Cory Neil

Modifications and Adaptations

EDUC 450
October 31, 2014
The makeup of the student population of my English 11/Modern America class is, to say the least,
quite diverse in regards to ability levels, motivation, engagement, and general English language
proficiency. The students run the gambit from those who could and likely should have enrolled in the AP
English class but opted not to due to an already demanding schedule, to those for whom English class has
been a genuine struggle. Additionally, there are those who seem to sincerely enjoy English class and
work hard and apply themselves as well as students who begrudgingly accept the fact that they must take
the course as part of their graduation requirements and, despite being more than capable of understanding
the material and being highly successful in the class, for one reason or another lack the motivation to do
so and regularly fail to complete and turn in assignments. Although there are three students in the class
with IEPs, the modifications and accommodations stipulated in their files are actually quite minimal.
A few modifications/accommodations that have been made from the very onset of the year are
things such as presenting instructions and directions in various forms, allowing extra time to complete
assignments, and preferential seating. In one particular case preferential seating is a stipulation required
by a students IEP where she must sit at the front of the room near the teacher in order to have access to
regular check-ins and repeat or clarified instruction. In other cases, it is to separate students who find
particular classmates to be a distraction or interference with their ability to focus and learn. Other
protocols stated in students IEPs require that they are allotted extra time to complete assignments,
perhaps as much as a day or two, and are allowed extended time for tests and quizzes and are permitted to
complete these in the learning center away from the more stressful environment of the classroom. Some
of the students IEPs dictate that they be given verbal instruction on assignments or tasks which is easily
integrated into my teaching as I always deliver directions orally in addition to the written instruction
included on the assignment sheet or presented on the board. Besides fulfilling the students IEP
requirements, this allows me to be certain that the entire class understands what they are to be doing as it
allows me to ask for and address any questions and clarify any confusion that may exist this is
especially important due to the fact that many students in the class are not particularly forthcoming in
voicing their concerns or confusions and it is my experience that if one student finds a set of instructions
or a piece of information to be confusing or unclear there are likely several more who do as well but are
reluctant to make it known.
One critical difference amongst students in the class that I have been able to observe is the
varying degree of vocalization and outspokenness. Much of the class is very talkative and outgoing
they are not shy nor do they fear being in the spotlight and making a mistake; yet there is a significant
portion of the class that is highly introverted and rarely speaks during discussion and hardly ever

volunteers to come up to the board during their grammar lessons. Instead of looking at this as a
hindrance, I attempt to use this dichotomy to my and the students advantage. While engaged in activities
I like to allow the students to work in pairs or small groups as much as possible (there is one student who
much prefers to work on his own and I have no problem honoring this); larger groups, however, I have
come to realize often lead to a lack of focus on the task at hand. By allowing the quieter students to work
with a partner, when it comes time to discuss their findings in a reading, for example, it is very likely that
at least one of the pair or one member of the group will be willing to contribute to the discussion and even
though I may not hear directly from an individual, I will hear their contributions to the group through the
other student. To be sure all students are actively contributing I routinely make my way from group to
group to check in and make sure everyone is adding to the learning, prompting as may be needed. As
well, it is abundantly clear that there are some very close groups of friends in the class and by allowing
them to work together, while it may take a little more effort to maintain them on the task at hand, they
typically remain focused on the assignment and everyone produces some amount of work that can be
collected for assessment as there is a noticeable increase in student confidence something which I feel
the lack there of, when required to work independently, is a major factor contributing to the lack of work
done and turned in.
When developing a lesson for this particular group of students, despite the drastic variances in
their demonstrated ability levels and their observed engagement and motivation, I set my sights and
expectations of them to a very high standard indeed. Initially, the lesson is developed to push even the
most accomplished students as it would be a grave disservice to them to set the bar lower simply because
they are the minority in the class. For example, in a recent lesson the students were randomly assigned
one of two T.S. Elliot poems to read and briefly (due to both time constraints and variations in student
abilities and comfort levels with complex texts) examine/analyze, which were, in my opinion based on
my experience in the classroom, by far the most complex and advanced works they have been required to
read thus far. Students were instructed that they were to read and analyze the poems as best they could in
the short amount of time available and that the goal was on quality and not necessarily quantity. As well,
we allowed them to conduct their examination in any way they wished that is, they could use any of the
analytical models they had been regularly using in class or they could simply look for and explore any
elements of the poems they found to be particularly telling or interesting (or even confusing) with the sole
stipulation that they look for aspects that they believed pertained specifically to how the poems
functioned as a commentary on or reflection of the poets take on the social climate of the time the work
was written (specifically being pre and post WWI). Some utilized the formats for analysis that they were
familiar and comfortable with, while others underlined the texts and took notes of their own, and still
others simply read and discussed the text at hand. What was truly remarkable about this is that they all,
despite taking many different paths, arrived soundly at the same point which was made evident through
the discussion that immediately followed the reading. By removing the stress associated with performing

a highly specific task and allowing the students agency over their exploration of the poems and the
freedom to conduct their learning in the manner that worked best for them and with which they were most
comfortable, not only did they demonstrate a fuller understanding (especially in relationship to the time
they were allowed to examine the poems) but it was undeniably more authentic. With exceptional levels
of confidence and detail they were able to identify key literary elements in their own terms and
insightfully explain their function in the text. Too, there was a truly remarkable increase in student
engagement and participation those who are typically silent and often little more than physically present
in the class eagerly voiced their findings and were able, upon prompting, to provide textual justification
for their interpretations. It is my experience that if students are permitted to conduct their learning freely,
in the manner that best suits their particular strengths and by which they feel confident and capable of
success, the complexity of the material is a relatively minor issue and may only necessitate a little more
encouragement and personal attention to assure them they are on the right track or a slight nudge in a
better direction ultimately, they will take it upon themselves to determine the specific modifications and
differentiation they need to be successful. Approaching a lesson in this fashion, while empowering the
individual students, also frees me from the immense stress of trying to determine and explicitly provide
exactly what is needed for a class of nearly thirty entirely unique individuals. Although I still draft
lessons with highly specific learning objectives in mind, I craft the activities and construct my inquiry
questions in such a way as to allow for students to capitalize on their individual strengths to get them to
the desired or required end result.
English classes are unique in that I feel, by the very nature of the content and the standards and
objectives of the curriculum, they are highly malleable and modification and differentiation are an
inherent aspect of the material. It is an area of study that has no truly fixed answers, no definite
meanings. And yet oddly enough this seems the greatest obstacle to overcome modifications for the
individual students happen almost naturally as long as you allow the students the freedom of choice
necessary for them to discover their own path and develop their own (albeit guided) understandings.
Instead, I must find ways to help students to operate and learn under this condition to help them to see
and understand that this is not a class that focuses on facts and specifics, but rather on abstract ideas and
skills in critical analysis and justified reasoning. Too often students approach English in the same manner
they do for science and math classes where their feeling of not being an authority on the material is
justifiable the learning is more of an out to in style; but in English classes the learning is more a kind of
self-discovery with a focus on metacognitive thinking. This, I have found, especially amongst many of
the students in my current class, is the area that requires the most effort on my part in regards to
modification I have to find ways to allow them to feel empowered in their studies and consistently
reinforce that the focus in on producing good answers, not the right answers. Largely, this really boils
down to regularly checking in with certain students, rephrasing or asking follow up or clarifying

questions, and simply encouraging them to be confident in their abilities and not to feel stressed or
overwhelmed again, my focus in on quality over quantity, small yet significant progress.
Although most of my and my host teachers modifications are incorporated into the lessons and
assignments on a whole-class level so that, as stated earlier, the students are given the freedom to work in
the manner which best suits their individual learning modes and allows for them to form their own unique
understandings, there are several students who do require slightly more specific accommodations. In
what will follow I will explain in detail how this looks for two particular students who I will refer to as
Student A and Student B.
Student A is a male student who, due to a specific learning issue, is more easily overwhelmed and
confused when he is presented with assignments of an extended nature for example a project that has
several complex parts or when he required to read large portions of a text at a single time. He has
difficulty focusing on and keeping large amounts of information orderly and has demonstrated to benefit
from information being presented verbally where it can be further explained during delivery or through
visual representations such as graphic organizers. To account for his particular needs, the lengths of his
reading assignments are shortened in one of two ways either simply by requiring fewer pages to be read
at a time, or when it is possible (such as with excerpts or Xeroxed copies of a text) the text is distributed
to him in shortened segments. In the lesson I recently delivered, I adapted for this by instructing the
students that they were simply to get as far as they could in the reading in the time available and I stressed
that although they had either the whole of one poem or the entire first section of another, they were in no
way intended to analyze the entire text that it was not a realistic expectation. Too, they were allowed to
work with partners or in a small group which also alleviated the demands on him to complete the activity
individually. Similarly, when recently reading the short story The Yellow Wallpaper, my host teacher
divided the text into sections and groups of students were given the different parts of the text to read and
analyze. This actually had multiple positive outcomes without the whole text, the analysis was much
more demanding of the students; Student A was not overwhelmed by the scope of the assignment; and
perhaps most importantly, he was not singled out by the teacher to the rest of the class as having a
different and perhaps less demanding assignment they were all held to the same expectations. To
accommodate for his (as well as a few other students) benefit from visual aids, key information is always
written on the board in a graphic-style representation for our lesson we did so in the form of a Venn
diagram. Too, instruction is delivered both in writing and verbally where it is stated in a variety of ways
to account for concerns of clarity. For larger assignments such as essays, they are broken down into
distinct stages which are required in intervals such as providing a thesis statement, draft an outline or
graphic of your idea, and finally to submit the final paper; for all the assignments and their parts he is
given a slightly extended amount of time to complete them. All things considered, much of the
modifications and adaptations made for this student, although they make a world of difference for him,
are really fairly minor as far as demand on the teacher and are completely reasonable; in fact, I believe

that by integrating much of what is done for this single student into the instruction for the class as a
whole, many of the other students as well benefit immensely.
Student B is quite a different situation all together. A male student as well, he does not have an
IEP or any other mandated modifications, yet it is clear that a measure of individualized attention is most
certainly needed to keep him engaged and to get him to produce work by which his progress may be
assessed. Largely, Student B appears to be disengaged from the material and shows a genuine lack of
motivation to complete assignments and participate in class as a result. He consistently spends the bulk
of the class period with his head down or otherwise is not attentive to the lesson. He also regularly fails
to complete and turn in assignments and as a result his grade for the class is dangerously low at this point
in the semester. It is my opinion that he does not feel that he is a part of the class, that he finds the
lessons and the material in general to be difficult to relate to, and as a result he does not engage himself
voluntarily. To adapt to this situation, my host teacher and myself make it a point to call on him and ask
for his opinion and input as frequently as possible and when it appears it will be well received and he
wants to be engaged. This is a tricky situation and must be handled delicately as it could have the adverse
effect and further distance him; however, I have found that it most frequently results positively. Too, I
make the effort to try to make the material relatable to his personal interests as much as possible
comparing the theme or other aspects of a text to a television program or film he may enjoy, or to music
or some other outside personal interest. This requires a little effort as he does not make most of his
interests explicitly obvious, but I enjoy and feel he benefits from the trial and error aspect to this approach
as he is able to see connections I am able to make in the effort to find that one that rings true to him. On
the issue of his failure to complete assignments, particularly written work such as essays, a more drastic
and undesirable solution has been put into play he (in addition to a few other students who repeatedly
do not complete written assignments) is given an alternative writing assignment. This was actually the
case with a recent essay assignment the class was given. Initially, he was given the same assignment as
the rest of the class, but several days following the due date, when no work had been submitted and it
became clear that he was simply blowing off the assignment, he was given a highly modified and
shortened writing assignment to be completed in class. In place of the essay, he was prompted to provide
extended responses to a set of three questions essentially covering what happened and why, what was the
outcome, and what do you think about this? Unfortunately he is a student who simply will not do work
on his own accord while he regularly completes in-class assignments, it appears that anything that
requires him to do work outside the classroom is not going to get done. I am not certain if there is a
deeper or more pressing issue at play here, such as a situation at home that actively prevents him from
doing the work, or if it is merely an issue of motivation; but the one constant is that he does not have any
written work submitted by which his progress and needs may be appropriately assessed. In order to
simply have something by which to gauge his progress, significantly modifying the assignment became a
necessity. While I appreciate the teachers willingness to do whatever it takes to get some measurable

representation of his learning, I believe a better solution would be to have allowed him to complete an
alternative and not necessarily less demanding assignment such as allowing him to respond to the
prompt via another mode of expression or even have him respond orally and transform it from an essay to
a dialogue. Or perhaps even, knowing that he is not going to do the work outside of class, allowing him
time in school to work on the essay may have been a better option. This is an extreme example indeed,
and most of the time all that is really required is a sincere display of interest and investment in him and he
will usually rise to meet the teachers expectations. If approached correctly and planned for in advance,
this is not an especially demanding accommodation to make and the results more than justify the extended
effort.
I do not condone lowering the bar, so to speak, when it comes to expectations of my students I
view it as a very defeatist attitude; however, I am committed to each student succeeding and I realize that
to allow them the avenues they need to do so and demonstrate their learning, sometimes drastic and less
than optimal approaches must be permitted to be sufficient. I find it best to plan for a very wide range of
both known and anticipated or expected modifications to be necessary in any given lesson or assignment
and to attempt to give the students the freedom to choose their own best path to the targeted objective and
to make myself available at all times to address any concerns or issues they may be having. I believe in
giving students authority over their learning and to do so in the manner that works best for them while
maintaining the same high level of performance I expect from every student simply their best and most
thoughtful effort. I think is is both unrealistic and entirely unfair for me, as a teacher, to expect anything
more from my students. Without question I want each of my students to succeed and I am more than
willing to make any and all reasonable accommodations to ensure that happens, but what I will not do is
dumb-down my lessons or lower my expectations or give my students an assignment that is any less
demanding of their own personal excellence than it is of my more capable students. Approached
thoughtfully and carefully and planned in advance in a fashion that incorporates them into the essence of
a lesson or assignment, modifications and accommodations can serve to be a great asset to a teacher rather
than a burden using students needs to your advantage is one of the greatest tactics a teacher can
implement in the classroom.