Blog #5- Historical Events that Shape My Classroom Today

 How grateful I am for the rulings of the Supreme Court in the landmark case of Lau vs. Nichols.  Without this judgement I would not have some of my favorite students in my class.  We currently have four ESL students and they are just delights.  All of them are native Spanish speakers, who are at differing levels of understanding with English.  As a result I have watched my cooperating teacher make changes to her lesson plan to accommodate their needs.  The first thing she has done is obtain  software that helps the ESL students learn English.  While other students work in the writing program Lexia we help our ESL students with their program.  I also enjoy the fact that she has learned that these four students love music, and will learn English quickly through song.  Every morning we sing the same songs over and over that give the days of the week, months, and counting and these four students sing the loudest of them all.  She will also often show YouTube videos in Spanish telling the other students that it is good for them to learn a little Spanish as they will encounter it often in life.  Probably my favorite thing that my teacher has done, is that on my first day she handed me a "cheat sheet," of Spanish phrases they use quite often in the class, and "encourged me," that it would be most helpful if I would learn these phrases so I could be of more help with our ESL students.

I have seen the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), used daily in our classroom. Our classroom is made up of general ed students as well as at least 50% special needs students.  It ranges from high functioning Autistic to students who are completely non-verbal.  We are modifying lessons daily to accommodate the different IEPs and learning needs.  Today was a good example.  While the teacher worked with the rest of the class on a more complicated writing assignment, I was asked to take our non-verbal students and with picture boards have them use magnetic letters to just spell out simple words.  We also know that some students will not be agreeable in doing any of the assignments, and our teacher has worked with us aides in understanding what expectations we can and can not put on certain students, so as not to frustrate and upset them.  None of this would have been possible before 1975, and I am so grateful for it.  My work with these students with special needs is often the most rewarding to me.  The thought that once they were ignorned and unable to be treated fairly, like children who just want to socialize and learn at any level is heartbreaking.

On a personal level, I am very grateful for Section 504.  As a parent with a child who suffers from medical complications, it is extremely comforting to me each year as I sit with teachers and administrators and figure out how my child can be educated just like everyone else (because that is her greatest desire) while still making accommodations for her medical condition.