Goal Reflection Essay

    How My Thinking About Different Learners has Intensified
                                                         By Leisa Wall

On January 31, 2009 I wrote my goal statement in preparation for my Masters of Arts in Education with a focus in Special Education.  In 2009, I was teaching first grade and I had three cognitively impaired students in my classroom.  I wanted to learn how to help them achieve success while they were in my general education classroom.  I also chose to focus on special education because I knew that I would always have students at varying ability levels as well as students with certain disorders in my classroom.  I am determined to learn how to help each and every child succeed in my classroom.  By pursuing this masters degree, I have learned so much in regards to students with special needs.

I come from a family of educators and they not only taught me, but showed me, that we should never give up on our students.  Our students will come to us with different experiences and ideas.  It is my job as an educator to figure out where they have come from, where they are currently at academically and to figure out how my students can be successful in the future. 

To this day, I am as focused and determined as ever to get all of my students to succeed.  By taking various courses throughout my masters, my thinking on wanting to help my special needs students succeed has not changed, if anything, it has gotten stronger and more powerful.  All children can learn and it is my job, with the help of my colleagues, to figure out activities and methods for teaching new concepts to my students.  I continue to believe that no two learners are the same and that needs to be taken into consideration each time I plan and implement a lesson. 

Looking back, my goals have not changed.  They have just increased and intensified.  I now feel much more comfortable having cognitively impaired students in my classroom because I have tools and strategies to help them participate in the learning that the rest of my students are doing.  I am also more confident in working with students when they struggle. 

One idea that has changed and transformed for me is I thought that I could differentiate instruction for my special education students without assistance from others.  I quickly learned that working with others and collaborating is what is best for the students.  I have learned a great deal from working with others in my building and I have realized what a great asset they are to my students and me.

By focusing on special education, it has allowed me to better educate all of my students, especially the ones with special needs.