On Wednesday, October 7, 2009, I had the privilege of observing the focal class at my placement. There are three students in my class that are also in the focal class. Students in the focal class are mainstreamed into general education classes for varying lengths of time based on their ability to access the curriculum as well as their strengths and needs as described in their IEP. All of these students spend most of their day in the focal classroom with their wonderful teacher and two assistants, who teach the students and travel with the younger ones to their mainstream classrooms.
In this classroom, each student has their own desk and cubby, as in any other classroom. There is a Smart Board, and there are four computers. There are two extra tables that are used for group work. There is a library/reading area in the back corner filled with bean bags to sit on. Each student has their own schedule at their desk. This helps coordinate when they are in their mainstreamed classroom, when they are to work independently, and when they are receiving instruction. There is a lot of careful planning and coordination that goes into teaching this class. The focal teacher must be in touch with the teacher of each child’s general education teacher. They must then coordinate, which assistants need to accompany students to their general education classroom. They need to decide who will teach which students when they are in the room. They need to have independent activities planned for when students re-enter the room and all the teachers are busy with other students. I was excited to see all of this in action!
It was wonderful to see the students from my class busy at work when I arrived at 9:30. Although, I know my observation of them was not perfect, because they were distracted by what I was doing there; I feel like I have a much better understanding of what their days are like. There were the three second graders from my class and one third grader working on writing stories when I arrived. The two focal assistants were working with these four students, and the head focal teacher was working with two 5th grade boys on sight words and grammar.
Within minutes of my arrival, the speech therapist and the occupational therapist arrived. They each worked with two of the students that were writing stories (2nd and 3rd graders). They continued their stories, but the speech therapist focused on pronouncing all the sounds in the words before writing them down. The occupational therapist focused on forming the letters properly as they wrote their stories. I was told that typically the students are pulled out for these services, but the schedule worked out, so that on Wednesdays, all the specialists come to them.
At another table, the focal teacher led the two 5th grade boys in reviewing and studying the words that accompany the grammar principle they are focusing on. They must read each word correctly three times to be finished with it. Once all the words in one principle have been mastered, they move on to another sheet with a new principle and list of words that fit that principle. Each of the boys was working on their own principle that was chosen specifically for them. They individually control the rate that they move at.
As they were working, other students arrived back in the room from their other class. They quickly checked their schedule and started reading in the library. One of the assistants pointed out to me that even more than this scheduling coordination is meeting other needs of each student. For examples: one student needs to wear leg braces for 20 minutes to build leg strength. After the 20 minutes, his legs must be checked for blisters. There is so much more than just teaching and learning that goes on in this classroom each day. I only saw an hour of this extremely busy, thriving classroom; they coordinate and balance all of it everyday.
The focal class follows a mainstreaming model. All of these students are placed in this class based on it being the least restrictive environment as determined by their IEP. Their IEP also designates times that the student should be included in a general education classroom. The time that a student spends in the general education classroom is specific to that child, but all students in the focal class spend the majority of their time in the focal classroom. For example, the students from the focal class who are in my class join us for social studies, lunch, recess, and specials everyday. All of their class work in the focal classroom follows what their peers are doing (addressing the same objectives), but it is modified by the focal teacher to be suitable for each individual student. When these students are in their general education classrooms, modifications are put into place such as tiered assignments and others described in our reading for this coming week’s class.
