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.