Emily DAngeloInclusion Action Planpage 1

Inclusion Action Plan

Emily DAngelo
EDU: 605: Inclusion of Students with Special Needs
Viterbo University

Emily DAngeloInclusion Action Planpage 2

Description of Current Inclusion Practices

I currently work as a reading intervention teacher at St. Bernard Catholic School. I work
with students in grades first through eighth. I take students from their classrooms and work with
them individually or in a small group setting in a small classroom. Previous to working as a
reading intervention teacher, I worked in the Early Childhood program at St. Bernard. My
daughter now attends the 4 year-old program and has co-worker as a teacher at St. Bernard. I
have the opportunity to teach in her classroom on occasion. I have collaborated with her teacher
during the year about the students in the class with special needs. I will base my Inclusion
Action Plan on my experience this past year in the Early Childhood setting.
When teaching a 4 year-old section of Early Childhood, I have the privilege to work with
16 students along with a part-time aid. I have two students with special needs and IEPs in the
classroom. One little boy, whom I will call Jack, has Autism. Because our Early Childhood is
a play-based facility, it is an ideal situation for Jack to practice his social skills. I take time when
the kids are in Free-Play (time for them to choose their own activities in which they wanted to
participate) to observe Jack and help him communicate effectively and play appropriately with
his peers. Jack needs prompting at times when he wants a toy from a friend; he has a tendency to
grab things from others and needs to be reminded to use his words to ask for things he wants.
Jack benefits from visual cues to show him what the schedule of our day would be like; I draw a
small schedule for him to keep in his pocket every day so he knows what to expect.
The other student I have in my class with special needs has Tourettes syndrome, along
with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) symptoms. I will call him Jim. Jim struggles with

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fine-motor activities such as coloring in the lines, writing his name in proportion, and cutting
with scissors. Jim does not struggle with social skills, but is very self-conscience about his tics.
Jim blows raspberries into his hands and makes a sound in the back of his throat that sounds
similar to a frog croaking. Both of these tics draw unwanted attention to him, which causes Jim
anxiety. Each day I work independently with Jim practicing different fine motor skills for as
long as he allows; some days we work for 10 minutes, some days it is 2 minutes! He leads the
learning that was we do each day. I created a safe spot for Jim in the classroom to go when he
is feeling overwhelmed or wants a safe place to tic. This space is a small cubby with cushions
and pillows.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths: Our Early Childhood team uses TRIBES to build a strong sense of community with
students and teachers. Being a catholic school, we are able to bring religion into our classroom
and talk about Jesus love for everyone, and sight examples of Jesus including and loving
everyone He met. We were able to hire a full-time teachers aide even though we had a smaller
class size. This may not have been allowed in a public school. Because of the smaller class size,
teachers are able to spend more time working individually with students. If students attend both
our 3 year-old program and 4 year-old program, students will have the same teacher for two
years, which provides continuity for both students and teachers. Parents are very involved and
active in our Early Childhood program. The parents give tremendous support to their children
and to the teachers. Parents also get to know the students in the classroom on a personal level.
Having a smaller class size allows teachers to get to know all parents personally and form a
relationship. Along with our classes, we offer a day care program which coincides with the
learning of our Early Childhood program.

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Weaknesses: Although our team has good intentions, often times we focus on improving the
weaknesses a child may have and do not try to expand on their strengths. We use differentiation
when we teach, but the toys and supplies in our classroom do not always accommodate those
with fine motor weaknesses. We do not have a school counselor or psychologist for students to
work with to help deal with emotions and stress. Being a private school, we have very limited
funds with which to work. Tuition for our program is very expensive, and rates typically
increase every year. We do not provide financial assistance. The Green Bay Area Public Schools
offer a free 4 year-old kindergarten that is similar to our program; we are constantly trying to be
better than our competition. Although Speech and Language are offered at our building through
the public schools, they do not come to our site to provide occupational therapy. Due to lack of
funds, teachers need to personally purchase items for the classroom that may be needed.
Opportunities: Because we are a private organization, sometimes companies/individuals will
give presentations to our staff for discounted rates. There are three teachers and two teacheraides on our Early Childhood team; this small number makes it easy for us to all work together
as a team and to share ideas and strategies with one another. Due to financial pressure, the Early
Childhood team runs a rummage sale every spring. All proceeds benefit our program. Not only
does the sale benefit us financially, it also advertises our program and gets the public into our
building to see our facility. To promote relationships between our young students and older
students in the building, we have reading buddies with older students. Every week the older
students read books to the younger students. We also do various projects together. We have
Open Enrollment for all of our programs; there is no cut-off date to register and send a child to
school. We are fortunate to have supportive parish members who provide support to our

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program by donating their time or give financial donations. We offer many different class
options for parents to choose the best program for their child.
Threats: As stated previously, our program is expensive which can decrease our enrollment.
The poor economy also has affected our enrollment negatively. We must have a minimum of ten
students in a group in order to hold class. There have been times when teachers do not know if
they will have a job until very near time for school to begin in September. Teachers must have a
four-year degree in Early Childhood. Due to our pay being drastically lower than the public
schools in the area, it is difficult to find dedicated teachers and not lose them to the public
schools after a short time. This can cause high turn-over rate and decrease continuity between
teachers and students. When we need to ask the Green Bay Public Schools for assistance with a
speech and language evaluation, they make us jump through hoops before accommodating our
requests. As an Early Childhood staff we believe this in part due to the voucher program that is
now in place in the state of Wisconsin; the public school system sees us as a major threat and is
much less inclined to help us than in years past. This upsets parents and could potentially turn
families away from our program.
Stakeholders
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Students with Special Needs

Students without Special Needs
Parents of students with Special Needs
Parents of students without Special Needs
Classroom teachers of the Early Childhood program
Classroom teachers of the day schoolgrades Kindergarten through 8th
The Supportive Consultant of our building
The Lead Supportive Consultant of the GRACE (Green Bay Area Catholic Education)

schools
9. Our principal

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Goal: To focus on the strengths of students with special needs, not only their weaknesses
Recommended
Strategies/Activitie
s

Current %

Our staff will attend

a presentation on
ways to enhance
strengths of
students with
autism. We will
work with Maggie
Opelt, who is the
Preschool Director
at Centerpiece; an
autism treatment
center here in
Green Bay, WI.
The training will
take place at our
facility.

After
completing a
survey,
teachers
reported
they
feel
they focus
on
the
strengths of
children
with autism
only 25% of
the
time.
Teachers
reported
they try to
improve the
students
weakness
and
dont
always
acknowledge
strengths of
the student.

Our staff will tour

the facility,
Centerpiece, on a
scheduled inservice day.
Our staff will keep
anecdotal notes on
students with
autism. We will
write down what
we did each day to
enhance the
strengths of these
students.

Goal
%
100%

Materials/Resource
s Needed?
(What?)

Who will
implement?
(Who?)

I will set up an
appointment for the
presentation during
our Fall In-service
time. Centerpiece
employees have
given presentations
in the past at other
schools for no
charge. I will
request the same
accommodation.
Attendance of staff
will be mandatory,
due to the fact that
this will take place
during contracted
time.

Myself and
our
principal

Target Date for

Implementatio
n
(When?)
August of the
2014-2015
school year

Evaluation
(Did it
happen?)
We will
complete an
evaluation
on the
effectiveness
of the
presentation
after we
have
attended.

Goal: Adapt the physical environment of the classroom to better meet the needs of those
with Special Needs
Recommended
Strategies/Activities

Current
%

To help children to

35%--Of

Goal %

75% of

Materials/Resources
Needed?
(What?)
Wooden balls from

Who will
implement?
(Who?)
Myself and

Target Date for

Implementation
(When?)
First day of

Evaluation
(Did it
happen?)
Will be

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manipulate puzzle
pieces, I will attach
a wooden ball, 1.5
inches in diameter
to the stub of the
handles. This will
allow students to
pick up the pieces
with ease.
We have only had
thin crayons and
pencils available for
students; we will
also provide the
thick crayons and
pencils so students
can choose which
thickness they
prefer.
I will enlarge our
coloring sheets to
make the pictures
larger, and therefore
easier to color in
the lines.

the 23
puzzles
currently
available
for
students
to
complete,
only 8
have a
handle of
some sort
for
gripping.
We
currently
have no
thick
crayons
or pencils
available

puzzles
will have
a handle.
There will
be a full
assortment
of
different
sized
thickness
of crayons
and
pencils.

Hobby Lobby, hot

glue gun, thick
crayons and pencils.

our
principal

school for the

2014-2015
school year.

completed
after it
occurs.

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Goal: Extend our resources to the other schools in the GRACE system, and learn about
new ways to improve inclusion in our classrooms.
Recommended
Strategies/Activitie
s

Current %

Goal %

Materials/Resource
s Needed?
(What?)

All Early
Childhood teachers
will meet once a
month during
scheduled meeting
times. Each month
a different school
will present how
they make
adaptations in the
classrooms for
students with
special needs, and
seek information
from the group on
how to improve
their methods.

0%. There
has been no
collaboratio
n between
the EC
teachers in
the GRACE
schools on a
monthly
basis.

The EC
teacher
s will
meet 6
times
during
the
20142014
school
year.

Teachers can meet

at a different EC
location each
month. Teachers
can communicate
through email to
determine which
school will be the
location for each
month.

EC teachers will
have the
opportunity
throughout the year
to observe other
classrooms and
teachers to learn
new ways of
inclusion.
The principals of
each school will
invite the other EC
teachers when guest
speakers will be in
their buildings.
This will give the
other EC teachers
in the GRACE
system a chance to
participate if they
choose.

Who will
implement
?
(Who?)
Myself and
the
principals
of each
school.

Target Date for

Implementatio
n
(When?)
Meetings will
be held the first
Wednesday of
every month,
beginning in
October.

Evaluation
(Did it
happen?)
Will be
completed
after the
meetings
occur.

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Although teachers have good intentions, it seems as though teachers can get so focused
on trying to help students with their weaknesses, they forget about trying to encourage
growth in the areas of strengths. This is particularly the case in students with special needs in
our Early Childhood program. By specifically focusing on the strengths of the students as
well as the weaknesses, this will help all students to be successful at school. This will remind
the teachers who work with students with special needs that the child is more than that kid
with autism, but the student with many unique characteristics that can add a lot to the
classroom; just as every other student in class. To state more simply; the student with special
needs is not a disability, but a student! Making physical adaptations to the classroom will
help make this mindset a reality because students of all capabilities will be able to better
participate in classroom activities.
Working collaboratively with the other teachers in our school system will provide a
wealth of knowledge to all teachers. The teachers in our Early Childhood program have been
excellent about supporting each other and sharing ideas, but we rarely have the chance to do
that with the other Early Childhood teachers in the other schools of our school system.
Meeting once a month will give all teachers an opportunity to learn from each other and
bring ideas back to the classroom that will benefit all students.
Focusing on the strengths of students will special needs, adapting the physical
environment of the classroom to allow students of all abilities to fully engage in classroom
activities, and working collaboratively with teachers will help to provide our students with

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the least restrictive environment possible in our classroom. Students will be encouraged to
grow and learn to their fullest potential, which is what education is all about!