Britton Macon Area Learning Journal Sample

Ms. Foster teaches a self-contained classroom of ninth to twelfth graders. Her students have mild to moderate cognitive disabilities and one student is considered autistic although at a high functioning level. Ms. Foster’s students move to other settings throughout the day, but they receive reading and writing instruction from her. She has one child who is considered ESOL but he has been in the US since he was small and does not appear to have problems with English.

In this case, a self-contained program or special school may be considered. Some individuals believe that inclusion settings may leave teachers with lacking resources, training and other supports necessary to teach students with disabilities in their classrooms. Tornillo 1994, believes that a student with extensive needs placed in an inclusion setting are not getting appropriate, specialized attention and care, and the regular students’ education is disrupted constantly. Tornillo 1994, also argues that teachers are required to direct excessive attention to a few students, thereby decreasing the amount of time and energy dissected towards the rest of the class. Therefore, the mandates for greater academic accountability and achievement are unable to be met. Mauro 2009 indicates placement in a self-contained classroom or special school means that the child would be removed from the general school population for all academic subjects to work in a controlled setting with a specialized teacher. Students in self-contained programs or special schools may be working at all different levels, with different textbooks, and different curricula. Self-contained classes and special schools offer structure, routine, and appropriate expectations according to Mauro 2009. Additionally, full inclusive models do not account for students who are unable to learn from a typical model of instruction. For example, a Deaf student who is unable to lip-read would require a full time interpreter and

In public schools across the United States, students with special needs are placed in self-contained and resource classrooms in an attempt to facilitate effective teaching and learning practices. However, for some students, the physical placement of self-contained classrooms in and of itself is cause for concern and can impede the learning process (Jones & Hensley, 2012). When students feel isolated or stigmatized by their school environment, their confidence and self-determination levels can be negatively impacted, thereby, diminishing academic progress.

My observation for the spring semester was placed at Pine Richland High School. I was able to watch over John Dolphin’s twelfth grade British literature course. John Dolphin has been teaching at Pine Richland for the past eighteen years. I went to observe his class three times. Two out of three of those visits I was able to be at the school all day long to really get the feel of the way it is like to be at the school all day and seeing the difference of his eight classes. Throughout my time there I learned different strategies on how to keep the students involved, the way that a school of this size is ran, and the difference of how John taught compared to my previous observation teacher.

Room 213 is located in Lillington-Shawtown Elementary School (LSES), a diverse and mid-sized school located in the Harnett county seat of Lillington, North Carolina. A classroom of five students with moderate disabilities, this EC self-contained setting is spacious and well-organized to address the needs of the four boys and one girl who are taught by Ms. Hatcher and assisted by Ms. Parrish and Ms. Roper. Most of the students are either 4th or 5th graders, half of whom are returning for their second year with Ms. Hatcher; there is also one student who is currently homebound who may be joining the class in September pending the results of upcoming conferences. The students’ classifications include autism and intellectual disability- moderate and per the county’s designation the classroom is listed as an Autism Self-Contained classroom. All of the students received additional support from the school’s occupational and speech therapists and half of the class receives additional support services from the school’s physical therapist. All students are provided transportation services as well.

Journal one of the Westminster College class EDU 562 Field Experience was related to observation and participation with a first grade classroom, on Monday, January 4, 2016. Upon arrival the class teacher provided instructions to assist in the set up of the classroom January calendar, make a graph of the lunch choices, and to pass out morning work for the students to complete as they arrived in the classroom. At 8:30 a.m. the teacher welcomed most of the students with excitement as they entered the room. She informed the students in detail and repeated the routine and morning arrival instructions. Once everyone arrived, the teacher rang a bell which symbolized it

This year I had the prestigious honor of being in Ms. Brown’s class, and let me tell you, it was anything but normal. Ms. Brown’s cheerfulness (and maybe a bit of messiness) really helped me realize that teachers actually have lives. They’re not just some robots who are only activated to teach, and then turned off when the class leaves, as much as we might think they are.

Finally the self-quiz which I think is the best way to measure how much have you learned during the week.

One student that is on the autism spectrum may be completely different than another student on the spectrum. Even though the disability is the same, they may be completely different, learn in different ways, and learn better in different environments. Students with a disability that is more mild or moderate may find a better fit in regular classrooms with a regular educator. They may have a skill set that is very similar to other peers in the classroom, but they may or may need accommodations to benefit them in the classroom. Many of these accommodations are easy to provide by the educator.

Spending time in Ms. Gibson’s 1st grade class at Birney Elementary School in the Long Beach Unified School District presented many fascinating learning opportunities. Prior to my experience at this school, review of the STAR report and the School Accountability Report provided interesting background information on the school. While background information set a certain expectation at a school level, it did not offer any insight into my classroom experience. Consequently, I did not have any expectations on what I would learn by working with an experienced educator. Even though I did not have any specific expectations, I did learn a few tips on classroom management and teaching that I plan to take forward. Additionally, my early fieldwork experience assisted in helping me discover my weakest areas in respect to teaching, to focus on in my education.

Today was my first day in Mrs. Ferguson’s first grade class at North Mahaska. When I arrived the students were not in the classroom yet so I talked to Mrs. Ferguson about my schedule for the semester. She said that today I could sit in the back and observe. I was a little disappointed because I did not feel a warm welcome like I have with my other observation experiences. Once the students arrived, they began their bell work where they practiced writing their name. I was surprised by this since the students are in first grade and should not have to practice writing their name.

II. Schools with inclusion in the class rooms offer students with disabilities an option to integrate into general class rooms with someone with pull out authority. .

On December 4, 2015 we observed the class for which we developed this response plan. Our main objective was to observe the setup of the classroom as well as the different instructional tools the teacher used to enhance her teaching. In addition, we wanted to see what strategies the teacher implemented to help the ELL and autistic students and see if they were similar to what had in our plan. Upon arriving, we observed that the teacher, Ms. Schmitt, had a large classroom with enough space for groups of students to work together. At the front of the classroom, was the teacher’s desk with a smart board behind it. Several other white boards filled the rest of the wall space. The board on the left was used mostly for instructional purposes while the two on the right were filled with vocabulary and important announcements such as upcoming tests dates. The extra space allowed the teacher to interact with all the students individually. Also, we noted that the teacher had placed the ELL students near the front of the room where she could easily help them or ask them to help each other. The students on the Autism spectrum where located near the back of the classroom where they had more room to work with their aids. However, none of these students were completely isolated from the teacher or rest of the class. Rather all of the students were able to easily interact with one another.

For my fieldwork experience, I went to a school called Hartvigsen. Hartvigsen is a wonderful school that specializes in providing an individual with success, courage, and growth. They create a special rehabilitation program to fit the needs for each student. They believe in caring and sharing to contribute to a positive environment and a team is built on the cooperative efforts of individuals. The dates I shadowed were January 24th, 31st, February 7th, and 14th. Hartvigsen has 16 classrooms; 6 elementary, 6 secondary, and 4 post high. The school has more than 200 students that regularly attend each day. The age groups range from 5 to 22 years old and there were several diagnoses that are common, but the three I saw the most were Autism, Down

Only one of my students has accommodations because he has a rare case of autism. During stations he does moby max, which is a website that helps every core subject. And test them after they finish a subject. Mrs. Mosley works with him one on one during stations with word cards. And when I’m there we go over worksheets the other students are