Reflective Commentary Assignment

Ian Hale

The final part of this summer’s pedagogical training focused on teaching students with

exceptionalities, students that come from diverse socioeconomic, racial, religious and cultural

backgrounds, the various legal procedures associated with that instruction, as well as the

culturally aware and morally responsible practices needed to effectively carry it out. We also had

a week long clinical experience as supporting teachers in an elementary level STEM camp which

gave us an opportunity to interact with students who fall under many of those categories

including a wide diversity in cultural backgrounds, languages, and learning and

emotional/behavioral differences.

When thinking about my own future as a teacher, it is clear that I will have a lot to learn

and likely will not have a grasp of the scope of the challenge until I get firsthand experience. No

place is this personal lacking more pronounced than in my limited experience with students who

have exceptionalities. That said, the coursework has at least given me a decent foundation of

becoming oriented with the scope of the issue and the main procedural and legal frameworks we

as general education teachers will encounter most frequently; namely IEP’s and 504’s.

One of the biggest takeaways for me in our discussions and in our IEP “boot camp”

experience is the need for the general ed teachers to be proactive and involved. Though it is

technically legally mandated for at least one gen ed teacher to be present at a student IEP team

meeting from start to finish, we learned that this very seldom actually happens. It is also

important that I have frequent communication with special education teachers to make sure best
practices are taking place for the student and that we are on the same page. Administrators,

specialists, transition reps, parents and relevant others should also be among those who I have

routine communications.

In the classroom, integrating students with various exceptionalities into the general

education stream will require careful lesson prep on my part. Modifications, supports and/or

accommodations should be done in a sensitive and inclusive way that meet the specific needs of

the student(s) with a disability, and also in a manner that is not disruptive for the class as a

whole. Preparation should also take stock of the specific academic, emotional/behavioral, and

extracurricular annual goals associated with a given student’s IEP.

Another procedural tool at my disposal might be involvement in a Student assistance

team (SAT) and the development and participation in an RTI (response to intervention) to target

specific learning or behavioral needs for certain students (or groups of students). In our RTI

assignment, I have found that there is a wealth of research and case studies available among the

13 federally recognized exceptionalities that can be referenced as to have an informed input

when deciding on possible interventions for different student and classroom needs.

As an educator, it helps to be aware of any community resources that may be available to

students with needs, particularly those in or soon to be in the process of transitioning to life after

high school. We had a very useful introduction to such resources during our field trips to the

project SEARCH headquarters where we were shown how they are providing skills training and

employment opportunities as well as the SEMCIL facility which helped people with various

disabilities gain independence and become advocates for their needs.

 Overall, the main things I’d consider when working with students with exceptionalities is

to help cultivate an inclusive classroom environment that helps build an independent mindset and

encourage those students to be involved in the process and to be advocates for their own future.

These core concepts were expressed in class and in the Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

Readings. Empowerment is the term that probably best encompasses these ideals.

Empowerment does not just apply to students with disabilities however. The other point

of focus in this course was how to teach to culturally, socioeconomically and racially diverse

students. While not the main focus of this reflection (there was a reflection specifically for that

portion of the course), many of the same principles apply. Teacher awareness of the needs of

their students and the different cultural expressions of students from different backgrounds is

very important. There is also some overlap with teaching students with exceptionalities and

teaching racially diverse students in that African American students (for example) are tracked

and disciplined at disproportionate rates and perhaps over-diagnosed with learning disabilities

and emotional and behavioral problems. Minority students are also often not challenged with

higher level content and teacher expectations (consciously or not) for them tend to be lower. It is

these types of disparate impact and school culture issues that we as educators can become more

aware of and proactively attempt to address. Whether I am teaching students with

exceptionalities, students from diverse backgrounds, or any other identity, my goal should be to

have the most inclusive, and best learning experiences that meet the unique needs for all

students.