General Education Classroom

Victoria Dickerson is a second year teacher at Carolina High School teaching in the Self-Contained special education classroom. Victoria’s expectations for her students are high and she often uses innovative techniques which include project-based learning strategies. Her students are always solving real world problems that will not only prepare them for work but provides them with the necessary life skills they need to be productive after high school. The students in the classroom range from being low-functioning intellectually disabled students to students how are on the middle school level in reading and are categorized as learning disabled. Even with the population she serves, she still challenges her students to be excellent. During

The author performed two separate interviews face-to-face, selecting two individuals with different backgrounds in order to obtain unique perspectives. The first interviewee, named Jennifer Hodge, works for Allen ISD as a special education teacher for a self-contained DEAR (Developing Early Academics Readiness) class for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. In addition, her experience includes teaching for 22 years, with seven of those years teaching students with disabilities in both self-contained classrooms along with resource and inclusion environments. The meeting to discuss psychoeducational testing occurred in Jennifer’s work place during her conference period over a 45 minute period on Friday, August 28, 2015. The second

Originally, he started working as a High School social studies teacher. A typical workday for Mr. Studnicka includes coming in contact with 50-60 kids. As a special education teacher, he spends his time re-writing test, quizzes, and assignments for those who need it. There are many challenges that come with Mr. Studnicka’s line of work. One of the hardest parts of his job was switching from a normal

Some students need to pay for college through loans but they do not mind because it is an investment. If a student is undecided about their major, then I feel a university ought to have a general ed plan set up, so they can range over and find what they are interested in through the numerous classes available. General ed classes should not be required but should be available for students who know their career path and wish acquire a knowledge in different areas. When a recent college graduate is applying for a job, I highly doubt that employers ask about their classes pertaining outside of their major, therefore, college students should be required to only take courses within their major because it allows for students to save money, the stress, and will ultimately allow the student to focus on taking classes that are only relevant to their future profession.

Collaboration in the world of education has become an increasingly popular method of addressing a variety of school issues, such as curriculum design, behavioral plans, professional development and management of resources. One of the areas in which collaboration is becoming more popular is co-teaching in special education, where special education teachers and general education teachers share the planning and instruction responsibilities for inclusion classrooms (Friend & Cook, 2010). As academic standards for the education of students with disabilities are held to the same standards as their typical peers due to the No Child Left Behind Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the co-teaching model has been increasingly

The modern classroom has many challenges that face it. Shrinking budgets, less parental involvement, higher expectations, and growing class sizes, just to name a few. If this list was not daunting enough you also have the special needs students that have an array problems in your classroom that need specialized attention, lessons and seating. There are many forms of diverse learners from students who suffer from ADHD to physical disabilities to students with autism to ones that are bullied in school. There are so many things going on in our students lives we sometimes forget they have lives, pressures and disabilities that affect their performance and attitude in our class that have a profound impact on how they learn. For this paper I

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think” (Albert Einstein). There are different types of teachers or instructors, those who tell, those who coach, and those who mentor their students; just as there are different types of schools and classes. Each person chooses their path and education, either with or with or without support.

My philosophy of special education is a combination of my work experience as an inclusion teacher, personal life, my core values, and my learnings in graduate school. However, I know that my philosophy is in constant grow, as I progress in my career I plan to perfect my teaching, not only by doing the best practice, but by choosing what works best for my special education students. After all, they are the drive of my career and the power to my motor in my profession. The centerpiece of all human beings is education, without an education a person is set to struggle, to loose motivation, and to never reach their full potential among other things.

The progress in the general education curriculum is broken down in a few parts. The general education curriculum is to be taught to non-disabled students, and IDEA requires students with disabilities be involved to the maximum magnitude which is appropriate for each student individually. All students, including those with disabilities, will participate in the general education curriculum and will meet certain standards in that curriculum. Three practices or laws of progress in the general education curriculum can be defined: progress toward IEP goals, which is required by federal law, participation in State district-wide assessments and establishment of state level performance goals and indicators.

Special education teachers are trained to work with children who have a wide range of disabilities. One of the primary responsibilities of a special education teacher is to assess her students' cognitive abilities, and modifies the standard age-appropriate curriculum to create a custom plan for the student. This plan is called an individual education program(IEP). An IEP often includes a number of social and emotional development goals as well as specific academic areas to be taught. The special education teacher’s core task is to meet each of the goals established in the students’ IEPs. In some cases, the special education teacher is located in a separate classroom. When this is the case the teacher will creates lessons geared to meet the objectives of the students’ IEPs. In many instances, special education students are placed in regular classrooms. In that situation, the special education teacher attends classes with her students. She often will work with students on life skills and behavior modification techniques as well. Skills that special educational teachers should possess include, better than average stress management, great multi-tasking abilities, quick thinking, and creative problem solving. A special education teacher must be able to think outside the box and develop an array of teaching methods and techniques to meet the needs of each individual student. Special education requires a vast amount of detailed record keeping, so it is essential for these teachers

In order to get a true understanding of teaching in an inclusion classroom, I was able to observe a fourth grade classroom at Village School in West Windsor, New Jersey. The general education teacher was Ms. Welsh and the special education teacher was Ms. Wilush. Ms. Welsh has been teaching for many years, while Ms. Wilush has only been teaching for two years. Each teacher brings with them different strategies, that together make a wonderful classroom dynamic. The students make up an average size fourth grade classroom of a little more than twenty, but there are three students who receive additional instruction from Ms. Wilush in a resource room throughout the day. During my observation, I was able to sit in on writing lessons and science lessons. There was a wide variety of students in the class with all different strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. Watching and learning from both teachers through observation and interview was an extremely valuable experience.

The key to any successful school district is the administration. Teachers essentially provide structure, organization, and the background of a child’s future. To educate students with learning disabilities, it is essential that the staff has the training and resources needed for the appropriate people, place, and time (Lazarus) (What is Inclusion, 2001, n.p). It is unrealistic to expect that regular education teachers will always be aware of the latest research or be able to readily adapt the school's

Orr (2009) conducted interviews with special education teachers and the attitudes they have seen in their schools since inclusion was implemented in their schools. Orr (2009) chose fifteen teachers, which included fourteen female and one male teacher who agreed to participate in the study so it was a purposive criterion sample. Twelve of the fifteen teachers taught in a suburban area, two in a rural area, and one in an urban area; but they varied in the age they taught and school. Seven of the fifteen teachers taught in a self-contained classroom while the remaining eight taught in a resource room, where they only saw a student for less than an hour or two a day. Another pattern that showed was that many teachers found that they did not receive any classes that focused on differentiation or inclusion while completing their undergraduate work (Orr 2009). These results are important when considering the implementation of inclusion because it may mean that there is a need to reteach teachers. It is important to consider professional development classes district-wide before implementing inclusion in the classroom.

My action research project was influenced by the national push towards inclusion of children with special needs into the general education classroom. Because our school was trying to adopt a co-teaching program, this was the area I did most of my research on. I found a multitude of studies that supported co-teaching and analyzed the effects of co-teaching on students, teachers and parents. I then researched the affects of a non-inclusive environment on all students. After witnessing how my students self-esteem had plummeted due to their specific grouping, I was not surprised to find research that supported the theory that students who are identified as having special needs will have lower self esteem and self worth. In a study done on students with special needs, all of them reported thinking they would be unable to attend mainstream classes because they did not feel they were successful learners based on their placement in special education (Griffiths, 2007). This study also revealed the children with special needs held fears that all adults would think of them as troublemakers because the classes they were in held a high majority of children with behavior problems (Griffiths, 2007). This study concentrates on students who attend schools for special needs. These students may feel more isolated than those who receive special services inside a mainstream school, but those who are evaluated or receive special education within a mainstream school show the

Before I began observing at Saginaw Preparatory Academy in Ms. Blazo’s classroom I knew I wanted to be a teacher, specifically for Special Education. I knew this because of a teacher that my sister had. Her name is Mrs. Uhrich and she teaches at the Transitions Center, which is an ISD school for people with special needs in Saginaw. My sister absolutely loved her during, and even after, her time in school. She would always come home and talk about her, and they kept in touch after my sister graduated. When my sister was on hospice, Mrs. Uhrich was at our house every day until my sister took her last breath. I thought it was incredible how much she cared for my sister and the bond that they shared. That moment helped me realize that I want to impact lives the way that she did for my sister. Observing in Ms. Blazo’s classroom only convinced me more that being a teacher is what I want to do with my life. Getting to know her students and seeing how she impacts them was truly inspiring. Her students loved her just as much as she loved them. I’ve discovered through observing Ms. Blazo that being a teacher is not an easy task. Sometimes there are students that do not allow themselves to advance, which I can imagine how frustrating it may be. I learned from her that the key is to never stop trying. There are students who do not have a stable home life and it reflects onto their school life but having a caring teacher can make all the difference. I witnessed this in Ms. Blazo’s