Special Education Observation

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Observation Assignment #1 Observe the Students in the Class Type of Setting & Grade Level: The grade level I observed for this assignment was head start at Jones Elementary. The head start program is similar to that of a preschool, children are ages three through five and classes have students with and without special needs. My observation settings were both in the classroom and outside on the playground. While inside the classroom, the majority of my time with the students was spent during their morning circle time and their play time which they are divided into groups for. While observing outside, I interacted with the students while they played amongst one another. I also acted as a mediator and helped the teachers with various responsibilities regarding looking after the students. Observations of Students With and Without Special Needs: During my first visit to the classroom, I found it more difficult to distinguish the special needs children from the children that did not have special needs. As I spent more time in the classroom however, and got to know the kids on a more personal level, it became more apparent which kids did and did not have special needs. During circle time for example, the teacher has all the students sitting around her while she goes over the morning activities. During this time she has the kids go over the month, the day, the year, the weather, reads them a book, and we sing a song together as a class. During circle time all the students are supposed to remain seated with the legs “criss crossed”. I observed that several of the students with special needs had a difficult time remaining in this seated position, while others seemed to have no problem with it. The teacher, I found was very understanding and knew her students very well, and therefore she was a bit more lenient with those that tended to have a hard time
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