed a learning bond in the process. The boys seemed to have a great bond as well, and they worked together to complete their assignments. There were also obvious interactions among the boys that were unrelated to the lesson but not disturbing or distracting to the class. The special education teacher jokingly came near the boys and began to talk to them and suggested they continue to work together to keep each other engaged. The special education teacher mentioned that there were times when the boys will not respond to encouraging them to stay engaged and will resist her advances. Therefore, she has to make the decision when to press on to get them involved and when to back off and give them some time with the hopes that they will
school placement (Gabel & Danforth, 2008, p.42). An approach to inclusion that The United States maintains is that the educational settings are based on each child’s individual case.
Establish workable relations with teachers either one-on-one, small group, or large group instruction or discussions.
Inclusion is one of the very controversial topics concerning the education of students in today's society. It is the effort to put children with disabilities into the general education classes. The main purpose is to ensure that every child receives the best education possible by placing them in the best learning environment possible. Inclusion is a very beneficial idea, supported by law that promotes a well-rounded education while also teaching acceptance of others.
In my classroom I will make sure that the children with special needs are benefiting from instruction. I will pair this student up with someone who is capable of helping. The student will be getting my instruction as well as help from one of their peers. I will be aware that this student is a learner with special needs and I will teach this student at a level in which he/she is comfortable. I will make sure I am aware of everything that I can about this student?s special needs. I will be in a tight contact with the student and his/her parent/guardian so I can be aware that they are working with him/her at home. If this isn?t the case then I will pair this student up with another student after school, with myself, or with someone else that would be willing to give this student extra time.
I will collaborate with the support staff in the building, families and plan daily activities to bring the vision of inclusion to my classrooms vision of success. I’ll lead small groups that are comprised of Special needs and general education students working to improve specific needs. When planning classroom duties all students will be assigned different jobs at the beginning of the week. Each student will be Special Student of the day at some point throughout the year. When Support Staff comes in the room to work with those in special education, they will pull general education students with prior approval in the group so that the special education student isn’t singled out. Every student in my r room will be included in sharing family activities with the class and take on the responsibility of line
Inclusion in classrooms is defined as combining students with disabilities and students without disabilities together in an educational environment. It provides all students with a better sense of belonging. They will enable friendships and evolve feelings of being a member of a diverse community (Bronson, 1999). Inclusion benefits students without disabilities by developing a sense of helping others and respecting other diverse people. By this, the students will build up an appreciation that everyone has unique yet wonderful abilities and personalities (Bronson, 1999). This will enhance their communication skills later in life. Inclusive classrooms provide students with disabilities a better education on the same level as their peers. Since all students would be in the same educational environment, they would follow the same curriculum and not separate ones based on their disability. The main element to a successful inclusive classroom, is the teachers effort to plan the curriculum to fit all students needs. Teachers must make sure that they are making the material challenging enough for students without special needs and understandable to students with special needs. Inclusive classrooms are beneficial to students with and without special needs.
As a teacher it is important if not crucial to create a safe learning environment for students, especially students with disabilities. Most schools implement many services that are available in order to support students with mild-extreme disabilities without excluding them from the other students. The ‘least restrictive environment’ (educational psychology for learning and teaching) is an environment that is close to what students without disabilities learn in. However, depending on the severity of the disability, after school classes or sessions may be required. Depending on the primary school year level, some students may not even be aware that their fellow peer has a disability if the student has not been singled out as being disabled. To engage behavioural or disabled students in learning a good strategy is to accompany the main teacher with a teacher aide. In a class of 25 or so students, one teacher is not able to get around to each student individually. One-on-one interaction with student and teacher is highly beneficial with certain students. So, by having a teacher aide in the classroom the main teacher can work with the students who are able to work more independently
As a new teacher preparing to embark upon what I hope will be a long-lasting, rewarding career in education, I want to create an inclusive, stimulating and collegial climate in my classroom. I plan to make sure that all my students feel valued, and contribute actively to the knowledge, interactions, learning and interests shared by the class. However, I appreciate that as a new, inexperienced teacher I could encounter or unintentionally create barriers that undermine my vision of an inclusive classroom. Although systems will operate in any school setting that can help or hinder inclusive practices, I believe it is my responsibility to ensure that every student in my care has high aspirations, and experiences success at school regardless of the school context.
One of the decisions that the teaching team took was to work with the same group of mixed ability children for the whole 4 weeks. This reassured the class teacher that all of the children knew who they would be working with, which helped the children to learn effectively. The children in each group became familiar with the member of staff from the teaching team who they would be working with very quickly, which was an important factor when ‘direct teaching’ took place. If the children were unsure of anything then they were able to ask their member of staff questions, which helped to clear any misconceptions that the children had. However, an issue that we were faced with was, having to divide a group of children up when a member of the teaching team was not in sc...
On October 25, 2016 I observed Mrs. Boer’s third grade classroom in Orange City Christian School. When I first arrived it was read aloud time, the teacher read aloud a story book while the students listened while working on unfinished work. After that they did a math lesson. When I looked around the class room I noticed it was set up in different sections, there is a project area, desk area, carpet area and a group table area. This set up allows for different types of work and even different types of group work. The classroom environment affects student motivation. From what I could tell the students in this grade three classroom are very independent and are motivated that way at the same time they also get quite a bit of guidance from Mrs.
As I reflect on my past assessment process, I realized how much my assessments have changed over the years. In my early years, I used tests for informational recall as my assessments. I felt these were appropriate guidelines in which I needed to follow in order to substantiate a student’s grade. Every assignment or tests was given a point value and then based on the amount of points, a grade was given. Every student’s assessment was exactly the same, and the assessments did not contain any subjectivity. I felt confident in giving the grade based on a valid point system. However reflecting back, I see that I did not include any performance-based assessments or individual learning styles in my early assessment. I also did not take into consideration the individual needs of my students. My assessment approach was awful. I am embarrassed that I use to assess students in this manner.
My classes' abilities range from high to very low. The highest of my students can read, speak in full descriptive sentences, respond creatively, and appropriately to thought provoking questions. Whereas, my lowest students know only a couple letters of the alphabet, have difficulty coming up with meaningful sentences and often answer questions with statements that have no bearing on the subject matter. My biggest challenge when planning for this period of instruction was to find a way to actively involve all of my students and offer success for everyone, regardless of skill level. I decided to have stations where 4 students, at a time, would be engaged in stimulating activities and where there would be very little "wait"...