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Special Education Interview Essay
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Teacher Nathan Ritter Interview
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Alisha Carlin
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ITL 604
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May 1, 2018
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Professor Saltinski
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Teacher Interview and Observation 2
Abstract
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This paper records a classroom observation and interview taken by the author. Interview
questions have been answered and recorded in the later portion of this paper. The paper ends with
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Teacher Interview and Observation 3
Classroom Observation
The classroom I observed is lead by Nathan Ritter, who is a third year SDC teacher at
Elsinore Middle School. Mr. Ritter has students ranging in grades from 6th to 8th. Ironically, the
demographics of his classroom fit the percentages of the school-wide demographics. 21% of the
students were Caucasian, 10% were African American and 69% were Hispanic. Mr. Ritter
primarily teaches students with mild to moderate disabilities. His subject matter rotated
throughout the day depending on the period. He teaches both English Language Arts and Social
Studies. During the observation hours, which covered several periods, some students would stay,
while others would leave to go to another class. They would either head to his team teacher’s
class (connected next door) or head out to a general education class like PE. Depending on the
individual’s strengths, they were either with him for one or more periods.
The subject I observed during my time in Mr. Ritter’s classroom was Social Studies. The
class began with attendance and then a 15 minute review of what they covered the day before.
The students began interacting and reviewing with the previous slideshow lecture on Chinese
Philosophies. Every time a student participated and knew the correct answer, Mr. Ritter would
reward the student with a raffle ticket stub. This was a built in reward tactic that the students
were very familiar with. I found this technique interesting. It kept students involved while
motivating them to stay on task. After review was over, they transitioned into the new notes. I
will admit, I thought that this task was going to be difficult for the class as Mr. Ritter had
explained to me that the previous class did not do a good job and had to bare the consequences of
their punishment. He even warned the class of the consequences period 2 had received as a result
of their decision to not listen. Fortunately, period 3 stayed on task and avoided the punishment of
Teacher Interview and Observation 4
writing down a lengthy quote from the lecture on Daoism. The lesson wrapped up with reward
time. The students placed all of their raffle tickets they had earned, after they had written their
names on them, into a metal bucket. Mr. Ritter than took the bucket to draw several names. The
winners would then draw prizes from Mr. Ritter’s box of goodies. He had parent pre-approved
snacks in the box that the students could choose from in the event that their ticket was drawn.
Mr. Ritter drew several tickets because the class had behaved so well for their guest.
There was one para-educator in the room with a male student who had more severe
learning disabilities. She helped to keep him on task most of the class and they sat at their own
table while the other students sat in desks. He was very distracting to his classmates if she was
not with him at all times. However, most of the students encouraged him to stay on take when he
started to misbehave. The other students had mild cases of learning disabilities. In fact, it was
hard to tell what their disabilities were so I asked Mr. Ritter what the demographics of his
The classroom layout was inclusive and rectangular in shape. The desks were aligned in
rows of six with three desks in each row. There was a large table that could fit four students on
the left side of the classroom, close to Mr. Ritter’s desk, where the para-educator and the one-on-
one student sat. During note taking time another student moved to the table and encouraged the
other student to stay on task. The classroom was also covered in supplemental materials that
related to the course content of History and English Language Arts. The classroom had
technology, but it was not up to date like the technology I have seen in other classrooms from
other districts. EMS meets the requirements of a Title 1 school due to its demographics, but it is
Teacher Interview and Observation 5
rich in history. The classroom was located in a special building. Mr. Ritter explained that it was
part of the original campus building that was built back in 1910. The rest of the school was
newly renovated, whereas the original building was renovated but the bones of the structure were
original. I got to walk across a neat bridge into the classroom, one that has been apart of the
Evaluation
As mentioned earlier, the demographics of the classroom were not shocking to me. I have
previously substitute taught at this specific middle school and found the school demographics to
be similar to the demographics of the school as a whole. The majority of the learning disabled
students were Hispanic, followed by Caucasians and lastly African Americans. When I learned
the age range of Mr. Ritter’s class, I was caught off guard. Typically middle school students are
between the ages of 11-13, but Mr. Ritter had students as old as 15. Which confirmed his
statement that students with learning disabilities are typically 3-4 years behind the average
student. None of the students in the class I observed looked close to 15, so I assumed he was
I found it incredibly interesting that there was only one female in the classroom of 11
students that I observed. The other 10 students were male. I asked Mr. Ritter if this was a
common theme in his classes and he confirmed that male dominance was common. He said that
1 out of every 6 of his students is a girl, in other words, 16% of his students are female. It fits
with Slavin’s theory that “boys are more likely than girls to be labeled as learning
disabled” (Slavin 306). In my interview with Mr. Ritter, he confirmed the theory that males get
diagnosed more than females because they exhibit behavioral issues more often. Therefore boys
Teacher Interview and Observation 6
are usually pinpointed for testing of learning disabilities whereas females hide their learning
disabilities well and slide under the radar, going unnoticed. He also stated that roughly three
fourths of teachers at his school are women, which in his experience, tends to contribute to
gender bias. He is one of a handful of male SDC teachers in his district, a majority of them are in
fact female.
classified as a Title 1 school. Spring argued that “the family income of students parallels the
levels of ability grouping and tracking” (Spring 86). This certainly seemed to be the case at EMS
in regards to their special needs students. The area surrounding the middle school is saturated
with low-income housing. Fortunately, EMS is also known for their GEMS program which is at
the opposite end of the spectrum. GEMS stands for Guiding Exceptional Minds to Success with
an emphasis in the math and science fields. Their is an application process in order to be
considered for the program and most of the students in the program are from wealthier areas.
This solidifies Spring’s theory that “places students in different classes or groups within classes
based on their abilities” (Spring 86). According to Spring, “the higher the family income of the
students, the more likely it is that they will be in the higher-ability groups or a college-
Interview
I am currently an SDC (Special Day Class) teacher for students who have mild/moderate
disabilities. I teach English Language Arts and Social Studies to middle school, grade 6-8.
Question 2: What are the ages and grades levels of your students?
Teacher Interview and Observation 7
My students are grades 6-8 and range from 12-15 years old.
I am not sure what system this question is referring to, but we utilize a program named SEIS to
input student IEP information (i.e. goals, present levels, accommodations, services, eligibility
etc.) We also utilize a program named Infinite Campus, which keeps track of student absences
Question 5: What are the assessments used in the practice of early screening and/or
identification?
There are multiple assessment tests/programs we utilize. Some of them are the Woodcock
Question 6: What are the most important legal mandates a general education teacher should be
FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) and having the students within the LRE (Least
Restrictive Environment). Many teachers do not understand, but a student’s IEP (Individualized
Education Plan) is a legally binding contract between teachers, students, administrators and
parents. Every service and accommodations outlined within this document needs to be followed
through. As a case carrier, I also need to stay in compliance with all of the students and their
Teacher Interview and Observation 8
IEPs. Every student, who receives special education services, has an IEP, and an IEP meeting
with an administrator, general education teacher, parent and case carrier has to occur every year
by a specific date based on their initial IEP meeting. Every meeting needs a Notice of Meeting
sent home 10 days prior to the meeting, and it needs a parent signature stating they will attend or
hold the meeting via teleconference. During the meeting, all updated elements of the IEP are
gone over in detail and signatures need to be obtained from all members of the team. Every 3
years the IEP meeting is held as a “Triennial” where the psychologist need to be present, and the
case carrier and psychologist need to test the student to have more formal assessment results to
Question 7: What are important insights for a general education teacher regarding issues related
It is important to understand that student behavior or mood can easily be affected from change in
medications, dosages or if a student was unable to take their medicine that day. This can cause
Question 8: What is your experience implementing UDL in your teaching practices and/or
As a special education teacher, it is necessary to utilize Universal Design for Learning strategies
on an ongoing basis. This is because many of my students have varying abilities and need
information to be presented to them in multiple formats. These students also benefit from SDAIE
strategies as well.
Question 9: With your classes, have you found that there are a large percentage of males than
Yes. Some say that the referral rate for boys who exhibit behavioral issues is higher, which leads
to more boys being tested for eligibility for special education. Others say that boys’ brains are
wired differently than girls, and this makes it difficult for boys to learn the same way that girls
do. Something like three quarters of teachers are women, which can also attribute to this gender
bias. I also have noticed that girls who have trouble in their education tend to hide it well, where
boys tend to lash out and disrupt the natural flow of the classroom, which leads to a special
Question 10: Did most of your students come in to your classes already diagnosed with learning
All of my students, except one, have been diagnosed with their disabilities prior to middle
school. The one student that has been diagnosed is considered an RSP (Resource Specialist
Program) student who spends most of her time in the general education setting, with aids and
supports provided through a paraeducator and special education teacher in a general education
Question 11: What are the demographics of your learning disabled student population?
Ethnicity:
21% White
10% Black
69% Hispanic
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Disability:
15% Autistic
6% ED (Emotionally Disturbed)
6% ID (Intelectually Disabled)
73% SLD (Specific Learning Disability)
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Teacher Interview and Observation 10
Conclusion
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This classroom observation was extremely beneficial. I am glad it is a part of NU’s
curriculum as it is important for general education teachers to have knowledge of what takes
place in special education courses. I learned a lot about my limitations and know if I was in Mr.
Ritter’s position, I would not be able to “control the chaos” as he puts it kindly. Mr. Ritter is
gifted in ways that I hope to aspire to in my own teaching philosophy. He is kind, patient and
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Teacher Interview and Observation 11
Sources
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Ritter, N (2018, April 12). In-Person Interview
Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. Boston, MA: Pearson
Publication.
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Spring, J. (2018). American Education. New York, NY: Routledge.
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