Special Education

Yesterday we wrapped up the discussion of special education with Dr. Luongo. From that discussion two things really stick in my mind, the substantial amount of time the process for classifying a student takes and the least restrictive environment, especially in terms of the girl in a coma we spoke of. 

This is an exceptionally long process for someone who is struggling and needs help. It seems like it is unfair to this struggling student to have his/her case bounced back and forth between the teacher, the PAC team and the CST. There should be a better system in order to get the student the help he/she needs in a much more timely manner. Even though it will most likely cost more money, it would probably be more beneficial to the student if the testing for special education was done in the beginning of the process. This would allow the school to properly place that student much faster and hopefully have the student on a track to success, rather than keeping the student stuck on this path to failure for a whole year because the process takes so long and the student is not getting the help he/she needs. I believe that the parents should be contacted right in the beginning of the process, this way they can get involved with what is going on. This also allows them time to research special education in terms of their rights, their child's rights and the school's rights. They also can look into different programs. Having the parents involved from the beginning helps them to better understand what is going on, as well as allows them to help their child at home better. If they don't know there is a problem they cannot help the child. 

Granted it is most beneficial for a special education student to be in an inclusion classroom meaning they will be with their regular education peers, but have some modifications, such as more time on work and tests or an aid in the room. In some cases I'm not sure this is always the best way to go. Sometimes it is much better for a student to be in a resource room for at least part of the day or in a special school if their disability warrants it. In the case with the girl in the coma I have mixed feelings. Meeting the girl in the school I do my junior field really made me think. In some sense I feel like it is great that she can be around her regular education peers but on the other hand is it the best place for her? At this point she is technically considered out of the coma, but she is still in a vegetative state with all kinds of machines hooked up to her, such as a feeding machine, ventilator and other monitors. She can communicate to some degree, but you have to be very patient and listen very carefully. I feel like it might have been more beneficial for her to go to a special school rather than needing to have a nurse and an aid go to class with her everyday because she is in a regular classroom. At this point it seems like her peers are alright with this to the point that a lot of them with go up and talk to her, but there are still others that are a bit stand offish because they are afraid or just are not sure what to think. This is a tough case to decide where she belongs. As far as I know and have seen she is doing just fine being in a regular classroom, but it just seems like it would be easier to have her in a special school.

Mock Teaching

The other day I taught my last 40 minute lesson with Dr. O'Brien. This was finally the lesson that broke down all of my fears of teaching and gave me a huge boost of confidence. Even though the internet did not work and I was unable to show the video, I feel the lesson went very well. Everyone was active and had fun. I figured doing a creative project to accompany a story would get the students thinking about the story and coming up with their own ideas. This was also a fun way to wrap up a story. It seemed as though everyone had fun doing this including myself. Prior to the lesson I set up little backpacks with all of the supplies the groups would need to complete the project, such as crayons, colored pencils, glue, markers, pencils, scissors, and other things that would be useful. This idea seemed to go over really well since each group got a backpack with that stuff and did not need to borrow from other groups. Overall, this lesson went great and I feel so much more confident about teaching and having fun in the classroom.