The student has a hearing impairment and requires the use of a hearing aid linked to the teacher's microphone and an interpreter. The student's disability causes them to miss information from the teacher, affecting their performance. They also display some behavioral issues, interrupting class about 2-3 times per period. The goal is to reduce interruptions to 1 or less per period through praise, private interventions, and preparation of materials. The experience taught the observer about deaf culture and challenges secondary exceptional students face with changing classes.

1. Monica Melendez
EEX 3243-
Teaching Exceptional Adolescents and Adults
Spring 2013

2.  Description of student-
The student is in the 6th grade. This student has a hearing
impairment. He/she has a hearing aid that can be directly
linked to a microphone the teacher has and an interpreter is
provided. The student also displays some behavior
management issues.
 How Disability Affects Performance-
Despite the resources provided the student often missed
things said by the teacher. This can affect how much
information the student receives on a topic. The student’s
misbehavior would also interrupt the flow of the lesson.
Because of this, I decided to focus on the behavioral
problem. I informally assessed the student on how many
times he/she interrupted the class. The student had about
2-3 interruptions per class period.

3. Plan
Goal:
Student will actively participate in class with 1 or less
interruptions per class period.
Standards:
 HE.6.B.2.3: Demonstrate effective conflict management
and/or resolution strategies.
 HE.6.B.2.1: Determine strategies to improve effective verbal
and nonverbal communication skills to enhance health.
Assessment of progress: Student will be observed daily to
determine the number of interruptions. (Interruptions
include: asking a question that has already been answered,
speaking out of turn, getting off task, and disrupting other
students’ learning) Praise of students on task, private
interventions, and preparation of materials were all used to
address this problem

4. What I Learned
 I learned so much about deaf culture and how
instruction is provided for these students. I learned
how hard it was for the interpreters to find the signs
for certain content area words, something I had never
thought of before. I also learned how these students
are exactly like their non-disabled peers. They have the
same hopes and fears, they simply need to be given the
right care and encouragement. I also learned that
because these students can miss information due to
their hearing, it can lead to behavioral problems. For
my future classroom I want to ensure a safe and happy
learning environment. I will make sure strive to make
sure that the needs of every learner are met.

5. Conclusion
 This experience helped me in many ways. I had never
experienced a secondary exceptional classroom before.
I had always done service learning at the elementary
level. This opened my eyes to the many different
factors that come into play at the secondary level. By
having to move from class to class instead of
remaining in the same room, these students face new
challenges. I am so grateful for the chance to see many
of the principles we have talked about such as co-
teaching applied in the real classroom. This was a
wonderful experience and I look forward to future
service learning opportunities.

6. Observation Log