I observed at Chesser Middle School in many different classroom settings. I was in a co-teaching classroom, a mildly self-contained room, and a moderate self-contained room. I never realized the amount of students that have special needs, whether it be in reading or in math or just with simple social skills. Mrs. Fligg (The head of the Special Education Department) said that at Chestatee Middle about 5% of the students has some type of learning disability. They range from a mild reading problem to a serious autism. At Chestatee the Hispanic population makes up about 30% of the school which causes the Special Education Department grow more and more each year because of the language impairments the children face.
I saw many different types of students in each room. In the co-teaching rooms it was hard to notice the special education children among the other children, until I was told which ones they were; the only difference I noticed was that they were quiet and never answered any question the teacher asked, they were a bit insecure in the co- teaching room in my opinion. When I was in the self-contained rooms I was in shock, it was not at all what I expected. The students had no social skills what so ever. One child would never even look up and I never heard a word out of her. She sat in the back of the room all by herself while about half the other class was very loud and out of control.
This experience changed the way I look at being a teacher. I plan to teach middle grades and know now that being a teacher is not the easiest job and takes someone with a big heart and a lot of patience. You never know what kind of students will be in your class. I know that as a teacher it is my job to ensure that each child receives and education and if they have a special need it is my job to recognize that and make sure that modifications are made to meet there needs. The self-contained teacher was great; she had a huge care for the kids and had the most patience with...