Final Inclusion Paper

Meredith Lindsay November 4, 2012 ECI 416

As this course is coming to close my initial thoughts and knowledge about inclusion within the classroom has definitely changed. I had never thought much about the idea of having students within my classroom with disabilities, but I see now that these students are present in all classes. My current viewpoint about inclusion is that all students need to be given the opportunity to succeed within a mainstream classroom. Students with exceptionalities should be given the same opportunities as other students. Through this course I have learned many techniques that help guide teachers when faced with students with exceptionalities. There are different approaches to teaching that can be taken to help students with exceptionalities succeed within a normal classroom setting. I do feel that inclusion is important for students with exceptionalities, but my main concern is being able to offer a good balance for my students. My biggest fear is accommodating all of my students, which includes those with exceptionalities. I do think a full inclusion classroom helps to make students with exceptionalities feel more like they belong within their school, since they attend class just like other students. Some of the techniques and ideas that I have learned through this course will help to ease my concern about helping those with exceptionalities be successful, along with my other students. The materials provided throughout this course have allowed me to learn strategies and techniques to help better the learning experience for those students with exceptionalities. The video titled How Difficult Can This Be?F.A.T. City: A Learning Disabilities Workshop, by Richard Lavoie offers many timeless suggestions that can be used within a full inclusion classroom. The video provided a great visual of challenges and situations students with exceptionalities face. Students with exceptionalities already face problems within the classroom and Richard Lavoie claims that teachers should reduce the F.A.T. for students while in the

classroom, which includes Frustration, Anxiety, and Tension. Lavoie explains that in order to enforce these techniques teachers must reduce their use of sarcasm. When sarcasm is used it causes students to have more anxiety and alters their learning process. I completely agree that sarcasm is not a positive technique to help implement the idea of the F.A.T. Instead students should feel at ease and encouraged when engaging with their teacher. Students should feel at ease when taking risks within the classroom and should never be punished for a wrong answer. Correct answers should always be praised and reinforced during student learning. Students with exceptionalities need to feel positivity while in the classroom setting. Positive behavior is going to help the students feel more at ease and more eager to learn despite their exceptionality. This video provided me with great knowledge about how I should treat my students with exceptionalities. It is ultimately about making the students feel at ease while in the classroom and accepting the many ranges of achievement these students have to offer. The suggestions mentioned by Richard Lavoie in the video will be extremely useful within a full inclusion classroom. In order for all students to be successful within a full inclusion classroom, behavior must be handled accordingly. Through our class materials, the Iris Center explained the acting out cycle, which explains how to deal with students that contribute non compliant behaviors. This is a very important concept to understand when dealing with students and helping those students with exceptionalities become more successful. The one stage in the cycle that seemed most important was the trigger stage. The stage is extremely important because this is when a student can trigger the use of unwanted behavior. These triggers for behavior can occur within the classroom and outside the classroom. It is important for teachers to understand necessary approaches to help prevent these triggers. Fortunately, teachers can use formal problem-solving

strategies and precorrection plans to help students anticipate and prevent, or effectively respond to, these triggers to prevent behavior from escalating into more serious phases of the acting-out cycle (??????). This strategies used by teachers can help the behavior from escalating into more of a serious situation. Students with exceptionalities may find themselves in the trigger stage after having a bad interaction with a teacher. These types of situations can lead to a poor learning environment for students and it is extremely important for teachers to recognize the different stages of the acting out cycle to better the classroom experience for students, especially those with exceptionalities. The stages included within the acting out cycle are calm, triggers, agitation, acceleration, peak, de-escalation, and recovery. As teacher it will be helpful to know each stage, which can help pinpoint the area of concern for students with poor behavior. Behavior issues can be preventable and the acting out cycle acts as a good model to help prevent the idea of acting out by students. IDEA explains that all students with disabilities are entitled to a free and public education. In order to ensure this students with disabilities are give an IEP (Individualized Education Plan), which is discussed with teachers, parents, special education teachers, and normal education teachers. The IEP can be extremely helpful to teachers when having a full inclusion classroom setting. Involving parents within the IEP process is extremely important when helping the student become more successful in and out of the classroom. Lusa Lo states in Demystifying the IEP Process for Diverse Parents of Children with Disabilities, The underlying assumption of this expectation is that when parents are actively involved in making decisions regarding special education services and placement, their children benefit (Luso Lo). Although students may be placed within a full inclusion classroom, and IEP can help benefit the child when accommodations are put in place.