Running head: FIELD EXPERIENCE REPORT 1

Field Experience Report: Green Magnet Academy

Megan Gainey

Liberty University
FIELD EXPERIENCE REPORT 2

Regardless of your field experience setting, after your hours are completed, you will

summarize your experience in a 500–750-word paper. Indicate the type of setting(s) you

worked in and the duties you performed. In a detailed summary, describe the types of

instructional activities you carried out, collaborative opportunities experienced within your

placement, materials and resources accessed and how this field experience benefited your

knowledge and understanding of children with exceptionalities.

Your field experience reflection must clearly tie your observations and the knowledge

gained throughout this course together. You must use your textbook and at least 1 journal

article outside of your textbook to support your learning experience.

This assignment must follow current APA guidelines and must include a title page and

reference page. However, it is appropriate to use first-person language throughout this

assignment.

You must include the Experience Log with your submission (either as a separate

attachment or pasted to the beginning or end of your report). Without this completed log,

you will be deducted 50 points, as per the grading rubric for this assignment.

Setting

The Imago Dei School, a part of Trinity Classical Academy, is a self-contained classroom

with opportunities for inclusion during lunch and enrichment classes (Imago Dei Overview,

2015). Four students with various intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities are

currently enrolled in this high school program, which is taught by three teachers. The main
FIELD EXPERIENCE REPORT 3

teacher acknowledges and encourages students’ needs for movement or simplified instructions

and implements routines and technology to support learning goals. High expectations are set for

students with requirements for independent work. However, collaboration is also encouraged

with peers. This program runs in cooperation with a peer-mentoring program that matches

students in the general education program with students in this special education program. These

mentors participate in enrichment activities with their buddy, allowing for students in the Imago

Dei School to have an opportunity to be a part of a regular education class without the socially

limiting presence of a special education teacher. Although separate from the general education in

curriculum, the Imago Dei School is unique in that it is a classroom within a classroom. A

regular education classroom is embedded physically within the Imago Dei classroom. This

provides regular, seamless, and uncontrived integration of students in special and general

education. In addition, students venture off campus twice a week to have community

opportunities for job training or life skills building. Overall, the Imago Dei School exemplifies

its name in treasuring all students as created in the image of God.

Instructional Activities and Collaborative Opportunities

During my observation, I participated in literature, physical education, typing, life skills,

fluency, math, culinary arts, government, Bible, social skills instruction, and a pep rally. One of

the most impressive aspects of the Imago Dei School was its ability to challenge its students

intellectually. A common response to the complaint of work being too hard was that growth

occurs when working on difficult tasks. In literature, students found meaning beyond the literal;

in Bible, students integrated science knowledge; in typing, students chose challenging lessons.

Teachers also made knowledge accessible. In government class, a survey was given about

whether chocolate or vanilla was better. This survey was connected to America’s two-party
FIELD EXPERIENCE REPORT 4

political party system. During the lesson, the students enjoyed the ice cream of their party. This

concrete connection to an abstract concept showed again how intellectual knowledge was valued

and creatively presented.

Materials and Resources

The Imago Dei School used resources made for special education and for general

education. Cyrano de Bergerac, a play by Edmond Rostand and adapted by Tony Napoli, was a

part of literature class (Napoli & Rostand, 1996). The play was used to practice social skills,

such as facing someone when having a conversation with him, level of voice, and emotional

body language. It also was used to teach literary elements. A curriculum to build social skills

called Think Social! by Winner (2008) was used to practice appropriate body placement in

conversation, how to interpret others’ facial expressions, and other social skills that need to be

taught explicitly. Many of these lessons were coupled with real-life experience in the

community. Another resource by Winner (2011) was Social Thinking Worksheets for Tweens

and Teens: Learning to Read in Between the Social Lines. This resource was particularly helpful

for one student to figure out when it was appropriate to correct another student. The teacher

prompted his thinking by asking him, “What size problem is this?” He had been previously

instructed in problem sizes ranging from one to five and what appropriate reactions would be for

each. By identifying the problem level, he was able to respond appropriately.

Experience and Knowledge Convergence

The most valuable aspect of this observation was seeing social skills training with a

biblical perspective. Kirk, Gallagher, and Coleman (2015) pointed to the need for intense and

sustained interventions regarding social skills in order for this training to be effective. The

teachers of the Imago Dei School exemplified this thinking by purposefully inserting social skills
FIELD EXPERIENCE REPORT 5

practice into academic lessons as well extemporaneously. The social skills training was taught

with the idea of spiritual development, as well. The teachers demonstrated the ability to hold the

students accountable to act in a Christ-like way without babying them or expecting behavior that

their disability would not allow for.

Another remarkable observation was how the teachers seamlessly blended life skills with

academic teaching. Students clocked in and out of the classroom, just as they would do in a job.

They were expected to greet visitors who entered the classroom, were given the lesson plans for

the week to use as a checklist, and even had an employee of the week. In addition to life skills

learned in the classroom, students also spent time in the community, learning about possible

career opportunities while navigating public transportation. Life skills are “critical to the success

of individuals with disabilities out of school, especially students with intellectual disabilities”

(Bouck, 2010, p. 1093). Because of the life skills training and individualized transition plans, the

students in the Imago Dei School are being given all of the tools needed for success outside of

school.
FIELD EXPERIENCE REPORT 6

References

Bouck, E. C. (2010). Reports of life skills training for students with intellectual disabilities in

and out of school. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research,54(12), 1093-1103.

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01339.x

Imago Dei Overview. (2015, February 05). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from

https://www.trinityclassicalacademy.com/imago-dei-overview

Kirk, S. A., Gallagher, J. J., & Coleman, M. R. (2015). Educating exceptional children (14th ed.).

Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Napoli, T., & Rostand, E. (1996). Cyrano de Bergerac. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Globe Fearon.

Winner, M. G. (2008). Think social! A social thinking curriculum for school-age students. Think

Social Publishing Inc.

Winner, M. G. (2011). Social thinking worksheets for tweens and teens: Learning to read in

between the social lines. San Jose, CA: Social Thinking/Think Social Pub.
FIELD EXPERIENCE REPORT 7

FIELD EXPERIENCE LOG

Graduate student_Janelle Burkholder_ Course__EDUC 521__ Semester/year__Spring 2017____

Date Arrive Depart Hrs/Mins

Total Time: 12 hours