Like any other learner, students with disabilities require a classroom that conveys respect to them. This is because these students are more likely to develop stereotypes due to their condition when not respected. For instance, constantly reminding them about their disability may make them to develop the perception that they are inferior to their counterparts who do not have any disability. Better still, they can develop the perception that they are less capable then their peers. The consequence of having this kind of mentality is that it will prevent them from believing in their abilities. Further, this will make them to perform poorly in class activities (Browder, 2013).
Some of the general characteristics that grade 12 students might display to suggest presence of a disability when teaching them listening and speaking topic include inability to hear and talk. Students unable to hear sound would be classified as deaf students while those that will be identified as unable to talk will be classified as students suffering from mutism. The significance of this particular classification is that it will help me as a teacher to strategize on how to teach each student. To put it in another way, classifying students on the basis of their disabilities will enable me to identify and satisfy learning needs of each student on a personal basis (Snell, 2014).
A few of the “big idea” that are typically taught during the first semester in the case of early childhood include communication skills and critical thinking. Training on communication skills involves guiding students on better ways of exchanging messages between themselves and adults. The purpose of teaching them communication skills is to help nurture positive interpersonal relationships among the students and other people of the society. What normally happens is that people with poor communication skills engage more in conflict than those with good communication skills. The purpose of teaching them critical thinking is to prepare them to think independently. This makes them to always scrutinize ideas before accepting them as being true (Turnbull, 2015).
Some of the accommodation ideas that could be made to make learning more accessible for the “big ideas” in representation and expression include increasing minority faculty and increasing access to information. It will be difficult for students to express their concerns when they lack relevant information. In order to have many disabled student representatives in student governance for instance, it will be necessary to create many posts that can be occupied by them An accommodation that could be made to make learning more accessible for the “big ideas” in engagement is increasing the number of class activities. Classes with more activities are more likely to have their students engaged when compared to those that have fewer activities. What this implies is that the quality of education in classes with many activities is high than in classes with fewer activities (Vaughn, 2016).
To best insure the success of these individuals, I will use special education to provide convenience. This is because disabled students have different educational needs. What this means is that I will embrace a personal approach when teaching them so as to satisfy the needs on a personal level. I will use grade level to identify major characteristics and student social to explore challenges. I will use family and community resources to keep the students in school. As I have come to learn, there are families that refuse to educate their disabled children because of their belief that their children will not achieve significant success since they are disadvantaged by their disabilities. For parents with this kind of mentality, I will use community financial resources to educate their betrayed children (Westling, 2014).
Ainscow, M., Booth, T., & Dyson, A. (2014). Understanding and developing inclusive practices in schools: a collaborative action research network. International journal of inclusive education, 8(2), 125-139. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1360311032000158015
According to this 2014 published article, inclusivity in the classroom can be achieved through using a common language that all students can comprehend. As per these authors, using a language that is not understood by all students in few occasions will be a form of discrimination. In their words, teachers should remain neutral when it comes to language use.
Dyson, A., Gallannaugh, F., & Millward, A. (2013). Making space in the standards agenda: developing inclusive practices in schools. European Educational Research Journal, 2(2), 228-244. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2304/eerj.2003.2.2.3
Authors Dyson and Gallannaugh state in this 2013 published article that the only way to encourage inclusivity is to encourage respect during discussions. Normal students should be warned against provoking disabled students. In other words, both normal students and disabled students should be trained to interact in a well marred way.
Villa, R. A., Thousand, J. S., Nevin, A., & Liston, A. (2015). Successful inclusive practices in middle and secondary schools. American Secondary Education, 33-50. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41064553
In this 2015 published article, authors Villa and Nevin point out that it is important for teachers to interact with their students positively in the classroom if inclusivity is the main. According to these authors, the teacher should not discriminate student on any basis. All students should be made to feel important.
A few of the continuing professional development opportunities for Exceptional Children include special education teacher and early intervention specialist. Special education teacher entails learning how to teach students with disabilities. This includes learning how to communicate with them especially those with hearing challenges. An international professional organization dedicated students to this professional area is St. Johns University. Early intervention specialist entails learning ways of how to educate young students with disabilities. An international professional organization dedicated to this professional area is George Mason University (Browder, 2013).
To conclude, teaching students with disabilities should be emphasized just the same way teaching normal students is emphasized. In this particular emphasis, strategies that will help insure the success of disabled students should be highlighted. For instance, the challenge of shortage of teachers should be highlighted. So as to encourage more individuals train as special education teachers, the government should raise the salary of special education teachers to a level that is higher than that of teacher teaching normal student. Second, professional institutions offering special education courses should create public awareness about special education courses to counter the perception that these courses are hard.
References
Ainscow, M., Booth, T., & Dyson, A. (2014). Understanding and developing inclusive practices in schools: a collaborative action research network. International journal of inclusive education, 8(2), 125-139. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1360311032000158015
Browder, D. M. (2013). Curriculum and assessment for students with moderate and severe disabilities. Guilford Press.
Dyson, A., Gallannaugh, F., & Millward, A. (2013). Making space in the standards agenda: developing inclusive practices in schools. European Educational Research Journal, 2(2), 228-244. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2304/eerj.2003.2.2.3
Snell, M. E., & Brown, F. E. (2014). Instruction of Students with Severe Disabilities: Pearson New International Edition. Pearson Higher Ed.
Turnbull, A. P. (2015). Exceptional lives: Special education in today’s schools. Merrill/Prentice Hall, Order Department, 200 Old Tappan Rd., Old Tappan, NJ 07675..
Vaughn, S., Bos, C. S., & Schumm, J. S. (2016). Teaching students who are exceptional, diverse, and at risk in the general education classroom. Allyn & Bacon.
Villa, R. A., Thousand, J. S., Nevin, A., & Liston, A. (2015). Successful inclusive practices in middle and secondary schools. American Secondary Education, 33-50. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41064553
Westling, D. L., & Fox, L. (2014). Teaching students with severe disabilities. Prentice Hall.
