Andrea Derrick ED 396 Adapted Teaching Effectiveness Project (ATEP)

Preamble Alinah is a K5 student in the Milwaukee Public School system. She is 5, almost six years old, but because of her cognitive disability functions at a three year old level. As well as having a cognitive disability, Alinah has been diagnosed with ADD which causes her to have trouble focusing in school. Her parents do not believe in putting her on medications and are dealing with the issue in their own way (as told by CT). From my observations this semester I noticed that Alinah has most difficulties during large group instruction and with language (expressing her ideas and thoughts). During instruction it is hard for Alinah to follow along, most students at this age can concentrate for 15-20 minutes but Alinah can only concentrate for up to 5 minutes (Wood, 65). The instructions is too fast pace for her comprehension; while the other students are answering out loud or counting, Alinah will either copy after what they say or will just stare into space. She works best when given individual attention (according to the Special Education Teacher). I received an opportunity to work with Alinah one on one so the teaching could be done at her pace and at her ability level.

Sources Cooperating Teacher Special Education Teacher Wood, C.2007. Yardsticks, Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14, ed. 3. Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.

T M o a t t a Pe A l

oisu t cat e i elsc m dsso e um m rN e e n ees n e se: t e : d Andrea Derrick : d e ED 396 LESSON PLAN e d d : :
(WI Teacher Standards #1, 2) Instructional objective(s): Students will be able to calculate plus one addition Students can visually identify groups of numbers that are more than less than or equal to another group of numbers. Acommodations: Alinah will be asked to write numbers 7-12 first tracing the number then writing them on her own. I will work with her on solving plus one addition by asking what number comes next. She will count the number of items in a group then count the number of items in another group to see if they are equal, more than, or less than.

(WI Teacher Standard #8) How will you determine if the lesson objective was met? Alinah will complete a work sheet while I do an informal observation through oral discussion. (WI Teacher Standard #3) List all of the materials you will need to teach this lesson. Include those you designed.

Worksheet Pencil Space to work with Alinah one on oneme needed: 15-20 mins (WI Teacher Standard #7) Introduction: You were working on counting numbers in class. We are going to be completing this work sheet that includes counting numbers. Steps for instruction: (Specify time allotments.) Comparing groups of numbers (5 minutes): Alinah will count the number of lines in a box to determine if the lines are more than three. If they are more than three, she will cross it out. Adding plus 1(5 mins): Alinah will read a problem then solve for which number comes next. Writing numbers(5 mins): Using a dot to dot, Alinah will trace the numbers 7-12 identifying what the numbers are, then writing them on her own without the dot to dot. ___

Introduction to teen numbers (5 mins): The other students are learning how to write and count numbers from 1319. I believe this concept will be difficult for Alinah, especially 13 and fifteen which do not sound like 3 and 5. If this concept is too hard we will move on.

Closure: Positive feedback and praise will be given to Alinah which is essential in her learning process.

Self Assessment

1.

In assessing the challenges inherent in meeting your students needs and in the

planning of your lesson, describe how you applied the premise that discerning the social, emotional, behavioral and academic traits of the learner is a key factor in creating a successful learning experience (Diagnosis). When teaching Alinah, I was prepared to deal with some issues I knew people with her same disorders exhibit (from the readings). I also knew what traits Alinah exhibits on a normal basis from my observation. From these experiences, I had strategies in mind for when Alinah was having trouble focusing or completing a task. For example, the table we were given to work at was right next to a window. At one point, Alinah was distracted by the children playing outside. I refocused her attention on the paper and added that she would be able to have time to play once the work sheet was completed. 2.A Describe the teaching instance from your video in which you saw yourself responding appropriately to a learning need, the implications of this for student learning, and the insights/perspective you gained as a future practitioner. From my experience with Alinah I have learned that patience is really important when working with students with special needs. They need more time to work out more difficult problems and need a high level of support. If you take the time to work with them, they can surprise you with their abilities. When we were working with numbers in the teens, Alinah needed to hear the numbers several times that she is unfamiliar with. She has the most ease when working with numbers 1-7, so she had an easier time understanding how to write fourteen and seventeen. I worked really hard at trying to get her to hear the number nine in nineteen, she is less familiar with the number nine so eventually I had to tell her that it was a nine she was missing. It was at that point I had made the decision to stop the lesson, she had been working

diligently which at times could be difficult in her surroundings. As a teacher it will be important to know when my students have reached their limits so they can take a break mentally.

3. After creating the lesson plan, what elements of the planning, implementing and/or assessing of the plan demonstrate your expertise with one of the Wisconsin Teacher Standards and one of the Education Abilities. I chose to include my teaching objectives because they represent my demonstration of WTS #1 and 2. The objectives for this lesson were based on the content all the students were learning in their math class, and then adapted to meet the social, emotional, and physical needs of Alinah as a learner. WTS #1 is about a teachers knowledge of concepts and strategies in order to make lessons meaningful to her students. Through planning of the objectives, I thought about how Alinah learns and what strategies would work best for her. I also demonstrated my use of the Education Ability 2 in my objectives because of how I adapted what the students were learning in class to meet Alinahs needs. WTS #2 is about how a teacher knows the ranges of abilities of her students and creates lessons that help their developmental growth. I created a lesson that would help Alinah understand the concepts they were working on in class but at her own pace because she needs more time developmentally than other students.