Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
LUCY, SARAH F
PROFESSOR BUTLER
SPED 400
OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY
22 NOVEMBER 2017
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PHILOSOPHY PAPER
My decision in the type of students that I want to teach has changed over time. When I
first started working as a Teacher Assistant in 2014 I worked in Kindergarten. I enjoyed working
with the kids so much that I decided to go back to school to get my license as a General
Education Elementary Teacher. Since then I have worked two years as a Kindergarten Teacher
Assistant, a few months as a long term ELL tutor for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, four years as a SOL
Proctor, two years as a RTI tutor, three years as a First Grade Teacher Assistant, and five years
as a Substitute Teacher. Over this span of time I have grown and changed in my views and
wants as a future teacher. Working so much in small groups and one to one I have come to
realize that my place is with those students who need a little more help and I have changed my
major to get my license as a Special Education Teacher. My hope, once I graduate, is to work in
an elementary school.
Two strategies that I would like to implement when I have my own classroom or when I
Scaffolding instruction is breaking up the learning into chunks and then providing a tool, or
structure, with each chunk (Alber, 2014). There was a study conducted in a Florida classroom
that had two normal students and two special education students and was run by a general
education teacher and a special education teacher. The class was broken up into two groups, the
general education teacher led the typically developing students and the special education teacher
led the special education students. The two groups were followed in their inclusion classroom to
observe how the scaffolding patterns of the two teachers worked (Silliman, 2000). The SPED
teacher used an implicit phonics approach where words were presented as a unit whether than
in isolated sounds. The SPED teacher introduced new words and modeled their pronunciation
and spelling. The students were then expect to reproduce these words through choral responding
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PHILOSOPHY PAPER
(Silliman, 2000). Scaffolding instruction can help those students who cannot process large
amounts of information at one time but need it broken up into parts for them with repetitive
practice. Direct instruction uses small-group, face-to-face instruction by teachers and aides
using carefully articulated lessons in which cognitive skills are broken down into small units,
sequenced deliberately, and taught explicitly (Carnine, 2013). Studies were reviewed on direct
instruction and its effectiveness in the use for special education students. In this review it was
found that special education students performed better after curriculum was presented to them
through direct instruction than they did with more traditional approaches (Gersten, 2001).
The two extended professional teaching skills that I would like to develop is the use of
technology for special education students for educational uses. The other skill that I would like to
develop is the use of manipulatives in the classroom for educational proposes. Technology can
be used by special education students to do more than just assistive work. One SPED teacher
states that she feels for her students who are unable to choose electives because they have to take
remedial math or reading to get them on grade level. Because of this she has started using
Google Docs to make a choose your own assignment adventure for her students. The SPED
teacher says that [a] choice board is a graphic organizer that offers students options of tasks to
complete(Nieves, 2016). Also, she provide students with tasks they are required to complete
and a variety of tasks they can choose from and can complete at their own pace (Nieves, 2016).
According to the SPED teacher this incorporates a sense of ownership in the students learning
and builds their confidence (Nieves, 2016). In a study it has been shown that manipulatives help
make math more accessible to special education students (Maccini, 2000). Manipulatives gives
the student a visual to help them understand the math concept whether than them having to rely
on memorization (Maccini, 2000). I plan to continue my education once I graduate and become a
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PHILOSOPHY PAPER
SPED teacher. Part of that continued education is to learn new ways to engage and support my
students in their education and I feel that these two skills are a good step in that direction.
My personal philosophy on special education is that even though these students are
special, they want the same as every kid. To not be treated differently and for others to
understand them. They may need more of my time and may not get what I am teaching them on
the tenth time but that is okay. I will try teaching the topic for the eleventh and twentieth time
and try different strategies until I find one that works for them. That is what I am there for. To
support them. My biggest philosophy in all things is that patience and kindness goes along way.
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PHILOSOPHY PAPER
References
Alber, Rebecca. (2014). 6 scaffolding strategies to use with you students. Edutopia.
Carnine, D.W., Silbert, J., Kameenui, E. J., Tarve, S. G. (2013). What is direct instruction?
Education.com
Gersten, Russel, Ph.D. (2001). Direct instruction with special education students: A review of
evalution research. The Journal of Special Education, VOL. 19, NO. 1, 41-59
Maccini, P., & Gagnon, J. C. (2000). Best practices for teaching mathematics to secondary
Nieves, Kathryn. (2016). Using technology to empower students with special needs. Edutopia.
Silliman, E. R., Bahr, R., Beasman, J., & Wilkinson, L. C. (2000). Scaffolds for learning to read
256-79.