Interview with Teacher of Special Needs Children

I recently interviewed a very helpful and fairly new teacher working in the state of Louisiana. In the year of 2004, this woman taught eighty-one fourth grade students language arts and social studies. Of those eighty-one students, twenty were considered to have special needs. These special needs included students with attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, as well as speech disorders. Other special needs found is this teacher's classroom included gifted and talented students, students with learning disabilities, and a student diagnosed as having oppositional defiant disorder. How did she handle it day after day? A lot can be gained from hearing about one teacher's classroom experience. Hopefully you agree. The transcript of our interview follows:

1. Do you receive any outside/departmental help in regards to your special needschildren? Yes I do. For my student with speech problems, his speech therapist comes in and we come up with modifications together. Some of those modifications might be having a test read aloud or something to that affect. For my special education students, they have a teacher that is in charge of them. That teacher assists me when the special education students join me in my classroom. Counselors help the other students who have special needs (dyslexic, ADD, ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder), and lessons are adjusted accordingly.

2. How would you characterize the atmosphere of your classroom? I try to maintain good discipline, and I keep things structured, but I also try to make it a place where it's non-threatening or non-intimidating. It's a place where students feel that they can share their beliefs and discuss their ideas safely. Most children feel very comfortable when they come in the classroom.