Teaching Diverse Students
Adapted Lesson Plan
This is an adapted lesson plan for a student with down syndrome in the classroom. The lesson plan walks through the accommodations and supports for a student in the general education classroom. It is a plan for a whole class math lesson with an aide in the classroom for the student with down syndrome.
This lesson plan connects to IPTS standard 1J which says that the competent teacher "differentiates strategies, materials, pace, levels of complexity, and language to introduce concepts and principles so that they are meaningful to students at varying levels of development and to students with diverse learning needs." This lesson plan shows how I adapted a full lesson to break it down, provide visuals, let the student work at their own pace and with accessible materials.
Adapting lesson plans for the general education classroom allows unique learners, such as those with disabilities, to continue to learn in a general education setting. I learned through this, and many other adapted lesson plans and activities, to always find a way to let every student meet the criteria they need to. Students will learn in a variety of different ways and it is my job as a teacher to give them access to the strategies and materials they need to be successful.
The "Exploding Hide-Away"
This is a space that was created for a student in one of my student-teaching classrooms. The special education teacher and I created this space for a student with disabilities in the general education classroom who needed a place to be alone and not leave the room. The room was not conducive to provide this student a place to be alone in the classroom but still hear the teaching. Thus, this space was created by the teacher's desk: a place for solely this student to be able to go when needing a place to let emotions out and be alone while still following instruction in the general education classroom. The student is allowed to read and do work independently in there as well as he desires and as it is needed. The space has a few things in there that normally calm the student down or provide support when the student is upset and needs a moment away.
This lesson plan connects to IPTS standard 1G which says that the competent teacher "understands how to identify individual needs and how to locate and access technology, services, and resources to address those needs." We were able to give the student a space to meet their needs and still be in the classroom. This space works out very well to meet the needs.
I learned that it is not always needed for students to leave the classroom to be alone. I learned about using the space around me to provide students what they need. It is possible to meet these students' needs while still keeping them in the general education classroom. This space helped many people to be able to see the ease of creating safe spaces for students with disabilities in the general education classroom.