Blog 4

Blog 4

Moral Dilemma:

Students with learning disabilities often need modifications in their assignments in order to minimize the impact of their disabilities and to facilitate their success. Kevin's IEP, for example, includes extended time on exams, no penalty for spelling errors on essays written in class, and ability to use the computer for extensive written work. As Kevin's high school English teacher one of your students protested that giving these accommodations to Kevin is not fair. The protest is growing, and now several students have voiced their resentment of Kevin's special treatment. I have decided that tomorrow I will sit the whole class down and we will learn about types of learning disabilities, who they affect, why they affect them and what has and is being done to help these students such as IEPs and IMP’s. I will allow students with disabilities to share their experiences as students with disabilities and other students to share stories about family members and their encounters with students with disabilities either inside of the classroom or outside. Prior to this discussion I will lay down a strict president of how students will respond to one another and to the material being discussed in order for us as a class to have a mature, rewarding lesson. I will share with my students that I believe everyone deserves equal treatment inside the classroom, outside of the classroom and in day to day life, although when I say equal I do not mean the same treatment. I simply mean that each person is different, they learn different, act different, respond different and will grow up to have vastly different lives than their classmates, so it will be my job as a teacher to give them the best education I can provide for them on an individual level so they can reach their optimum achievement rate. I will tell my students that each and every one of them learns and responds to leaning differently and to maximize their success students must receive different treatment relevant to their learning capabilities. I’m sure this will be a difficult thing to discuss with a classroom full of high school age students as we live in a world of negative attitudes, name calling and miss-use of names and terms, but it will be my goal to allow students to understand, in any way possible for them the meaning of a learning disability and what those students need from me as a teacher and their classmates in a learning environment. I believe that the term “fair” in the education system applies to all students based on their individual needs. Being a fair teacher towards students with special needs will allow me to treat them differently than my other students based on giving and receiving assignments, but will also hold me accountable for my response to them. I cannot be too lax on my students, but I also need to be flexible when dealing with their learning capabilities. As a teacher, I also do not expect all others inside my classroom to view certain treatment as fair, but I will expect all others to tolerate the given treatment.