Zmba Classroom Observation Paper

So I work in an inclusion classroom containing 20 students. The classroom is a general education class which consist of children with disabilities and children without disabilities learn together. When I first started

Firstly, Mrs. Creech discusses meaningful inclusion. Students with disabilities will learn and a slower pace, and therefore they need follow a curriculum that meets their needs. When students are part of general education classes, it is important to evaluate the material that will be taught to the child during inclusion. Valuable lessons include: skills in self-care, communication and vocational goals. It is important to see the big picture for these children. We need to teach skills that are going to contribute to their independence as adults.

Students with disabilities need to be physically, programmatically, and interactionally included in classroom activities that have been planned by a qualified teacher in conjunction with support staff as needed.

This week I did both an interview and a small observation of my third grade host teacher's classroom. I was first able to interview my host teacher. Miss A does use many of the techniques for teaching words that were listed on my observation form. Specifically she uses crossword puzzles, dramatizing, word sorts, possible sentences and dictionaries. She also uses many techniques that are not listed on the observation sheet as well. She does a lot of repetition with her students. She has them right there words in rainbow colors, in vowels and consonants colors, in alphabetical order and many more that I didn't see. Miss a believes that " they are all useful for different students. Some students feel like crosswords are helpful and others feel like pictures are helpful" () I would completely agree with her statement in this regard. I do think it's good to have many different options for the many different students you have in your class. Miss a believed that there were a lot of benefits to wide reading. She make sure that the children are provided with a variety of texts especially her students who are ELL students. She mention specifically that it "helps build their schema for Content areas such as social studies and science and the vocabulary that goes with that."()

Inclusion, in the world of education, is an approach or teaching strategy that focuses on including students with disabilities in the general education setting. The goal of inclusion is to educate students who may struggle with a variety of disabilities. The views on inclusion differ. Some educators are very receptive to the ideals of inclusion and all that it in tells. “The teachers (a) had favorable views of the concept of inclusion; (b) differed in their efficacy in achieving successful inclusion, and (c) faced challenges in their inclusive practices” (Hodge, Ammah, Casebolt, LaMaster, Hersman, Samalot-Rivera, & Sato 2009, 402). Some educators believe that it takes away from student learning for the non-disabled student. Jana Kratochvílová states: teacher have to address the fundamental question: how to most effectively organize the learning process for a diverse community of pupils within the class and therefore he needs to think through the possibilities of internal differentiation in the organizational aspect” (Kratochvílová 2015, 640). It is true, not all students with disabilities can be included in a general education classroom successfully. The student’s placement may require reevaluation in order to help provide the student with the best opportunity to succeed. Reevaluating the staff and their level of understanding and education concerning inclusion may increase the changes for a student to be successful. The staff should not

The teacher needs to prepare students to be accepting of the special needs students by being honest about the nature of the child's disability and/or behavior difficulty. Although inclusion seems like a great idea that should be of some form of benefit for all involved, if not handled properly it can become a very stressful situation

KW the teacher I interviewed has been working with children with disabilities three out of her seven years of teaching. She told me just like how I am learning about inclusion she did too. While she learned about inclusion she said she do not remember spending much time on the subject. She said she learned about in about it in one class period. It was not until she actually in the classroom when she understood what that meant. I asked KW to rate herself on how well she does with inclusion. She said when she first started teaching children with disabilities she would have most likely gave herself a five but now she would give herself a 7. KW stated three years ago she was not terrible but she could have spent more time with other children in the class. Also she said that the child with the disability was attached to her and she would never push him to go interact with his classmates. Now, KB pushed the student she has now to interact with their classmates but she said that she still feels like she babies her.

As a middle school physical education instructor we are required to teach an inclusion physical education course, which is a combination of regular education students and exceptional education students. In our school there is a serious shortage of space and a lack of accommodations made for the inclusion students, reason being there is simply not enough time for instructing students with special needs and a shortage of equipment on hand. It is especially difficult to accommodate our wheelchair bound students. During instructional time I find myself simply forgetting to work with any exceptional education students because of the large class sizes of regular education students. I feel that I am culturally blinded to the fact that I am unable

Students with significant disabilities belong in their least restrictive environment. For some students, this is in an inclusive setting for select classes. Therefore, students in an inclusive setting, depending on the class and students’ individual abilities, is what is best for the student. As stated by McLeskey, Rosenberg, & Westling (2013), “Students with disabilities should be educated, to the maximum extent appropriate...and should be removed from a general education classroom only when the curriculum and instruction cannot be adapted to achieve satisfactory results” (p. 37). In the gym, we have a period where students with significant disabilities, along with two assistants, are included in all activities. These activities include basketball, kickball, and aerobic exercises. All of the students referred to have very different individual schedules. Some are out in the inclusive setting for multiple periods a day, where for a few, P.E. is their only inclusive setting for the day. In this inclusive setting, the students are able to feel successful and much like their general education peers. For instance, an algebra class, many of theses students would not be able to be as successful or feel a part of the classroom community.

For years children with special needs were ushered off to separate classes and schools. Children with special needs have the right to attend classes with their same aged peers in the same classroom with support. Students with special needs deserve the same opportunities they would have if circumstances were different. Inclusion gives those students with special needs the chance to be part of the community; able to form relationships outside of the family unit. All students benefit from inclusion; students with disabilities develop social skills and develop friendships while non-disabled students learn tolerance and acceptance.

Experiencing warm hospitality and working with Ms. Jackson allowed me to personalize the theories learned in class. Without direct exposure, reading the materials would not capture the essence of what the questionnaire on Day 1 asked about the level of knowledge we have regarding the course. While my understanding was minimal, there’s no doubt I can give a clear depiction of the past several months. I’m now able to say, inclusive education encompasses the following statement – every student with a disability deserves the right to belong and the right to feel embraced as individuals who are capable of learning and thriving in the same environments as peers without disabilities. Furthermore, inclusion does not only pertain to those with disabilities, but also involves groupings of people that do not fall within mainstream America. Therefore, societal barriers alienate types of people outlined in the first assignment regarding race, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, cultural variations (religion/language/country of origin), and social class. All of these categories reflect people who are ethnically and culturally marginalized.

The teacher can encourage this inclusion by teaching the students, parents, and other community members about negative stereotypical attitudes about students with disabilities by avoiding negative words, such as “disabled”, or “crippled”, or “handicapped” and to promote positive ideas about disabilities into class work, the student’s play time and other activities. To further ensure that the classroom is promoting equality for the child with the disability, the teacher should incorporate an inclusive curriculum mindset, by adapting the lessons, learning materials and classroom to suit the needs of all the different types of learners including the child with the disability within the classroom.

Inclusion is formally defined as an approach wherein students with special educational needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled student (Wikipedia). Which can be summed up as how a general education classroom will have students with disabilities either full time of eighty percent of the time. Ms. Smith’s definition of inclusion was that all diverse learners are supported in the classroom. She does not refer to it as for the children with or without disabilities but all the children. When asked more about inclusion Ms. Smith explains, “ you can meets the needs of all by using the needs of one.” Although, she does not formally have any disabled students in her classroom she uses

A lot of people do not agree with inclusion in classrooms. They say, “the disabled student might be disruptive” or “the other students might get upset when the teacher has to slow down for the disabled student.” All students have their right to an education, whether it be inclusive or not. If a student is disruptive, the teacher should be able to handle it. Although people think inclusion has many disadvantages, there are far more advantages and benefits for all students, teachers, families and even for communities. Since everyone can benefit from inclusion,  we as society should make schools and communities inclusive.

We acknowledged people with disabilities have the same human rights as other members of society, and that the United States government has a responsibility to facilitate the exercise of those rights. Excluding, children with disabilities from a regular classroom, denies these students access to equal education. “The goal of education is to help children reach their potential and become productive members of society.” To achieve this, some students with disabilities are now transitioning from a special classroom into a regular classroom. This process is called inclusion which means all students are welcomed by their schools in age-appropriate, regular classes and participate in all