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Final Project
Nonnie K Jones
Ivy Tech Community College

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Throughout my exceptional learners course I have gained a lot of knowledge on the topic.
Starting in this course I was aware of some information shared in the course due to the fact
that I work in a childcare setting. It is somewhat similar in some cases. However, there was
still a lot of information dealing with exceptional learners in school settings that I was aware
of. I am not planned on becoming a special education teacher in the future but this class was
still informative. I believe that because sometimes there are exceptional students in general
education courses. Therefore it is still important for me to learn this information in order to
accommodate for those students. This course definitely put teaching students with
exceptional needs in a brand new perspective.
Starting this semester there was a lot of important information that I was blind to. For
instance I would not have known what to do if I received a dead or vision impaired student.
After taking this course I realized that there is a lot as a general education teacher that I can
still do in order to help those students. For example for a student that is hearing impaired I
could use gestures or visuals to help them visualize what I am speaking about. Also for those
that are blind or hard at seeing there is a variety of accommodations for them as well. For
example I could teach an overhead or with bigger print on the board and books. Something
else that would work for students that is hard at seeing on computers could be the zoom text
which allows you to enlarge the text on the computer screen.
My teaching might be scaled up or scaled down depending on what the student in my
class exceptional needs is. The ones that I chose for my final project probably wont need any
major upscale. However, there will definitely be a few changes. For example for Autism I
would definitely have to be literal when teaching. I believe having students with hearing or
vision impairments would definitely require a scaled up teaching classroom. Teaching the

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students with the exceptional needs that I chose would require me to slow down my teaching
depending on how severe their needs are. In my future classroom I plan on making sure that
everyone feels welcome and included no matter what their disabilities are. Since I am
interested in first graders or kindergarteners I would definitely keep social interactions open.
I would have my classroom set up with table groups. However, for those who cant focus
well I will have them with students that have great behavior and near my desk. That will
allow me to keep an eye out on them without it being too obvious. I would not have too much
stuff hanging from my classroom because sometimes that is too distracting for students with
exceptional needs. If my classroom has a student with exceptional needs I would definitely
keep sensory objects in my classroom in order to help them focus or stay seated.
I have learned a lot about the benefits and drawbacks I will encounter serving students
with exceptional needs in your general education classroom. In my opinion one of the biggest
benefits I will encounter teaching a student with exceptional needs would definitely be the
rewarding feeling I receive, Students with exceptional needs need more attention and take
longer to fully understand concepts sometimes. However, watching a student that went
through a long and tough school year and see they finally get a concept if a rewarding
feeling. Just like another student that finally have the light coming on feeling. One of the
major drawbacks is the stress that comes with it. Depending on the students disability
severity. As a general education teacher I would definitely need some additional support with
a student with exceptional needs in my classroom.