Devon Donahue-Reid

Ed3602B
January 14, 2015
Accommodating a Challenging Classroom Dynamic
While I am sure most completing this assignment will agree, it is
difficult to make this decision solely on the information provided. I wish I
could know more about the students such as their home life situations and
how personalities in the classroom interact. However given the small of
information we were given, I would choose to place the student who is
visually impaired and one student with a learning disability in the different
classroom. If all the students with learning disabilities were the exact same
learning disability requiring similar differentiation, I would choose this child
based on random draw or which parents I feel would be most open to the
change. If there was a student who needed more support than the other
two, he or she would be my first choice of three to give their best chance.
First of all, I would hope that any classroom I would teach in would
never put me in a situation where I would have to move students out of my
classroom. Prior to getting to the point where this could be considered a
viable option, I would have attempted to do whatever I could to differentiate
for every student in my classroom and meet every students individual
needs, exceptionality and all. I would have arranged IPP meetings with
parents of each student with diverse learning needs with parents,
principals, counsellors, and community resource representatives if needed. I
would have drafted learning profiles and spent time getting to know my

students and considered each ones needs for every lesson and unit planned.
I also would have worked to create a classroom community that welcomes
and celebrates all students. I would seek advice everywhere and anywhere I
could get it such as from online or written resources, my administrators,
professional development sessions, master teachers and through attempting
to keep consistent communication with all my parents. Although, if none of
these strategies or pieces of advice I had gained worked to make my
classroom an acceptable environment for my students to learn in and my
principal had told me that I HAD to move students out, I would do what was
best for my students.
This was not an easy decision to make. There are many factors I
would need to consider before making such a rash choice such as what
student to place elsewhere especially in the middle of the school year. This
would be a lot to ask of a student as it would require students to adapt to a
new classroom, new rules and to a teacher with a different teaching style.
This being said, I made my decision from my own experiences as a teacher
and a student.
My philosophy for this assignment was to think about giving each
student their best shot. As a first year teacher, I can imagine feeling
overwhelmed with diverse learners in this class and while I would love to
keep all students, that may not be best. If I thought the classroom these
students would be moved were the better option, I would stand by this
decision and phrase it that way for the parents. Even after just a month,

students have made an impact on their classroom community. While I would

not want to get rid of students, I would want to give my students their
best opportunity I can so they can succeed. This decision should not be
about my preference, but rather what is best for each student.
In my practicum for ED2500, there was a student who was legally
blind and had a vision consultant. This student relied on auditory learning in
the classroom. If the classroom dynamics are challenging, I think it may be
safe to assume that the classroom could be loud and distracting. For this
reason, I would choose to place this student in another environment to give
them his/hers best chance to learn in the classroom. This means speaking
to the parents and telling them that the classroom their child is in right now
is not meeting their learning needs. It is my priority as a teacher to ensure
that child is in an environment that they can learn in, and the classroom this
child was assigned at the beginning of the year is offering a challenge to
this student I feel could be alleviated by offering them a quieter classroom
environment. In this meeting, I would insist on my administrators support
and attendance. I would also go over my rationale with my principal so I
could receive advice on how to approach the topic best to ensure the
students and their families felt supported, not rejected.
In addition, the three English as a Second Language students would
have similar accommodations even if they are of different first languages. It
would not alleviate many of the challenges in the classroom to have these
students separated except to have less students in the classroom. Keeping

these students in the classroom would also work for peer teaches and they
may have gravitated toward one another through their similar experiences.
I would also choose to keep the gifted student because differentiating work
for a student who is gifted may be easier work for myself while planning. I
would not have this student tutor other, but I could find ways to celebrate
learning and projects that challenge a gifted student. Many gifted students
also enjoy working independently and their work can be completed rather
quickly. From my course, I have learned tools such as tiered assignments or
anchor activities I could assign to this student to ensure they are still
learning. Finding and providing such differentiation sounds like a fun
challenge in this classroom that I would welcome.
Finally, from my experience with working with students diagnosed
with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, I would find it cruel to remove this
student from a setting they are getting familiar with and a teacher they are
familiar with. I would want to be a stable and consistent factor in this
students life during the school year and work one on one with this student
as well as relying heavily on the aid to work with some of the behaviours.
This leaves the three students with learning disabilities and I would
choose one of them to place in a different classroom. This would allow my
attention to be better spread between the 28 remaining students and I
would defend my rationale to parents by explaining how I feel it would be
better for them to be in a setting in which they can get better attention from
their teacher. I would love to meet with all individuals that would be present

at an IPP or IEP meeting and discuss why I feel I am not meeting those
students needs, but that the remedy for this is to offer the student a better
opportunity. I would discuss where I saw both students strengths and pass
on any learner profiles I had made to the next teacher. I would also make a
promise to those parents that I would help in every way possible to ease
those transitions.
I have tried to base my decision on how well I feel I could
accommodate students. I also tried to give my students their best chance to
learn based on the limited information I have been given.