What Is My Classroom Observation

My classroom observation took place in a second grade inclusion classroom at the W.L. Morse School in Tarrytown, N.Y. The classroom consisted of one general education teacher, a special education teacher, and a teacher’s assistant. There were 22 students in the classroom and eleven of these students had IEP’s. Four of the students were ELL students. Throughout the day students were pulled for speech and occupational/physical therapy. In addition, an ELL teacher would push in for math and writing lessons. The classroom space consisted of one room with a door to an adjacent smaller room in the back. The back room was used to test the special education students and to deliver all of their writing/book review/ essay lessons and workshops. The main classroom had a blue u-shaped desk in the front that the special education teacher would sit in as she worked with the special education students for all other lessons. The student’s desks were arranged in rows facing the smart board. There is also a list of student jobs that are changed weekly on display. At 8:15 the students arrive for the day. Upon arrival, the students place their backpacks in their lockers, their math homework in a bin, and pull out their composition homework books to be checked. Students have homework …show more content…
Fisher stated that the self-contained classroom is very diverse. For example, at W.L. Morse there are seven students in the self-contained classroom. Four are Caucasian and three are Hispanic. Two of them come from wealthy families who want the school district to have to pay for specialized residential educational facilities, which cost around sixty thousand dollars per year. She said most families do not realize that the school districts are obligated to pay for the education of students that cannot be “effectively” educated in the public school system. There are other students in the class who receive free lunches and have their field trips paid for by the