Special Education Fieldwork: Classroom Observations Report

Introduction and Fieldwork Overview

The purpose of this fieldwork is to observe two certified special education teachers and make connections to course content within real-world classroom settings. One of the schools where the observation was conducted is P.S./I.S. 266, a pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade learning institution that falls under the New York City Public Schools district. The school was established in September 2003 and has a student population of nearly 700 students (P.S./I.S. 266, 2018). The second school is CLASP Children's Center, a pre-kindergarten setting that seeks to provide quality childcare for working parents and has existed for more than 35 years (CLASP Children's Center, n.d.). This paper provides a summary of observations made in each of these schools as part of this fieldwork.

Observations at P.S./I.S. 266: Sixth-Grade Special Education

The teacher under observation at P.S./I.S. 266 provides special education in a sixth-grade class comprising 25 students. The certified special education teacher was interviewed for 1.5 hours, and classroom observation was conducted for 6 hours. The interview provided significant insights regarding the nature of the classroom environment and the teaching strategies utilized in this co-taught general education classroom.

The observation was made during an English class that incorporated different learning activities to help meet the diverse learning needs of the students. These students have different types of disabilities, including visual impairment, intellectual disability, speech impairment, and emotional disturbance. Students exhibited behaviors reflecting the symptoms of each of these disabilities. This English class was a co-taught general education class, meaning students with special needs were not pulled out from the rest of the classroom to undertake instruction in a separate location. Different learning activities were utilized by the teacher based on each student's individualized education plan (IEP). Some of these activities included reading and writing exercises, color coding, and breaking down different tasks.

The subject matter taught in this classroom was Vocabulary, intended to enhance students' mastery of reading and writing in English. Lesson objectives included promoting students' understanding of advanced vocabulary words, enabling students to identify advanced vocabulary words in literature, and enabling students to understand the meanings of those words. To achieve these objectives, the teacher utilized graphic organizers and musical pieces that incorporated advanced vocabulary words. Student responses were measured through examining each student's involvement in classroom activities and through a test completed at the end of the lesson.

Instructional Strategies and Accommodations at P.S./I.S. 266

By incorporating musical pieces and graphic organizers into the classroom, the teacher utilized a multisensory instructional approach. Students color-coded text to identify advanced vocabulary words, listened to musical pieces and discussed advanced vocabulary words used in the music, engaged in reading and writing exercises geared toward identifying these words, and created clay sculptures to represent individual vocabulary words.

Some of the instructional accommodations used in this classroom include allowing students to record their work in different ways, using flexible time schedules for students to complete learning activities such as the creation of clay sculptures, and reducing assignments depending on each student's learning needs and abilities.

The teacher utilized the students' individualized education plans (IEPs) to develop a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP), which served as the behavior management system in the classroom. IEPs were used to identify and document students' problem behaviors. The Behavior Improvement Plan stipulated rules, directions, and instructions in a clear manner that could be understood by all students. The teacher also identified and applied appropriate interventions to help students model desired behaviors. This behavior management system was effective: students displayed the target behaviors, and learning proceeded with minimal disruptions.

Conclusion

This fieldwork provided an opportunity to observe two certified special education teachers in different school settings. As shown in the reports, these teachers employed different teaching strategies and methods depending on their subject matter, the nature of the classroom environment, students' disabilities, and lesson objectives. The fieldwork demonstrates that student learning requires the use of varied instructional strategies and methods. Students with special needs require individualized teaching approaches in order to meet their learning needs and enhance their academic outcomes.

References

CLASP Children's Center. (n.d.). General information. Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://www.claspinc.org/generalinformation.htm

P.S./I.S. 266. (n.d.). Overview and mission. Retrieved December 11, 2018, from https://sites.google.com/psis266.org/k-8