Instructional and Behavioral Support Essay -- Education

Mrs. S. has a classroom of 22 kindergarten students; one student is a retention from last year. The classroom has an even split between boys and girls. The class has had a stable class roster since second quarter, only gaining one student, and losing two. This is unlike the other kindergarten classrooms at the school that have gained and lost many students over the past few months. Four students are on speech IEPs, and the one new student was just recently placed on an IEP for math and behavior concerns. The classroom is fairly diverse in both ability and racial makeup. While there are many Hispanic students in the class, there are also Caucasian, African American, American Indian, Korean. The classroom is comprised solely of English speaking only students. The class has some of the academically highest students in the grade, but also some of the lowest. The school itself is a Title 1 school, where all students receive free breakfast and lunch because so many students qualify for free lunch according to government standards. A few students receive food assistance to help the family get through the weekends. Mrs. S uses a color chart to help monitor her students’ behavior. Each child has a clip with his or her name written on it. Each child starts their name off on green and moves up or down the chart depending on the choices that are made throughout the day. The colors are blue for ‘excellent’, green for ‘good’, yellow for ‘warning’, orange for ‘stop and think’, and red for ‘hot lava’. At the end of the day each child has a communicator that is sent to and from home which gets marked with the end color of the day. This allows parents to see what kind of day their child had, and any quick notes from Mrs. S. This system of man... ...ications in her behavior plan, and academic expectations when needed. For the most part every child is treated the same, each held to a high level of behavioral excellence that most easily accomplish. By splitting the class into groups based on academic need each student is given instruction at his or her level. Doing formal assessments on students frequently allows her to monitor each student’s progress and take action if and when needed. Her students seem to not only do their best to please her, but also because they have become intrinsically motivated to always do the best they can, in both academics and behavior. Works Cited National Center for Learning Disabilities. (2000). Early Identification: Normal and Atypical Development. Retrieved April 4, 2012, from LD Online: http://www.ldonline.org/article/Early_Identification:_Normal_and_Atypical_Development