Sept. 22, 2008

What?
Today we talked about intelligence and different theories of intelligences. We talked about special education, Inclusion, IEPs, and watched a video on Tourettes Syndrome. we also had a debate on the pros and cons of classification.
So What?
This is extremely important in education. As a teacher we need to realize that each student is different and each student learns differently. We need to be able to teach and adapt lessons to reach all of our students. I also feel that teachers need to be aware of the different disabilities that they will have in their classrooms, so that they can involve them and adapt the lessons for these students as well.
Now What?
I feel very passionate about Special Education. I have worked in Special Education for four years and the debate on Classification had me very riled. I know as a teacher how beneficial it is for me to know each child's disability, by knowing this I can better communicate and teach the child. However, I also am aware that it would not be beneficial for all teachers or students. If the teacher doesn't care about adapting or changing things to help the child with the disability understand and learn, then it doesn't matter if they know the child's classification or not. It all depends on the teacher and how they personally feel or view the classifications, if they feel negatively towards them they will not be willing to try anything different or do the extra work for one student. If the student achieves better when their general ed. teacher is unaware of their disability then they would probably not want them to know. I also know that some students use their disability as an excuse to get out of work or something else they don't want to do. It really depends on both the teacher and the student. Personally as a teacher, and having worked with children with a broad range of disabilities, I know that I will do everything I possibly can to help that child succeed.