Final Project Lucas W. Munson Ivy Tech Community College Introduction Final Project Lucas W. Munson Ivy Tech Community College

Classroom Space The next page consists of a layout of a possible classroom. The pages after go in depth over certain aspects of the classroom

Multiple Intelligences Stations Bulletin of current lessons or student work door Teacher desk desks whiteboard rug Cubbies Multiple Intelligences Stations

Cubbies The cubbies in this possible classroom would have a cubby and coat hook for every student so that they have a place to put their belongings away to focus on school. Above the normal cubbies would be a classroom library, full of personal favorites or books that do not appear in the school library.

Multiple Intelligence Stations This potential classroom would have ten different stations to go with the ten different Multiple Intelligences, a theory by Howard Garner. This would allow each student to learn in their own intelligence. For example, I could give the students the assignment to memorize the first ten presidents. Different stations could include copying down the presidents, learning a song about the presidents, or learning different movements for each president. This would allow all the students to learn the same information in their own way, so they will memorize it longer.

Desks Teacher’s Desk The desks would be clumped together in gruops to promote working together and interdependence. These groups could also be centered around their intelligences and how they learn best. The teacher’s desk would have an extension of the desk for students to come and work. If a student needs one-on-one time or if they are struggling, they can come to this desk to understand the material better.

Exceptionalities 1. This potential classroom would cater to learners with learning disabilities because of the grouped desks. Like I said, this would promote interdependence and make each student be held accountable for their group, and not just themselves. In this way, each student is being looked after by multiple people to make sure they are up to speed with the rest of the class. This idea is supported by k12teacherstaffdevelopment.com, sharing that this also gives the teacher a good point to observe but this also tends to make students misbehave when out of sight (PLB, n.d.). This would be something I would have to keep an eye on. 2. The M.I. Stations should cater to some ADHD students. Most ADHD students do not do well in the typical sit-and-listen classroom, so they would be able to get up and learn things physically, while learning the same information as everyone else.

Exceptionalities (cont.) 3. For learners who are hard hearing, I could wear a microphone that would feed into a speaker on their desk or in their headset. This way, learners are still getting the information and no one is having to wait while I repeat myself. Michelle Galley, from edweek.org, did a report on this and said how beneficial microphones can be in the classroom for many reasons I had never thought of. The report said that microphones befefit students with or without a hearing disability. On top of the student benefit, she also said that it saves the teacher’s voice (Galley, 2002). Bonus!

Classroom Management As I mentioned before, I would have the student’s desks in groups so they can work together. I would also provide assignments and assessments based on these groups, not always on the individual, to see how well they are working together and if something needs to change. The idea would be to get students to branch out from their normal social groups, but not every branching out is perfect. This would make everyone feel included and needed. I would also want to include assignments that require pairs. I wouldn't want to force the pairs, but there are plenty of pairing exercises to get a child to branch out. Some of these exercises, from Genia Connell from scholastic.com, are to use an app called Team Shake or to use playing cards, both of which make random groups (Connell, 2013). This, along with ideas of diversity and acceptance that are all throughout the classroom should make the class feel fully accepting and welcoming for all students.

Teacher Support To further my education in this area, I can… Look into SERGE (Special Education Resources for General Educators). They have many branches and one of them is at Indiana University. This specific branch is for Autism (serge.ccsso.org). I plan to look into that to see if I can get any connection to it as a resource in my classroom. Once a teacher, I plan to talk to one of the special education teachers about Cooperative Teaching. Suzanne Ripley describes this as a direct plan between the special and general education teachers to optimize learning (teachervision.com). This would also give me the chance to see what I can do to help the special education teacher, whether that be volunteering hours or just more/less homework for the students.

Summary This class has been sixteen weeks packed full of learning. With this said, I found the work load to be just what was needed to scratch the surface on this information. If anything more, the class would have been full of assignments, but with anything less then I wouldn't have gotten the information that I did. I am so thankful for this class for proving me the information that I need to become more than just a general education teacher. I am so glad that I will always have this connection to the special needs classrooms, even if I am always a general education teacher. If nothing else, this class has exposed me to a whole new world of education. Before this class, I was always afraid to look in to a special needs classroom because of how little I knew. Now, I feel like I would do just fine in a special needs classroom (obviously given the proper degree). This is mainly due to the service learning, which gave me one-on-one experience with the students and how they learn. Without this incredible experience, I don’t think I would have the same mentality I do now as far as education and I don’t think I would be the teacher in training that I am today.

References Connell, G. (2013, November 6). 15 Quick and Creative Ways to Group and Partner Students | Scholastic.com. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/11/15-quick-and-creative-ways-group-and-partner-students P. (n.d.). Do Seating Arrangements have an Impact on Student Learning? Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://k12teacherstaffdevelopment.com/tlb/do-seating-arrangements-have-an-impact-on-student-learning/ Galley, M. (2002). Classroom Microphones Make Voices Louder, Clearer. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2002/05/15/36headset.h21.html Hallahan, D., Kauffman, J., & Pullen, P. (2014). Current Practices for Meeting the Needs of Exceptional Learners. In Exceptional Learners: An Introduction to Special Education (13th ed.). Pearson. Ripley, S. (1997). Collaboration Between General and Special Education Teachers. Retrieved April 24, 2016, from https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-methods/resource/2941.html Welcome to SERGE. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2016, from http://serge.ccsso.org/index.html