In the field of Education there are many things that a teacher is involved in and should do in and out of their classrooms. Without teachers, the children of the world may not have room to grow and learn. Many things come into play for a teacher such as lessons plans. They also put in extra hours that may be over looked by parents or even students. As a student going into Elementary Education, having the chance to observe in classrooms is an amazing opportunity. Gives the chance to see how different teachers incorporate different methods into their class, how well the students may or may not be engaged, how well the class is managed, how well communication is played in the class, and how the students are assessed.
In the classrooms that I observed in there were students with special needs. Students who have special needs are just as important as those who may not have special needs and the other way around. A teacher should not favor a student that has as special need over one who does not have one. I feel that the teachers I observed did a job of including those with special needs very well, the students were not treated any differently than any of the other students. Although the students did leave several times to go see other teachers throughout the day. Both teachers did big and small group activities. Bigger group activities included leaning about water ways, mountains and plateaus in Social Studies, or even re-teaching about greater numbers in expanded and standard
Throughout my life, I feel as though I have had many encounters with special education. Growing up, my grandmothers close friend had a daughter that had down syndrome. She was extremely sweet and loved company. Her parents had six other children who were grown and lived on their own. However, she lived at home with her parents her whole life. In elementary school, I do not remember many encounters with special education students. I do remember some kids being taken out of my class for part of the day, but that was my only experience during that time.
A stereotype that is often associated with special education is that its only for students with a severe disability. Special Education is for all disabled children no matter how severe or the need for the special education services. This stereotype often leads faculty and others to misclassify or inappropriately place students in a special education program. Another stereotype is that special education can only be performed in a “special” classroom with other students with a disability. Being placed in special education doesn’t mean that the student needs to be restricted from the other students without a disability. Children with a disability should be educated in general education classrooms with typical peers as much as possible. As teachers,
In today’s world there are more and more children coming into the general education classes having a disability. More general education teachers have to take on a bigger responsibility than what they signed up for, but that is part of being a teacher. I feel as long as the teachers collaborate with each other they will be putting the student’s needs first.
I have been a teacher of students with special needs for the last couple of years in alternative settings. The students I like best tend to be the most challenging both behaviorally and academically. Success can be more apparent, yet at times there is frustration. I feel I am good at it, but need to learn more. Most importantly I love teaching kids with special challenges. The key is to be creative and keep trying.
My personal philosophy of special education drives not from teaching in the field, but from, observations, and personal experience, and the workshops I attended. I have had the opportunity to work with individuals with special needs in many different settings, all this help cultivate my knowledge in handling the needs of the special needed student. Special needs students have the ability to learn, to function, to grow, and most importantly to succeed. The difference comes into how they learn or how they need to be taught. There are as many beliefs about the "hows" as there are teachers and each of us forms our own philosophy through our experiences and research. As a student in a special education teachers’ program, learners with
Children with special needs are welcomed by the community. Special needs children are integrated in the same classrooms as other children, giving them the sense of normality. Various learning centers throughout Weslaco provide preschool children with
Some people may think that special education has been established since the beginning of public education. Others may consider a time when special education did not exist and students with disabilities were not able to attend school. The truth is, there was a time when this happened; these students were not allowed to be educated in the general education classroom alongside their peers. People with disabilities were treated differently, and some were forced into institutions because teachers and staff found them to be disturbances to their peers. Luckily, special education has come a long way since public education began. People, especially parents, advocated for their children, and today many laws are in place to ensure that all children
However, public schools have become the punching bag for special education students as the growing percentage of these students has put a hardship on other students, educators, and school districts overall. There is no correct answer for solving the issue of social injustice for this group of students. Although, districts, families, and students can take the time to communicate and understand the plans that are in place to make all students feel welcome in a classroom. It all starts with one student motivation, and one educator that can see that motivation and act on
As a paraprofessional, it can at difficult, stressful, and complicating at times. The reason why I say this is because our duties vary from day to day activities, as I can relate to it. One of the major objectives during a day is that I have to remind the general education teacher that inclusion is the best way for my students to learn. It is essential to have a structured system of order, and this means that all students should receive the same expectations in a classroom regardless of a disability. My personal thoughts of inclusion are very similar to majority of teachers. It means to me that students with disabilities will be enrolled in general education classrooms, not just that, but the individual expectations should be similar to other
We need to adjust the classroom with hands on materials that are in reach for the child and fit their specific developmental aspects. Most importantly, we need to make sure they are included in the classroom and treated like the other students. This will help them social, emotionally, and physically. By having children with special needs in the classroom with those of general education, this allows the teacher to get training on ways to teach to all of the children and help them feel like one. Instead of pushing children with special needs off and into another classroom, it is important to keep them with the other children and allow them to grow and learn along with others. Teachers need to remember different approaches, time frames, and be flexible. Everyone learns differently and we need to be patient and understanding of the diversity among the students. The first and most important thing though is to make sure that the child is being seen by a professional or even having an aid in the classroom with them, this provides extra hands and different teaching approaches, to assure that all of the children are
Elementary school teachers ' beliefs and perceptions about the inclusion of children with special needs in their classrooms. Journal of International Special Needs Education.
Growing up in a private school I was not exposed to what the special education system is and what the purpose of this system was. I did have family members who were apart of this special education system but I never looked at them any differently than anybody else. When I graduated, and began my high school education at a public-school I was exposed firsthand of this special education system. In high school I was happy to engage and interact with children in the special education system. Arts and crafts, and board games were activating that many students including myself played with children in the special education system. I have learned that even though these children are put into a different education system than many others they are still human. They are a wide variety of
Berry, the most challenging areas of special education are the times where you have to deal with so many kinds of disability each and every day. And the worst of the worse is facing the moments of lack of support. Sometimes if the school is facing financial deficits it goes on backs of the district teachers. The teachers’ salary cuts down and there is nothing they can do about it. I think that the most challenging area is the lack of support, which Mrs. Berry mentioned to me first. Teachers should have more attention and care from the government and school districts. It’s a very hard moment to think and see how unsupported you are when helping hundreds of students get educated to change the world later after you allow them to graduate and let them move on. Also, the teacher will be dealing with so many stressful students who just can’t get the idea that is trying to be understood by them. Or somethings the students just don’t want to learn and it’s the teachers’ job to make them learn no matter what are the reasons after all. I think that this is a very challenging situation when having to come up with a way that you can attract students in your learning. And not any students but special students where everything is harder than normal. We should not forget the behavior disability students, because when dealing with these students the job doubles. The first job is to control their behavior, and the second is to teach them what they are supposed to
Within the past decades and a big discussion has occurred regarding the most appropriate setting within which to provide education for students in special education. Although the change in the educational environment is significant for handicapped student the concepts of inclusion also bring up new issues for the regular education classroom teachers.
With every classroom you are able to see a dynamic between students and their teacher. It takes a strong teacher to really make everything accessible to all students including student with learning disabilities. The class that I watched was Christina Hilliker’s second grade. The disabilities that were part of this great dynamic were Downs, Autism, ADHD, auditory processing and behavior issues that cause learning difficulties.