My brother keeps his daughter at home(she attends Ohio Virtual academy) due to her impairments and I feel sad that she misses out on the vital social interaction that a classroom would present for her.The classroom is a great place to engage in social integration. Many positive things can be done within the classroom. Trying to minimize the negative aspects of the classroom setting for social integration for students with ELN is of most importance.
Other students and even parents may not understand the issues or non-issues associated with the ELN student. Education and integration while respecting the privacy of all involved within the learning environment. Being aware within the classroom as an educator is very important. I myself find I sometimes get wrapped up in what I'm teaching and may miss a classroom dynamic that could lead to things more severe or detrimental. I have personally been working on being more vigilant, while allowing for the least restrictive environment possible.
There are a couple things I can think of to promote the social integration of students with ELN. One is to encourage group work including ELN students to work with standard education students. Treating all students equally, I remember in elementary school we had a student in our "regular" educational classroom who was in a wheel chair. This was strange because this was back in the early 80's. He (Bobby) and another student (James) were always shooting spit balls. James was always sent to the office while Bobby was ignored. I suspect because the teacher was not sure what to do. One time I remember him hitting her with a spit ball and she got angry yelled at him, and then immediately looked embarrassed and apologized. As fourth graders my classmates and I were so confused on why bobby was "special" and could get away with such things.
In this case the teacher ended up making things weird for Bobby due to her irregular treatment of him. Where as before hand I saw him as another kid, one stuck in a wheel chair but still another kid. Especially after this incident the other kids and I started avoiding hanging out with him, confused about why he never got into trouble or angry that he was given special treatment. We were fourth graders. Anyway before the end of the year he was moved back to the special education room.
In all my classes I only have one student with an IEP, it allows him to sit in the front row, and have extra time on classroom work, quizzes and tests. Other than those stipulations he is just like all my other students with treatment, redirection, and expectations.
Looking at the student as though the disability is just a part of who they are and what makes them a unique individual, is probably best.
I agree that the classroom is a great way for integration. Being in a classroom full of diverse people is a way to make things exactly like the real world. Others will like you, others will despise you, while some will keep to themselves. You can't shelter a child indoors because of bullying, but you can teach them that some people are rude and say inappropriate things to others so that they don't feel worse about their condition.
ReplyDeleteI find myself getting wrapped up into lessons too and not realizing or addressing a social concern in the classroom. So the kids are not really getting anything from my lesson when something happened in the class that needs to be discussed. We have a program called social emotional learning we use at Warren City that helps students talk about their feelings and it promotes social acceptance as well.
ReplyDeleteIt’s always a great experience when there’s at least one student in the classroom with an IEP. I feel like that it teaches us so much more about ourselves as educators as well as other students in the classroom. I agree with you that not allowing the label of a disability to define that child is a great way to promote social integration in the classroom. Holding them to the same expectations shows them that you care, are paying attention, and not just allowing them to slip through the cracks!
ReplyDeleteI can see how the teacher getting wrapped up in what they are doing and not seeing something that is going on socially. Examples like these will help all of us to become better teachers and maybe see something that we were missing.
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