Alisha Tricarico Professor McConville October 25, 2011 Inclusion and Students with Disabilities Observation of the Classroom

Before observing the classroom, I already had a preconceived notion as to how the day would go. However, as soon as I stepped into the classroom my perception of inclusion in a classroom setting was quickly altered. I did not expect there to be as many students with special needs in one general education setting; it really surprised me. The classroom I observed was in my old school district in Oceanside, NY. Oceanside is a town that is very pro inclusion. There were twenty-five students in this classroom and of those twenty-five students six had special needs. There was one general education teacher, Mrs. Lucas, one special education teacher, Mrs. Petregani, and two 1-on-1 aides, Mrs. T and Mrs. M. The structure of this inclusion program was primarily full day except for when certain students were pulled out for specific testing needs. After observing these teachers, I realized that I too would like to work in an inclusion setting as the general education teacher. The day I did my observation an English test was taking place so I was introduced to students being pulled out of the classroom. The special education teacher was kind enough to let me watch how she prepares the students before taking a test and how they take the test. The six students were brought to a different classroom and sat in a circle in front of the white board. Before the students took their test, the special education teacher gave them examples of some questions. During this review time almost every student was shouting out the answers. This lack of order and discipline caused the teacher to become frustrated and to regain order, she applied the idea of negative reinforcement. What she

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instructed was that the children must raise their hands or else they would not be called on and lose a tangible such as candy that they earned from getting checks for behaving properly. After the review session they went back to their seats and took the test. The teacher read the sentences aloud and the students had to fill in the blanks. I felt as though she was giving hints because she would elongate certain words. Thanks to this special education teacher I was exposed to a real special education classroom. While observing the inclusion setting, I noticed that there were a lot of transition periods and I picked up strategies that the teachers used in order to keep control. Since I was in a 5th grade classroom, the students had to switch their teacher and classroom based on the subject they were learning. The transfer of classrooms was a huge transition period that resulted in a lot of chaos. Many students were chatting and hanging out on the stairs when they were supposed to be lined up outside of the door. The social studies teacher stood outside of the classroom with a stopwatch and just stared at the students. When the students noticed her they stood quiet and once all of the students were silent the teacher stopped the stopwatch. The amount of time the students took to be silent was the amount of time that the students had to stay extra in the class. At first, I did not agree with this method, but after hearing the teacher explain that if the students behaved in class, the amount of time would decrease, I thought it was a good idea. Other techniques I observed were the flickering of lights, squeezing a devise that made sounds, and talking in a low voice until everyone heard the teacher. I was taking note of all of the different methods of transitioning because it is something that we have learned about a lot in class. There are a lot of positive aspects of an inclusion classroom that I observed. By having more then one teacher in the classroom, time was not wasted when papers needed

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to be handed out. The other teachers were able to give out the papers while the general education teacher explained the tasks. After the papers were distributed and students were placed in groups, I noticed that everyone helped each other. By having students collaborate and encourage each other they were learning various skills in working with others. As the students were working and/or listening to the general education teacher, the other teachers would walk around to make sure everyone was on task. These are great attributes of an inclusion setting. Although there were a lot of positive qualities about the inclusion setting, I also observed a few negative features. One specific scenario that had prominence in my mind was the fact that students with special needs were creating a lot of noise during instruction, which resulted in other students becoming disengaged from the lesson. Even though the special education teachers were there to calm down the students, they still continued to be rowdy; even I was becoming distracted. The general education teacher paid no attention to those students and continued with her lecture but I could see in her facial expressions that she was becoming annoyed. The background noises made her sound softer and drowned out her voice, but she was speaking in the same tone the whole time. During most of the lecture there was a lot of side chatter not only from the students, but also from the special education teachers trying to help out the students with special needs. After this experience, despite some negative aspects, I have come to the conclusion that I enjoy the inclusion setting. Following the observation I interviewed both the

homeroom general education teacher and the special education teacher, and I learned a lot. I learned that both teachers collaborate everyday and that there are designated times at the end of each week that they review the plans for the following week. At these meetings, they

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discuss the modifications that need to take place and when the students have to be pulled out. Both teachers stated that the administrative support is outstanding because they always make time to be of assistance and all of the resources needed are supplied. Another positive aspect of this district is that all teachers, whether general, special or an aide, must receive special training or professional development to use the inclusion setting. They are required to attend at least 20 hours of classes that relate to their particular role each year. Both the general education teacher and the special education teacher were certified in special education and each seemed extremely educated on the foundations of their practice and CEC laws. After taking note of each teachers role in the inclusion setting, I discovered that I would most likely enjoy the position of the general education teacher the most. I always wanted to be a general education teacher even if it meant being placed in an inclusion setting. By being the general education teacher I would be able to work with both the general education students and the students with special needs. Although I would not be working with the students with special needs as much, I would still be responsible for how they succeed. I take pleasure in being around individuals with and without exceptional learning needs, which is why I would love to be the general education teacher. Also, making modifications for the students is hard to do and although both teachers collaborate it is mostly up to the special education teacher to create them.