1.

Interview:
1. How do you plan a lesson when thinking about the different
levels of learning in your class to accommodate everyone?
-I usually shoot for the majority skill level when I am planning a
lesson and then have some more challenging work for the advanced
students as well as some easier work for the lower students. If you
have an assistant, I would use here to give more one on one time to
those slower students. If you dont have an assistant, then just try to
carve out a few minutes somewhere to touch base with them and
make sure they understand the concept. If it is math, I try to use
manipulatives when I can, especially for the low group.
2. How do you make sure a child with ADHD is kept busy when
you are trying to teach a lesson or when it is quiet time?
-I have had many students with ADHD over the years. There are
many resources out there now. You can get them a squeeze stress
reliever type ball for them to use to give their hands something to do.
Also, they have these great bungee cord chair attachments. (The little
boy talked about below as one.) The students can bounce their legs to
release some energy.
3. Do you find it difficult to create a lesson plan to help all of
your students with different learning abilities and
concentrations?
-It is difficult to plan for every different learning ability and
concentration level. Sadly, I havent found an answer to always meet
every need. You just do the best you can and make it work.
2. Observations:
When I was observing my teacher at Union Academy in a third
grade classroom, I noticed that in her classroom the first day that she
had many different students with different learning needs and abilities.
The first day that I went, I went at 7:45 in the morning right after their
day had just begun so that I could see what their full day was like.
Around 9:45, she had about five students leave and would be gone
until they met up with the rest of the class at lunch. I found out that
those students were in a thing called soar. Soar is for the gifted
students and they would leave after the class would do their morning
work. The soar students would leave and do math and reading in
another trailer, while Mrs. Rogers worked with her other students in
reading and math. There were also a couple of students that would
leave during some of the reading time, because they were working
with one on one in a little more quiet setting. Those two students
struggled in reading and math.
Mrs. Rogers had found out over the years that working in small
groups are the best ways to teach students. She would have her

assistant work with some of the class while two groups work
individually and another group worked with her assistant during the
reading block. During reading block, she would work with students on
an assignment that would be a little more difficult if they worked on it
individually. When the students went to the group with Mrs. Rogers
assistant, they would go over different reading strategies and would fill
out little booklets about them and put them in their reading journals.
The other two groups would read a small story and discuss it with each
other and the other would work on an article and complete a
worksheet about it.
During the math block, she would separate the class into two
smaller groups. They would be working on the same assignments, but
smaller groups so that more students had a chance to talk. The whole
class would start out in a large group to go over the new information
with or watch a video about the information and then separate into the
smaller groups.
Mrs. Rogers had a couple of students with different learning
abilities. Mrs. Rogers talked with me openly about her classroom. I will
not use any names for their safety and professionalism, so if I use a
students name it will not be their real name.
There was this one little boy in her classroom that had ADHD and
struggled in reading and math. This boy had his desk in the back of
the classroom by himself to help him be able to concentrate.
Everyone else in the classroom was in table groups with their desks
pushed together. On the desk legs, he had a rubber band bungee for
his feet to go on so that he could keep his feet constantly moving. The
boy also had a chair that had a rounded bottom so that he could move
in any direction. He was constantly moving. Anytime he had a pencil
in his hand, he would be drumming and making noises with his mouth.
The noises that he would make with his mouth would distract the other
students in the class. When the assistant was there in the classroom,
she would have to sit beside the boy to keep him quiet and tell him to
put his pencil down on his desk. He also had headphones that he
would wear during a test or completing an assignment to cancel out all
of the background noise. Mrs. Rogers told me that this boy was one of
the most challenging students that she has taught in all of her years of
teaching.
There was a little girl in her classroom as well that struggled with
reading and math. She was one of the students that would leave in the
middle of reading to work with another teacher one on one. I noticed
during math time that she would watch the other students at her table
group to see what they got on certain problems and write that down.
She would not be cheating, because it was like group/individual work.
Mrs. Rogers would write a problem down on the smart board and the
students would write their answer on their desk with dry erase
markers. She struggled with their multiplication facts test that they

took everyday. When it came to reading and writing, she was not on
the same level as the rest of her class. With writing she would be all
over the lines and did not remember to start at the left side of the
paper and stay within the lines. She would write and it would take up
two and three lines. She would also start in the middle of the lines or
at the very end of them.
At the end of the day, the soar students would be back with the
classroom for reading time, science, and/or social studies. She would
have everyone working on the same assignment, but would also have
another assignment for the students that finished before the timer had
gone off. During reading time, students either worked on RIs (reading
interventions for targeted reading), reading a book, or an assignment
that they had not finished. With the RIs, the students would read a
passage and answer questions to that passage on their own. Mrs.
Rogers would not be allowed to help them in anyway. I could tell that
these passages were difficult for some of the students. With the RIs
not everyone in the classroom would be working on them. It was just
students that might would struggle with the reading section on the
EOGs. If they did not do well on the EOGs, but did fairly well or passed
all of the RIs then Mrs. Rogers could say that they were ready for the
next grade level even if they did not pass.
Mrs. Rogers was a great teacher and I thoroughly enjoyed
working with her and learning from her. She was great with helping me
understanding and seeing it from her point of view.
At the other observation, it was a little more different, because
they were younger students. Teachers are just figuring out students
learning levels and what they struggle with. This observation was with
a kindergarten classroom. I loved working with Mrs. Merriman and
seeing her interaction with her students. She was great and her
sayings were funny, but the students loved them.
She just had a couple of students that struggled staying in their
seat and following directions. Honestly though, what kindergarten
wants to stay in their seat and sit there all day long? She made their
day fun though. She did have a few students that would join her for a
little math more one on one with a couple of students from other
kindergarten classrooms. She worked with them on counting and
number sense. The students would work with her on counting on
different objects and writing down how many that they counted of that
group and how many they have in total. The way that the teacher
described them and the having the exact object she was talking about
was great. There were a few students that struggled with writing
letters and numbers. Mrs. Merriman would spend extra time with them
and help them with their numbers or letters. She would assist them in
writing it then let them do it with her still there with them. I did not get

to spend as much time with this kindergarten classroom as the third

grade classroom. She was a great kindergarten teacher.
When looking at the questions from the clinical diverse students
file, I noticed that teaching students and preparing lessons will be
different from day to day as well as year to year. Some students might
have a bad day or they might not understand that one topic, so you
will have to adjust to help them. Mrs. Rogers told me that every year is
a different learning experience for you and you walk away learning
something about teaching and about yourself. Mrs. Rogers would
modify her instruction to the students that struggled in reading and
math by having smaller groups to work with. This way students got to
ask more questions and she would be able to see what the students
know a little bit more. Mrs. Rogers was a little bit more focused on
those students. She did not hover over them, but she might spend a
couple more seconds with them and walk past them a few more times
than other students. She kept a closer eye on them. She does not
take away from the other students though. The other students still get
to show her what they know and ask questions if they do not
understand. Mrs. Rogers would walk away from one of the students
who struggle to go help another student in the classroom. She makes
it seems like it is apart of the lesson. I had to take a closer look to see
that she was paying a little more attention to certain students. She
expected all of her students to complete the same work, but she knew
that she might have to assist some students a little bit more.
When looking back at the kindergarten classroom, Mrs. Merriman
would spend the same about of time with all of the students, but the
ones that struggled with writing numbers or letters she might walk
over to them a few more times. It seemed like it was a part of the
lesson. She tried to get everyone involved in on carpet time and
expected everyone to participate no matter what. I did notice if she
knew that there was a student that struggled with writing a letter or a
number that she would go over and make sure they were doing it right.
If the student did not do it right, then she would erase it and the
student would do it in front of Mrs. Merriman to show her. She would
even assist them the first time.
3. Application to this course
Before writing my lesson plan, I asked my cooperating teacher if I
needed to have different worksheets for the students that might
struggle in that subject. She told me no that her worksheets are set for
the majority of the skill level. Yes, the worksheets might be a little
harder for some students, while it might be easier for others. She told
me that if students finished before the timer went off then they would
know to work on an assignment that they have not completed or work
on something around the classroom for extra practice in a subject.

There is cultural diversity in the classroom. I love the way that the
school accepts everyone and wants all of the students to accept
everyone. They have character traits and one student from each class
is picked each month for that character trait. They have an assembly
each month as well to say who won from each class. It was great,
because everyone in all of the classrooms from the school cheered and
clapped for everyone that won including the very last person. All of
the students were excited for the person that won. There were some
students that did better with working independently while some
students were better with group work. Mrs. Rogers did a great job of
splitting time between independent work and group work.
4. Application to Unit:
1. Grade Level: 3rd Grade
2. Number of:
-Students in the class: 21
-Males: 11 Females: 10
3. Complete the chart below to summarize required or needed
supports, accommodations, or modifications for your students that will
affect your instruction in this learning segment. As need, consult with
your cooperating teacher to complete the chart. The first two rows
have been completed in italics as examples. Use as many rows as you
need.
Learning Needs
Category

Number of
Students

Example: Visual processing

Example: Struggling
readers

Example: Attention
deficit hyperactivity
disorder

Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit

Supports, Accommodations,
Modifications, and/or Pertinent IEP
Goals
Close monitoring, large print text,
window card to isolate text

Leveled text, targeted guided

reading, ongoing reading
assessment (e.g., running
records, miscue, conferencing)
Seated close to the front of the
class, Behavior monitoring
sheet, included in many handson activities
Seated in one of the corners of
the back of the class next to the
assistant teacher, bungee device
on desk, chair that can move
constantly, monitoring sheet
filled out with him at the end of
the day
Seated close to the front of the

Hyperactivity Disorder
Struggling Readers

Struggling with Math

Soar students

class, hands on activities

Targeted RIs that are worked on
during reading time everyday
(reading assessments),
2 of them went and worked with
another teacher more one on
one
Worked with another teacher
more one on one for a little bit
everyday, more assist when
completing an assignment
Did reading and math in a
separate trailer then would come
back for science and social
studies, more advanced work in
math and reading

Scoring Sheet:
Diverse Students Clinical (4220) Scoring
Sheet
points
possible

Part 1 - Interviews
Questions are pertinent and relevant.
Questions are sufficient to provide needed information.
Summary paper shows synthesis of the information.
Summary paper shows evidence of new learning.
Part 2 - Observation Summary
Paper relates pertinent details of the observation.
Paper discusses how teachers modify curriculum and
instruction to meet diverse needs of students.
discusses surprises, things not seen before, impressions,
etc.
Part 3 - Application to Unit
About the studentssections 1 and 2 complete
About the studentschart 3 complete with
appropriate and quality information
Overall assignment: mechanics, grammar,
organization
total

2
2
2
2
3
3
3
2
3
3
25