In order to best meet the needs of students with disabilities in the general education classroom, I am seeking effective strategies and accommodations to ensure academic achievement and student success.TAKING ACTION AS A TEACHER. As stated by Dana and Yendol-Hoppey (2014), "using existing research (literature) has enormous benefits" as a collection strategy. To begin collecting data I consulted "Inclusion: Effective Practices for All Students," (2nd ed.) a book I was familiar with through previous coursework that includes research-based strategies and information on a variety of differently-abled students. The text also includes Universal Design for Learning, a strategy I am implementing in lesson construction and implementation. Principles of UDL as a strategy to engage and offer effective instruction to students with disabilities, includes providing a variety of ways to present material to students, considering different ways for them to show what they have learned, and incorporating unique ways to motivate student engagement (McLeskey, Rosenberg & Westling, 2013). In response to this research, I will add layers to lessons that engage a variety of learners, including accommodations for students with disabilities. Also, UDL promotes varying the presentation of content area materials through text, video, images, and charts/graphs. Finally, offering choice in assignments or how students showcase their learning will ensure all students can present their understandings. My initial literature led me to further research as I read that the more opportunities you provide for learners to be actively taught, review, and practice direct instruction skills, the more information students will retain (McLeskey, Rosenberg & Westling, 2013). To further understand the practice of direct instruction, I consulted Eggen and Kauchak's (2012) "Strategies and models for teachers: Teaching content and thinking skills," (6th ed.). Direct Instruction is “a model that uses teacher demonstration and explanation combined with student practice and feedback to help learners acquire well-defined knowledge and skills needed for later learning” (Eggen & Kauchak, 2012, p. 266). During lesson planning, designate time for: direct instruction, gradual release of responsibility, and effective feedback. Moving forward, I plan to look into models of giving effective feedback that involve students and consider the needs of students with disabilities. Additionally, I will create a feedback system for consistent feedback that students use to set goals. This has been accomplished in my classroom through individual writing conferences. After my CT and I score student's papers with the county-designated rubric, we hold individual conferences during which we review the paper and standards to score higher, then set goals for the learner's next writing piece. Students were engaged in the process, noticed errors and understood their score through reviewing the rubric together. To stay mindful of their future goals, we collaborated to write notes on an index card to guide their writing. My interest in psychology and access to the USF online library led me to "Brain-friendly Strategies for the Inclusion Classroom: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom Teacher," (Willis, 2007). “Students should receive individualized opportunities to verbalize, write, or otherwise create something using the lesson’s material,” (Willis, 2007, pp. 110). To bring this into consideration, during a lesson on Langston Hughes' poetry, students are determining Hughes' message, then writing their own poems to be displayed in the school. The students took pride in their work, knowing it will be displayed. These poems will promote the same principles of Hughes' poetry, including justice, equality, the pursuit of dreams, and community. “In inclusion classes where intelligences, learning-style preferences, and developmental levels span a wide spectrum, lessons that engage multiple senses could offer the greatest access to knowledge for the most students,” (Willis, 2007, pp. 110). This research promotes the practice of Universal Design for Learning, where students are given multiple sources from which to comprehend the lesson content. “Multisensory input travels to memory storage along more than one pathway, resulting in enriched, reinforced information transit,” (Willis, 2007, pp. 111). The text also provides a multitude of strategies to enrich the inclusive learning environment, which I will present to my CT to collaborate on how to best implement them in our classroom. Practitioner articles, published in reputable journals, offer accessible information for educators, like Pickett's (2014) "Additional Needs - It's all in the attitude." For teaching and learning, the article recommends a teacher to “pre-teach new topics, this may include a written summary of the new topic, together with a glossary of key terms and definitions,” (Pickett, 2014, pp. 29). Before engaging learners in Langston Hughes' poetry, we reviewed vocabulary like injustice, deferred, dream, and segregation. Also, learners discovered more about the Harlem Renaissance and civil rights through reading and videos. Ideas from this article that will inform my wondering include letting students know their effort is appreciated, not just task completion, and writing the Learning Intention/TWALT B on the board. With consideration for Pickett’s (2014) article, I am going to actively appreciate and acknowledge effort (not just task completion) by rewarding SWD in the general education classroom with the positive behavior support system. I have noticed the SWD who also have behavioral deficits regarding motivation are easily frustrated and often only criticized for not completing their work. In my classroom, I will be giving learners tickets (school wide PBS item) or stickers on their behavior chart (part of their individual behavior contract/reward system) for staying on task in increments- beginning with 3 minutes of on-task behavior, moving on in multiples of 2 minutes. Also, I believe it would be effective to write daily (not just weekly) “Learning Intentions” and “TWALT B – Today We Are Learning This Because…” (Pickett, 2014) to further student investment in academic learning. In order to improve other teachers' and specialists' morale regarding having students with disabilities in the general education classroom, I plan to share the following quote: “’Inclusion’ is an attitude that you bring, not a program that you deliver,” |
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