Chandler Phipps

Special Education

11/5/18

Student Inquiry

CLASSROOM STUDENT INQUIRY PROJECT

Identifying Students that Receive Special Education

My class size, as a whole, is rather small, at only 53 students. However, we have a decent
number of special ed students in two of our three blocks. Among the professionals assigned to
help these students are the primary special ed teacher who assists during first and third block, as
well as a paraprofessional that assists during third block.
BLOCK 1:
This block contains 5 students that all have IEPs. During this block, the main special-ed teacher
is present at all regular class times, and she supports all students in the class. She will also
sometimes take them to her room when there is a test or specific hands-on assignments. A basic
outline of this class is as follows:
 Student 1- Specific Learning Disability in Reading, Math
o Read Aloud
o Reduce number of math problems
o SOL Calculator
 Student 2- Specific Learning Disability in Math
o Reduce number of math problems
o Extended testing time
o SOL Calculator
 Student 3- Specific Learning Disability in Reading, Written Expression, Oral
Expression
o Preferential Seating
o Extended testing time
o Dictation to a scribe
 Student 4- Specific Learning Disability in Math, Listening Comprehension
o Reduce number of math problems
o Reduce multi-step directions to one step
o Read Aloud
  Student 5- Specific Learning Disability in Reading, Written Expression, Math,
Listening Comprehension, and Oral Expression.
o Read Aloud
o Completed Study Guides
o Dictation to a scribe
o Preferential Seating
o Allow extra time to respond
o Break materials into manageable parts
o Reduce length of assignments
o Reduce number of math problems
o Shorten multi-step direction to one step
o SOL Calculator

BLOCK THREE:

Similarly to block one, this class has 5 special-ed students. The main special-ed teacher is
available during all regular class times to assist these students, and a paraprofessional is also
present; she often works with a few specific students, who greatly benefit from her presence.
This class is outlined as follows:

 Student 1- Specific Learning Disability in Reading, Math, Oral Expression

o Completed study guides
o Read Aloud
o Allow extra time to respond
o Reduce number of math problems
o SOL Calculator
o One-on-One Guidance Through Paraprofessional
 Student 2- Specific Learning Disability in Reading, Listening Comprehension, Oral
Expression
o Read Aloud
o Dictation to a scribe
o May record lessons in place of notes
 Student 3- Specific Learning Disability in Listening Comprehension, Math
o Read Aloud
o SOL Calculator
o Specific Verbal Prompts
o Preferential Seating
 Student 4- Specific Learning Disability in Reading, Oral Expression, Math
o Preferential Seating
o Read Aloud
o Allow extra time to respond
o SOL Calculator
 Student 5- Specific Learning Disability in Math
 o Reduce number of math problems
o Allow extra time to respond
o Alternate test setting
o Preferential Seating
o SOL Calculator

Special Education Interview

I interviewed the main special-education teacher at my cooperating school on October 24,

at 3 PM. Prior to the main interview, we discussed several students who receive accommodations
for some time, and came to a conclusion about a specific student that would be suitable for me to
work with for the purposes of this project. I was able to look at this student’s IEP at-a-glace prior
directly before the interview so that I could begin to formulate how I would be able to help this
student. The interview went as follows:
1. What special education services or supports do the students you serve receive? If there is
a paraprofessional in the classroom, how do they support students with disabilities?

They receive accommodations and modifications based on their individual IEP.

Accommodation is when you do something to help them access the regular
curriculum, and modifications are where you alter the assignment and/or grading
based on their IEP. Other than myself, we have a paraprofessional that assists the
students in getting their accommodations during third block. She assists one
particular student in math and reading specifically, as he is especially dependent on
one-on-one work.

2. When I prepare to teach a lesson, how should I adjust my lesson plans to meet their
needs? Do you have any information to share about these students that might help me in
my planning and teaching?

Just take into consideration their accommodations that they need in the classroom.
Things like read-aloud are VERY important. Reading support always has to be
covered during the lesson, or else you risk the students not comprehending the
material being taught. Extended time for assignments is also very important too,
especially for the ones that work slower, and many of them will prefer to test and
even do some regular assignments in a quieter setting, so I will often bring them to
my room if they desire. There are special lesson plans that are based on a principle
of universal design and they work really well. They include a special section for
spec-ed students.
3. What modifications or assistance do these students need or get when I give a test?
When testing, a large number of them get read-aloud. Sometimes they get reduced
number of answer choices, and we can sometimes mark out higher level thinking
questions for some students. They also get dictation to a scribe, if it is needed at the
time, such as with assignments that may be longer than a standard writing exercise.

4. Are there any behavioral or emotional issues I should be aware of, and what are the best
strategies for addressing those?

There are many behavioral and emotional issues. One thing that I think works
incredibly well is hand signals to the student. I like to use hand signals that the
student and I have knowledge of, and I can do these signals to help them get back on
task without drawing attention to them. It helps to get them on task without calling
them out. Many of the students express impulsive behavior, ADHD like behaviors;
they have problems sitting still, problems focusing. One particular student from
block 1 is totally impulsive and acts out for attention. Another student from this
block also often comments on almost everything the teacher says for attention.
Many of them have little self-control and that one student is defiant, and wants to do
the opposite of everything. When working with him, I sometimes have to employ
some reverse psychology in order to get him to do what we are seeking. Once you
learn how their minds work, it becomes easier to teach them.

5. What does the IEP say the general educator or classroom teacher is responsible for? What
does the general educator do on a regular basis to meet the needs of the identified
students?

The responsibilities of the Gen-Ed teachers are equally alongside the special ed
teacher. They are supposed to co-teach, and both teachers take responsibility for all
students. When I am in the classroom, I do not solely limit myself to the special-ed
students, and I help and answer questions for any student that needs assistance.
With special-ed, I do work with Gen-Ed teachers as a team and I look at grades to
help with whatever they need specific assistance with. We will sometimes grade the
special-ed students slightly differently depending on their accommodations, and I
help the Gen-Ed teacher to make the decisions on what we should do.

6. What are the ways you collaborate with general educators, or wish you could collaborate,
to support students with disabilities?
 I would like to take a bigger role with the classroom instead of just doing
accommodations. I would like to be able to alter some of the main lessons to where
they have accommodations in mind from the start, so that we do not have to go back
later and alter the plans to meet specific student needs. Many of the lesson plans
that are used in our school now come from the CIP instructional program from the
VA state DOE, and as a result, they do not have special-ed student accommodations
in mind when they are created. We have to go back in at a later point and manually
alter plans for our special-ed students, and that can be frustrating at times. Before
inclusion, we did a lot of project-based learning when students were in my
classroom solely, and many of them thrived off of that type of learning experience,
so I also wish that that type of learning could be implemented more often in the
standard classroom.

Observation of One Class

1. How Frequently is a special education teacher and/or paraprofessional present in the

classroom?

The special-ed teacher is present at all times in this classroom and she works with
all students, special-ed or not. The only times that she is absent from the classroom
directly is if brings some students to her room for any number of reasons such as
testing, quieter work environment, make-up work, etc.

2. Are collaboration and/or co-teaching occurring in the classroom? If so, provide examples.
If not, do you think it is neede?

My CT and the spec-ed teacher both teach at the same time, and will frequently
expand upon the other teacher’s ideas. I was told early-on that if I am ever teaching,
the spec-ed teacher will often interject so that she can explain what I am teaching in
a way that may be easier for her students to understand and comprehend. Having
co-taught with her myself, I try my best to give her opportunities to pitch in her own
statements for the students that need an alternate way of explanation.

3. How are special education services being delivered to the identified students?

The students receive their services in a wide variety of ways. They will sometimes be
grouped together in order for the special-ed teacher to teach a specific part of an
assignment to multiple students, or to lead an assignment as group work. She will
also work with students one-on-one in order to meet their individual needs. Students
 who feel that they need to work in a quieter setting are allowed to work elsewhere
away from other students, if they so desire.

4. How are accommodations and/or modifications actually being provided to the identified
students?

A good majority of the accommodations are delivered in the special-ed room, as it

has more equipment to better handle the accommodations. If students need to
dictate a paper, they are allowed to do so in the special-ed room, and they are also
read aloud to in both the special-ed and the regular classroom. When testing, the
students who need special testing accommodations are taken to the special-ed room
so that they can better focus and test using the services that they need.

5. What observed practices would you incorporate in your own classroom? How might you
support students with disabilities differently if this was your classroom?

I really like the idea of having a classroom environment that already has special-ed
students in mind. I would like to try and formulate plans that could somehow
include all students, whether with learning disabilities or not, but I also understand
that this can be difficult depending on your school system’s criteria for lesson
planning. I still feel like some of the special-ed students feel singled out because of
their disabilities, so I would want to try and push inclusion as much as possible in
my own classroom.

Teaching a Student With a Disability

For this project, I decided to work with student 5 of my first block, as she has a variety of
learning disabilities that give me a wide range of ways in which to approach her for the
instruction. During this particular week in our classes, the students are working on recognizing
and giving examples of various literary genres such as subtypes for fiction and nonfiction.
Students are working on a project where they are required to create an example of a literary
genre, and they are allowed to be as creative as they want with it. They can create a diorama,
poster, put on a skit, write a short story, write a mock article, and so much more. The point is to
make sure that their project relates to whatever genre they have chosen.
I approached our special-ed teacher with questions as to how I should approach this, and
she suggested that I set up my instruction based on parts of one of the “universal design for
learning” lesson plans that she showed me. Prior knowledge of the student from viewing her IEP
at-a-glance mentioned that although it is difficult for her to maintain focus and to maintain
consistent verbal communication, she is very interested in art and crafting things, so I felt it best
to use this to my advantage in working with her.
A part of the lesson plan template I was given mentioned various means of
communication through which you can offer instruction to the student. Among those listed
relevant to English are:
- Verbal-Linguistic
- Intrapersonal
- Interpersonal
- Musical
- Visual-Spatial
- Bodily-Kinesthetic
- Naturalist

Given the scope and means for this project and the areas in which this student has trouble, I
found that the easiest method of communication for achieving our goal would be Visual-
Spatial, as I knew she would likely gravitate towards creating some form of Art project for
her assignment. I included that I would take special care in focusing on her accommodation
for “break material into manageable parts”, because she can often become easily
overwhelmed by a project that may take a few days to complete. I decided to help her decide
a physical project for this, perhaps a diorama or poster, and planned to help her break the
pieces of the diorama into separate parts that she could work on individually.
When I began working one-on-one with this student, I re-described the criteria for the
assignment to her, and told her that this would give her an opportunity to show her creative
side by making a beautiful project based on something that she liked. Being right around
Halloween time, it did not take her long to decide that she wanted to do something
Halloween-themed, so we started there by beginning to think of what types of sub-genres we
could incorporate Halloween into, although she was unsure where it would fall in the
beginning.
Being a visual learner, she had some difficult in initially describing her ideal Halloween
setting. To help combat this, I asked her to draw what she was trying to describe instead. She
sketched out a brief picture of a graveyard with witches, old tombstones, pumpkins, and bats
almost immediately. I then told her to look at the individual pieces of her picture: particularly
the flying witches. I told her that yes, the tombstones, bats, and pumpkins are all real things,
but are witches a real thing? Of course she assured me that witches are made-up, and this was
how she was able to see that what she has drawn would be used in a work of fiction. Then I
further wanted to narrow it down to a subgenre of fiction: would this be a work of fantasy?
Historical fiction? Science fiction?
We briefly went over the various sub-genres of fiction with me briefly drawing a sketch
for each. I drew dragons and magic wizards for fantasy, I drew George Washington chopping
 a cherry tree for historical fiction, and I drew aliens and UFOs for science fiction. When she
looked at the drawings, she was able to link her own drawing to elements of fantasy due to
the magic linking her witches to the wizards in my drawing. She decided that her project
would represent fantasy-fiction, as it would show magic witches, monsters, and other things
that could not happen in the natural world.
I asked her how she wanted to create this project, and she said that she wanted to “make
what it would look like”, and became slightly confused as to how she would do this. I had to
do my best to keep her focused, because she wanted to look at other people’s projects during
this time. I asked her if she knew what a diorama was, and she said she did not. So I asked
her if she had ever seen a shoebox model. She did not know what that was either, so I
described it as “taking a shoebox and turning it into a stage for a play”. I told that you
decorate the shoebox to make a setting, fill it with characters, and use the characters to show
a scene. I drew a rectangular box frame around her drawing of the Halloween scene to
represent the shoebox around it, and I explained that this is essentially how her diorama
would look in the end.
Like flicking a light switch on, she soon started to draw another sketch, this time in the
same style that I had just done, inside a box. She outlined a graveyard, witches, and several
evil-looking Jack-O-Lanterns in the middle. I told her to see if she had a shoebox at home,
and she said she would check for the next day.
The following day, I was pleasantly surprised, as she brought in not one, but two
shoeboxes, which she had glued together so that they connected at a right-angle and looked
like an opened treasure chest. She had brought with her a bag of dirt, which she said was
going to be used as the ground for her graveyard scene. Before we began, however, I asked
her what her scene was going to depict; what was going on in the scene? She said that she
didn’t know, so we looked at her drawing from the day before, and I mentioned that it looked
like the witches and the Jack-O-Lanterns were fighting, and she immediately liked the idea. It
was decided that her scene would depict witches versus pumpkins, but we had no witches or
pumpkin images to use yet.
She asked if we could print some off, so we went onto google and looked for small
cartoon witches that we could paste several of in a document, so that she could print and cut
them out. She chose several witches and pumpkin images, which I helped her paste into a paint
document. We printed them off, and luckily, she was able to work fairly autonomously with the
actual decoration of her project. She ended up using construction paper to create a backdrop
complete with a night sky, tombstones, clouds, and a moon, and used glue to attach all the
witches and pumpkins in their respective places. She loved the entire process, and it was
something that really spoke to her. She was very excited to show my cooperating teacher the
progress she was making, and in the end, her project ended up being one of the most visually-
impressive out of her block. I was very pleased to see how good she felt about it, and how, by
playing off of her individual needs, I was able to help her spark her imagination and help her see
how her project related to the content. She was able to describe all the fantasy elements of her
project, and how they were accurate representations of their master genre: fiction.
 For me, the hardest part of the project was getting her ideas flowing. She was very much
the type of student that has a general idea in her head, but getting her to describe it in words is
very difficult. This is why the approach of having her draw out her thoughts ended up being so
effective in the long run, and I was very pleased with how she was able to work much quicker
and more effectively once she could give her ideas a physical form outside of words. If I were to
do this again with her, I would likely start with drawing as our first step, because I would know
that she would be able to do that much easier than she would be able to verbally communicate
her ideas to me. This experience helped me directly analyze a student with a disability and find a
way to work with the way their mind works. I had to think of ways to appeal to her disability so
that she could use her special way of thinking to effectively complete her work, and in doing so,
I made the assignment fun and worthwhile for her.