Inclusion in the Classroom

The class I am currently working in, there is mild inclusion taking place with two students.  My mentor teacher does a wonderful job including the student in the classroom, but places him in the back of the classroom with only one other student, while the other students are arranged with five or six student clusters.  There is a teacher aid that comes into the classroom to work with the students and verbally read out questions and help clarify any misunderstandings.  I asked the teacher if she had ever been in a "eligibility committee for the responsibly for a student before and after they were classified in special education."  This particular student does not like to stray from the school schedule and tends to act out when the day does not occur in the same manner.  The other students are not distracted by the one student and are actually encouraging of the one student.  I personally believe that the student with mild autism benefits from being in an inclusion room because of the interaction with other students.  The classroom as a whole also benefits from having the student with mild autism, because they are learning life skills of how to work together and become aware of being considerate of those around you.  The teachers in the fourth grade also benefit from having the student included in the classroom because they are forced to think of their traditional teaching in a different way and how to approach teaching with different learning strategies. 

Writing Assessment and Instruction

In my field placement, I am in a 4^th grade geometry class; therefore I have not had the privilege of working with a literacy coach or language arts teacher to properly answer this week’s questions on writing assessment and instruction.  However, I did talk to the 4^th grade language arts teacher about how she assesses students and documents their progress and how she would create a "comprehensive report in special education."  She explained how everything the students are working on is geared towards their STAR test at the end of the year and the components required by the state of Texas to meet the writing requirements. She mentioned that she has never written a "comprehensive report that was based on finding of the students academic work."  All teachers in the fourth grade keep running assessments on their students that are administrated depending on where the student is intellectually.  Based off the students progress the teacher then determines the lesson plan for the next following days and if there is a significant review day that is need for the students to truly comprehend the objective. In the classroom while actively working with their students, the teacher does not focus too much time on spelling for the students, because that is expected of them to know and review at home so they can perform in the classroom.  Peer evaluation is also a prominent way a teacher can assess a students’ progress and this give each student the opportunity to peer teach, giving the teacher more time to work one-on-one with students who are struggling more.