1. Kyle Murphy
Overview of Special Education Journal
Introduction
General School Information
The school that I have been placed at for the Overview of Special Education diversity
project is Westside Elementary located at 430 West 5th Street. My cooperating teacher is Gail
Ewan who is a 4th grade teacher. I have been placed in her class while she is teaching her
students reading, grammar, and spelling units. Westside Elementary is a part of the USD 250
school district, which is the Pittsburg, Kansas public school district.
Building Report Card
The district my school is located in is the Pittsburg USD 250 school district. USD 250
has a total enrollment of 2,939 students: which breaks down to have 1,881 (64%) economically
disadvantaged, and 1,058 (36%) non-economically disadvantaged. The district ethnic
breakdown is 118 (4.01%) African American, 400 (13.61%) Hispanic, 307 (10.45%) Other, and
2,114 (71.93%) Caucasian. District reading state assessment results for the entire 4th grade are:
9% academic warning, 10% approaches standards, 34.4% meet standards, 22.6% exceeds
standards, and 23.5% exemplary. Students with disabilities in the district on the state
assessments for reading had; 10.2% academic warning, 20.4% approaches standards, 49% meets
standards, 16.3% exceeds standards, 4.1% exemplary.
Westside Elementary School is an accredited school with a total enrollment of 371
students. The breakdown of the school by gender is 212 (57.14%) male and 159 (42.86%)
female. The socioeconomic breakdown of Westside Elementary is 283 (76.28%) economically
disadvantaged and 88 (23.72%) non-economically disadvantaged. Ethnic breakdown of the

2. school is 12 (3.23%) African American, 87 (23.45%) Hispanic, 249 (67.12%) Caucasian, and 23
(6.2%) is other ethnic backgrounds. Westside Elementary 4th graders according to state
assessment standards in reading have 7.1% of students with academic warning, 28.6%
approaches standards, 42.9% meets standards, and 14.3% exceeds standards. Westside
Elementary has 101 (30.51%) students with disabilities and 230 (69.49%) of students without
disabilities. The student I have been assigned to work with is a male student that is suspected of
having an intellectual disability.
Westside Elementary has a worse socioeconomic situation in comparison to the district as a
whole with nearly 10% more students in poverty. This could be explained by the increased
presence of Hispanics (nearly 10% more than the district) who seem to be higher as there are
more students in poverty. I get to that hypothesis by seeing a correlation between poverty rate
and number of Hispanics in multiple schools and districts. Westside Elementary has fewer
students under academic awareness for state assessments; however, Westside also has slightly
more students below standards compared to the rest of the district. All other academic categories
are within six points of each other making the state standards rather close to the district
average. However, for students with disabilities Westside has a higher exemplary level than the
district; where the general student population had less than the district. This could be explained
by the programs at that school in regards to students with disabilities. Overall the numbers are
relatively close between Westside and the district as a whole. So this may be the result of a
commendable district’s wide focus on all schools and treating each school equally without
favoritism.
To have an outside comparison, I will use my old school system Lansing USD 469.
Lansing and Pittsburg are around the same size towns and fall under the same classification of

3. 5A. There is also a University in close proximity to both school districts. This I feel makes it a
fair comparison between two different parts of the state (Leavenworth County vs. Crawford
County).
In the Lansing School District, they have 27.14% socioeconomically challenged students,
leaving 72.86% non-socioeconomically challenged students. This is comparatively a lot better
than here in the Pittsburg area which is 64%/36%. The Ethnic breakdown is 6.53% African
American, 9.55% Hispanic, 7.89% of other ethnic backgrounds, and 76.03% Caucasian. This
compares to Pittsburg pretty well. There is a higher presence of Caucasians in Lansing, but only
by 4%. Reading assessment scores for the entire 4th grade at Lansing include: 1.1% academic
warning, 4.6% approaching standard, 27.6% meets standards, and 28.2% exceeds standards, and
36.2% exemplary. This is a clean sweep for Lansing over Pittsburg, only meets expectations
does Pittsburg school district have more, however, I still count this as a loss as the numbers that
Lansing lacks in that category are represented predominantly in the categories better than meets
standards. Finally, the students with disabilities reading standards is: 0% academic warning,
9.1% approaching standards, 48.5% meets standards, 12.1% exceeds standards, and 18.2%
exemplary. Once again, Lansing has another sweep on the academic level. The rationale that I
have to explain these numbers would directly go to the economic status on the families involved.
Pittsburg schools have more economically troubled families by far than the Lansing school
district. That could be a reputable explanation for the test scores wide variance between the two
districts. When considering economic disparity between the counties, I can only hypothesize the
reason as to why there is such a wide gap. I know that Leavenworth County is not a rich county;
however, the Lansing school district is one of the closer districts to Kansas City and Johnson
County, which could be why their economic situation is better than the county would suggest.

4. Lansing only has one Elementary school so the district numbers reflect the schools
numbers for the academic results. The economic breakdown is; 30.13% socioeconomically
challenged and 69.87% non-socioeconomically challenged. As for the ethnic breakdown there
is; 5.67% African American, 9.71% Hispanic, 8% other, and 76.62% Caucasian. There is more
of an ethic difference between Westside Elementary and Lansing Elementary. The biggest
difference is in the Hispanic and Caucasian populations. Lansing has almost 14% less Hispanic
population and a little over 10% more Caucasian population. This could be a significant factor
in the socioeconomic situation between the two different schools.
Target Student Information
The student I have been placed to work with is a Caucasian male with a suspected
intellectual disability. I work with my student every Wednesday from 9 A.M until 11 A.M. In
the school, the male population is 57.14% of the whole schools population. The Caucasian
population makes up 67.12% of the schools population. Students with disabilities make up
30.51% of the schools population.
My target student is extremely energetic. He makes me want to take him outside and run
around half the time. I have learned that he takes medication to “focus his mind,” to use his own
words. That would imply that he has been diagnosed with ADHD. I do not know to the extent
of testing that has been done to see if he legitimately has ADHD or is just an energetic student
that needs more practice on the life skill of focusing and staying on task. I have the inclination
that he is more on the energetic side. The rationale behind this is I have seen him focus
relatively well for a 4th grade student during a duration of a whole lesson. Therefore, this leads
me to think he can focus when he puts his mind to it. Also, I have discovered that my target
student plays and enjoys participating in a variety of sporting events all year round. This would

5. be a fair assumption to conclude that an energetic student would enjoy athletic events and
participate year round.
I have noticed that he does have problems understanding the big picture. He has to be
lead along to learn the content. Now, this could be evidence for the suspicion of his intellectual
disability. However, it could just be a result of his difficulty to focus. This may be because of
having ADHD or caused by his high energy, or possibly a combination of both. I would not be
able to say for certain which of these it could be.
My target student tries for the most part. It does seem like he wants to learn. He paid
attention to class lectures. However, he did struggle with small group work because he is quite
social and would prefer to talk to the other students rather than do his assigned work. I would
recommend at times my target student receiving one-on-one help; however, I would stray away
from small group work where there are other students present to distract him from his class work
to help keep his focus in class.
My cooperating student seems to have a confidence issue when it comes to education.
He seems to use his ADHD medication as a crutch and if he does not have it he will fail. I try to
give praise and encouragement when he answers correctly or has revelations, but it has not
seemed to change his outlook on his ability. Perhaps over time he will gain more confidence and
it defiantly something that needs to be worked on.
Body
Journal Entry #1 March 5, 2014, 9-11 A.M.
My diversity project started as I assume most others did, full of nervousness and full of
curiosity and wonder of what’s going to happen? How are the events going to play out? What is

6. my student like? What will my cooperating teacher be like? All these questions and more raged
through my head as I entered Westside Elementary. I found excellent fortune, as the start of the
day is the end of Mrs. Ewan’s plan period. This brief free time allowed us to introduce ourselves
and give an idea on how we will proceed for the day. Mrs. Ewan and I walked down to bring the
kids from one of their specials. During the time the students were lining up, Mrs. Ewan was able
to point out the student that I would be working with. After a brief introduction of me to the
class, we returned to the regular classroom. Once there, Mrs. Ewan gave a more formal
introduction of me to the class. She also was able to disguise the true reason why I was to work
with my target student by comparing other students’ receiving the opportunity to work with
others, and the fact I was a male lead her to decide to let me work with him. I thought this was a
well planned out and smooth way to transition me into the class and allow the other students to
accept my presence and for the target student to not have a stigma of him in need of special
assistance.
We started the day with a reading unit. Mrs. Ewan was absent the day before so she
wanted to review the previous day’s work to ensure understanding. Unfortunately, her approach
was having the story read to the class with her periodically stopping and discussing the content
of the story. This did not provide much opportunity to assist or have much interaction with my
target student. The only role I could facilitate at this point was to keep my target student on task.
This was a point of emphasis that my cooperating teacher mentioned at the beginning of the day.
My target student was active in the class discussion, constantly raising his hand to answer the
teacher’s questions. My target student was usually just to the side of being right, having a close
but not quite the answer the question was looking for, but the willingness to participate is a sign
of his desire to learn the material. After the story was finished, the class moved on to reflection

7. questions. Most of the questions my target student had already answered, because they worked
on the questions the day before with the substitute. I was able for a short time to assist with
writing a summary of the story; we were unable to complete the assignment, as there was not
much time provided as they planned to have work time the following day.
We moved on from reading to grammar. Again the set up of the lesson did not provide
much opportunity as they followed along with the teacher as she walked them through questions
in their workbook. I was able to help him stay on task and corrected some of his spelling errors.
I did notice that my target student was copying what the teacher wrote on the board. This went
beyond just the words but the way the words looked on the board. The teacher was using a touch
screen board linked with the computer, so when she erased and did not fully fix her letters in
words; my target student had similar errors on his paper that was left on the screen. That
allowed me an opportunity to correct him on his spelling.
We concluded the day working on a grammar test. He struggled with the concepts of the
test; which was over main and helping verbs. Unable to complete the test before lunch, I
informed the teacher of the situation. I also informed her that she needed to go over the helping
verbs with him, as he had no understanding of that concept.
Overall the experience was almost a culture shock. I have been accustomed to physical
education classes, moving around and standing. Where in this situation, I am confined to one
area, sitting in the middle of the class, which was slightly uncomfortable for me. I hope that this
will alleviate over time. However, I do like my cooperating teacher and have had no issues with
my target student. I am excited to see what my next four sessions will bring and the progress my
target student will make.

8. Journal Entry #2 March 11, 2014, 9-11 A.M.
I entered the school the second day of the diversity project with much more confidence
than the first. Again, having time in the beginning of the day to talk to my cooperating teacher
about the plan for the day. (F) Today my assigned student and I worked on a reading test.
We went to another room outside the classroom to allow my assigned student to read aloud
to me the articles and questions. I was only able to help with the words in the questions
and answers. This was a nice change of pace from the previous day and gave me more one-
on-one time to see my cooperating student in a different setting than the previous day of
staying with the class.
My assigned student is a talkative and energetic child. So I of course, had to try to keep
him on track and minimize him from him going off on his own tangents. He is also a high-
energy child. During the test, that took us at least an hour and a half, my assigned student was
standing up from his chair, standing, bending up and down, and even pacing around the table
when thinking towards the end of the test. Some might attribute these actions to diagnose him
with ADHD; however, I would disagree. During the first session with my cooperating student I
witnessed him remain completely focused and controlled over his actions. He followed along
with the story and even contributed in class multiple times. All these factors lead me to believe
he is just a student with a lot of energy instead of a student with ADHD. Also, all the fidgeting
around could be a sign of him being a kinesthetic learner.
The room we worked in was the staffs break room, so teachers were coming in and out
quite frequently and my cooperating student seemed to be unchanged in his effort and focus on
the task at hand. This would be another indicator of the notion that he does not have ADHD.
Although, I did notice that a few of the teachers was giving me odd looks when my assigned

9. student was moving around while doing the test, as if they where judging me and thinking I did
not know what I was doing.
My assigned student showed again to me today that he has the ability in him. The first
day he was usually close to the response, but just a little off. Today he was usually able to
narrow down the answers on most questions. I also noticed him second-guessing himself a lot;
he even mentioned, “Usually whatever I pick it is the opposite.” This could mean he has a
confidence issue with his ability in school. In response to this I told him that most of the time it
is best to go with your first instinct. Unfortunately, it did not seem to break through as he
continued to second-guess himself. The problems he had, sometimes were correct, he ended up
second-guessing himself and receiving the wrong answer in the end. This is defiantly an area I
will continue to watch for and will try to help him with.
I also learned today that my assigned student is a curious student. The articles we had to
read for the test where about hybrid vs. electrical cars and nuclear power. I remember in the
article it mentioned charging a battery for the hybrid and electrical car, this lead him to ask about
his parents’ car because his dad was talking about the car battery, so he asked if that means that
his parents’ car is a hybrid. I was able to explain the difference at that point between a car
battery and an electrical engine, but it was a fine example of his ability to reflect and make
connections in his own life. With the second story he asked if oil could be used as a source of
electricity. I was able to explain how gasoline is actually oil that has been refined so it can and is
used as a source of electricity.
We ended up finishing the test earlier than the rest of the class. To finish the day, we
went to the back of the class and I assisted him working in his workbook on an old assignment
that he had not yet finished. Overall, I feel my assigned student enjoys working with me, I

10. would like to think it is all me, but it is probably closer to he just enjoys having someone to talk
to. Either way, he is a joy to work with so far and overall well behaved.
Journal Entry #3 March 26, 2014, 9-11 A.M.
Going into the third day for the diversity project I was instantly thrown a curve ball. The
students were all gathering for a school wide assembly that was a presentation to provide awards
for mathematical achievements. To further advance that curve, there was also a substitute
teacher for the day. The students during the assembly were well behaved and I was impressed by
that fact. I assumed there would be more issues being a school wide assembly that had students
ranging from 1st to 5th grade all cooped up in one gym.
The assembly lasted roughly twenty minutes and then we went back to the classroom.
Today we worked on an article that was talking about nuclear energy. My target student and
another student were working in a group on the assignment. The assignment was to find the
author’s point of view and three details that stated how they knew that it was the author’s point
of view. After that there were a few questions to answer. My target student was distracted
today. I do not know why, he just had more energy today. Though my theory was having the
school assembly right before the class; going from the high stimulation of the assembly to the
low stimulation of small group work with reading.
I could tell the other student in the group was becoming frustrated with the lack of focus
being presented from my target student. Despite persistently harping on my target student to stay
focused it was a chore to persevere through the entire assignment. It was this time that my target
student mentioned that he takes medication to “focus his mind” which implies that he has been

11. diagnosed with ADHD. This was the first I have heard about it, but suspected he had probably
been diagnosed with ADHD.
The next assignment that we moved to was vocabulary. The object of the assignment
was that the workbook started a sentence and the student, using the specified vocabulary word,
would create a sentence that properly demonstrated the definition of the word. My target student
was more of his normal self, because this was one-on-one with me and not in a group. This
would support the hypothesis that my target student should stay away from small group work to
help him focus and stay on task.
The vocabulary sheet was completed much faster and much easier than the previous
assignment. This allowed for the small remainder of the class for me to have small talk with my
cooperating student. (C) He mentioned about all the sports he plays or played including;
football, basketball, soccer, wrestling, and baseball. Most of these sports he has a fair
amount of interest in. Apparently though, he has not done wrestling yet, but is being
forced to by his father despite the fact he does not want to do it. I told him since he has not
done wrestling maybe he will like it, hopefully it will make the experience better and not
just be torture to attend.
Overall, the experience for today was allowing me to see a more negative day for the
students, with having the perfect storm of an assembly and substitute teacher all in the same day.
This will provide to be a valuable experience and give me insight and things to reflect on to
come up with strategies to work with students when they are having a more hyperactive day or a
day that has more distractions. I did feel like I maintained adequate control of my target student
as at no time did the substitute or the assistant teacher come by and have to help with any
discipline or control issues. I have that to take as a positive sign going forward.

12. Journal Entry #4 April 7, 2014, 9-11 A.M.
The fourth day of the project had a different feel than the rest of the previous days. This
is because it was on a Monday instead of my normal Wednesday time. I was able to schedule
with my cooperating teacher to use this day to make up for missing the previous Wednesday; due
to a power outage that reset my alarm clock leading to me sleeping through the morning. My
cooperative student did have a hilarious dumbfounded look when he saw me, which told me the
substitute for the day had not notified him that I would be with him.
The substitute set groups for the class on reading an article about the history of
democracy. She paired my target student and I without any other students, this was fine with me
it helped me stay one-on-one with him giving me the best opportunity to help him with his
reading. He also was allowed to read more of the article than he would have if he were partnered
with another student.
In the beginning of the story Greek democracy was being referenced. This provided the
first sidetracked path we took. He was curious about the Greek gods and had general questions
relating to that topic. Now, this would have been mostly off-task, however the questions were
completely academically related. I felt that I should not stiffen his curiosity and humor him to a
certain extent and improve his overall knowledge of the topic. This topic was revisited soon
after, because the next topic in the story was referring to the Roman Republic, which lead to the
inquiry on the Roman gods and how they were stolen from the Greeks with changed names.
Another offshoot was from the changed names of the Roman gods, when I revealed that the
planets in our solar system are named after the Roman gods. After all that talk about the Roman
and Greek gods, my cooperating student threw me a curve ball and asked if I believed in the
Christian god. Now, personally I feel like even though the students are only kids, you should

13. when at all possible, give them the due respect to treat them as close to adults as possible. That
philosophy stems from my parent’s philosophy on parenting. When faced with that question I
responded with a nonchalant no, and after a brief general explanation on my rationale the
conversation was directed to general questions on the bible. Some of the questions stemmed
back to the Greek gods. For example, “Is Satan the same god as Hades?” Once again his
questions still stems from a pure academic curiosity level; admittedly the time off-task did
extend too long on this conversation. Although I was glad I let the conversations grow, because
I saw true curiosity and thrill from the subject matter with true desire to learn. I saw a focus that
was unmatched to date, admittedly, during a verbal conversation instead of bookwork, but still
proof of his ability to focus.
After the epic from the mythology topic we returned to the stories which lead to the
United States government set up. (D) It was in this part I could tell my cooperating student
was beginning to tire of reading and become distracted on a more consistent basis. Even
mentioning “I need to take my pill.” To counteract this I proposed an incentive for him to
focus and motivate him to do his reading. I told him if you read the next two pages without
stopping as a reward I would read a page. This method seemedto work well with him and
made the last pages of the story fly by compared to the first pages.
After the story we moved to response questions. My target student had his lapses in
focus, but for the most part completed the first three questions rather well. The fourth and final
question was a challenge for him. The question was a more in depth question that required more
analysis than straight from the text, “Why is the government set up into three branches of
government?” My cooperating student had a hard time grasping the concept of checks and
balances. After verbally explaining a few different ways, to no avail, the substitute came by and

14. gave her attempt. Personally, she gave a lack luster effort by just pointing out in the book where
it talked about what the three branches of government did. Except that it made no mention of
how they interact and check each other. Luckily for my target student, I have always enjoyed
history and was able to explain at much higher quality. (E)After the substitute left I grabbed a
piece of paper and started to diagram and give a visual reference to go along with the
verbal I previously tried. This tactic seemedto have a more profound effect than verbal
alone and started to flip the switch in his head so to speak. This could mean he is more of a
visual learner than an auditory learner.
Overall, I think the day went pretty well. My cooperating student learned something new
that he was interested in, he learned more about me personally, completed his reading, and
assignment related to the reading. He was not a distraction to the other students and showed
more promise of his ability to focus on the task at hand. Although more work is needed, perhaps
a focus coach would be a superior option for him.
Journal Entry #5 April 9, 2014, 9-11 A.M.
On my final day of the diversity project I had a pretty normal feeling going in. There was
a substitute teacher for the third time in a row. My cooperating teacher has been in the hospital
due to a heart issue. At least the substitute has remained the same throughout all the days, a
small bright spot given the unfortunate circumstances.
The substitute and I talked before class and actually ended up changing around the
schedule for the day. Originally the chapter in the book talking about the United States Senate
was going to be last on the agenda; leaving a chance to not reach that assignment. I mentioned in
our conversation that I had background knowledge in history and government; so she wanted to

15. use my expertise on the subject. This was fine with me because I enjoy history and government
and if there were anything else I would choose to teach it would be those subjects.
We started on reading the chapter as soon as we returned from retrieving the students
from their special in the computer room. My cooperating student had a difficult time focusing
on this particular assignment. I don’t think it helped that the response questions after the reading
were not recorded on paper and just supposed to be talked about as a group. My target student
and I were again only paired together. Luckily the chapter was not long; because it was clear he
did not have any interest in the topic at that time. To put in perspective the lack of care he
displayed, the first response question was “What was the legislative body called in the reading?”
I tried having him go back and read the chapter, I even pointed out a page the answer was on. It
did not matter he just had no motivation for the topic. I learned, comparing this incident with the
similar topic the time before, that I can handle not understanding the material; however, if the
student shows he does not care and does not want to put in any effort to learn it makes me
frustrated and not want to help them. Obviously, this can’t happen when you are working with
one individual student, but it puts an insight on when I am in my physical education class if a
student does not want to put in the effort to work, I do not want to put in the effort to make you.
I don’t see the rationale in making a wasted effort if the student truly does not want to learn,
because if they don’t want to learn they will not learn and if there is no chance for them to learn
even if it is just that day or just that topic I would rather spend that time helping those that want
the help and want to learn. Luckily I prefer to be at the high school level where you can treat the
student more like adults and that mentality is more understood.
After the reading we moved onto a spelling test. The substitute provided me one of the
teacher books with the words and we left the room and went to the conference room to take the

16. test. My cooperating student only had to do ten out of the twenty words the students that stayed
in the classroom had to do. (B) He mentioned to me that he had not studied the words before
hand, because he thought they were just vocabulary words. This is surprising and in a way
an encouraging sign for his ability since he answered eight out of ten correct; an impressive
score for anyone who did not study for a spelling test. Despite the impressive score, he once
again showed his lack of confidence in his abilities. Before the test results were reveled to him I
asked how well he thought he did and he was convinced he missed most of the words. Even
after he learned how impressive he did he was still thought he was not smart. I did praise him on
his impressive score, but it did not have much if any sort of impact. I don’t think he is
depressed, but he has a lack of faith in his ability. Although, he does have a confidence issue in
himself that needs to be worked on. I don’t particularly know what would be needed to reverse
his process of thought, but if I had to take a guess I would play to his strengths to build up his
confidence with repeated successful results overtime.
After the spelling test we returned to the room for a brief time before heading back to the
conference room to complete a vocabulary test. This was an open book test, which is important
because my cooperating student was more than willing to use his book; however, he seemed to
have a lack of ability or knowledge of how to research or search in the book effectively to find
the answer. This is a life skill that he will need to be helped with and work on as he grows up.
He also seemed to have a problem with the concept of the word “except” in the question. Maybe
it could be a result from him seemingly not wanting to do the test or maybe he truly does not
understand the concept. I tried to explain on the first question using him answering a question
like “Was this answer talked about in the book?” If he said yes then I would tell him because the
question says except that means there are three factually correct answers and one factually

17. incorrect answer, and that the incorrect answer is the one you want to choose in this case. My
cooperating student had spurts of knowing answer after answer and then times he struggled, but
that could be any student with any test. He ended up receiving a D+ on the test, which is still
better than some of his other test scores I have heard about from the teacher.
The last day of my placement went mostly as expected. I hoped Mrs. Ewan would have
returned it would have been nice if she had a few more hours to observe for a more accurate
evaluation. My cooperating student was more distracted than some visits in the past, but I have
seen him worse. I truly think him having an exercise ball as a chair would help him focus and
stay on task. The substitute mentioned that it would not happen because the student could
possibly be singled out. I countered with it could be an open option for all students to be able to
have available to them. I enjoyed having more of the one on one outside the classroom giving
me full responsibility of the student. My cooperating student does have things to work on and
needs more one-on-one help, but he has the ability in him if someone can find the right
motivation or subject areas to focus on.
Final Reflection
The diversity project in general made me more comfortable with a student that has an
intellectual disability. I was nervous going in because of the lack of experience I have had with
such populations. I remain uncertain with other populations such as the low incident disabilities
and behavioral disability as I have not worked with them. I also wished that the project took
place in a physical education class, as there are stanch differences between the two settings. I
also wished the project was at a high school as that would be the population of students I want to

18. work with, and with all three placements I was failed to be placed in a high school which was
disappointing.
Although despite that, I did enjoy working with my target student, he was defiantly
entertaining, even if he was frustrating at times. Even though I enjoyed working with my
cooperating student it did reinforce my previous thought that the elementary grade levels are not
the levels for me to be teaching. Students of that age drain my energy more than older students
making day after day all day working with the younger ages not feasible for me. An example of
this would have been when I was explaining the three branches of government to my cooperating
student. I had no problem with explaining when he was interested, but I prefer to be at a higher
level than the basics. So instead of what are the three branches of government and their basic
function; I would prefer to talk about the impact they have on each other and how they have
evolved through the history of the United States. There was another element about teaching the
lower grade levels; I could tell of some inaccuracies in the teaching to dumb down the material
to make it easier for the students to understand and it would kill me inside to not be able to
deliver the full truth in my lessons.
The project has shown me how much of a skeptic I am, now that can be good or bad
depending on the circumstances. I will probably never be the one to prematurely suggest a
student may have a disability. That being said I will require seeing more to be convinced of a
student having a disability, which could lead to later help than they could have come by.
Personally, I would rather be cautious than overzealous in this area just because of the magnitude
of the decision for the student; academically, socially, and mentally. I would never want to hurt
a student’s confidence in his abilities by suggesting additional help if they truly do not need it.
The social image is just if not more important to students than the academic side, and I know it’s

19. hard to kick a stigma once it’s attached to a student. I have also seen how I prefer using options
such as focus coaches, sitting on an exercise ball or communicative therapy over options such as
medication. That being said I am not against the medication I just feel it should be a last resort,
instead of the first cop-out option that it seems to be used more frequently today.
I am glad we did the diversity project as it provided a valuable experience going forward.
I still think it would have been at its best value for me in a physical education class at the high
school level, but regardless it was still an insightful experience to have. The project showed
personality traits and preferences that can be related to and prove my interest in the upper grade
levels. I did receive hands on experience working with a student that has a disability. Some of
my nervousness was alleviated for this area after I was able to work with my target student. I
even learned that my skepticism could be a good thing, but learned that I need to be more
watchful for any disabilities that may be amongst my students in my future classroom.