Inclusion in Elementary Schools: Observing Special Needs Classrooms

Field Experience Observation and Reflection Name Institutional Affiliation Course name Instructor’s name Assignment due date Field Experience Observation and Reflection Inclusion in elementary schools offers special needs children the opportunity to gain behavioral and academic skills that match their education levels. An effective inclusion program must match the needs of the learners and the resources available for implementation in a particular school or classroom. Three types of special education classrooms included in this paper are a resource room, a self-contained classroom, and a co-taught classroom. The resource room is or students who spend most of their time in the general classroom and only receive specific instruction in a separate location (Apple et al., 2022). A self-contained special education classroom is for students whose needs limit their ability to learn in the general classroom and they require additional specialized support. In a co-taught classroom, a general and a special education teacher work alongside each other in the same classroom. The current reflective paper summarizes the objective and subjective observations of three different classroom settings showing how inclusion is achieved in a special needs resource room, a self-contained classroom, and a co-taught classroom Resource Room The site for the special education resource room was at Chappell Elementary School that provides additional instruction for learners based on their needs. In a resource room for special education students, the learners spend most of their time in a general education classroom and receive further support in small groups (Apple et al., 2022). The resource room allows teachers to focus on a particular area of learning where a few students may be facing difficulties. My observation at Chappell Elementary School was for a group of grade four students being taught algebra. The class was on Thursday November 6, 2025 in the afternoon and involved one teacher and four students learning algebra. The teacher introduced the lesson by introducing the input and output table that would be the main tool she would be using for the lesson. She provided a table for each students before the beginning of the lesson and defined the input and output as they related to the lesson. Additionally, she used group and individual instruction by showing how the group can use the table in algebra and allowing them to practice. In the group activity, the teacher demonstrated the key aspects of the table, the rules, and how students would use the tool for the lesson. After 10 minutes of describing how the tool works, she provided individual tasks for the students where they were expected to complete the equation, x3+2=11. Each student completed their task individually and the teacher inspected their work while providing assistance to one of the learners who was stuck on the problem. She showed the student how the task related to the previous examples they had done in the classroom and the calculations involved in the problem. By the end of the lesson, the students had understood the algebraic calculations involving the number 3 as indicated by their feedback. The teacher allowed two of the students in her resource room to advance to a resource table with the number 4 as she continued to guide the other learners. During the lesson, the teacher spent most of the time with two students who faced more difficulties in the topic while allowing the other learners to practice more complex problems. My observations in the special education resource room demonstrated a greater opportunity for individualized instruction than what students have in a general education classroom. Since there were only four students, it was possible for the teacher to inspect the work of each learner and make observations on their progress. I felt that it was easy for the teacher to monitor each student’s activity and make the lesson as productive as possible for all learners. For example, she noted that two of the students required greater support in algebra than the others and was able to provide more assistance in this area. A resource room targets students requiring additional su