Ashley Folden

Final Portfolio
Reflection for The Learner and the Environment
The articles within the section The Learner and the Environment includes the

Case Study from EDUC 200, Lesson plans with accommodations and the Classroom

Management Plan. These articles were important because they taught me about students with

special needs, how to differentiate lessons within the classroom, as well as how to plan every

detail in my future classroom from the first day of school to how the classroom is arranged. Each

of the articles have a distinct purpose and were completed at different times in my educational

journey. The Case Study in EDUC 200 was the first article to be completed. My case study was

very interesting and took me out of my element. The student I chose for my case study was a 6th-

grade autistic male. I interviewed the students mother, interviewed the students math teacher, as

well as observed the student in his math class. Observing the student taught me so much, because

I knew the male personally but seeing him in the classroom setting totally changed my

impression on the student. The student during a casual setting is vibrant and outgoing as well as

always smiling. During the students math class, he was reserved and seemed lonely, he also

wasnt very focused but seemed to excel at his work. His teacher also told me that he often didnt

turn in homework because he felt he knew the material and didnt know if he needed to show it.

The case study was a rewarding process because it was my first and only time I had the

opportunity to observe a middle school student and classroom. The next article in the Learner

and the Environment includes lesson plans with accommodations. The lessons I included with

this portion of the portfolio were lessons I created during my student teaching experience. The

accommodations within the lessons I provided vary. One of the major lessons with

accommodations I included was in my fourth-grade placement, and the same sort of lesson was

apparent every week for the reading tests. The accommodations included how the students are
tested. The students who received special education services and who had a 504 are tested in the

hallway separately from the other students. They are given the test orally with the questions and

the answers. They are also given two answers out of the four answer choices to choose from.

Other lessons I included in this lessons dealt with other forms of diversity such as supporting

individual learners, such as kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners and designing lessons to

help the students be active and learn the best way they can. The last portion of The Learner and

the Environment includes my Classroom Management Plan. I enjoyed writing the Classroom

Management Plan, even though at first it seemed to be a daunting task. I feel that it made my

future classroom more realistic and it also made me feel like my educational career was coming

together. I tried to incorporate unique ideas into my Classroom Management Plan as well as

practical and efficient concepts. Some of my favorite parts within my Classroom Management

Plan would include my bell ringer for the first day of school, my makeup work routine, as well as

my behavior management system. Overall, I feel that The Learner and the Environment is one

of the crucial components within the final student teaching portfolio. From the beginning stages

where I completed my Case Study in EDUC 200 to one of my final projects the Classroom

Management Plan, I feel I have come a long way, and these articles helped to contribute to my

preparedness for my educational career.