diversity and inclusion profile

I have a few days till my teaching placement which starts on Monday. My stress levels have gone down as I think I have prepared enough for the first week. I am still unwell but I have all of tomorrow to do more organizing and to finish my History assignment. I have prepared a menu sheet for the first week of school about the Peramangk people of the Adelaide hills. I am organizing the groups from a pre-assessment I am giving on Monday.

PROFILE OF THE SCHOOL:

This is a reflection on HPS from my initial observations in term 1.
 HPS is a level 7 primary school in the Adelaide Hills. The school has 59 students with 3 classes; R-2, 3-5 and 6-7. The school also takes students from the Inverbrackie detention centre. They take 20 R-2 detention centre students who are accommodated into two classes with two TESOL teachers as well as 4-6 SSO at all times.The Inverbrackie program is included into all extra activities at the school and their students participate with the other classes as much as possible. Students in the Inverbrackie program often host and present at whole school assemblies. HPS also has one student in the main stream class with English as a Second language. This student spends time with the Inverbrackie SSO's to aid her in her English studies.
The school also has a specialist teacher in Science and Art as well as other extra-curriculum programs such as music classes, choir, gardening, sustainability and Volleyball.
HPS has 10 students with identified disabilities ranging from ASD, Dyslexia, to hearing impairments. There are no students in the school with physical disabilities that require assistance in mobility.
No students in the school are receiving finacial assistance due to economical circumstances and only one student in year 5 is identified as above average (not gifted) in maths.

Within my 3/4/5 class the teacher had to commonly address students will dyslexia, hearing impairments, behaviour management problems as well as other undiagnosed learning disabilities. Within this composite class, students were often grouped depending on which class was being taught. I found that the teacher did not group by year level and often had year threes with year fives depending on their readiness.
The teacher also used school SSO's to aid in spelling and any other work that needed aid at the time. The SSO's and volunteers were there to help the three students in the class with dyslexia during spelling classes but they were only there for 1/3 of the day.
The school also has a Quicksmart Maths program for those students identified at needing help in maths. Students from all year levels would go to an SSO twice a week in pairs to work on different math strategies. This program is run by a permanent SSO who also runs other extra-curriculum programs at the school. Students found Quicksmart to help them in the classroom math lessons and they also enjoyed attending Quicksmart. Students felt they became more confident in them self during these sessions and felt they were better prepared to learn with the other students in their class.

During the first few days at the school I noticed that Staff were constantly encouraged to attend PD days to help with special needs children at the school. My classroom teacher has informed me that the school is planning on hiring a dyslexia specialist to come into to school to train teachers and support students. In comparison to my last placement, this school is proactively attending to students needs through staff learning and providing support to students.

My mentor teacher also informed me of the number students on IEplans. Teachers and parents would often have discussions about the students progress and learning in class. Meetings with parents would be twice every term to inform of their child's progress. My mentor teacher had 4 students on an IEP and the Principal informed that 10 students in total were on IEP in the school.

The school followed the Play is the Way philosophy. Each classroom had a wall chart of the practices follow to aid in their personal, social and educational well-being. Teachers at the school actively used Play is the Way language in class and also used activities from Play is the Way in the classroom. Students were also given certificates supported by Play is the Way key philosophies during assemblies. These certificates focused on the "golden rule", "being brave", "doing your best", "saying the things you mean to say".

About to start placement

This blog will be used to help with my reflection on my up and coming teaching placement. This blog will also be used for me 4720 assignment upon differentiation and inclusion. I have currently finished lessons for my differentiation class and with the knowledge I have gained from this semester so far, I am planning my teaching around these new ideas. This week I am putting together lesson plans that I will hopefully differentiate for my 3,4,5 class. I am struggling today to get through the amount of work I have due to a head cold. I am persevering. Lessons that are ready to be differentiated so far for week 1 will be; Maths, I am taking the year 4,5's (these kids may need more grouping then just year levels though), Spelling (co-ordinated by the teacher) and possibly guided reading. We will see.


Throughout this placement I am to reflect on classroom differentiation and inclusion. When practicing differentiation and inclusion I first have to understand fully what it is. 

Differentiation describes the approach to teaching and learning that revolve around the students knowledge, skills and abilities rather than from per-determined study.
Tomlinson has said, differentiation means giving students multiple options for taking in information (2003). Differentiating instruction means that you observe and understand the differences and similarities among students and use this information to plan instruction. This means that classes, groups and learning can change over time. 
Inclusion goes in hand with differentiation. It shifts from the focus of the content to the learning context for the students. This also means a change for the learning environment. Inclusive teaching allows students to be apart of classroom as well as being exposed to the learning content (Jarvis, 2004). Being inclusive in teaching may be seen as a way for 'disabled' students to access areas of the curriculum that would be difficult for them physically and mentally, but inclusive teaching is for all students and means that the teacher has the responsibility to observe and reflect on the students and the needs they need to achieve their learning bests. Inclusive education focuses on the environment too and how matching the environment to the student helps their learning.

I need to reflect on these practices when I go into my placement for the next 6 weeks.

Sousa, David A 2011, 'Mindset, learning environment, and differentiation', in Sousa, David A & Tomlinson, Carol A, Differentiation and the brain: how neuroscience supports the learner-friendly classroom, Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, Ind, pp. 17-43.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann 2003, 'Deciding to teach them all', Educational Leadership, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 6-11.

 

Jarvis, Jane M 2014, 'Supporting diverse gifted students', in Hyde, Merv, Carpenter, Lorelei Rita & Conway, Robert NF (eds.), Diversity, inclusion and engagement, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic., pp. 297-315.