Final Reflections*

*Note: This is an excerpt from my Adapting Curriculum Assignment

When I reflect upon this assignment, and more generally this course, I can’t help but feel that I have only skimmed the surface of inclusive education and special education strategies. While I do feel more informed, I must admit I by no means feel fully prepared.

I enjoyed this assignment because I think it forced me to really focus on concrete adaptations. However, I struggled with explaining the exceptional children in this “class”. I find it hard to conceptualize strategies for hypothetical students; I sit here with a multitude of questions about the student’s personality traits, interests, family background, etc., and it sometimes feels fickle to be creating those factors myself. I think it would be a good idea, for future sections of this course, for a list of exceptional students and their characteristics to be provided (say 6 students with different exceptionalities), and the educator would select 3 to adapt for. While I know this makes it similar to the case studies, I feel it provides a better structure for this assignment.

Accordingly, as before mentioned, I’ve really enjoyed the case study portion of this course. I feel it’s the closest simulation a pre-service teacher can get for implementing inclusive education strategies and protocol.

Additionally, I must admit that again, while I feel more informed, I do not feel prepared to effectively complete an IEP. When I do have to do this during my teaching career I will definitely seek out a veteran resource teacher to help me with the process, obtain guidance, and receive feedback. What’s more, I am still unclear when a teacher should move to make modification rather than accommodations. I find it difficult to judge when a student should actually be assessed in a grade lower than his own.

With these weaknesses in mind, I have began to take steps to rectify them. I have contacted the resource teacher at my first practicum school and asked her if we could meet to discuss some of these unclear issues. Additionally, I have been reading Education for All. I hope to get to see some actual IEPs in the future so that I can gain a better understanding. Also, I hope to take Special Education Part II once I have a year of teaching experience.I feel I should also mention this was my first experience with an online course. While I did enjoy its flexibility, I must also recognize it does not especially fit my learning needs. I am an extremely interpersonal individual who thrives through human interaction. Nonetheless, I have enjoyed by experiences in this course, and would take another one next summer.