Here you will find my philosophy about teaching exceptional learners.  It is important that I understand the teaching methods that I will need to have to ensure all my students succeed while in the classroom.  I need to help those who are gifted, those with disabilities, and those without any special needs.  I hope that by reading my paper below you can better understand what I plan to do within my future classroom.

Building Confidence within Students

Has there ever been a time in your life where you felt inadequate at what you were doing?  An instance when you felt like you did not belong?  A moment when you did not feel normal?  There are many children who have those feelings all the time, especially being evident while they are in educational settings.  I want every student to feel comfortable and accepted by her peers while in the classroom.  I need to give all my students a self-confidence that they can accomplish whatever their heart desires.  To achieve this for my students, I will make appropriate accommodations for them, communicate to others about their special needs, and continue to learn more about exceptional learners and how to include them in my classroom.

Making modifications in my classroom for those students with special needs is essential to allow them a sense of belonging.  One accommodation is using assistive technology for those with learning disabilities.  A child’s barrier might be reading, listening, being unorganized, or communicating, and using devices such as captioned videos, voice recorders, audio taped books, or electronic calendars can make school easier for them.  I will also utilize the accessibility feature on computers for those with mobility, hearing, or visual impairments to receive benefits from that educational resource.  Another modification might be giving oral tests or allowing a student to sit up in the front of the classroom.  Each child will need specific help in certain areas.  Those with giftedness might need extra challenging assignments that allow them to think on multiple cognitive levels.  It is important that I come to know more about each student, even those without exceptional needs, because every child has a weakness that they will need assistance with to achieve their highest potential.  I want all my students to succeed in my classroom, and I can do this by being willing to accommodate their individual needs. 

I realize that by making appropriate accommodations for my students, by communicating to others about my special needs students, and by continuing to learn more about exceptional learners, it will help me build more confidence within every one of my students.  I will be more prepared and aware of how I can help each one of them succeed in my classroom and feel like they belong.  I understand that it will be challenging to understand every aspect of exceptional learners and how to include them in the classroom properly, but I will try, because as Richard H. Hungerford stated about differences:

Only the brave dare look upon the...things which cannot be explained easily, upon the things which often engender mistakes, upon the things whose cause cannot be understood, upon the things we must accept and live with.  And therefore only the brave dare look upon difference without flinching.