Tovar C Sped3310 Week7 Assignment3 Observaiton1

Christian Tovar Inclusion Classroom March 10, 2019

I.

Classroom Setting I conducted my observation hours in an algebra inclusion classroom in one of El Paso’s local high

schools on February 26, 2019. Several of the characteristics I observed were the location of the teacher’s desk, the arrangement of the student’s desks, student’s work on the walls, and your typical motivational posters on the wall. In the front of the classroom, there was a long chalkboard divided into two by an interactive white board (IWB). On the IWB, there was a problem on the board students were to do before class on the previous lesson before. Farther to the right of the IWB was the teacher’s desk. On the adjacent wall from the teacher’s desk, was a table with several shelves each with its own labeling, along with a cup filled with glue sticks and a box of color pencils. The first column of shelves consisted of each class period which I assumed housed graded work. The second column of shelves consisted of missing work, followed by notes and assignments for the day, and a specific shelve for students to turn in assignments. The organization of the desks revolved around the IWB. The desks were set up into several groups each containing four to five desks. The groups were set up at such an angle so that no one student would have their backs towards the IWB. Along the walls of the classroom, student-done posters of formulas, examples of specific problems, and motivational posters were hung.

II.

Description of what you observed Before class started, students right away went to the shelves and grabbed notes and the

assignment for the day. The notes were all print outs containing items such as vocabulary, definitions, fill in the blanks, examples of completed problems, and examples of problems needed to be done by the students. The assignment of the day was an activity with letters identifying to a solution, and a sentence at the bottom. On that specific day, students had began simplifying rational expressions. The general education teacher began the class by discussing the problem-of-the-day (P.O.D). During this time, the 1

Christian Tovar Inclusion Classroom March 10, 2019 co-teacher was sitting with a specific group of students elaborating and making the calculations of the solution more comprehensible. After the P.O.D, the general education teacher began the class by discussing the notes, while the co-teacher sat in with the same group of students. The co-teacher had her own set of notes in her own interactive student notebook (ISN), so that the student could have more time to look over notes have more clarification when it came to look over examples, and problems needed to be solved by the students. During the notes, specifically when students were looking over and solving problems, the general education teacher gave the students a few minutes to discuss problems, then reviewed them on the IWB. After notes were completed, students were to work on the assignment for the day at which point the co-teacher working with the specific group of students let the students go to their groups and interact with students of the general education class. During this time, both the teacher and co-teacher assisted several groups in solving problems on the assignment and worked well at addressing concepts some students struggled to understand. Throughout the class, instead of sitting at a specific group the entire time, the co-teacher assisted student(s) when questions arose and explained in a comprehensible way, when students in the group could not explain well enough for the student with the disability to understand.

III.

Reflection Throughout my observation, I learned many students may not show a need for more assistance.

Walking into this classroom, I had no idea which student had been coded under SPED, and to this moment have no idea who the student(s) were or what disability each student had. Coming out of high school and into college, I naively believed students whom had been coded SPED were always segregated from the general education classroom and had a visible disability. I developed this belief solely because I

2

Christian Tovar Inclusion Classroom March 10, 2019 had never been in a classroom that implemented the co-teach method, nor was there ever a student who had a “visible disability” as I said before. During the lesson, I thought one item the co-teacher implemented was having her own set of notes from the power point along with her own ISN for students to observe and have as a reference. I believe it was good for her students to have her ISN as a reference because many need a visual representation of what their ISN should replicate. Her ISN seemed a little old and dingy, but I assumed the co-teacher had been using this ISN over the course of a few years and I believe it helped her prepare for lessons ahead of time. Another characteristic I observed from the co-teacher was her technique of emphasizing the strategies the general education teacher showed the other students. I believe this showed how well both teachers prepared to find the appropriate modifications to teach those individual students with disabilities. I believe the standard this inclusion classroom implemented successfully was b.4 under Mathematics 7-12, Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities Standards which stated, “plan instruction that is developmentally appropriate, is standards driven, and motivates students to learn.” I believe it was implemented successfully because both the general education teacher and co-teacher showed they communicated amongst each other outside of the allotted class time to discuss evaluations and assessments made of the student(s) with disabilities. I also believe they made the appropriate modifications in order to assist students to match their individual learning styles. In conclusion, I observed a classroom that implemented the co-teach method well and successfully. These teachers showed they frequently communicated and discussed which learning modifications were working for students and which were not. When talking to both teachers, they discussed with me how often they meet with each other, along with the co-teacher discussing how often she meets with teachers in other courses. In my classroom, should I ever have a co-teacher to 3

Christian Tovar Inclusion Classroom March 10, 2019 coordinate with, I hope to communicate frequently and make the appropriate observations when discussing modifications to benefit the student(s) with disabilities. One item I believe general education teachers forget is that not all students learn the same way, and sometimes we may need to adjust the way we teach in order to better fit out students. In my classroom, I hope to recognize and self-reflect when my students are struggling with my teaching and receive constructive criticism frequently so that I can make the appropriate alterations.

4