Title:
Adapting Lesson Plans One Student at a Time

Context:
This entry slip focuses on a lesson on immigrant groups to Washington State. It is part of a unit on early Washington State in 7th grade Washington State History. The entry slip includes a lesson plan, all of the components of the lesson, and example student work from the lesson. The focus of this entry slip will be on the adaptations I made to the lesson so it would fit the needs of my special education students.

UW Goals andTargets:
Target 2B - Adapting for Differences. The TEP student will understand how individual differences can influence learning and how to create/adapt curriculum, instruction, and assessment to meet the needs of diverse learners. I demonstrate an understanding of individual differences in learning by adapting lesson plans to fit the needs of my diverse student population.

Target 2D - Adapting for Diversity. The TEP student will demonstrate understanding and respect for students' diverse cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic backgrounds and create/adapt appropriate inclusive curriculum. I demonstrate an understanding and respect for students' diversity by including many diverse ethnic groups into the content of the curriculum. Also, I adapt the lesson to fit the learning styles of various different groups of students.

Reflection:
How do I develop a lesson plan that will foster learning in all of my students? This has been a question that has plagued me since I first began the Teacher Education Program. The ethnic, socio-economic, linguistic, and academic diversity in today's classroom makes it extremely difficult to make daily lesson plans where all students can learn and succeed academically. Though I do not think I have solved this question in the least, through my student teaching experience I developed some practical ways to address the academic needs of special populations.

The lesson I chose to focus on was a research lesson that has students work in groups to research a particular ethnic group in Washington State. The students were asked to answer specific questions about their immigrant group and then present their information to the rest of the class. At the end of the lesson we discussed the similarities and differences between the immigrant groups as well as discussed some of the discrimination each group felt in early Washington State. The lesson was very straight forward for students who have been in mainstream American classrooms all of their life. But for students who were English language learners, or students with special academic disabilities, the lesson could have been problematic for many reasons.

First, these special education students often times are marginalized when they are grouped with other students. Often times other students do not have the patience to work with students with learning disabilities so they do the work for the entire group and the special education students learn very little. The first adaptation I had for my special education students was to put them into groups with students who would be willing to work with them. One particular student who I will call Amy had a special situation. She was paralyzed from the waist down and had little movement in her arms and hands. She also had extreme difficulty speaking and was often hard to understand. Amy also read at a 2nd grade level. It was very difficult for Amy to complete assignments without the help of her full-time aid. When Amy first came to class, many of the students stared and did not spend much time talking with her. During Amy's first group experience, I paired her with another student named Kim who was very helpful and spent time talking to Amy about life. Amy and Kim became good friends and I made it a priority to group them together during all group work. Amy felt great working with Kim, and Kim also enjoyed helping Amy.

Another adaptation I made for my special education population was to alter the assessment. My ELL population was given the option to research their specific ethnic group and either write down their answers, present them to the class, or present their information to me. Though most of the students decided to present their information to me privately, there were also a few students who chose the other options.

Giving students the option to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject is important to making the student feel comfortable in the classroom. Many students of different groups prefer to express themselves in different ways. I did not want to force these students to break away from their comfort zone and present their information in front of the entire class. Some of my students were only in the country for a few months and did not have a good grasp of the English language yet. Some of my special education students did not want the other students to see them as different and preferred to present their research to the entire class. Giving students the choice of how to demonstrate their learning shows the students I respect them.

One of the most obvious examples of celebrating diversity in the classroom is to include a history of various different cultural groups into the curriculum. Students need to learn about other cultures in order to gain an appreciation for those who are different from them. The immigrant lesson asks students to learn about the lives of people not commonly discussed in our state's history. Students understand that by integrating diversity into the curriculum I put value in cultural differences. Though this seems like a basic belief in social studies, cultural diversity has long been neglected by many who teach the subject.

The importance of giving students of special needs choices in how they demonstrate their learning can not be overlooked. Some students like the comfort of altered lesson plans while other want to do the same forms of assessments and activities as the other students. If I forced these special needs students to work in a particular mold there was the chance that they would become so uncomfortable that they could not learn the outlined lesson objectives. In Jim Banks' book, An Introduction to Multicultural Education, he outlines 8 characteristics of a multicultural school. One of the characteristics is that "formalized curriculum reflects a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and cultures." This was evident in the immigrant lesson plan through the research of different immigrant groups and their impact on Washington State history. Another characteristic of a multicultural school was "assessment and testing materials and procedures are culturally sensitive and result in proportionate representation of students of color." By giving students a choice in how they show me they have learned, I have made sure to provide sensitivity to how I assess my special needs students.