Science for All

Mrs. Dickersons third grade classroom at Sheridan Elementary in

Orangeburg, SC has several students with learning differences and special plans in
place to meet their special needs. At this school, students with learning needs,
special education IEPs, and ELL students get extra support in many ways. Some
students receive modifications and accommodations in the classroom without a
special plan simply because they are below grade level academically. Some ELL
students leave the class for a segment for extra support from an ELL teacher in a
small group classroom. In some cases, a reading specialist joins the classroom daily
for reading groups to work with students reading below grade level. Some students
with IEPs leave the classroom to attend a small special education class for extra
reading, writing, or math instruction. Many of these students are given
modifications and accommodations that teachers must provide to help the students
learn the content and make academic progress.
When taking into consideration a child's learning abilities, an instructor must
be mindful of the students' behavioral, emotional, physical, cultural, and academic
status. In order to effectively reach your students the teacher must understand who
their student is as a person. Although a couple of Mrs. Dickersons 3rd graders are
having difficulty understanding science and even appreciating school itself, majority
of her students seem to like science and enjoy school. Mrs. Dickerson informed me
that she has three repeats in her classroom and a child who is diagnosed with
ADHD. I closely observed two of the three students. I will refer to them as Student A
and Student B. These students seemed to be disinterested in science and other
subjects.

My first day in the classroom, I had an encounter with both Student A and
Student B. I came to the front of the classroom to introduce myself and they began
to look at one another and laugh. The other students sat attentively and listened to
me speak. They were distracting me and some of the other students around them
with their giggling and whispering so I called them out. After calling them out,
Student A gave a blank stare and Student B developed an attitude. At that time I did
not know that Student A was struggling academically and was self-conscious and
that Student B struggled academically and behavioral problems. That is when I
decided that I would study those two students specifically.
Student A never seemed to do any work in any subject. She would constantly
get called on for missing homework and minding others business. She possessed an
attitude of low self esteem which as a result made her pick on others. Mrs.
Dickerson had her sitting at the very front of the classroom. I took note of how she
would roll her eyes every time she was instructed to do an assignment. She never
participated and when she was called on by Mrs. Dickerson and she would give her
a nasty tone of voice. Mrs. Dickerson still encouraged her to participate and include
her in all activities until she became a big disturbance.
Student B was an African American male. He would do his work for a short
period of time then he would find somebody to bother or a way to distract other
from their work. Student B showed more interest in science than Student A but not
very much. I realized he enjoy hands on activities but he was a zombie when it
came to book work. He was always hyper and energetic for the most part. As stated
before, he was diagnosed with ADHD. He actually had an outburst during a lesson
orchestrated by one of my classmates. During the experiment, he wasted water and
all of the students began to blame him and making him feel bad. He in turn, yelled

at them and threw a tantrum. This was not my first time seeing this happen in a
classroom, it shocked me because I had not seen it in a while. Mrs. Dickerson forgot
to inform us of his battle with ADHD until that point. She sat him on the opposite
side of the room the other students who chattered just as much so that he could
focus more on his work. He was also included in every activity and Mrs. Dickerson
works very hard to refrain sending him to the office.
Overall, the teacher has many accommodations in place for struggling
students to help them be successful academically and behaviorally. She uses them
consistently, and reminds other teachers about the accommodations as well. It is
clear that Mrs. Dckerson is a very experienced teacher who knows how to identify
which accommodations are most appropriate for students who struggle
academically or have special learning or behavioral needs. Her students success
shows that she knows what is best for her students and has a great understanding
of which accommodations are needed