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Irma Medina
October, 4, 2016
SPE 480-01
Assignment#2
Site Visitation Paper

The classroom observation took place on Thursday, September 22, 2016 at eleven

o’clock am. Franklin D Roosevelt Elementary is one of six elementary schools within the

Lawndale School District. The school serves Transitional Kindergarten to fifth grade population.

The class I visited is a second and third grade life skills class. The age group is of seven and

eight year olds. The category of disability of the students are intellectually disable and other

health impairment. This class is government funded. The instructors name is Mrs. Melanie

Hart. The total enrollment of the class is seven students. The classroom consists of four girls

and three boys. Five out of the seven students are Hispanic. There were four adults in the room,

the master teacher and three additional aides. One of the aides provides one on one support to

one of the students the other two provide additional support. The curriculum of the life skills

class is to be able to teach intellectually disable students how to function in the real world with

the proper assistance and early intervention students are able to learn the life skills and concepts

to help them become independent adults.

To begin with, classroom number seven at Franklin D. Roosevelt is a life skills

classroom. As soon as I stepped in the room I noticed a highly structure environment. The walls

were mostly decorated with visual components. In the middle of the classroom were four

different colored shapes labels hanging from the ceiling; same matching shape labels were taped

on the table. The right side of the classroom was a poster side board with the same shapes and
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under them were the names of the students with a picture of them next to it. This is a great visual

component for students to able to visualize what table they have been assign to. Towards the

front of the classroom was an oval size shape table in which the students were sitting. The table

was facing a white board and on the ceiling was a projector. The oval size shape table provides

good visual from whatever location the student is sitting on. The white board also had visual

information such as, who is here today? Pictures of the students had magnets on the back of

them to able to transfer it from here or not here today. Good way to take attendance. First

thing in the morning as soon as the students walk in the class with the assistance of an aide they

are able to look for their picture and transfer it to the here side. This practice provides awareness

stimuli by being able to recognize who is in class. In addition, there was the monthly calendar

and the daily schedule. The daily schedule consisted of index cards with the size of ten by six

inches. For example, the cards had pictures of a playground which meant recess time or pictures

of hands being washed which meant wash hands before lunch time. To the right side of the

board was the teacher’s desk with her laptop on it. At times, the students are able to work on the

laptop and assist the teacher with the lesson plan by being able to click at pictures. To the right

side of the room was a hands center. Where students practice their numbers by adding tokens on

a worksheet.

The social and emotional environment is conducive to provide self -awareness. The

teaching methodologies used are to promote self-management, social awareness, relationship

skills and responsible decision making. During the community awareness lesson, students

learned about the museum. Through visual pictures and using an overhead projector students are

able to recognize the pictures of the museum, the location and what time it opens. Also, the

month and day that it opens. During this lesson students are taught how to work cooperatively
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by given them responsible choices. For example, one of the students was able to pass out

worksheets of the lesson to each individual student. One student decided he did not want to

participate and he crumbled the worksheet and drop it on the floor. The teacher prompted, him,

“Please, pick up the paper.” Student picked up the paper from the floor. The teacher reinforced

his actions by praising him and said, “Good job, thank you for picking the paper. “It’s great that

you decided to join us.” While the teacher is allowing the students to participate by pointing at

the pictures and asking them, what is the first step we need to do to get to the museum? Another

student is making sounds and biting on a plastic toy. This student has a on-one-aide. Her role as

an assistant is to be able to provide support and be able to distinguish the students’ behavior and

assist with their needs. She noticed Larry (names have been changed) was feeling anxious. She

decided to hold his hand and massage it. It gave him comfort and at times was able to let go of

the toy and looked at the worksheet or the teacher. Another student, Michael stood up and sat

close to the wall by the white board. The teacher prompted him, “Michael, please get up.”

Michael shook his head. Then the teacher offer him a choice. “Do you want to help me using

the computer?” Michael shook his head stood up and walked toward the laptop. With the

assistance of an aide Michael was able to click at the slides while another student was explaining

what she understood from the pictures. After a couple of slides, the teacher walked over to

Michael and said, “This is your last slide, we need to let you other classmates help too.” Michael

clicked on his last slide and was able to get off the chair and go back to his spot. The teacher

praised him, “Good job Michael, and thank you for your help.” During the lesson Mrs. Hart

used great classroom management skills. She was able to reinforce positive behavior but also

implement rules and reinforce them. For example, another student got out from her chair and
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walked over to the teacher. The teacher prompted her, “Laura, please go back to your seat and

raise your hand.”

Laura walked back to her seat and raised her hand.” The teacher responded, “Thank you Laura,

for following one of the classroom rules.” The lesson was over then Mrs. Hart asked and

pointed at the picture on the white board, “What is our next thing to do on the schedule, the

students said it’s time to wash hand and with excitement they said, “Go to lunch.”

In conclusion, while conducting this observation I was able to understand

accommodations and modifications in a specialized instruction setting. All of the students in the

life skills class have been diagnosed as intellectual disable but through the actively engaged

group activities and also promoting independence some students are able to meet their IEP goals.

With the continued support and curriculum there is no doubt that these children will be able to

function independently in their adult life.