Teacher intern project through ACP: assignment 2. 3. 4, 5

Teaching The Lesson Project Special Education

1. How did you promote a positive learning environment for all students? Provide

specific examples.

All students are in an environment where they have a voice. All students are in

an environment where relationships have been built and cultivated. The students in

class have also built a rapport with each other in which when they see each other in

need they feel the need to help one another.

Example: During the lesson, I asked the class, “ How do you communicate, I am hungry?

“. While asking that question one of my students rose up from his seat and went and

grabbed the feeding bag and tube for another student. Indicating to us that, that

particular student may be hungry and this what they used to eat. By demonstrating this

it showed us he understood what we were asking, if he was answering it from the

perspective of another student.

Example: While asking the same question, “ How do you communicate, I am hungry? “,

my student who avidly uses their IPad to communicate, used his device to tell us he

had chips and apple juice for lunch.

The interaction from the students lets me know they have no problem communicating

with one another in their own way. The students also have no problem communicating

to the best of their abilities with the class. Students like to be celebrated for their right

communication, by doing this also helps them better to try end express themselves

during a lesson.

2. How did your instruction engage students in developing understanding of

concept(s)/skills of the lesson?

Checking for consistent understanding throughout the time of instruction. While

teaching the lesson throughout every stopping point, I checked for understanding asking

the same question in various ways, and checking for comprehension of what was being

asked. The students with the lowest comprehension, I would rephrase the question to

the simplest form so comprehension was not overly complicated and the students could

be active in the lesson. By simplifying the question the students still feel as though they

can participate and be involved in the lesson even the follow up questions. Checking for

understanding by asking the same question in various ways and with various assistive

supports helps to see if the students are comprehending what is being taught.

3. How did you elicit and build on student responses to promote thinking and

develop understandings of concept(s)/skills of the lesson?

When the basic communication and phrase lesson was introduced, communication

seemed very limited on responses and participation. A few students weren’t really

having the best day in order to participate and some students were not fully grasping

what was being asked of them. I was asking them to communicate a little past their

verbal norms. While teaching this lesson I had to use the concept of differentiation to

really teach the different levels of kids and also teach to the different communication

types present in the classroom. By taking the time to understand the kid’s different

communication types from our previous introduction lesson, it made getting them to

respond this time around much easier and more exciting when I got the responses.

When the kids could grasp what was being asked it made the lesson more fun and

talkative for the students and for myself as well. The visual aids were a great help as

well in allowing kids to choose options as a form of communication.

4. What changes would you make to your instruction—for the whole class and/or for

students who need greater support or challenge—to better support student learning of

the central focus (e.g., missed opportunities)?

I do feel like throughout the lesson I leaned on more of my moderate and higher

functioning children to answer many of the questions. I feel as though some of the

questions my lower functioning kids could answer, if having taken the time and

executed proper time management. I could have used better time management so that

we could spend more time in certain areas of the story that I felt could have been super

beneficial for student learning and follow up (As a way to follow up on those specific

areas that could be used for future lessons on communication).

Example: During the lesson while being asked, “ How do we congratulate one another?

“. I have a student who we call the classroom “ Cheerleader “, she literally cheers

everybody on all day long. While asking this question, she said “ Shut Up “, and we

instantly told her not to repeat that and had to reiterate the question in Spanish (Her

dominant language), and once said in Spanish she went back to her usual cheerleading

self.

I missed the opportunity here, because I had prior knowledge of the students’ dominant

language. I also had prior knowledge that the student usually has a hard time

comprehending the English language fully. I acknowledge that all of my students

communicate differently and in this setting it can get a little hard trying to understand

all of them. I also understand that while trying to teach a lesson, we sometimes are

moving so fast that we forget which student we are speaking to at each moment. I

should have taken more time and focused properly on my student to avoid such

miscommunications like that from happening during a lesson like this one.

Individual instruction is needed for those who need greater supports. In order to

implement individual instruction, I must provide more teacher time with those students

who need more supports. A group setting does not work for those students who may

need more comprehending practice and need more practice in simplifying verbal

communication. I did notice throughout the lesson some students who were of the

lower functioning group need more supports and teacher time to gain better

understanding of simple comprehension.

I do feel the lesson was a success overall, even due to behaviors that are daily and

normal occurrences for the classroom. Students were more engaged and actively

participated. I could have managed my time better, definitely felt like I rushed this

lesson a little. I also missed certain moments for positive feedback, due to not using

prior knowledge of students and previous data received from lesson introduction. I will

be making a note of that while teaching, to make the necessary time to fully

acknowledge the student I am speaking too, so I do not make the mistake of

miscommunicating with the students.