The Barbour Language Academy is not just a general education school, but a dual language program where their academic requirements and expectations stay consistent for all students in providing high quality education. Accepting Spanish speaking and English speaking students, the classrooms are constructed by children of both languages. Teachers are expected to be fluent in Spanish and English as the instruction is dependent on English speakers learning Spanish and Spanish speakers learning English. Although we would think this would propose difficulties in students with an IEP or learning disabilities, according to my interview with Maestra Miliagros Guerra and her lead kindergarten team teacher, Maestra Diaz, most students adjusts well and
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The difficulty in inclusion classrooms remains more in the availability of the team as their caseloads are too great for any one person to observe, evaluate, and assess in a timely manner Maestra Guerra tells me she has utilized a lot of technology with the permanent availability of a Smartboard and computer. She can access educational websites, YouTube videos, Discovery Education Resources, Pearson Success, and the flexibility of the Smartboard itself to manipulate worksheets and diagrams. The one student with an IEP at this time does not require any accommodations in the classroom except in language itself. “For our student with an IEP, after the results of his last assessment, the Team concluded that he needs to build up more vocabulary in ENGLISH; they suggested providing this in the classroom, because ESPECIAL EDUCATION and RTI for the kindergarten level are only provided in SPANISH in our building.” I had the opportunity to see this, for a moment, during their journal time. They were to write the date in Spanish, draw a picture of themselves and write a sentence similar to the one on the board with their name instead of the little girl that was drawn on the board. The teacher was to check each journal to see if the requirements of the lesson were met. The child with the speech impediment was told to repeat the sentence he wrote and then the English translation. HE had slight difficulty in both, but with added concentration, he did well. He is pulled aside in the classroom at various times for further assistance in speech in
The difficulty in inclusion classrooms remains more in the availability of the team as their caseloads are too great for any one person to observe, evaluate, and assess in a timely manner Maestra Guerra tells me she has utilized a lot of technology with the permanent availability of a Smartboard and computer. She can access educational websites, YouTube videos, Discovery Education Resources, Pearson Success, and the flexibility of the Smartboard itself to manipulate worksheets and diagrams. The one student with an IEP at this time does not require any accommodations in the classroom except in language itself. “For our student with an IEP, after the results of his last assessment, the Team concluded that he needs to build up more vocabulary in ENGLISH; they suggested providing this in the classroom, because ESPECIAL EDUCATION and RTI for the kindergarten level are only provided in SPANISH in our building.” I had the opportunity to see this, for a moment, during their journal time. They were to write the date in Spanish, draw a picture of themselves and write a sentence similar to the one on the board with their name instead of the little girl that was drawn on the board. The teacher was to check each journal to see if the requirements of the lesson were met. The child with the speech impediment was told to repeat the sentence he wrote and then the English translation. HE had slight difficulty in both, but with added concentration, he did well. He is pulled aside in the classroom at various times for further assistance in speech in