2K1: Typical and atypical human growth and development.
To determine the growth rate of each certified student, progress monitoring is done informally on a daily basis, and more formally on a monthly basis. After the second formal progress monitoring assessments, it became clear which students were learning and on track to meet their IEP goals, and which were developing more slowly. Fourteen of our students were on track, but one was making little to no growth. The lack of progress my MT and I saw with this one student did not mean the student was doing something wrong, but rather than we as teachers needed to find a new way to help him learn. In our very first class meeting we discussed many different needs of struggling learners and among these was for that student to have a teacher who is committed, flexible, and willing to address his or her individual needs. In thinking of this, I had to change the way I taught this student so that he could receive instruction that worked best for his learning needs.
2K2: Educational implications of characteristics of various exceptionalities.
The most challenging, yet beneficial part of my internship thus far as been differentiating instruction for each of my students in the learning center. Although some of them have the same primary certification, they are all unique in their educational needs and characteristics. As a result, instruction and assessment must reflect that uniqueness in order to provide each student with a meaningful and effective education. A phrase from class that wound itself into all academic content areas is, "We want to teach according to how students learn." Throughout the semester, I got to know my students better and understand their unique strengths as learners with exceptionalities. In part, this made my job easier, but it also made it much more challenging at times when I had to accommodate five students in five different ways. However, realizing what instructional strategies work best for each student made their own learning a much less stressful and much more rewarding experience for those children.
2K5: Similarities and differences of individuals with and without exceptional learning needs.
Several of the students I work with on a daily basis, both certified and not, show attention difficulties that need to be addressed both in and outside of the general education classroom. For my third grader special education students, we push into the regular classrooms during math two days a week so that our certified students can receive some instruction in general education setting. While co-teaching in that setting I was able to offer support to general education students that showed attention difficulties as well by using some of the strategies I learned in CEP 802A. Color coating, highlighting, and visual cues became helpful instructional strategies that could be used with both special education and general education students who showed similar difficulties in math class.
2K6: Similarities and differences among individuals with exceptional learning needs
Although we pull small groups based on grade level, instruction is differentiated in those small groups to fit the learning needs of each student. For example, in our first grade reading group we have five students who receive PALS reading instruction that targets specific reading skills. While some students are progressing at the appropriate rate as we move through the scope and sequence of the reading intervention, others need repeated instruction with the previous days activities. To accommodate for the different learning needs of each student we differentiate the instruction so that each student can master a targeted skill before moving onto the next sequence of letters. The ways in which I differentiate my reading instruction follows a similar procedure as the C-R-A model in Allsopp's text. In this model, math instruction starts at a concrete level that builds to more abstract, high levels of thinking as the students becomes more skillful with the concept. Similarly, in reading I want students to master more basic concepts of reading before moving on to the more difficult, demanding concepts.
To determine the growth rate of each certified student, progress monitoring is done informally on a daily basis, and more formally on a monthly basis. After the second formal progress monitoring assessments, it became clear which students were learning and on track to meet their IEP goals, and which were developing more slowly. Fourteen of our students were on track, but one was making little to no growth. The lack of progress my MT and I saw with this one student did not mean the student was doing something wrong, but rather than we as teachers needed to find a new way to help him learn. In our very first class meeting we discussed many different needs of struggling learners and among these was for that student to have a teacher who is committed, flexible, and willing to address his or her individual needs. In thinking of this, I had to change the way I taught this student so that he could receive instruction that worked best for his learning needs.
2K2: Educational implications of characteristics of various exceptionalities.
The most challenging, yet beneficial part of my internship thus far as been differentiating instruction for each of my students in the learning center. Although some of them have the same primary certification, they are all unique in their educational needs and characteristics. As a result, instruction and assessment must reflect that uniqueness in order to provide each student with a meaningful and effective education. A phrase from class that wound itself into all academic content areas is, "We want to teach according to how students learn." Throughout the semester, I got to know my students better and understand their unique strengths as learners with exceptionalities. In part, this made my job easier, but it also made it much more challenging at times when I had to accommodate five students in five different ways. However, realizing what instructional strategies work best for each student made their own learning a much less stressful and much more rewarding experience for those children.
2K5: Similarities and differences of individuals with and without exceptional learning needs.
Several of the students I work with on a daily basis, both certified and not, show attention difficulties that need to be addressed both in and outside of the general education classroom. For my third grader special education students, we push into the regular classrooms during math two days a week so that our certified students can receive some instruction in general education setting. While co-teaching in that setting I was able to offer support to general education students that showed attention difficulties as well by using some of the strategies I learned in CEP 802A. Color coating, highlighting, and visual cues became helpful instructional strategies that could be used with both special education and general education students who showed similar difficulties in math class.
2K6: Similarities and differences among individuals with exceptional learning needs
Although we pull small groups based on grade level, instruction is differentiated in those small groups to fit the learning needs of each student. For example, in our first grade reading group we have five students who receive PALS reading instruction that targets specific reading skills. While some students are progressing at the appropriate rate as we move through the scope and sequence of the reading intervention, others need repeated instruction with the previous days activities. To accommodate for the different learning needs of each student we differentiate the instruction so that each student can master a targeted skill before moving onto the next sequence of letters. The ways in which I differentiate my reading instruction follows a similar procedure as the C-R-A model in Allsopp's text. In this model, math instruction starts at a concrete level that builds to more abstract, high levels of thinking as the students becomes more skillful with the concept. Similarly, in reading I want students to master more basic concepts of reading before moving on to the more difficult, demanding concepts.