A typical student is one who has the same learning characteristics and behavior as a normal student. Such a learner does everything that a normal student ordinarily does with no extremities. A special needs student, on the other hand, is one who has special educational needs accruing from learning difficulties, behavioral problems or physical disabilities. As such, the selected student under observation is a Mexican with learning difficulties since he is an ESL student. Comparatively, a gifted or talented student is one who demonstrates a high-performance capability pertaining to intellectual ability and creativity in academics.
The first grade class at Philadelphia Pa is a diverse one in all sense of typical, gifted, and special needs student. In a class of 35 students, approximately 50% come from the black community, 30% are whites, 10% are Hispanic or Latino, and the rest are Pacific Islanders. Of the total number, 70% are from families with low socioeconomic standards while the rest, mainly white students, are from average to high socioeconomic backgrounds. The gender ratio is almost at equilibrium with the number of males slightly higher than that of females; 19 to 16. Most of the families where the students come from have strong cultural beliefs and participate in cultural community functions and those held by the school to celebrate the diversity of the students and school in general.
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Diversity is a platform for growth and learning. Appreciating other students’ differences helps debunk stereotypes thus giving room for learning. As such, one way of appreciating diversity is by including instructional activities that involve reading literature, especially in social studies concerning differential cultures represented in the class. In addition, including books and other literary materials that tell the history and origins of different student cultures will provide a serene and comfortable environment for learning thereby improving the students’ learning outcomes. Due to the active and participatory role of parents in cultural activities, instructional activities that involve parents coming to school to undertake and support their children in different cultural learning activities such as plays could suffice in bolstering the confidence of the students thus improving outcomes.
As a child, learning is a constant factor, and as such, the brain develops with high flexibility of absorbing differential knowledge. In essence, the first teacher of a child, especially regarding language is the parent. A child learns and develops a cognitive adherence to his or her first language from the parent, and that is why linguistic diversity exists in classrooms. However, as the child grows and develops physically, so does he or she under different milestones such as cognitive ability (thinking and learning), emotionally and socially, language and speech, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills. To this end, several factors influence the development and learning process of a child. One such element is the environment that the child is constantly exposed to. Indeed, this environment intrinsically involves family, friends, and school. In essence, a nurtured child will perform better in school as opposed to one who is not. Another aspect linked to the family background is socioeconomic status. Children from a good socioeconomic status will often perform better than those from low or poor SES.
An additional influential factor is geographical location, which determines the school the child goes to, access to healthcare services, and other opportunities. A good school will ensure the student’s learning and development. Here, parents still have a pivotal role to play such as joining parent-teacher organizations such as PTA to guarantee the learning and development of the child. Geographical location also determines the access to different essential amenities such as a library for reading, parks, and playgrounds for interaction with other children who influence one another’s development in terms of speech, socializing, and emotions through the games they play.
For the typical student, a fundamental strategy would be to set realistic goals and objectives to be met. These goals and objectives should be set in the presence of the parent to ensure that the student is comfortable with them regarding their attainability. Notably, this is achieved through a student portfolio through which assessment can also be made. This strategy can also be supported by learning logs through which the teacher can monitor and track the development of the student to determine where to focus more energy. A fundamental strategy that can be incorporated in the instructional activity to help the ESL (special needs) student would be peer-group learning. The approach involves placing a student in groups with other linguistically diverse students and mixed with English Native Language speakers. Ultimately, this will help the student speak and improve his vocabulary in a socially authentic manner.
A central strategy of bolstering the development of the gifted student would be through continually challenging them and their ability. Indeed, this could be accomplished through tiered learning. Here, planning on how to provide work at entry, advanced, and extension levels of language knowledge is key. The gifted students will constantly be tested through the different levels to assess and evaluate their limits and abilities thereby developing gradually through the levels.
One central PBS present is providing feedback to the observed students and the class in general regarding their performance, where to improve, or where to strengthen. Mainly, this is done in a positive light and privately for each student through the learning logs. For the classroom, specific incentives for good performance include accolades, trophies, and trips to esteemed museums. All students, in particular, the gifted student appreciate the trips to the museums and express their elation in learning new things. In addition, the typical and ESL students have been appreciative of the feedback and learning logs stating their interests to achieve more and do better. In essence, the two have grown in confidence, which is a good precept for further learning. However, a fundamental change to the PBS or feedback would be to inquire additional students’ needs through which instructional activities can be based to improve their outcomes.
Among the learning goals is ensuring that ESL students are fluent and can easily communicate or socialize in the second language (English). A fundamental standard pertaining to this element is giving assessments with reduced language difficulties. As such, assessment techniques such as scaffolding or differentiated scoring quintessentially align with the above goal and standard. An additional standard entails allowing the students time to process information and dividing the tasks into manageable parts. As such, instructional activities such as peer-group learning perfectly align with this standard. Moreover, providing feedback to students via the students learning logs matches tracking and monitoring students’ performance as a goal. In particular, the school’s objective is to ensure there is a welcoming environment school culture that eliminates anxiety and self-consciousness, aspects that are a hindrance to learning. To match this, the school incorporates parent visitation and class involvement as part of its curriculum to bolster the student’s confidence and participation in class activities.
Special needs students, especially the linguistically diverse ones need a cordial environment free from judgment and ridicule to master the second language and at the same time embrace their culture. Other than the parent visitation mentioned above, a fundamental instructional activity would be learning about the different world culture through art, games, and literature through which the ESL student can appreciate his heritage and that of other students. Ultimately, this will boost his self-esteem thus strengthening the bond between students and the teacher. In such an environment, different values and experiences are comprehended, respected, and welcome.
As part of the resources salient in meeting the ESL students’ needs, technology, especially computers and projectors will be pivotal. For instance, as part of the instructional activity, the teacher could play entertaining English language videos appropriate for their age group targeted toward meeting the needs of the special students. This encourages motivation and interest within the student to explore the language further in and outside the classroom.
