Chapter 4 from Kliewer's book, Schooling Children with Down Syndrome was very familiar to me. I have co-taught in an inclusion class for 15 years and all the rest of my classes have students with IEP's. I aspire to create a community within my classroom similar to Shayne Robbins where opportunities are provided for all children, that their individuality is celebrated Douglas Biken describes a classroom where all students are accepted.If anyone came into my inclusion class no one would know which children had IEP's and the students that don't. My inclusion class this year is a bit different. I co-teach with two special education teachers. Each special ed teacher has 5 students on their case load in my class. Five of the students are at a second grade reading level and until this year they were in a self contained classroom. That is what it looks like on paper....but not in the actual classroom. Many of those students are group leaders when we do labs or group projects. They participate regularly and are an asset in my classroom. These kids are not afraid to to take chances. They are not afraid to fail. They also are very resourceful. They have a great deal of common sense, qualities that are very important in a science class. I love this class, we get so much done but we have so much fun!
Gardner's 7 patterns for learning to me is the essence of how students should be taught. We need to look at each students' strenghts and weaknesses and teach them accordingly. Gardner also believes that schools take a narrow position when it comes to judging student intellect. This is so obvious with assessments. Look at standardized testing! A few years ago I had a student that had brain damage due to lead paint poisoning. When he was in class he knew the answers but then when I would give him a test he would fail. I decided to give him an oral exam. He got an A. At the end of the quarter his grade was an A. He came to me and thanked me for giving him an A. I told him that that was the grade that he earned. He was so proud. He had never gotten an A before. This was a boy who had the knowledge but didn't know how to express it.
It is so important to have teachers who can co-teach together. I am very lucky. We work well together. This video explains the importance of good co-teaching. I have had both good and bad experiences in co-teaching. When it is good it is awesome but when it is not it can be really bad.