Day 4 Plainfield – Increasing Accessibility
Plainfield School District Tagged ELL, ESL, Plainfield, Technology, UDL May 27th, 2008Lisa Parisi, is a 5th grade teacher in Long Island. After years of both good and bad experiences in working in a co-teaching situation, she has compiled her 4 rules for a successful inclusive classroom. Is there anything that you would add to this list? Would you take anything away? Please comment here.
Today’s presentation can be found online at SlideShare.net.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Lisa, great work! I have a Special Ed. Teacher who comes to my classroom to assist a boy and she is doing her support like you and has helped a lot, even though she does not speak Spanish(I’m a bilingual kindergarten teacher) She helps him being focused,helps the others in his table making him feel like another student. Even my boy is teaching her some words in Spanish. Keep the good work for those students who need you the most. Alina
May 29th, 2008 at 6:31 am
As a teacher I agreed with the inclusion classes but we teachers need to be prepare for this type of students. We need training and support for this differentiating instruction.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:34 am
The concepts presented in the blog are on point. Allowing all students access to all of the materials can only help them to achieve. I find when you do allow all students the same opportunities and modifications, it does seem to have a positive affect on their achievement. I have done this in my class, as well, but on a much smaller scale and I found it did assist both my regular and special needs children. It also allowed each child to work at their achievement level and increased the natural competitveness in the classroom because all students felt empowered and confident.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Congratulations on your achievements!
I share your thoughts and rules. I teach 3rd grade in a bilingual transitional program and I was lucky to work with an ESL teacher that strongly believed in inclusion and in differentiated instruction. Our students made great improvements. We worked TOGETHER during our reading and writing workshops. Our students noticed we were a united front and worked at their best capacity with no excuses! Unfortunately, this ESL teacher had to leave our school!
May 29th, 2008 at 6:35 am
The four rules for a successful inclusion program all seem so important, however, the rule that stands out to me is ‘allowing students to choose their own learning style,’ rule number three. Along with a variety of teachers, I think finding a method that students learn from is vital. I find in my classroom that the most important thing I teach is showing students how to learn!
Good Article!!!
May 29th, 2008 at 6:35 am
I think Lisa’s 4 rules are critical in having a successful Inclusion model. Often times the Special Education students are grouped away from the whole group and pulled to the side of the room. Although they are technically still in the mainstream classroom, they might as well be pulled-out. It is crucial not to make them feel like outcasts or separate from the group, but rather make them feel like they are part of the class just as any other student in the room.
There has been a lot of talk here in Plainfield about moving toward the Inclusion model of learning, and I hope it’s more than just “talk,” I hope it starts to happen.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:36 am
I fully agree with Lisa Parisi but don’t feel Plainfield will adopt her idea whole heartedly. In Plainfield, we tend to try and take SHORT CUTS and of course, as we all know, a program or new idea is never is given a real chance to work. In the town I live in, we have been using her philosophy for several years in grades 5-12, and have had great success with it. A resource room teacher travels to certain teachers and works with both classified and nonclassified students in the class. Both teachers get common planning time and it benefits all in the class.I hope Plainfield will look very closely at how push-in programs REALLY ARE the least restrictive program for children and tries to implement it correctly and with the philosophy of putting the children first.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:37 am
THe list that was created was not very long, but hit on the key points of an inclusion classroom. There might be minor additions such as meeting times for the co-teachers so that they can discuss the plans for the week and divide jobs equally. The most important rule on the list is making sure that the students are not segregated by their disability. There needs to be a true co-teaching experience for the students. The students should not know which teacher is the special education teacher.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:38 am
I totally agree with Mrs. Lisa Parisi’s suggestions about inclusion. Five years ago the ESL teachers in our District widely practiced the pull-out approach with bilingual students,but the practice dramatically changed in the last few years. Co-teaching increases the direct contact of teacher-student and allows for more one-to-one interaction. I’m fortunate to have experienced, cooperative and helpful ESL teachers in my classroom that truly enjoys helping the kids and doing what’s best for them. Since working with them, I also notice a great amount of progress in their academic work, which was not achieved in a pull-out situation.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:39 am
I found this article interesting. I know this model can work but I think the fact that Lisa has had more failures than successes speaks to the difficulty of establishing the roles and responsibilities of two teachers in one classroom. Perhaps this is due to a lack of professional development for the participants. I have heard that Plainfield is considering this model for next year. If it is to be successful, co-teachers must be trained during the summer. A lot of this is about trust. It takes time to establish trust. If teachers are trained prior to the opening of school, the program is more likely to be implemented correctly and successfully. All students will benefit, not just the special needs students.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Great article Lisa. I wish we could practice this model in Plainfield. I was an inclusion teacher in a fourth grade classroom in a very affluent school district and the model we used was very similiar to yours. It worked very well. The children with learning differences were always with the class and I just grouped them after the lessons, as needed. I worked with all of the children. They all knew that I was there for them at any time. I did not, however teach whole class lessons because the reg ed teacher was a brand new teacher and she was not willing to give up any control. I understood that and so I worked around it. I have also been an inclass support teacher which I did not find very rewarding because most of the teachers that I have had to co teach with have been very resisitant to having another teacher in their classroom. A few of them have been down right nasty to me and they look at the special ed students as mine and not theirs. It is very frustrating. I hope to change this next year. My school will be restructuring and I hope to share my inclusion experience with the staff. I have attended many workshops on inclusion and I think the model you follow is the best for all the children involved. I hope to be able to do this one day.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:42 am
I would not take anything away fom the list that Lisa Parisi compiled. I have experienced some of the same issues that Lisa has with co-teaching. I have found that students are more succeful when teachers work together with all the students class and not separate the students according to their disability or academic level.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:42 am
This article hit very close to home. I am a resource room teacher who has also done in class support. I found this to be not only valuable to my students but also to myself. Students who are classified are all to often made to feel as though they are not part of the whole. They are often made to feel different and less significant. Inclusion is a vital part of education for not only special needs students but all students so they can gain an understanding that we are not all the same. I believe very often that inclusion is a good choice when carried out properly. Far to often regular education teachers do not feel as though inclusion should be conducted in their classroom because differentiating instruction is to much work. In reality education is all about the students! I was very dissappointed in my experience because teachers found that they did not want the disruption of special needs students to disrupt their class. Both teachers need to really understand the needs of special needs students.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Her thoughts are very powerful. The special needs children need to be included and not singled out.
I can understand the power of a great working relationship between two teachers. The ability to accomplish more and have a better understanding of the student’s neeeds is so much better when the teacher’s working together have the same philosophy.
Case in point: My special needs students were included in this year’s Spelling Bee. We had one student finish 4th and one student is the first runner up and will be competing in the district spelling bee. The entire process is great for their self esteem, study habits, learning to get along with other people and following directions.
I think inclusion is a wonderful idea, but the lack of man power to achieve this is evident. Now with the budget crisis, I don’t see this happening in the near future. I could be wrong, and I hope I am, but the number of teachers is key.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Through the years I have met different kinds of students. Some are fast learners, others are average, and naturally, some need special and constant attention. All of them share the language barrier, and because of that, they form a bond, no matter what kind of students they are. In our classroom, we the teachers need to develop strategies to get to all of them, not only in language acquisition terms, but in learning styles. Definitely, the “everybody can succeed” attittude is key for our students to believe that no matter what kind of learners they are, they can achieve in any area.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Amazing Lisa, and kudos to you. Many do not think that these students are able to be trully successful in adacemics. I look forward to learning more about any future goals that you and your students may achieve. Peronsally as a Special Needs Instructor I have found myself to be singled out in the pass. Unless one is familiar with the educational needs special needs child, or their own child. The targets and goals tend to differ for reasons unknown. Your obtained goals and success will hopefully help others to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:48 am
I agree with Lisa’s 4 rules. As a special education teacher in a district who’s desire is to desegregate students with special needs, inclusive classrooms are our future (I HOPE). Although I have been teaching 10 years, this is the first year I have provided in-class support in a general education class. Only one student in the class has an IEP; however, I help as many of the students as I possibly can daily. It is extremely important for classified students to blend in completely. It is also very important for the teachers to work together. My co-teacher and I support each other well. A roadblock this district is facing is the lack of teachers available to provide support and the lack of funding to hire enough teachers to run inclusion programs effectively. As a teacher, this is very disheartening.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:52 am
This article is on point. Allowing students to choose the style of learning that best fits them and having all materials available to all students should be part of every classroom. It follows the UDL philosophy that every child is a unique learner. Everyone will benefit from this model!!!
May 29th, 2008 at 11:21 am
This article was excellent! I agree with all 4 of Lisa’s rules. As an ESL teacher who practices inclusion, I know that it works. My students often need assistance and modifications with content area. By segregating students, I feel that it would only frustrate students more because they miss out on the lesson. I also really enjoy hearing Lisa’s theory of allowing students to all learning materials they need without them feeling singled out.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:32 am
Thank you all for reading my blog and taking it to heart. A few comments:
1. Dan, scheduling common prep time has always been key to a good working environment. My co-teacher and I have the same prep each day because a special educator does not travel to preps with the students. So we communicate daily.
2. Budgeting is a serious issue. We were able to work together full time because we begged the principal to overload our class. This created only one inclusion class on the grade and allowed us to be together full time. Prior to this, the kids were split into two classes and my co-teacher split her time. Not a good plan at all.
3. It is true that differentiation and UDL really are just good teaching practices, regardless of the levels of students. Training in this area would make for an easier transition into co-teaching.
4. I also agree that co-teachers should go through training. Now, having said that, I will tell you that Christine and I went through none, beyond our separate college degrees. We sort of created as we went along. But key was that we asked to work together so we had a vested interest in making the program succeed.
Thanks again for all your comments.