Reflection Paper On The Classroom

Inclusion can be defined as the act of being present at regular education classes with the support and services needed to successfully achieve educational goals. Inclusion in the scholastic environment benefits both the disabled student and the non-disabled student in obtaining better life skills. By including all students as much as possible in general or regular education classes all students can learn to work cooperatively, learn to work with different kinds of people, and learn how to help people in tasks. “As Stainback, Stainback, East, and Sapon-Shevin (1994) have noted, ‘...the goal of inclusion in schools is to create a world in which all people are knowledgeable about and supportive of all other

This movie, The Classroom, which was very interesting to watch, discusses all that goes on in the school system, the good and the bad. But it also shows how things at home can affect the way the student acts during the school day. This movie definitely makes you look at students that act out differently, instead of punishing them maybe we should all look deeper into the issue and find a way for the student to thrive and use school as an outlet.

I completed my inclusion/diversity field experience at the Isanti Intermediate School/School for all Seasons in Isanti, MN. I was able to complete my 15 hour observation in a special education classroom. The classroom consisted of one special education teacher and multiple instructional assistants. The special education teacher taught kindergarten through 5th grade students’ social skills, math, and reading. In her social skills she currently has three 1st grade students and the topic was about stranger danger. She has as three kindergarten students, two first grade students, three third grade students, six fourth grade students, and three fifth grade students who came in throughout the day for both math and reading instruction. She also has multiple students’ come in and out for additional help with homework throughout the day. Also, one student

For the month of March, I’ve had the pleasures of observing a second grade inclusion class. The class was made up of 25 students: two inclusion students, two at risk students and four students with IEP’s. I observed the students during reading, writing and math.

The education teacher had us pick where we wanted to observe. I choose to observe Special Education at a Middle school. I decided on Special Education because I am use to people being different. Doing the lab for the education class it gave me a revelation that I love these students. From observing them it clarified for me that I enjoy the students with special needs and wanted to help them find their way and to encourage them to enjoy school and

In this scholarly article, one teacher’s opinion on the use of inclusion is given. She talked about how inclusion isn’t always best for every student in all situations. She talked about many of her classroom experiences over the last 20 years and has seen many students fail and thrive in the inclusive environment. The author of this article talked about the benefits of inclusion and how it helps students socially and makes them feel included, but inclusion isn’t always best for student with more severe disabilities. She also pointed out that she taught inclusion at the highest levels was more difficult to do classes being broken down into subjects. The article made many good points about always doing what is best for all students and having

The second article, “A Team-Based Junior High School Inclusion Program,” (1997) looks at a research study that was performed to determine the reactions of parents to the ideas of the inclusion program. The parents of 17 students with learning disabilities and 1 with a behavior disorder were interviewed after their children were in the first year in the junior high inclusion program. For the majority, the parents felt that this was a positive program and believed that it should continue. They believed that being in a mainstream setting, the students had an increased self-esteem and a highly positive overall outcome. This research, done in central Utah, through grades 7, 8, and 9, believed that one approach to restructuring the regular education classroom for students with disabilities is to collaborate the ideas and practices of both the regular and special education teachers. This is a routine action that is focused on in the full inclusion program.

In this study, inclusion was not solely about the inclusion of a single child or children with disabilities or SEN. Rather it was built on the belief that all should benefit from access to the same educational experience. An experience as this teacher says should enrich their lives,

S: Page 16 was mostly about things to expect in an inclusion classroom. The page first talked about how it is better if the inclusion class has a low child to teacher ratio because then the teacher or teachers in the classroom can better adjust to the needs of the students. Page 16 then talked about how there may be people, other than the teacher, that are in the inclusion classroom, such as paraeducators, volunteers, and related service professionals. The page talks about effective ways to work with the other people in the classroom, and how it is important to have communication, collaboration and respect for the other people in your classroom. The page also talked about how to have effective collaboration by having the staff, children, and their families support each other. The last thing the page talks about is how inclusion classes may have a lack of support through funding, tools, training, etc.

I observed and analyzed the design and delivery of an instructional unit in a Montessori school setting. I observed a classroom of grades 1-3 two times from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. at the Kennebec Montessori school. I was asked to sit quietly and to not interact with the children so I could get a realistic view of the class day and the children would pursue their chosen work.

It is really amazing how excited students get with the possiblity of using the computer in the classroom to assist them with their lesson. The teacher added that she uses it as a reward system, stating how affective it is in maintaining order and control in the classroom. Students knew how to navigate, go to various websites that were related to the lesson and create a folder in which to put their assignments in.

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.

Walking into the first two weeks of the EDU program I desired to experience what it would be like to be a future educator and have a grasp of how to help the molding of our youth and giving them the possibility to become future leaders. Doctor dresser was able to bring in a Concordia alumni who had just begun to experience his professional education, career and is teaching multiple different grade levels as a young teacher. When he first walked into the classroom my first impressions were that unfortunately he looked very inexperienced and unsure of what was to be expected of the lecture I thought to myself in the position of a younger student in his classroom this is a person I would not take seriously. He then proceeded to communicate

As I spend more time in the classroom each week, I find myself realizing more and more about my personal feelings on classroom management. When I compare my opinions and feelings on classroom management, I see connections between my beliefs and those represented by all three of the behavioral theorists we have been studying; Lee Canter, Linda Albert, and Alfie Kohn. While each of these theorists have varying opinions on how to manage students, I feel that they all have important points that should be included in a successful classroom management plan.

This reflection paper addresses as a student and counseling professional how I feel as though I have been readily prepared to teach in higher education and areas, concepts, strategies, and thoughts on how I have evolved through this course. This course has made me think more into how the most powerful, durable, and effective agents of educational change are not the policy makers, the curriculum developers or even the education authorities themselves; they are the teachers. It further contends that the quality of the educational changes that teachers have the skills and opportunities to effect will only be as reliable and proficient as the teachers’ individual capacities for reflective practice and the development of self-knowledge (Stepien, 1999). These aspects of teacher development have, historically, been largely overlooked in the preparation and promotion of effective teachers. The emphasis has been more explicitly focused on the development and demonstration of teachers’ understanding of content knowledge and the associated pedagogies and in their capacities to understand their students as individual constructors of knowledge in diverse social contexts (Bosworth, 1999).