1. Special Education Assignment Bernard Charles & Rebecca Farquhar Elizabeth Kenyon TE 408 2/16/12

2. Part One: Description of Placement

3. Description of Placement Our field placement is Gardner Middle School part of the Lansing School District. We actively work with and teach in Mr. Rose’s afternoon 8th-grade U.S History classes. The four class periods of 8th- grade U.S History that we spend in Mr. Rose’s classroom are all a general course. However, we have occasionally spent time during fall semester observing his first class period that is a 8th-grade Honors U.S History course. Gardner Middle School is located south side of Lansing. GMS is inside a mid-size city area and is a quite urbanized area of Lansing. Serving grades 6th through 8th grade GMS is full of energized students who enjoy socializing. With just under about 800 students, GMS has a student-teacher ratio of about 20 to 1.

4. Description of Placement A typical class day involves students entering the classroom and talking amongst each other. Afterward, the teacher Mr. Rose instructs them to begin their bell- work, which is usually a written response to the daily journal question. This is most often, some prompt related to an event in the lesson or current event. Once 5 to 10 minutes has passed, Mr. Rose begins his lecture on the topic for the day. After this is completed students receive worksheets (sometimes unrelated to the lecture) and are to use the rest of the class period to complete it.

5. Part Two: Description of Student http://departments.bloomu.edu/coe/Diverse_FieldExperience.html

6. Description of Student: Physical Appearance & Behavior The student that we selected in our class is a 13-years old Black male. He appears to come from a household that makes sure he looks neat for school. He wears new fashions and is well-groomed. *Matt is the pseudonym we used for our student. From what we previous remember and have currently observed, Matt usually seems uninterested in the lectures given by the teacher. Matt constantly talks back and gets out of his seat to talk with friends. He is constantly moving within his seat and is unable to sit still for a long period of time.

7. Description of Student: Strengths & Disability When interviewing Matt we discovered that he is interested in sports. He isn’t involved in any school sports, organizations or clubs but in his free time he does enjoy skateboarding. Matt told us that he believes that for most any activity or school subject that once he becomes engaged he is highly motivated. We did not ask Matt if he had any type of learning disability but he actually opened up and told us that he does have ADHD and that he thinks that this has made his education experience much tougher than his peers. He said that he also felt that sometimes he felt that teachers just didn’t understand how difficult it is for him to sometimes stay focused and not disturb other students. Matt said that he is open to help and discussing the issues he has with ADHD. This made us extremely excited and gave him a few tips and examples on how we stay organized and focused in our own classes and lives. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

8. Description of Student: Sources of the Above Information The information was collected by talking with the student (Matt) in an interview for the most part. However, upon talking to the teacher it was confirmed that his behaviors may be strongly linked to his ADHD. We also made observations during different class activities.

9. Part Three: Accommodated Lesson

10. Part 3: Accommodation Lesson

11. Accommodation: We learned from the U.S Department of Education website, that “ Students with ADHD learn best with a carefully structured academic lesson-one where the teacher explains what he or she wants children to learn in the current lesson and places these skills and knowledge in the context of previous lessons. ” (1) We believe that by providing a handout to each student will not only benefit Matt but also the entire class. We think that often students are not aware of what they will be doing for class. That this might help with the management issue in the class and allow students to know what the agenda of the class period will be. More importantly we believe this will help meet the needs of Matt by providing him with an organized summary of what we will be doing for the class period, so he knows how the class will be structured for the day, what is expected of him, as well as be a review resource after class or when studying to remember what we did in class. (1): http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd- teaching_pg3.html#introducinghttp://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd- teaching_pg3.html#introducing Initiation: Students will come into the classroom and follow their regular routine of answering the daily journal question that is written on the chalkboard, while this is taking place we will pass out to each student an organized handout that briefly summarizes in order a list of the day ’ s lesson. The handout will provide a review of the previous day ’ s lesson, what today ’ s lesson ’ s objectives are and summarize the purpose and main ideas of what to take away from the lesson. Following this we will go over the journal question, review the previous day ’ s lesson and provide students with the opportunity to ask any questions of anything they may not understand and need more explanation on. Activities: Time: 15-Minutes

12. Part 3: Accommodation Lesson Activities: Time: 4-Minutes Transition: Following the reviewing of the lesson from the day before, we will explain very clearly the directions of what the assignment will be for the day and quickly transition into the activity. Accommodation: We learned when researching that, as teachers to help students with ADHD we need to clearly state directions and to “ give directions in simple, concrete terms. Simplify instructions, tasks and assignments. ” (2) We believe that by clearly explaining the directions of the activity before beginning the activity will help improve Matt ’ s success at staying focused and completing the assignment. As well, will reinforce what is expected of him for the class period.( 2): http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/Teache rTip49.html http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/Teache rTip49.html

13. Part 3: Accommodation Lesson Activities: Time: 30- Minutes. Students will have 10- Minutes for each task (includes transition time to next station.) Lesson/Activity: “ Underground Railroad Stations Worksheet ”. For this lesson there will be 3 different “ stations ”. Each station will have a different document for students to analyze and from their worksheet a list of questions to answer. Students will work in groups of four to complete this assignment. For this activity we will arrange desks into table groups so there are 4 chairs to a table. Each table will have two of the same document, so in their groups of 4, two people can share the document to answer the questions. (Note: There will actually be 6 different tables but two will be the same station). Accommodation: We learned that by keeping tasks at a minimum of 15-minutes and varying the pace and type of activity can help maximize student ’ s attention who have ADHD. (3) Also, when interviewing Matt we learned that what is most difficult for him in this class is that they almost always have to sit for the entire class period and listen to the teacher lecture and it is hard for him to stay seated, pay attention and be engaged with the material that he is learning. Also, when we asked him what would maximize his learning and make the class better for him, Matt suggested more hands- on activities, group work and less book worksheets. Therefore, we designed the lesson for the class to be an interactive assignment, with multiple, brief tasks. We learned that for students with ADHD although there are many challenges for them in their daily lives and education, some positive effects are that they can be creative and sometimes notice things that others may not, more open to different ideas and when they actually become interested in a task it may be difficult to distract them, “ especially if the activity is interactive or hands-on. ” When taking this into consideration and designing our lesson plan we though that this activity would really help Matt be successful in learning the material and we were really excited for our lesson to see how he would respond. (3)http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/97609.aspx (4)http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_signs_symptoms.htmhttp://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/97609.aspx

14. Part 3: Accommodation Lesson Activities: Time: 15-Minutes Closure: As a class we will regroup and review the activity for the lesson. This class discussion is for us to make sure that students understood the material correctly. Finally, students will be expected to complete an ‘ out the door ticket ’ by writing down one thing they learned or thought was interesting, anything they were still unsure of and to provide suggestions or feedback on what they liked about the lesson or what they think should be changed to make it more effective. Accommodation: We learned that when concluding a lesson it is important for teachers to check to make sure not only students with ADHD but also that all completed their assignment, and have learned the objectives of the lesson. By regrouping as a class, the discussion will allow us too not only to see if Matt understood the lesson but to see if and what the entire class learned during the lesson. The ticket out the door will benefit our knowledge to check what the students learned as well as to see what benefited Matt and if our lesson was efficient in improving Matt and the classes ’ knowledge of the Underground Railroad.

15. Part 3: Accommodation Lesson ADHD Research Resources: -U.S Department of Education: Teaching Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Instructional Strategies and Practices. http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd-teaching_pg3.html#introducing http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd-teaching_pg3.html#introducing -30 Ideas for Teaching Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip49.htmlhttp://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip49.html -U.S Department of Education: Identifying and Treating Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Resource for School and Home. http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd-identifying_pg4.html#tips- school http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/adhd/adhd-identifying_pg4.html#tips- school -Bright Hub: Social Studies ADHD Lesson Plan. http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/97609.aspx http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/97609.aspx -Teacher Vision: Teaching Children with ADD/ADHD http://www.teachervision.fen.com/add-and-adhd/teaching-methods/5314.html http://www.teachervision.fen.com/add-and-adhd/teaching-methods/5314.html -Helpful Guide.org: ADD/ADHD in Chilren. http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_signs_symptoms.htm http://www.helpguide.org/mental/adhd_add_signs_symptoms.htm

16. Part 3: Accommodation Lesson Other Research Resources -PubMed Health http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002518/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002518/ -StudentNeeds.CA http://www.studentneeds.info/http://www.studentneeds.info/ -MayoClinic http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/adhd/DS00275http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/adhd/DS00275 -Red and Black http://redandblack.com/2012/01/23/disability- resource-center-aids-students-with-adhd-students- aren%E2%80%99t-deterred-in-%E2%80%9Creal- life%E2%80%9D-by-add/http://redandblack.com/2012/01/23/disability- resource-center-aids-students-with-adhd-students- aren%E2%80%99t-deterred-in-%E2%80%9Creal- life%E2%80%9D-by-add/ -Centers for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/ http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/

17. Assessment of Accommodation By researching characteristics of Matthew’s disability of ADHD, we felt there were many important issues that we needed to take into consideration when creating a successful lesson for him. Although, we have not taught this lesson so we don’t know if our accommodation worked successfully for Matt, we strongly believe that it will work and benefit his learning of this material. We think that since we have taken in consideration when creating this lesson, both of our (Bernard & Becki) observations of Matt in class, spoken with Mr. Rose who has more interaction with Matt in the classroom. As well as, have done researched on a variety of different websites about ADHD, spoken with a Special Education teacher about their advice and feel that we have a slight advantage since one of us as ADHD and understands with first hand experience. We truly think that this will be a great lesson plan for Matt and the rest of the class as a whole.