Reflection for Inclusion of
Students with Special Needs EDUC 605
By
Sue Biewer
Artifact Description
This artifact was for a case study of a
student named Joe with a learning disability.
This case study allowed me to connect the theoretical to the
practical. I had to identify the student’s
learning needs and suggest appropriate instructional strategies and modify
materials for him.
Professional Growth
In this case study I learned to identify
signs of a learning disability by recognizing some deficits in reading,
writing, oral communications, vocabulary, technology and media, research. and
inquiry. I also had to identify signs of
behavioral weaknesses. I created a list
of adaptations I would make to problem content areas, process areas, and product
areas. Some ideas I came up with
are: books on tape, shorter times of
concentration, provide visuals, and present information in more than one way including
hands on activities, keeping Joe in class to promote peer acceptance, creating a
signal for Joe to take a break, shortening assignments and tests, and praising often
his successes. This class helped me to
understand that every child deserves the opportunity to learn in a safe
environment where they are valued as a person and feel like a contributing
factor in a classroom community.
Understanding and
Application of WI State Standards
Standard #2: The teacher understands how children learn
and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their
intellectual, social, and personal development.
Teachers know through studies that
children learn best in the least restrictive environment. They are also aware that children learn and
grow in different ways; therefore, the learning process needs to be differentiated
to accompany all the different learning styles.
By differentiating your curriculum you are respecting the multiple
intelligences of your class and engaging more students.
Building on prior knowledge is key
to retaining the information in the long run. That’s why pre-testing is important. Students have stages of development and
through understanding these stages you are better equipped to teach your class
because you understand child growth patterns.
Being a pre-k through sixth grade
teacher I believe my case study shows my ability to understand this growth
process by taking something familiar and applying it to a student with a
learning disability.
Standard #4 The teacher
plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the
community, and curriculum goals.
By using different learning
strategies you are able to develop lesson plans to engage all of your different
types of learners. Being aware that
students learn differently lets you provide several different learning opportunities
for each of your students. It engages
them and makes them excited to learn because they are leaning in a way that
interests them.
Using the differentiation strategies
we learned about is engaging for students and helps keep teachers engaged. Some of my favorites are tiered activities,
anchor activities, cubes, and learning menus.
The Case study shows my ability to adapt my lesson plans to meet the
needs of all students.
Impact on Student
Learning
If I had Joe in my classroom I could
impact his learning by doing the following:
creating lessons that center on his interests, creating lessons that
have some hands on activities for kinesthetic learners, having students learn
by doing, creating role playing activities, using manipulatives, and creating breaks when needed. Some of the
adaptations I learned about that would benefit Joe are books on tape, finding
books that Joe can read at his ability level, using graphic organizers to organize
his thoughts, and modifications to testing and assignments. I would then adjust modifications as I saw
necessary. By implementing some of these
adaptations I would impact Joe’s learning.
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