Term Paper on "Teaching Special Needs Students John"

Term Paper 6 pages (2296 words) Sources: 6 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Teaching Special Needs Students

John S.)

Teaching Special Needs

It is not uncommon today for a teacher to have special needs children in his or her classroom. There is a widespread notion that all students learn betting in an inclusive classroom setting that does not only include children of special needs, but multi-cultural differences as well. When it comes to teach, particularly reading and writing, to a class with regular students as well as special needs students, a teacher needs a different approach. This approach is based on the idea that students achieve more when working together, however a teacher needs to of course tailor her teaching as it depends on the students. This means to incorporate all of the children in the class as one community. Once children have been included, special needs students can fall behind in reading comprehension and writing, which are important aspects of the learning process. It is at this point that special activities in which foster group learning and a variety of types of instruction while keeping an open mind can help a teacher to accomplish his or her goals of maximizing the educational opportunities of all students.

The first step in teaching children with special needs is to identify the problem in the child so it is possible to adapt more effective teaching styles. Some of the characteristics indicative of a special needs child are those which are witnessed for extended periods of time including, but not limited to, difficulty learning new skills, having a hard time with phonetics, confusing basic words, ands poor coordination with a lot of accidents (Keller 2005). In particular, some factors are indicative of certain learning disabilities with languages including spelling and reading errors like substitutions, letter reversals, inversions, and transpositions (Keller 2005). Furthermore, coordination problems are a major indication of a child with a learning problem who thus needs special attention. However, testing is ultimately needed, but is not necessary for a teacher to engage in different activities aimed at helping an elementary school child with special needs.

If a teacher has a special needs child in a classroom with children with regular students it is likely because of a policy known as inclusion. "Inclusion considers that all students are full members of the school community" and that students with disabilities are "provided specially designed instruction in their least restrictive environment" (New Horizons 2007). This means that a special needs student is included in the class with regular students so regular students can help encourage growth and perhaps regular students can learn from the participation of a special needs student as well. This means a special set of challenges which a teacher needs to work to overcome with his or her class.

There is no one set of challenges that accompany the inclusion policy of teaching children with special needs. There are many types of learning disabilities and a teacher needs to respond to each child's individual problems. These students with learning disabilities experience a wide variety of learning problems in many skills, but reading and writing are critical problems as they are important aspects of many areas of study, in particular those effecting by learning disabilities. Dyslexia, the inability to read, and dysgraphia, difficulty with syntax are two of the more common problems (Keller 2005). Because special needs students learn slower and cannot comprehend the material they learn at the same speed as other students, patience is a key factor (Keller 2005). The teacher needs to speak slow and recognize a student's inabilities to learn without overreacting to poor behavior and avoiding awkward social situations.

This means that before a teacher engages in a specific set of activities designed to help a special needs student, he or she must have a general attitude that differs from that of a teacher with only regular students. The first step is to "create a classroom community in which all students will feel welcome and valued" (Alleman et. all 2007). A teacher successful in handling special needs children in her classroom has made sure that students feel like a family in her class and that her class will be a success for the children that will meet their own individual "hopes and dreams" (Alleman et. all 2007). This will create a better environment for a special needs child. Furthermore, a teacher should not come to conclusions about a special needs student because of a disability. A child may or may not be listening or understanding, but it is unfair to judge a student based on the fact that he or she has a learning disability.

But perhaps the most important factor in an effective class with students of special needs and regular students is the incorporation of group activities which bring out the best in all students. It is emphasized by nearly all those who have studied or experienced teaching students of special needs. This means, according to one effective third grade teacher that each student regardless of special need or not has a teacher who will "love, respect and understand them as individuals, help them feel and be included" (Mendoza 2004). Many teachers mention the need to create a community in which respect, goals, and a family oriented atmosphere predominate. Taking time to meet with special needs students to get to know the teacher in advance in which the teacher is genuine and real encourages special needs students to arrive and be comfortable in the new classroom (Mendoza 2004). Furthermore, lessons which aim at treating all children as similar help to encourage confidence and a community, without detracting from a child's unique abilities. For instance, there "might be a lesson on the elements of childhood, underscoring the idea that children everywhere experience many similar physical, behavioral, and intellectual changes in their early years," which means that children are not treated as different but their similarities are shared which helps to bolster the feeling of family within a classroom (Mendoza 2004). Cultural activities and learning about the world and different ethnicities shows that differences exist in the real world but do not mean that people have to be treated differently, and such ideas go a long way in helping to integrate the special needs student into the everyday classroom. The general sentiment among teachers who have been successful over long periods of time in teaching inclusive classes is this notion of community and culture and treating all children as special.

Once the general atmosphere of the class is one of a family, there comes more particular issues in dealing with a special student's ability to learn, read, and write at the same level of other students. Special needs students often comprehend at a much slower rate than other students and this becomes particularly troubling, especially considering the recent focus and reliance on standardized education. Because reading comprehension and writing are important aspects of standardized testing, special needs students may not receive the proper education teaching, but it is still possible for a teacher "to differentiate standards-based education to successfully meet diverse needs in the classroom" (Hoover & Patton 2004). Because a standards-based curriculum is often assigned to teachers, it may pose an additional threat to the learning of students with disabilities. To combat this, teachers must teach the curriculum in many different ways to encourage a special needs child to learn. According to Hoover, "Educators of students with special needs must regularly adapt curricula to provide differentiating instruction to successfully meet educational needs in the classroom" (2004). The threats of standards-based education can pigeon-hole special needs students and thus create a less effective learning environment; particularly because special needs students tend to have weaker reading skills than regular students.

There poses a problem in regards to writing and reading with students of special needs who are at a particularly high risk of falling behind their counterparts. According to one detailed study on the teaching of writing to students of special needs at the elementary level, it is not only possible for all students to write effective, but that "teaching handwriting and spelling influenced the development of two other important writing processes: content generation and sentence construction" (Graham et. all 2005). It is also important to teach writing from a variety of different angles as a special needs student may not understand fully. One way is to group children not by ability, but by a variety of different categories such as random, task, student choice, interest and others (Opitz 2003). By grouping according to different measures after fostering a sense of community, it is possible that students can learn to comprehend in different ways and with different people which will be beneficial not only for the special needs student, but all students in the class (Opitz 2003). Furthermore, there are key areas important to reading and a teacher should realize and understand them. These include an appreciation of the written word, knowledge of the alphabet, knowledge of sounds, spelling patterns, and many others. Additionally, technology can and should help students of… READ MORE

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