I chose this artifact for many reasons but this artifact is a lesson plan that has accommodations embedded into it. Students with disabilities are at risk for falling behind in classes compared to their fellow students and already having accommodations right there in front of you in a lesson plan can help you reach all of your students. Lesson plans are not just used by the teacher who created it but it could also be used by other teachers when the teacher is out of class, and seeing those accommodations can keep the class on the right pace for the school year. Accommodations in lesson plans are used for differentiated instruction and allows for students to have a deeper understanding of the content and use their knowledge across different classes and their own personal life.
As more and more children are diagnosed with learning disabilities, we as educators or future educators must understand that not everyone is going to get the material right away, there are going to be some who get it right away, some who take a little bit longer and there are some who seem like they are just never going to but as professionals we must understand that we need to accommodate these students so they do not fall further and further behind. I understand that history is tough to digest, and I am a neurotypical student who is quite frankly a massive history nerd and I know that history can be difficult, I can’t imagine how I would feel sitting in a high school history class with a learning disability and being made to feel like I was stupid for not understanding what the teacher was talking about. I never want students to feel that way- ever. I’m not here to belittle students or make them feel inferior, I am there to help them, I am there for them. I want to become a teacher so that I can help kids who don’t have an adult they can trust and I can’t do that if I can’t accommodate for my students.
