Special Needs Classroom: Field Experience

Special Needs Classroom: High School Experience (Names changed)

8:25am: I was not able to observe Tim’s class today, so I was able to go to Mrs. Campbell’s classroom instead. Erin is a health and physical education teacher, so I found it very interesting to see how she works with students with special needs in an interactive environment. Her first class was health, and it was in a classroom setting. The topic that she was teaching was sexual education, and she had guest speakers in the classroom that day. In her health education classroom, she had 3 students who were diagnosed with learning disorders, and one with ADHD. Throughout the class, the students were extremely excited about the topic of sexual education, but Erin had strategized before the class in preparation for her student’s reactions, and had the classroom re-arranged in semi-circular shape, so that all of the students had an up-close view of the speaker and her demonstrations, and felt like an integral part of the classroom. There weren’t any aides in this particular classroom, although all of the students had IEP’s. When one of the students became overly excited and spoke out of turn, Erin was very patient, and reminded him of the importance of the topic, and why it was not a joke. Her strategy, to convey the importance of the topic to the students, seemed like a very integral aspect to their learning. In order for the students to remain on task, they needed constant reminders and guidance, and overall, her classroom management skills provided for a successful learning experience for the students with learning disabilities, and the students within the regular classroom.

After class, Erin also showed me some of her modified tests that she uses for some of her students who are on IEP’s, and are in need of modified testing. These tests included information pertinent to the lesson, while not providing too much confusing information for the student. One of the tests, for example, only had two choices, (a or b), in lieu of the regular classroom test (a, b, c, d). She also stated that she provides advanced notification to the sides about an upcoming test, and often provides the test to them in advance as well as study guides. She told me that she learned that it was important to not let these students fall behind, and that working with the aides was very important.

9:25am: It was time for Erin to teach physical education, so we headed over to the gym to prepare for her lesson, which was badmitton. While I am not studying to become a physical education teacher, I learned a great deal about human behavior and students with special needs from her classroom. I observed several classes throughout the day, and learned many things from Erin, by observing her. The most important thing that I picked up on was classroom management and preparation. I learned that Erin is a very organized educator, and that her preparation was the reason that many of the incidents that could have caused a distraction to the learning process were averted. For the class today, Erin was continuing a badmitton tournament, in which the students participated in a round robin game.

During this particular morning class, a boy named John (not the same as listed before) came to gym class and was not dressed to participate. John had been diagnosed with ADHD, and, although he was not lacking academically, he had behavioral and organizational problems. Erin explained to me that John was on a MFE, which she described as a precursor to the IEP. She asked John where his clothes for gym were and he replied that he did not know, and she reminded him that she would have to deduct points off his grade for the day because he was not dressed. This was important to John, because he was on a rewards system, where he was allowed to participate in other activities (as opposed to study hall) if his grades were good. Throughout the day, I noticed that this was a common theme at this particular school. The students were allowed to skip study hall and participate in an activity that they liked, as a teacher’s helper, if their grades were good. I found this system to be very effective, as I witnessed several students throughout the day either asking about their grades, or coming to Erin and asking to be a helper.

There was also another student named Anthony who had been diagnosed with ADHD. Every class, Anthony refused to change his clothes for gym. Unlike John, he was forgetful. Anthony did not like to change his clothes around the other boys in the locker room, and instead made it a point to always wear his everyday clothing. Erin informed me that she had previously spoken with some of the male faculty to see if arrangements could be made to make Anthony more comfortable, (provide him with a private place to change, etc.), but Anthony refused every time. She said that the result was that he always wore whatever he wanted, and had points taken off. At this point in time, she stated that parental intervention had not helped, and that she was actively thinking about something that would be rewarding enough to help Anthony want to dress for gym.

Erin pointed out that there were a couple of other students who were on IEP’s in the classroom for various learning disorders, but the class had no major incidents. It seems as if the physical activity helped the students to focus on the task as hand and provide them with a positive environment, while releasing some of the stress from sitting still in a classroom all day. I believe that a regular classroom may be able to implement some of these strategies by allowing the students with a few minutes each class to talk and stretch, before diving into the lesson, so that the student’s minds are relaxed and ready to process information.

10:25am: Erin’s second gym class for the day. Her lesson plan was to continue the badmitton tournament, and again, she had a few students who were on IEP’s in her class. I had never previously realized the prevalence of learning disorders and ADHD in the classroom, and looking back to my school years, I realize that diagnosis has come a long way. When I was growing up, a lot of these students would have been labeled as “problem students” and written off, and today, parents, teachers, and faculty actively work with the students to resolve some of their behavioral and mental disabilities, which help the students to remain focused. During this class, there was a student named Ryan who was a helper in the classroom. Ryan was on an IEP for learning disabilities, and Erin’s gym class was one of his rewards. Every week, for a couple of times a week, he participated in the gym activities and helped her with the set-up and clean-up of the activities. She explained to me that after speaking with some of Ryan’s other teachers, she had learned that he was able to focus better after physical activity. Ryan was very kind and helpful, and worked well with Erin and the other students.

There was also a student named Taveon, who was always late for class and never turned in any of his work. Taveon was assigned a caseworker, who was in constant contact with the teachers about Taveon’s progress. Erin stated that he did not have an IEP yet, and that the caseworker had been assigned to assist with behavioral intervention and planning the best course of action. Throughout the class, Taveon was distracted, and often attempted to get my attention by his over-exaggerated behavior. Erin explained that at this point in time, it was important to ignore his actions. She stated that drawing attention to Taveon, even if it were to correct his behavior, only caused further behavioral outbursts.

11:25am: The next class came in, and Erin pointed out a student named Glenn, who had a chest malformation. As a result, he had a limited range of motion, and could not participate in badmitton for the day. Instead of excluding him, Erin had him assist with scorekeeping and refereeing the games, so that he was still an active participant in the classroom. She informed me that he had been given special provisions and extra time when dressing for gym, and that she always had him actively participating in some sort of activity when his range of motion would not allow him to participate in the regular activity. As a result, Glenn has a sense of empowerment, because he was in charge of scorekeeping and refereeing, and the other students were extremely kind to him, and did not make fun of him because of his disability. In this classroom, there was also a small girl named Gerle, who was noticeably shorter than the other students. Gerle was diagnosed with a learning disorder, and had some problems with socialization. She and her family had immigrated from Africa, so there were cultural barriers as well. Gerle was allowed to wear her traditional African attire, but had to wear shorts under her skirt while in gym class. This demonstrated cultural sensitivity, while meeting the needs of the classroom. Erin explained to me that Gerle often needed extra attention, not because she caused a distraction, but because she often did not understand what to do. At the beginning of class, Erin asked the students to gather in groups of four for a warm up exercise, and all of the other students had gathered, while Gerle stood alone in the middle of the gym. Erin walked over to her and placed her in a group of classmates, who readily accepted her. She explained to me that, in her experience, the regular classroom students were often very accepting of the students with special needs, and were empathetic to their disabilities. Gerle learned by actively participating in the activities with her peers, and from observing the activities of those around her. Erin told me that her progress since the beginning of the semester has been exponential.

12:25am: This was the last badmitton class of the day, and again, the competition continued. John, the same student from Tim’s class the day before, had an aide with him, and came dressed for class, as well as a student names Ryan. While John had been diagnosed with autism, Ryan had a physical disability that was pending diagnosis. He was affected with a physical disability similar to parkinson’s disease, where he often shook, and his fine motor skills were lacking. As a result, he was not able to write or utilize fine motor skills, and was given assistive technology in the classroom to help him type and take tests. For the physical education class, he was able to participate in badmitton, as it required gross motor skill usage in lieu of fine motor skills. John participated as well, along with the help of his aide, and he was quite good at badmitton. Upon observation, one would not have noticed that he had a disability, based on his physical abilities. Erin explained to me that it had taken time for the aide to explain the rules at the beginning of the week’s lesson, but that after the initial explanation, only small adjustments needed to be made throughout the lesson.

Overall, I learned a lot from Mrs. Campbell’s classroom. She stressed the importance of classroom management and pre-set protocol establishment. She explained to me that all of her students knew what to expect each day, and that they had the same routine at the beginning of class. She also utilized music as a classroom management tool (for example, when the music stopped, the students were to stop what they were doing and listen), and a whistle as an attention grabber. In her health education classroom, when she stood at the front of the class and raised her hand the students knew that they were to stop what they were doing and listen to her. These strategies worked for the regular classroom students as well as the students with disabilities.