In today’s classrooms when teachers are providing education, they are faced with so much as they have to teach instructional strategies to a diverse group of students. Classrooms today are made up of numerous different types of students; there is the gifted student, culturally diverse student, the typical student, and the ELL student (English language learner). A classroom made of all these kinds of students, teaching becomes interesting and complex on a daily basis. In this study, I aim to share how a teacher deals with these kinds of students hence three types students will be observed in a learning situation, the typical, a special needs student, and a gifted student or a hyperactive student.
In today’s education setting, the aim is for no student to be left behind as they were taught similar things despite their differences. For this to be effectively done, diverse students are integrated especially the non-English speakers and students with disabilities. In the U.S, the number of students who are ethnoculturally and linguistically diverse increases faster and my school is charged with responding to this change in demography (Ilieva, 2011). In the first kindergarten classroom, the teacher Mrs Humphrey had students who were hyperactive and ones whose English was not their first language. These students were focusing on blending letters and letter sounds.
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The hyperactive student was A while B was the student who English was not his first language. The student A would not look at the teacher's flash cards and would not sit still as he was constantly moving. When the teacher began to sing Alexzander Alligator Alexzander Alligator song, he started saying ah/ah/ah/, the asked about the song as he was attentive. The teacher began asking the student about letters and their sounds, however, the student knew the letters but not the sounds. Therefore student A had to learn the sounds first as he could not move to blending. As a result, the teacher told me the student had to be put in the small groups where he would be given time to learn what he did not know. The teacher then pulled out the alphabet bag which she had diverse games to help the student letter sound.
Here there was the whiteboard in which the student says the letter, writes it and says the sound 3 times and a game was also available which a student puts magnetic letters in order ranging alphabetically hence says the letter sounds. There were also other various games for the struggling student. There were computers and IPad to be assessed by students who got assessed and were familiar with the letters. The Para was available for the student B who English was not his first language. The game such students played was one they moved around with alphabet cards as they sang hence the teacher would ask them to stop picking one of them to arrange the letters in an alphabetic order. The alphabet soup game was also another game they played where plastic letters were put in a bowl and a student would pull a letter after which he would find a flashcard to match and tell the sound of the letter. These two kinds of students are diverse but there has to be a way to teach them similarly.
Practices that are recommended for early education of children with special needs that support that all children are included in natural learning environments (TREPANIER-STREET, 2010). Inclusion demands that when gifted students, typical students, and typical students are in the same classroom, strategies that ensure they gain knowledge at their own pace are initiated (Shipley, 2015). Student C was in Mrs Shipley's class and he had special needs. This student had a Para all day and was in a wheelchair and could not move. The students had assessments on sight words in class. The teacher in this class had a list of words which she went through to see the words the students knew. The teacher used a flashcard with student C to see the words this student understood as she gave him more time to figure out. Then for the student to work on sight words, they were allowed on the computer. Since Moby max was down they were allowed to use star fall.
Allowing student C to learn this way with the rest was great instead of isolating him which helps him grow socially with the rest. This helps students who are unable to speak English from their peers. Typical students can stop the stereotypes about students with disabilities when they learn together. I noticed that the teachers paced the lesson with students A, B, and C despite not looking at the student’s IEP. These students were also given extra time to the Para during the small groupings. The lessons were broken into the section for these students to allow them to get everything. They also got assistance from technologies like the computers, picture cards, IPads and word cards. The teachers took their time to learn the student's backgrounds as it was clear from the plans they chose for them as they also ensured that they were all on the similar level. The teachers were very positive as they carefully chose their words since they looked at these differences as positive influences.
The teachers were charged with ensuring the students get the necessary help they required. These teachers were so happy about their work and there were no negative comments from them about any behaviour as they only spoke of the methods they had tried and succeeded and those that had failed. They gave words of encouragement and support to the students as they awarded points to students for doing good stuff and there are also parties held after every nine weeks. They also changed classroom environment for these students. The teacher moved student A from a group of talkative students to a new group. The teacher also showed how to ensure these students would not move up and down in the classroom.
The teacher further stated that these students are taught how to make choices as they will not be children forever and had to be prepared on what to do like “you can sit with me or go work with manipulative. The feeling of letting them choose what they want gives the feel of being in control (Ilieva, 2011). There were also curriculum adaptations made by the teachers. Modifications were made to the syllabus as some things were not development oriented for these students A, B and C; however, they were still teaching the same thing needed from the syllabus. It is important to provide these students with the proper development tools as it helps them maximize their potentials. No matter how different students are, they all require a fair chance when it comes to education.
References
Ilieva, V. (2011). Developing Instruction for the Diverse Classroom: Collegial Collaboration in Action. Journal Of The Utah Academy Of Sciences, Arts & Letters, 88154-171. http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=85598664&site=eds-live&scope=site
Shipley, F. (2015) Interviewed by L. Farley. Instructional and Behavioral Support of Students in an Early Childhood Classroom. ECH 225. GCU
TREPANIER-STREET, M. (2010). Education and Medical Professionals Collaborating to Prepare Early Childhood Teachers for Inclusive Settings. Journal Of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 31(1), 63-70. doi:10.1080/10901020903539739 http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=49140462&site=eds-live&scope=site
