Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

Is LRE the best solution for ALL children? Many people say yes, it is the best solution but I disagree. I agree that many great accomplishments have been made in education for children with disabilities. I also agree that children who have a disability can receive many benefits by being placed in the mainstream classroom; they connect with children their age, gain positive social benefits and learn to be independent as much as possible. However, what I do not agree with is that LRE is the best solution for all children. If a student is placed in the mainstream classroom, even with sufficient aid, and is still unable to communicate effectively with his or her peers or teachers the child is not being helped in this situation. I believe that the LRE needs to be decided on case by case and not just a general statement that; the least restrictive environment is the mainstream classroom because sometimes the LRE for a child with a disability might not be the mainstream classroom. I don't know if I'm getting my point across very well here but I'll try and sum it up; the least restrictive environment is a great idea and has and will provide many great benefits to children with disabilities but we also need to look at the negative benefits that it may place on other children with disabilities and in those cases the least restrictive environment is not the main classroom.

What makes for good teaching?

I think good teaching starts with the teachers. Teachers need to have a sincere love and drive for what they are doing. It then goes to the curriculum and school systems. There needs to be a curriculum that incudes all children and insures the maximum amount of learning.

Why do we teach?

Well, we know it's not for the money. I think teachers have a deep passion and commitment to see children grow, mature and succeed. Teachers face problems, dilemmas and challenges everyday in teaching and I think teachers get some personal satisfaction overcoming these obsticles.

Difference between school "work" and student "learning"

Work is the process to achieve learning , which is the main goal. The difference between school work and learning is that work allows students to think and problem solve on their own. Student learning is going to take place both in and out of the classroom. So really, their may not be much of a difference more than a correlation.