New Student Contributor: Caitlynn

When people first think about children with disabilities being placed in a typical classroom, they may have negative thoughts or think that it might affect the other students in that classroom negatively. People might even think that it is not possible. The real answer is that it is a great thing to happen for both the children with disabilities and the students that are in the typical classroom.

A great technique to use is an activity matrix. It sounds complex, but it is something any educator can use and can be used with any child. This technique gives the students a structure during the daily routine and what to expect. Each activity matrix is individualized to fit the needs of the student. This helps the students achieve goals that are set between them and the teacher. Other students do not even have to realize that the student has an activity matrix. The main thing for teachers to remember is to keep the students needs, interests, and cultural perspectives in mind when planning strategies to use to embed learning opportunities for children with disabilities.

Emma's Blog #2: How do you embed learning opportunities for children with disabilities in the typical activities of your K-3 classrooms?

I believe that it is very important to embed as many learning opportunities as you can for children with disabilities in the typical activities in K-3 classrooms. In my classroom, I do not have any children with severe disabilities. I do have a couple of students who are on IEPs and have a diagnosis of ADHD. For these students, I try very hard to give them learning opportunities in typical activities during the day. I work one-on-one with a student who has ADHD. We use a behavior checklist throughout individual activities to help him focus and stay on task. This has seemed to improve his motivation quite a bit. 

After giving him a few assessments to find out what he really struggles with, I thought of strategies to embed those learning opportunities throughout the day. His three biggest struggles are focus, writing conventions, and memorizing multiplication facts. In the morning when he comes in, I ask him about his night before we begin to start his day positively. I continue to talk to him throughout the day asking him questions to engage him.

 During transitions during the full day, I embed several multiplication facts as we walk to and from specials and lunch. During reading time, instead of telling him to turn to a specific page number, I will tell him to turn to the page that is the product of 9x3. This helps him stay focused and gives him the opportunity to practice those facts. To give him the opportunity to work on writing conventions, I incorporate several writing practices into the day. On some days, his morning work will involve writing and editing. Usually it is writing about something that interests him, so that he is more motivated to write. All of these strategies gives this student learning opportunities that will benefit him and help him grow. 

ECE Student Contributor: Kiersten's Blog #2

In the third grade classroom I am observing, the students, who have disabilities, are only in the classroom a couple times throughout the day.  The students come in for the beginning morning meeting and then leave until lunch and recess.  During morning meeting, we get into a circle and greet each other.  All our students love this because it usually includes some sort of mini-activity or game.  It’s a good way for our students to start the day and let out a little energy before we start.   

When our students with disabilities come back for special (art, gym, keyboarding, etc.), lunch and recess, they are again back into typical activities.  During specials, they have a different teacher that runs that special for that day.  There is also a different teacher for lunch and recess so we don’t get to see what that looks like for our students.  I am usually outside for recess and our students usually always want us to watch them or play with them.  They are lots of fun outside and love running around and getting out energy.   

During the day, our students with disabilities go into the multi-sensory room with another teacher and other students.  The student’s love going there and get to play in the sensory room all day.  They also work on different school subjects and different social skills and cues that they need to work on.  It’s an awesome program that the school has and it’s one of the only schools that have this program in the area. 

At the end of the day, the students come back and get ready to leave for the day alongside the rest of the class.  They get on the buses or go with the walkers to their home.  This system at the school works very well; although, I would like to eventually see all students in one classroom all day.

Student Guest Blogger: Embedded Learning Opportunities by Casey

First of all, I find that the best way for a teacher to embed learning opportunities for children with disabilities during the typical activities in the classroom is by knowing and understanding the student’s specific needs and putting the most effective strategies into place. Children with disabilities have the right to participate in the typical activities as the rest of the class, and it is the teacher’s job to make sure that the child is receiving any necessary modifications and adaptations during the activity in order to promote successful learning.  

Planning is also an important part of a teacher’s day, and this can help the teacher to know ahead of time how to incorporate learning opportunities for children with disabilities into a typical activity. The teacher can think about what the typical school day looks like, and then from there, come up with different ways to embed learning opportunities throughout the day by thinking about how even a small occurrence during the day can offer the student an opportunity to learn. For instance, a student who is struggling to grasp the concept of time and the understanding of how to read a clock, can be asked different questions throughout the school day relating to time. The teacher may say something like, 

“Okay class, it’s time to line up for a restroom break. Before each one of you walks out the door, I will give you a time, and you will move the minute and hour hands on the clock I am holding to show what that time looks like on a clock.” 

This is an example of a teacher embedding a learning opportunity, not only for children with disabilities, but for the other students in the class as well. I am sure that as I continue my journey to become a teacher, as well as when I actually am a teacher, I will find new and different ways in which to embed learning opportunities for children with disabilities during a typical activity in the classroom.  

Student Guest Blogger: Kenzie's Blog #2

In my experiences this year, I have not had children with disabilities in my classroom. Even though I have not had children with disabilities in my K-3 classrooms, I have had to really learn how to make accommodations and adaptations for all learners in my classroom. I have had to adapt the environment, activities, materials and even provide hands-on assistance to learners. This experience of providing adaptations will help me be able to truly support children with disabilities in the future.  

To help my students, I have had to adapt a variety of materials in my lessons. For example, I have had to provide a “Wiggle Seat Inflatable Sensory Chair Cushion” for one of my lessons. This tool allowed the child to stay seated for a longer period of time. This is a way for the child to release physical energy without any distraction to their same-aged peers. I’ve had to adapt the environment by using a “wedge” to provide seating during our circle time activities. This allows every child to participate and engage in the lesson. I have had to adapt materials, by adding a movement activity in order to help children who have difficulty paying attention. I also provide assistance in the form of peer-assistance, such as “buddy reading”, so that children may engage socially and learn to read together.   

Check out the resources at http://www.dec-sped.org/resources

All in all, I have learned that every great educator needs to provide adaptations and accommodations for every single learner in his or her classroom. Whether you are working with children with or without disabilities, adaptations should be present in learning daily. In order to provide accurate and effective adaptations for the children in your classroom, you must get to truly know your students. Using resources such as the child’s caregivers and other professionals that interact with the child, and the internet can even be a great source. I hope to use some of these adaptations to effectively work with children with disabilities in my future career.  

Guest ECE Student Blogger: Emma

"During the month of February, I had the opportunity to work with a third grade student who receives additional reading intervention.  I have observed him in an inclusive classroom setting and he seems to struggle with reading, writing, and focus.  I have listened to him read and recognized his struggle with fluency, recognition, and decoding words.  I have also read his writing pieces and assisted him with several writing pieces.  He has a hard time spelling and using correct punctuation.  

DEC (2015)

I have also recognized that this student has a hard time staying focused.  After brainstorming strategies to help him focus, I have found that the best strategy for him is to give him short, structured breaks.  He will have a specific time to work on a writing assignment, and then he gets 5 minutes to read or simply relax before continuing the assignment.  I have found that giving him breaks has been extremely effective and has helped him stay focused on the given assignment. 

Socially, I have observed that this student is more reserved and independent in the classroom.  He does not seem to have any problems communicating and socializing with his peers and teachers.  The students are often given the choice to work independently, work with a partner or work with a small group.  I noticed that this student usually chooses to work independently more than he chooses to work with peers. When I was in the classroom last week, he chose to read with me during read-to-partner time.  This gave me a great opportunity to observe him further and really get to know him. 

In terms of his behavior, he tends to be inconsistent.  On some days, he has great behavior.  On other days, he struggles with following directions and staying on task.  In most cases, I have observed his eagerness to share and respond in whole-class discussions. 

I implemented a whole-class lesson last week and noticed that this student wanted to share his thinking the whole time.  He is great at raising his hand to talk.  From the beginning, this student has really stood out to me in a special way.  Despite his struggles, he is extremely eager to learn and improve on new skills.  He is a great student who loves to read and share his stories.  I truly enjoy talking to him and listening to his stories.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with this student and help him grow." 

Guest ECE Student Blogger: Kenzie

A New Perspective  

"Hello, I am Kenzie and I am a junior studying early childhood education at Ohio University. I have had a vast amount of classroom experience, but one of the most memorable moments occurred what seems like a lifetime ago. In high school, I was in a program that let high school students shadow a working professional. The possibilities were endless, and we were allowed to choose any profession that interested us. I immediately knew I wanted to be inside a classroom.

  

I was placed at a nearby elementary school only a few minutes from my high school. All I had was the teacher’s name and what time I needed to be there. I had truly no idea what to expect. When I walked in, I was greeted with over 20 smiling faces and even a few hugs. I quickly realized how fast-paced kindergarten was. We were learning about numbers and then letter sounds, and it was activity after activity. Next thing I know, it’s lunch time and I am sitting down having lunch with my teacher. She was talking about the school and how she really enjoys working in an inclusive school.  

DEC (2015)

It suddenly hit me. I was in an inclusive classroom and I didn’t even know. An inclusive classroom means that children with developmental delays and disabilities are in the same general education classroom with students without disabilities. I spent half of the day with these children and did not realize what was happening around me. I truly learned that day that kids are kids. They all like to color, love snack time, and get smiles on their faces when they suddenly get that one math problem right. The benefits of an inclusive classroom are significant, but the greatest benefit of all is children with disabilities have the chance to finally be treated just like their same-aged peers.  

*Note: I understand that children with disabilities and developmental delays require more accommodations than their same-aged peers. This was just about the fact that no matter the diagnosis a child may have, every child should be given the opportunity to be treated with love, equality, and respect. It is in my humble opinion, that an inclusive classroom setting can do just that." 

Guest Student ECE Blogger: Kiersten

"For the past couple months, I have been co-teaching in a third grade classroom. In the classroom, we have two students with multiple learning disabilities. I have gotten to know one better than the other so I will talk about my interactions with one student for the most part.

The boy in third grade is one of the sweetest students in the classroom. He loves to talk to you about his newfound love for birds. One thing I have noticed about him is he loves to move and learns best that way. My mentor teacher and I often let him move while he’s in the classroom. He loves talking about his friends who are in the multisensory room with him for most of the day.

DEC (2015)

One of my favorite interactions with this student was when he came in after his mom dropped him off. I was asking him if he was excited to become a big brother and he replied, “I like birds.” He didn’t want to talk about babies; he wanted to talk about his newest favorite thing, which are birds. He told me about his favorite types of birds, which were robins and blue jays. He then told me the colors of the birds and where he sees them.

We don’t have him in class very long because he goes to the multi-sensory room for most of the day. When we do have him though he is very funny and full of stories. The time he is in the classroom is in the morning for about 15 minutes, before lunch for 5 minutes, after lunch for 5 minutes, and before they go home for another 15 minutes. During these times it’s a lot of classroom directions such as when the class should line up and how, and at the end of the day how to get their bags packed. This boy follows directions very well and never needs to be told more than twice, which is way better than the rest of the class. The only thing we have to tell him to be careful of how loud is he sometimes but if you just tell him to quiet done, he does it right away. Like I said before we never have to tell him again.

When he is in the classroom he gets along with everyone and he always plays with lots of kids at recess. At recess, he love to the swings, to run around, and to sit and watch people. One recess I sat with him and people watched. He had some interesting stories about his class earlier that day. Seeing this boy at recess or at the end of the day and hearing his stories is one of my favorite parts of my day. He is so sweet, funny, and loves to laugh with people."

Guest Student ECE Blogger: Casey

"As I move forward with my education and gain more experience working in classrooms with children at the early childhood level, I am learning about how to properly instruct and guide students with developmental delays and disabilities in an inclusive setting. This is something that I find to be difficult, but I don’t think that it’s supposed to be easy. There is a lot of thought and planning that needs to go into creating and implementing any type of lesson, and some of that thought needs to be focused on how students with developmental delays and disabilities will grow and learn from those lessons. I haven’t had a ton of experience working with students who happen to have developmental delays, but I have been working closely with a student who is at risk for having dyslexia. This 8 year-old student is wonderful; a hard worker who seems to genuinely want to participate in the classroom lessons and activities. I have been working with this student to help improve his reading skills, especially when it comes to comprehension. I enjoy not only getting to help improve this student’s reading level, but also my own abilities in helping students who are in need of some extra intervention in certain academic areas.  

DEC (2015)

Another student whom I have been working toward understanding and being patient with is a student who has an ADHD diagnosis. This student is also a wonderful 8 year-old, with a lot of energy and excitement about him, but there are times when this student can become easily distracted by his peers and lose focus on the lessons being taught. Sometimes, I will be asked to work with this student individually so that he can complete his work. These are the times where I try to find strategies that will help him to focus on the work in front of him, and while he always gets the task done, I am still struggling with figuring out how to keep this student focused and devoted to his school work.  

I will keep working to figure out ways to offer help for both of these students so that they can be successful inside and outside of the classroom. I will constantly be looking for academic and behavioral improvements throughout the rest of the semester, and hopefully these improvements are evident as the school year moves forward. One of my courses at the university is on authentic assessments, and how to create an environment where students can be authentically and fairly assessed in order for a teacher to obtain data on improvements or areas in which improvements can be made. One of my upcoming assignments is to create three different types of assessments to administer to my case study student, who happens to be the first student I mentioned earlier. These assessments are meant to provide me with information that will help me to figure out where the student is at, and how to plan for further instruction. After I administer these three different assessments, I should have some evidence as to what the student needs help with in terms of academics."