Rachel Mast - work PDF

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Teaching Strategies from The Case Study of Rachel Mast Rachel Mast is a student who has Down Syndrome. This intellectual disability has many impacts on Rachel’s life but in general she enjoys life and is a happy person. Based on Rachel Mast’s case study, I learned different strategies and approaches that I can take into perspective when teaching students with intellectual disabilities. The first lesson that I learned from the case study was the importance of involving and including students with intellectual disabilities in the general education classroom. I believe that there are many benefits to putting a student with a disability in the same classroom with students without disabilities. These benefits include increased achievement for IEP goals, increased collaboration, peer role models for academic, social, and behavior skills, and increased relationships and friendships. IDEA does not allow a student to be removed from a general education classroom just because he or she needs modifications to be made in the general education classroom. As a future teacher, in order to promote inclusion, I will make sure to concentrate on the individual student rather than their disabilities. The second lesson that I learned from the case study is the importance of creating a classroom environment that has acceptance and understanding and encourage classmates to be respectful and accepting of students with intellectual disabilities. I believe this is very important because it prevents students from feeling left out and outcasted. As a future teacher, I will make sure to have rules in the classroom that encourage respectful behavior towards one another. I will also teach my students empathy, so they learn how to put themselves in other people shoes and become more understanding. The third lesson that I learned from the case study was about the importance of the way a teacher teaches and the pace of teaching. It is important to make sure that every student

understands a lesson that is taught. For students who don’t understand the teacher can use baby steps by breaking down every task, skill, or activity into small sections. This way the student will be taught one small step at a time and won’t feel pressured. This technique will allow the student to combine baby steps and smaller lessons into bigger concepts. As a future teacher, I will not move on to the next lesson before I am sure that each and every student has mastered the topic. I will do this by taking baby steps and also giving feedback about what the student is doing well and what he or she needs to do more work on. The fourth lesson that I learned from the case study was the importance of praising achievements and progress. I believe that rewards help students realize their potential and motivates them to work harder. Rewarding does not include making a deal with the students and bribing them with prizes or rewards. Instead, rewarding should be done when a student displays improvement or success, naturally on their own. This way when the teacher gives a student a positive feedback, comment, or reward, the student will know their potential and what they can achieve. As a teacher in the future, I will make sure to be let my students know that I am proud of their achievements and their work through compliments and rewards.

Read case study in chapter 9. case study assignment: Write a 2 page 1.5 space New Roman Times 12 point font reflection paper titled: 4 strategies and/or approaches/perspectives on teaching students with intellectual disabilities that I learn from the case study of Rachel Mast, what each means to and implies for me, and how I can/could implement/apply each in my future work with students....