Special Education Classroom Observation

In the science rooms we would buy the kind chairs in the exploratory rooms and put them in the science rooms. We wouldn't want you to spill chemicals all over a recliner or a couch. The staff would also get really nice chairs so that they would have a good time too. To make sure the students don't fight, there will be a sign up sheet so people can get to choose where they sit. The only catch is if you have a 70% or below you have to must sit at the tables.

When you first walk into the classroom you unknowingly familiarizing yourself with your environment, for example; you notice the low buzz of the air condition humming above you, the navy-blue standard school chair, cold to the touch from hours of vacancy, the four posters posted on the beige bulletin board that reminds you of the color of your tea after you have poured too much cream into it, or even the ten unfamiliar faces staring straight at you. There is a white board in the front of the classroom for when there are assignments or notes that need to be taken. The smooth grey tables have two outlets in the middle that allows students to charge devices if needed. There is also an orange and black cord that wraps around and in-between desk like an out of control jungle vines. Everything in the room has its own place and

The anecdote with J.S. occurred at a center table. There were 5 children at the center table during this anecdote. There was one teacher at the table during this center time. The center lasted seven minutes a piece and then the children rotated to a different table once the seven minutes ended. The table was in the middle back of the room between two sets of shelves.

An unannounced 10/20/2015 I was greeted by Marilyn Harrison the director at the door. I introduced myself and handed her a business card and discussed my purpose of the visit and what documentation I would needed. A walkthrough of the building and playground was conducted. There are three building in the operation. The main building had three classroom, all three classrooms are used at different parts of the day.

On 06/16/15 at approximately 1258 hours I responded to 5538 Regal Oaks Circle for a report of four suspicious black males between the ages of 16 to 18 years of age. The caller, Giovanni who resides at 5538 Regal Oak Circle (NOI) advised the black males were observed walking around the neighborhood and jumping fences. He advised the black males were observed getting into a black in color, 4 door, Toyota Corolla. Giovanni also stated he thought the juveniles were casing vehicles or residence to burglarize. He advised there have been multiple burglaries to vehicles and residences recently.

This is a minimalist, fun and safe student oriented room. Figure X The teacher is able to scan the entire area without blind spots. Math corners, alphabet, number dots, charts and theme boards are positioned with the young learner in mind.

The environment in the classrooms was medium large (design like a small apartment without bathroom); divide into 4 rooms, which it includes wooden and workstation desks along with wheeled chairs; including one small office for staff, and two small workstation desk for teachers. The classroom contains six white Melamine Dry Erase Board. In the backroom,

Lister’s classroom seems to have different distractions available to the students when such as the library corner/ reading center, their own person belongings (comic books, pencils, etc.), the pencil sharpener, and their own peers. By eliminating those distractions, the students will have to provide their full attention to Ms. Lister. This then leads into the concept of room arrangement and some strategies that can help Ms. Lister to improve her classroom. The students become very distracted when locations or objects are available to them at any moment. Therefore, during class/ lesson time Ms. Lister need to organize the room so that the students know when the certain locations or objects are available for them to use.

I did most of my observation in a sixth through eighth grade classroom, however I did get some experience in a third grade classroom and a second grade classroom. I think that one of the concepts that I observed the most was that there are many different ways and curriculums to teach literacy. I saw an example of a basal school, an example of daily five, but I did not actually get to see any reader’s workshop, which was disappointing because that was the majority of what we spent time working on in class (and my personal favorite thus far). I did get to see a little bit of a writer’s workshop, it was very brief but was about narratives in a comic strip form. It was interesting to see a genre applied to the writing, similar to what we practiced in class.

Ms. Laura also encourages these choices by letting the students pick some of the centers in the morning, she will usually have 2-3 set centers and then give a child or two the option of picking a center. The room arrangement supports children, because she has quiet activities next to quiet activities, so if a child is trying to read a book they don’t have blocks in the same area. She also made sure to be aware of different family’s cultures, by labeling items in different languages and making sure when you look around the room there

For my first reflection, I chose to do it on Shannon VanWormer’s observation of a Special Day Class Moderate to Severe in the 3rd-5th grade levels. This observation was done on students who had Autism and Intellectual Disabilities. There was a total of 3 students in this class with one English learner. Right away in reading Shannon’s observation, I was very pleased that she was very respectful in the classroom and was welcomed by the teacher, his assistant, and the students. I found that it was very professional for her to introduce herself to the students and let them know why she was there and what her purpose was.

Every special need child should be able to experience a regular classroom in order to mature and socialize with other children; instead of feeling excluded because of their differences in learning and appearance. The main goal should be building their self-esteem and confidence to be successful in multiple ways. Learning will always be a life challenge, but being challenge within their academic setting is both motivating and rewarding in working along non- disable student; it can also be a challenge for non-disable students to accept and meet the needs of their disabled peers. These challenges are beneficial to both in terms of education and life skills.

Classroom Observations Mrs. Canada is the first grade teacher that I observed, and the subject that she was teaching was reading. She had planned well-organized power points and crafting materials in advance, so she was prepared for the lesson. The two times I observed, the lesson that was being taught at both times was reading. Children in the classroom used a lot of previous knowledge for the lesson.

I spent my fifteen hours observing two special education classrooms at Sulphur Intermediate School. One focused on math and the other on reading, though many of the children I observed worked in both classrooms. The students were in the third, fourth, and fifth grades. Most of the students had mild to moderate disabilities and simply needed extra help in reading, math, or both subjects. They did not stay for the entire day, but rather came for certain periods.

Every day, two students come from special education classroom with the teacher assistant and spend 45 minutes. They come in the reading time. They have a separate table in the front of the classroom. The general education teacher uses the same curriculum that special education teacher uses an (All-Star Programme) for both students with special need and the other students. So, when the students with special needs came to the class.