Making Room for Students with Disabilities

Technology today has obviously improved compared to how it was back then. Some people think that its growing way too rapidly and can cause certain negative effects for the younger generation. But, what these people fail to realize is how useful technology can be, especially for people with disabilities. Technology helps them complete daily tasks that they’re not easily able to do on their own. And, because students spend half of their time in school, it’s important that technology resources are available to them so that they can participate along with their classmates. Teachers need to take into consideration students with disabilities needs when planning a lesson, creating activities, and setting up their classroom environment.

Lesson plans are essential to a teacher because they guide a lesson and keep it from going off task. Lesson plans also allow room for teachers to make modifications which can benefit students with disabilities. For me, the important parts of a lesson plan that include opportunities for students with disabilities to be successful are guided and independent practice, materials/ resources, and adaptations. Guided practice contributes to students with disabilities success because they’re able to work with others. Independent practice also contributes to students with disabilities success because teachers can determine whether the child understands the lesson and which areas they may need more help with. Resources is the most essential contributor to students with disabilities success because the child may have an impairment with their eyes, mouth, hands, etc. and they need that assistance to help them with their work both in school and at home. Lastly, adaptations are important to students with disabilities success because it allows them to have additional time to complete tasks.

Every student is unique. They each come from different backgrounds, have different values, beliefs, gifts, disabilities, etc. According to Fields, Meritt & Fields (2013), “To ignore differences in the classroom and expect that every child act in an identical manner is to ignore children and who they are” (p. 294). Teachers must recognize and respect these differences so that they can adjust in the ways in which they interact with students. As a future teacher, I would try to create activities that take into consideration students differences by providing an unlimited amount of ways for students to complete a task, activity or assignment. For example, a student’s strong suit isn’t in writing so instead he/ she may want to create a diagram This provides students the opportunity to use their strengths and develop a deeper understanding for the lesson. And, let’s say this doesn’t work because the student needs technology to assist them then I would do my part as a teacher by bringing it to the school’s attention and just keep following up until the student gets what they need.

At the beginning of the school year, teachers should create a classroom environment that takes into consideration all students’ needs, especially those students with disabilities. According to Bucholz and Sheffler (2009) the type of environment that a teacher creates and encourages can either increase or decrease a student’s ability to learn and feel comfortable as a member of the class. What the authors mean is that whether a teacher chooses to create a positive, accepting environment or not it will affect the students and how they treat one another. An approach is to set up students’ desk to where they are in small groups that way all students have enough room to move around the classroom. They will also be encouraged by the way the class is set up to accept others and to have more peer interaction.

When teachers take into considerations students with disabilities needs by planning lessons, creating activities, and setting up their classroom environment they are working towards students success in school and preparing them for the real world.

Sources:

Fields, M. V., Meritt, P. A., & Fields, D. M. (2013). Constructive Guidance and          Discipline: Birth to Age Eight. USA: Pearson.

Bucholz, J. L., & Sheffler, J. L. (2009). Creating a Warm and Inclusive Classroom Environment: Planning for All Children to Feel Welcome. Electronic Journal for Inclusive Edition, Volume 2 (No. 4), p. 1.