A Trip to Thomas E. Weightman Middle School

     It is September 9th, 2013 and despite the rain I have just arrived at Weightman Middle School. This week Weightman celebrates Anti-Bullying and today is 60's day, where most of the students and staff dress up in tie-dye and head bands. Weightman consist of 1200 students over seen by the Principle, Brandon Bracciale and two Assistant Principles, Tracy Bruno and Nicole Sciarratta and staff. We didn't get a chance to meet the principle and assistant principles, but the school was well represented by Mrs. Danna Scranton. Before she gives us a brief overview of the school, she would first like us (a group in Practicum class at USF) to take a tour  and see the teachers and students in action. Mrs. Scranton proceeds to hand out a small packet and breaks us up into small groups of 4 to 5. So our journey begins.
     We first see a 7th and 8th grade class with disabilities consisting of  8 students. Their teacher, Mrs. Bodi along with two other assistants and a peer watch a video with the students on bullying and friendship. After viewing the video Mrs. Bodi asks the students questions about the video. The atmosphere is one of an elementary school. The setting of the classroom is small with the main bulletin board made up of a calendar wall as you would see in a Kindergarten/1st grade classroom.
     Our second viewing is Mrs. Oliver's 8th grade class consisting of 14 students. Mrs. Oliver's assistant, Mrs. Colding explains that she is a support facilitator (a ESE teacher and/or  paraprofessional). Support facilitators offer a variety of supports, either to the students and/or the general education teacher. When viewing Mrs. Oliver work with students on vocabulary words and definitions, Mrs. Colding helps  by overseeing the students that need extra attention. In this classroom inclusion is also demonstrated.
     Mr. Clap is the 6th grade teacher and our last class being viewed. Unfortunately, Mr. Clap is absent for today. Mr. Miller is the substitute teacher, but Mrs. Burns (a support facilitator) takes over for Mr. Clap in teaching reading. With a mix of race and ethnicity, the class consist of 26 students. We shortly observe the students engage in reading until the bell rings and the class disburse for lunch.
     Our group returns to the library of Weightman Middle School to rejoin with the other groups and the Wesley Chapel High School group to deliberate on our school experience. As the school discusses the differences and similarities of the middle and high school observations, Mrs. Scranton talks about how one teacher modifies her test for certain students in her class. She proceeds to pass out three of the same math test and asks us to point out the difference. The difference is from the easiest test the other two test are a bit more strenuous. This way each student has a better chance of passing the test despite their learning deficits.  I remember Dr. Hahn discussing how the CCSS (Common Core State Standards) are more rigorous than the existing state standards. One main concern is the drop in test scores because of the rigorous standards. It is a personal concern to me that most students won't understand the questions and/or statements presented. With the example of the three test being slightly modified,it gives our students a better chance in understanding the curriculum given and passing the test.
    

 

A Trip to Claywell Elementary

  It is September 10, 2013 and I have just arrived at Claywell Elementary to see special education teachers interacting with special need students for my practicum class at USF. We were able to meet with Tara Schwartz who works as the ESE (Exceptional Student Education) specialist and has been for 9 years. Along with the introduction was the Assistant Principle (A.P.), Renee Best and the Principle, Mr. Jones. Through the introduction, Mrs. Schwartz proclaims that Claywell is a full inclusion school. What does it mean being an inclusion school? That means Claywell  is a school that takes a disabled student, placing them with students in a regular class within the school. About 465 students (give or take) attend Claywell Elementary and only 10% of the students are ESE.  

     It seems a special education class looks like a regular class. A special education classroom is set up with books, calendars, decorated walls representing sight words, children's progress in work posted, and to my surprise - color coordinated. A special education classroom is surrounded by learning centers that help students with specific needs such as reading and writing. In these classrooms a special educator provides constant and consistent provisions for the students needs in a curriculum. Take Mrs. Ruiz for example who teaches 5th grade. Mrs. Ruiz has 4 groups in her class. One group works on a reading assignment as another group reads in a learning center. The other two groups get extra attention between Mrs. Ruiz and Mrs. Matos ( an ESE teacher or paraprofessional). They work with them for 15-20 minutes on the same topic, but with more elaboration. Then the group switches. This is great, because it made it difficult to tell which student is labeled with special needs.
     I found it comforting to know that each child will get the extra attention needed, making the students with special needs not feel excluded from the other students. This is what an inclusion school looks like.