In schools across the country, there are multiple special education classes for every age group, every subject, and every school. These groups are necessary for the children who may have a harder time focusing and comprehending the lessons being taught, and need a slower pace. And although it is a different lesson and plan than the traditional lessons, it may not be fully reaching special education students after all.
The Norm
Children with developmental delays often need specialized classes and trainings to learn things at their own pace. They don’t understand or may not remember what is being taught, and struggle academically or socially. Special education tackles these issues by making a classroom that teaches at a slightly slower pace, giving kids a chance to fully comprehend the information they are being taught. It may be a little watered down as well, depending on how much the children can comprehend overall. The classroom sizes can vary depending on the ages and the amount of special needs children per school.
What The Classroom May Lack
Although these classrooms are catered a little more to special needs children, it may still be lacking overall. Just like a typical classroom and lesson plan, it can become easily broad and taught in a traditional, lecture-type way that some students may struggle with comprehending. The same can go for special education lessons too. If the classroom is quite full, the lesson plan may end up becoming less and less catered to each child and what they need to learn and thrive. Developmental delays can vary in degree, and each child is going to learn at a different pace, or style, and this can be challenging for teachers. Being able to see the progress in each student and ensure they are understanding the lesson, especially if some of the students struggle with communication, can be especially tricky for teachers.
Reaching Everybody
Now more than ever, teachers, schools, and parents are understanding how old fashioned our teaching methods can be. Education needs to be more catered and directed to more individuals to really reach kids and ensure they are learning properly. This is definitely no small feat for teachers with classrooms full of kids, but as much individualized lessons that can be made will help everyone succeed. The same can easily go for special education students as well, who are definitely deserving of more catered, specialized lesson plans.
Katie Kyzivat