My field experience took place in a public elementary school where I work. I chose to observe two first grade students who are in the same class. One of these students, Zachary, is a seven year old boy who has been identified as “mentally retarded”; however according to Kirk, Gallagher, & Coleman (2015), “today we use the term intellectually and developmentally delayed”. The other student, Joel, is also a seven year old boy who has been identified as being developmentally delayed. During the course of my field experience, Joel was officially labeled as being Autistic. Both of these students have been receiving special services from this school since they were in kindergarten. This field experience has benefited my knowledge and understanding
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Joel on the other hand would not play with is classmates nor did he play on the playground equipment. Instead, he would lie around on the ground or play parallel to his peers. The second setting that I observed these students was in my own classroom, which is during their physical education class where I have them twice a week for 45 minutes each time. Even though Zachary had to be redirected a few times, he still participated in the games that we were playing and followed the rules most of the time. Joel would not play the games, but instead, he would lie on the flood and had to be constantly redirected and did not follow the rules to the games. The third setting that my observations took place was in their general education classroom. During my observations in the general education classroom, Zachary was never present. He gets removed from the general education classroom when he disruptive and yells or harms other students. Joel stays in the general education classroom for specific content, such as Math and Science. What I witnessed about Joel in his general educational classroom was that he sits by himself and tends to wonder around the room, lays on the ground when he wants …show more content…
The first that I have learned is that each child needs to be handled differently. In order to determine how to handle certain situations with students with exceptionalities, I have learned that I really need to get to know these students, what they can and cannot do, and their specific needs, both emotionally and academically. Another thing that this field experience has taught me is that just because a child is considered exceptional; it does not mean that it has to limit what they are capable of. While I was observing and working one-on-one with these students, I came to realize just how smart they were. This experience has helped me understand that having exceptional students in a general education classroom will be more work for me as their educator; however, the longer I can manage them in the classroom, the more they will benefit from it. I have also come to understand that students with exceptionalities might not get something the first, second, or third time, but as their teacher, I need to keep working with them until they do get
Joel on the other hand would not play with is classmates nor did he play on the playground equipment. Instead, he would lie around on the ground or play parallel to his peers. The second setting that I observed these students was in my own classroom, which is during their physical education class where I have them twice a week for 45 minutes each time. Even though Zachary had to be redirected a few times, he still participated in the games that we were playing and followed the rules most of the time. Joel would not play the games, but instead, he would lie on the flood and had to be constantly redirected and did not follow the rules to the games. The third setting that my observations took place was in their general education classroom. During my observations in the general education classroom, Zachary was never present. He gets removed from the general education classroom when he disruptive and yells or harms other students. Joel stays in the general education classroom for specific content, such as Math and Science. What I witnessed about Joel in his general educational classroom was that he sits by himself and tends to wonder around the room, lays on the ground when he wants …show more content…
The first that I have learned is that each child needs to be handled differently. In order to determine how to handle certain situations with students with exceptionalities, I have learned that I really need to get to know these students, what they can and cannot do, and their specific needs, both emotionally and academically. Another thing that this field experience has taught me is that just because a child is considered exceptional; it does not mean that it has to limit what they are capable of. While I was observing and working one-on-one with these students, I came to realize just how smart they were. This experience has helped me understand that having exceptional students in a general education classroom will be more work for me as their educator; however, the longer I can manage them in the classroom, the more they will benefit from it. I have also come to understand that students with exceptionalities might not get something the first, second, or third time, but as their teacher, I need to keep working with them until they do get