A major component of this course is the observation of special education or inclusion programs.  You are required to make one or more visits (totaling approximately 4 hours per observation) to a program, center, school, or residential facility serving children with special needs. You can choose a place that you know about, or you can consult the instructor’s list.

1.   Use the list of resources, or discuss your alternative with the instructor.  The sites on the resource list may have changed address or phone numbers.  It is your     responsibility to get the correct information!

2.   Call and make an appointment at the center you choose.  You may have to try more than one place to get an appointment.    Remember that scheduling can be difficult, so call in advance.  Click here for the observation policy.

3. Tell the director/principal the purpose of your visit. Print out and carry along with you the purpose letter.

4. Spend at least 4 hours at the facility.  This means you may have to go more than once, depending on the program.

5. Prepare yourself for the observation.  Know something about the type(s) of disabilities you expect to encounter.

6. Remember that you represent Oakton’s Early Childhood program.  Be prompt for appointments and courteous about canceling if you have to.  Act in a professional manner at all times.

7. Keep all children's names confidential.   Use only first names, or initials or aliases.
 
 

This observation must about children with special needs..  Please be sure to make your school contact aware of this if you are not observing a self contained room or facility. Use complete sentences when writing up your observation.  Be as detailed as possible in your descriptions, without giving a running record.  Grading will be done based on your objectivity, support your judgments with factual information please, adherence to instructions, grammar, spelling, flow of reading, and amount of concrete documentation provided.  You must provide documentation of your learning with text or outside support. Ommission of such documentation will result in a minimum of a 10 point deduction. Please cite your resources using APA or MLA style bibliography.

See the following Web sites for more direction on bibliographies:
http://mciu.org/~spjvweb/mla.html
http://www.mla.org/

I. Your information
a. Name
b. Date and time(s) of observation(s)

II. General Information about the Facility
a. Name of facility
b. Address and phone number
c. Contact Person
d. Number and types of individuals served in the entire facility
e. Types of services offered to students and their families
f. Physical description of the facility as a whole, environment

III. Information about the specific classroom/program you observed
a. Number and ages of the children served in the particular class observed
b. Types of exceptionalities served in that class
c. Type and level of classroom
d. Sketch of room layout (if you are tech savy enough to provide photos or draw approximations that is great, but will not have points deducted for omitting this portion of the paper).  Additional sketches of rooms used/observed at time of visit .  If you choose not to sketch the room using computer technology be sure to give a detailed description about the room you observed in, so that I get a complete picture of where you were.

IV. Your observations of the classroom/program
a. Activities the students were engaged in.  What did you actually see and hear?  Use objective, descriptive terms.  Be detailed.  You are observing the group, not just one student for this assignment.  Identify specifics:  what the staff  and students said, what their facial expressions were, how were the transitions?  (these are just a few examples of things to look for)
b. Describe the tone/atmosphere of the classroom.  Describe it from you perspective.  Was this different from what the students or the staff portray?  Why or why not?
c. How did you feel about this visit?  Did it meet your expectations? Was is different from what you expected?  What did you personally enjoy/ dislike about the program?  Why?
d. Your personal impressions are important to this assignment, but please justify your feelings with what you observe.  Total objectivity is not required for these assignments, but be clear, fair, and justified.  Support your judgments with facts please.
e. How did this observation relate to what you have read so far in the text?  Remember to cite your sources.  Omission of text support will result in an automatic deduction of 10% of the total grade.