Special Education Practices and Procedures (EDU-6730)

            I recently completed the graduate class Special Education Practices and Procedures.  The guiding question for this class was: How can special education support the inclusion of students with disabilities?  I did not actually attend this class because it was held during school hours and this did make the class a little more challenging. 

However, for this class I spent time working within my own school as a special education graduate student.  I spent time working with students within first grade and students outside of my grade level.  I performed assessments, one on one instruction, small group instruction, and supported students within the general classroom setting.  I also helped teachers with accommodations and modifications for their classrooms.  I worked with a special educator in my school, and she helped to guide me and answer any questions that came up.  In addition to these tasks, I participated in my school’s PBIS team and worked with different behavior management tools.

A lot of the tasks I performed were already things I had completed within my job as a first grade teacher.  However, I did enjoy working with students outside of my grade level and seeing what other accommodations and modifications were being used in other classrooms.

Another aspect of this class was learning about Individualized Education Plans.  I have read many IEPs as a teacher, but this was the first time I had created my own.  None of the students on my supervising teacher’s caseload were up for re-evaluation, so I got to choose which student I wanted to write an IEP for.  I chose a student I had in my first grade class, but now she is currently in third grade.  Through this class, I had the opportunity to work with her again.  I used her previous IEP, the observations I completed, and evaluations I had done with her.  Using all of this information, I created my own IEP.  My special educator offered guidance, and I found it to be a very beneficial learning experience.

As a graduate student in this class, I was required to complete a literature review each week.  The professor assigned the topic of the literature review, but we were able to choose the articles we wanted to use.  This allowed me to look at the area of special education from different viewpoints.  It also gave me ideas to use with my own students, and got me thinking about obstacles I might face as a special educator.

Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent working within special education at my own school.  I do feel like I missed out because I was not able to attend the actual classes.  These would have been helpful when designing my own IEP and for learning other important details about being a special educator. 

Language, Culture, and Education (EDU-5039)

           This semester I have been participating in the graduate class Language, Culture, and Education at Johnson State College.  The guiding question for this class was: how does language make us who we are?
         This class has showed me that our language does affect who we are.  Children who struggle with communication disorders have different life experiences than they would if they did not have those struggles.  These struggles and experiences help to mold who they are.  This is also true for children who are raised speaking more than language.  Their lives are enriched by this experience.  They may have access to different experiences because of their language abilities.  Your language is a part of your culture, so it has an impact on the person that you are.
         A requirement for this class was to research a specific language difficulty and apply this knowledge in three different ways.  I chose to research stuttering.  It was a topic I had not had a lot of exposure to.  The first way we applied our new knowledge was by writing a literature review.  This was a great way for me to really dive into the topic, and learn about the topic from different viewpoints.  We then took our literature review and molded it into a topic study.  This gave me the opportunity to research different ways to help students who may stutter within my classroom.  Lastly, we took all the information we had learned and created a resource guide using technology.  I chose to use Google Slides to present my information.  I enjoyed this project the most out of all the tasks we were assigned this semester.  I enjoyed using technology to create a resource that could be used by my own colleagues.  It also helped to solidify the information I had been learning about all semester.
         Another requirement of this class was to spend time observing language within a certain setting.  I chose to observe the language within my own school.  As teachers we spend so much time talking, but we don’t always stop and really think about the language that is being used in our classroom.  Through completing this project, I was able to see ways communication was being created and blocked throughout my whole school.  I learned this by writing down the conversations I heard, and then sorting and coding all of the conversations I had recorded. I learned that ability, topic fixations, and adult interference could block student communication.  I also learned that peer support and adult scaffolding are the most common way that communication is created.  Overall, I enjoyed finding the time to really listen to my students communicate. 
         This class really pushed me to think about how difficult it is for some students to communicate their thoughts and feelings and how frustrating this can be.  School is a place where communication is constantly requested of you.  Students are asked to communicate through listening, speaking, and writing.  It is an exhausting world for some children to exist in. 
         Language, Culture, and Education was a beneficial learning experience for me.   I was able to learn about ELL students, language development, and language difficulties.  It gave me an opportunity to think about speech and language, and what a complicated process it can be. 

Evaluating Characteristics of Diverse Learners (EDU-6330)

I recently completed the graduate class Evaluating Characteristics of Diverse Learners.  The guiding question for this class is: how can evaluating academic characteristics promote success in school?

As an educator, assessments are a huge piece of my teaching process.  I am constantly assessing students both formally and informally.  They inform my teaching by helping me get to know my students better.  I am able to see what my students understand and what we need to spend more time studying.  Assessments also give me information to share with my coworkers and with parents.  It is critical to have proof when speaking to parents about their child’s strengths and weaknesses.

A requirement of this class was to acquire strategies for developing individualized and measurable goals and objectives.  I found this activity to be beneficial as a future special educator and as a current first grade teacher.  I read many IEPs every year, and it gave me insight into the IEP process by having to create my own SMART goals and objectives.  As a future special educator, paperwork is a huge part of the job description.  It was helpful to start learning about writing IEPs in a small and manageable manner.

We were also required to learn the practices and procedures associated with the WJ-IV.  We were able to administer the WJ-IV to a peer within the class and actually take the test ourselves.  I found it valuable to experience both sides of the testing experience.  It helped me to become more familiar with the assessment and the experience helped me to identify with what my students might feel when they are asked to take the WJ-IV.  As an educator, it helped me to better understand the results of the WJ-IV when the students from my classroom are being evaluated.

It is clear the there is a symbiotic relationship between evaluation and teaching strategies.  Evaluations and assessments help educators to choose strategies that will best help specific students.  Also, knowing specific strategies that help certain students can give educators information that will be helpful when choosing the appropriate assessments for a student.  For example, if a student has high oral comprehension and high verbal skills but lower reading skills, a teacher may want to assess this student using an interview process.

Evaluating Characteristics of Diverse Learners was a great learning experience for me.  The class reaffirmed my belief in the importance of assessments in the classroom.  I also received new learning about how to write IEP goals and objectives and how to administer the WJ-IV.

Critical and Cultural Perspectives of Education (EDU-6555)

      Since January I have been a student in the class Critical and Cultural Perspectives in Education.  As a student in this class, I have participated in discussions, read many articles, written papers, completed observations and interviews, and created a tutorial for my peers.  All of these activities have forced me to look closely at education, government, and our society.  The course focused on the question: what is the role of education in a democratic society?
         Within this class, I participated in a class book discussion.  The book I was assigned to read was titled Ability Profiling and School Failure: One Child’s Struggle to Be Seen as Competent written by Kathleen M. Collins.  This book follows the life of one boy as he struggles to fit in and make progress within public education.  This book really highlighted for me how we are failing many of our students.  Our current education system is just not set up to meet everyone’s needs.  We as educators need to examine the current education system and work together to make a truly inclusive learning environment. Collins (2013) writes, “A disability may be a better display board for the weakness of a culture than it is an account of a real person”(p. 2).  We are so quick to label our students, but we are not working hard enough to meet their many needs.  We are not taking the times as a culture to get to know our students, so that we can really help them succeed.
Through this class I was able to spend time observing and interviewing a social service employee.  She works for the Howard Center in their Autism Spectrum Program.  While spending time on my inquiry project, I focused on this question: How does the work of the human service professional serve the aims of democracy?  From my research, I came to the conclusion that social service agencies help to keep democracy running in a number of ways.  They help individuals build skills, so that they may be independent and participate within a democratic society.  They also advocates, helping to protect the rights of the individuals they support.  They teach their clients how to advocate for themselves and they also advocate for those who are not able.
         While researching the Howard Center, I saw how many individuals and families their many programs help.  I also know that even with all the Howard Center and other agencies are doing, it is still not enough to conquer the poverty and needs within Vermont and within our country as a whole.  How are children supposed to come to school and learn when they are more concerned about their basic needs being met?  Without a good education and a positive set of skills, people will continue to struggle to live and the circle of poverty will continue.
          This class has made me reflect on the many things that can affect a child’s development and overall life.  The one factor that has the biggest influence is poverty.  Everything seems to come back to poverty.  If parents do not have good jobs then they do not earn enough money.  If a family doesn’t have enough money then children can lack food, positive attention, safety, housing, healthcare, and a good education.  Poverty has a negative impact on a child’s life, and it is a never-ending circle for many families.  However, as country we don’t seem to be doing enough to solve this problem.  Many people in our country spend too much time blaming each other and not enough time looking at themselves and really thinking about what they could do to help our country be more successful.
          As an educator, I think the most important thing I will take away from this class is that there are so many factors and influences in a child’s life.  As a teacher, you can’t be aware of all of them.  However, as educators we must really work to get to know our students are learners and as people.  We should talk to them about their home lives, their dreams, and their worries.  If a child in my class is worried about food or safety, I can’t expect them to be fully available for learning.  I must give them extra support to try and help balance out the insecurities they are feeling in their lives outside of school.