The Exceptional Child
We know that every child learns differently, that being said we have to adapt our teaching to make sure every child meets their maximum potential and meet standards.
InTASC Standard #2
The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards (InTASC, 2013).
Description
In my class, The Exceptional Child, that I took during a summer semester we worked on several different situations that teachers are faced with and needed to respond to the parents' questions or requests accordingly regarding children with exceptional needs. I also created a visual aid to show diversity in cultures and what diversity looks like.
From this course, I have come to the understanding that communicating with parents that have exceptional children have to be handled differently. As well as how my teaching must be adapted so that every student can meet his or her maximized potential. I have learned the proper terminology when speaking to parents with children who have disabilities and also gifted children. The most important concept that I received from this course was how to adapt my classroom to fit every child’s needs and make it an inclusive environment. I knew when I have my own classroom that there would be children on the spectrum and from all different walks of life, but now I have realized there are strategies I can use to help improve their learning. For example, communicating with their parents to see what works best at home. Also before taking this course, I was under the assumption that teachers do most of the teaching in a child’s life, however in my case, this is not true. Parents are a child’s first teacher and when working with all children, but especially children with exceptional needs, the teacher and the parents need to be a team to figure out what is best for their child.
Analysis of what I Learned
Through the parental interaction and my visual aid artifacts, I have demonstrated my competence in Standard #2 by effectively coming up with ways to adapt my teaching for students with exceptional needs. Also by understanding what diversity in a classroom looks like and how I can encourage inclusive learning through providing books about every child's different lifestyles, and showing my students acceptance of their culture. In our assignments we received, we were given the opportunity to find ways to better a students’ education, find ways to track progress, find resources for parents, as well as realize what the students already know and where they need to be by the end of the year. I was given many examples and various situations that I needed to respond to, this gave me the opportunity to understand just a few of the situations I will find myself in and what I need to do in order to effectively communicate while still finding what was in the best interest for the child. Each child learns differently and I have now started to find more ways to meet those children’s educational needs. Vygotsky developed a sociocultural theory based on the idea that social interaction plays an active role in cognitive development. Through Vygotsky's theory I have realized that all social interactions can be very formative on a child so I want to make as many positive social interactions in my classroom as possible through inclusion.
Demonstration of my Competence
Response to guardian
"I thank you for contacting me with your questions regarding Nathan’s future education; the more we communicate with each other the more likely Nathan is to succeed in his schooling. Let me start our conversation by clarifying what LRE is, the acronym stands for Least Restrictive Environment. This means a student with a disability is educated with students without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate. We do this because the influence students have in each other’s learning is usually very positive and we never want to isolate students from being able to learn with, and from their classmates. However, when it comes to deciding Nathan’s LRE that depends on how severe his disability is. Nathan will be able to stay in my classroom as long as the additional aids and services are able to help his education and help us reach our goals that we will set for him. If you have any more questions about LRE I would gladly answer them. I have also included a source that can help you further understand LRE, it can be accessed through the Indiana Department of Education."
"When it comes to adapting my classroom to help Nathan excel with his special education needs as well as his high ability learning I can assure you that he has resources readily available to him. In the subject areas of mathematics and arts, I will not give him work that other students will receive, I will challenge him with deeper and more enriching content. I also believe that art is a great way for students to express themselves so I will start letting the students create what they please with little to no guidelines. By doing this I aspire to give Nathan an outlet to excel and not be held back by “do-what-is-on-that-board crafts”. In the areas that he will need more help in, depending on his IEP, there will be additional aids including extended time test taking options, opportunities to have tests scribed to aid in handwriting problems, and things of that nature."
Artifact Activity
My artifact for this course I decided to include excerpts from my parental interactions, letters that I wrote to parents on different situations.
Dear Mr./Mrs. _____
I believe my child, Michael, is not receiving the education he should be receiving in your classroom. I understand there is a student in your class who has special needs. I know the school has special education classes, so I do not understand why this student is in the same class as my child, who happens to be quite intelligent. I believe my child, Michael, is not receiving the education he should be receiving in your classroom. I understand there is a student in your class who has special needs. I know the school has special education classes, so I do not understand why this student is in the same class as my child, who happens to be quite intelligent.
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Sincerely,
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Mrs. Sample
Guardian Email
Email to parents
Janie is in your second grade class. She is struggling with the language arts subjects, organizational skills, and self-confidence. She seems to be doing at least average work in math. She has friends and seems to be fairly typical in other ways.
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You need to write an email to her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, explaining your concerns and offering them information about how Janie's situation can be addressed.
Gaurdian email
Dear Mr. Teacher,
You called me a few days ago to discuss Nathan’s progress with me. After our conversation I considered your input and I have a few questions. Will you please respond to my questions?
Then I will be better able to decide what should happen next.
Questions:
1.You mentioned that Nathan’s education evaluation has been completed and we will be meeting within a few days. I have received the results of those evaluations. It appears that Nathan will be eligible for special education services as a child with a specific learning disability, but that he also is eligible for the high ability program due to his strong math and artistic skills. How will his LRE be decided? I am not sure I fully understand what an LRE is, so maybe you should start with an explanation. But once I fully understand what it is, I am curious to know if Nathan will be staying in his current classroom. Please explain my options for Nathan.
2.You mentioned that we would be setting goals for Nathan. I want to participate in that process,but I need an example. I think if you can give me an example, I can have some goal ideas when I get to the conference.
3.What types of differentiation do you think will be used to meet his special needs and his high
quality needs?
Guardian Email
"The student with special needs in my classroom simply has different learning needs and a different way of learning. The student is able to fall under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is a program to help ensure that every student gets the education they have a right to. Students that receive this act have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). My superiors feel that I can teach and meet the needs of this student’s IEP and that is why they were placed in my classroom with your son. As apart of IDEA it also states that each student has a right to the Least Restrictive Environment; meaning that if a student does not need to be placed in a classroom with other special needs students than they should not be. Students with special needs often learn better watching their peers, so your son actually has a positive impact on this student’s learning. In our school we strive to make our classes an inclusive environment because we want to prep our students for how inclusive the real world truly is. Also, we want every student to feel like they bring something to our classroom that everyone can learn from, I value every one of my students' individually personalities. Your son is in an incredible learning situation with that particular student being in our classroom, this student could teach your son about different ways to learn and teach him different techniques to complete activities in the way that he/she does."
Response to Guardian
"I would be happy to meet with you to discuss what further options we have to help Jamie succeed in second grade. I have portfolios for every student to keep track of their progress; we can go through it together and create materials that may better suit her learning style. I also have office hours after school where I would be able to work with her one on one in math and review some English skills. If we feel like she still may need further assistance we can look into a Response to Intervention process where she is able to receive specialized instruction and her progress can be more closely monitored to ensure her academic growth. If we feel like the intervention process is not benefitting her to the full extent, we could have her evaluated and possibly create an Individualized Education Program. An Individualized Education Program, IEP, allows students too often receive separate work time, additional tutoring, and assistance if that is what the child needs. Even though these two programs sound similar we usually start off with Response to Intervention because the evaluation process can be costly. We have many different options to help Jamie excel, starting out with a meeting and going over her work is what I believe the first step should be. Following that we can either start off by more one-on-one teaching after school and try different forms of learning. I think that working more in groups could also help build her self-confidence as well as English and communication skills. If you feel like we should start off on working with a Response to Intervention we can begin that as well. Later on, if we do not see her progress where it should be then I can offer guidance to having her evaluated and IEP created. This is a process that I believe we should do together to stay on the same page and help her truly succeed in school. If you would like to learn more about the option of IEPs and Response to Intervention to free feel to review these websites. RTL Information IEP Information"
Response to guardian
