As an instructor you will never have a classroom full of "normal" students. There is no set definition of normal to some it may be, but it depends on who you're asking. Everyday all across the country there is a student that is being excluded from a class session because a teacher may be enable to accommodate them. In my Intro to Special Education we have been discussing a whole lot about ADD & ADHD not being considered a learning disability to some professionals.
To me as a person who struggling all through out school because I was unfortunately diagnosed with ADD & ADHD when I was in the 2nd grade. I had trouble staying focused on the assignment at hand sometimes. In other instances I would complete some assignments with ease , but if I had finished before other students did I would distract them from learning. My teacher held a conference with my parents and stated that I was capable to complete the work, but didn't allow the students around me to complete theirs. She stated to my parents I was out of control and that if I didn't get my act together she would have me removed from her class.
From that day on she ignored me when I would have a question, and never acknowledged my presence. This made me feel like I wasn't apart of the class and it discouraged me from learning. Her as a teacher should have found different ways to keep me on task or different tasks for me to do when I was complete with my work so I wouldn't have time to distract others. In the education field INCLUSION IS KEY! No matter the instances you should always make all your students feel like they belong because if not they can shut down and hate learning as a whole.
So to my fellow educators beware of the many different things you may encounter and be prepared.
Wow! This was a great blog. I always wondered how far a student diagnosed with a learning disability would succeed educationally,but you've come along way. This is a lesson learned how not to treat your students that are different from others.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this doesn't happen in many second grade classrooms anymore. The mainstreaming of special education students went smoothly for some teachers, but others had the attitude of "I didn't sign up to teach special ed." These days, new teachers take courses and are tested on differentiated instruction--you expect to encounter a student with ADHD, and you know better than to threaten or ignore the child!
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