Alice McCoy; “I Pledge”

My Personal Philosophy

Students I desire to Serve   

The Students I desire to serve are elementary or middle school-aged students with

intellectual disabilities. Students with intellectual disabilities must get the services they need to

be successful in their academic careers. Every student deserves the right to a free appropriate

public education (Murdick, 2014). Students with intellectual disabilities struggle with most

subjects in general education. To give these students equal opportunities, intervention is crucial.

By having a modified curriculum, the students can move at a pace that will benefit their learning

needs and lead to successful learning outcomes. 

Instructional Strategies 

           Most students with intellectual disabilities spend 90% of their day in general education

classrooms. Students with intellectual disabilities can have a lack of motivation in the classroom

due to “learned helplessness” or expected failure, therefore, they do not participate in class

discussions (Heward, Alber-Morgan, & Konrad, 2017). Bauer, Clarke, Epperly, and Haydon

(2016) did a study on response cards as a means for students with intellectual disabilities to

communicate in class without having to speak. Every student in the class was given a response

bag corresponding to the subject the teacher was teaching. The students were taught how to use

the response cards and then the five students included in the study were observed by the special

education teachers. The five students were observed by Special Education teachers. The cards

measured the students in hand raises and focus in class. In the response card phase, the five

students showed a 100% in “active student responding” and had high levels of on-task behavior.

This research shows that using response cards can be highly effective for students with

intellectual disabilities to participate in group response. (Bauer, Clarke, et.al., 2016).

Alice McCoy; “I Pledge”

           Children with intellectual disabilities often struggle the most in reading. Grunke, Wilbert,

and Stegemann (2013) did a study on how story mapping can help students with intellectual and

other disabilities comprehend the stories they are reading. They selected three students in 5th

grade and three students in 8th grade. Eighteen narratives from various books were chosen so

that each book had 10 questions that could be asked. The students were taught how to use a story

map when reading stories to better comprehend them. Each student then started creating their

story maps of the passages they were reading. All six students improved greatly on their reading

comprehension when making story maps. Anna, one of the girls, went from a baseline of 4 to 14

when intervention occurred. Another student, Dunja, went from having a baseline of 6 to an

intervention score of 12. These results suggest that story mapping is an effective way for students

who have intellectual disabilities to comprehend and find meaning in the stories they read in the

classroom. One limitation of this research is the number of test subjects that were used. Another

limitation is the general story map that included setting, characters, problem, etc. when students

get into more complicated comprehension skills. (Grunke, et al., 2013).

Extended Professional Skills Desired and Plan for Acquisition

           Assistive technology and special education professional development are extended skills I

desire to continue to pursue beyond my education and licensure. To enhance my skills in

assistive technology I will go to the National Center for Technology Innovation or NCTI

website. From there I will go to the link for assistive technology where teachers can watch

webinars. These webinars will help me adapt my classroom to make it more inclusive to all

students, provide them with the tools they need to succeed, and learn more about including this

technology in the IEP of students who would benefit from the use of assistive technology. I will

do this throughout my teaching career as technology is constantly changing. To make the

Alice McCoy; “I Pledge”

learning environment more successful in my classroom I will continue to educate myself through

professional development. To do this I will purchase professional development from the CEC or

Council for Exceptional Children to further develop my knowledge in special education.

Professional development can also teach new strategies for teaching students with disabilities.

Strategies are continually changing and being discovered. It is important to find strategies that

work in the classroom and make changes when necessary.  

Personal Philosophy of Education

           I believe that every student has a right to an education no matter their needs. Every

student should be given the opportunity to succeed in their academic career and life. Students

with disabilities should be given individual instructional strategies to meet their specific needs.

Every student, with or without disabilities, learns differently. I believe that it’s important to make

the classroom as inclusive as possible for all students. The learning environment is just as

important as the actual learning taking place therefore, it is imperative for students to feel they

are safe, respected, and cared for in the classroom. 

Alice McCoy; “I Pledge”

References

Clarke, L.S., Haydon, T., Bauer, A., Epperly, A.C., & (2016). Inclusion of students with an

Intellectual Disability in the General Education Classroom with the Use of

Response Cards. Preventing School Failure. 60(1), 35-42. doi:

10.1018/1045988X.2014.966801

Grunke, M., Wilbert, J., & Steggemann, K.C. (2013). Analyzing the Effects of Story Mapping on

the Reading Comprehension of Children with Low Intellectual Abilities. Learning

Disabilities—A Contemporary Journal, 11(2), 51-66.

Heward, W.L., Alber-Morgan, S.R., Konrad, M. (2017) Exceptional Children: An Introduction

to Special Education (11th ed.). Boston, MA.: Pearson Education Inc.

Murdick, N.L., Gartin, B.C., Fowler, G. (2014). Special Education Law (3rd ed.). Boston MA.:

Pearson Education Inc.