Case 1

Amanda Case
Professor Farrier
EDSP 587 & 588 A & B
November 11th, 2015
Journal #9
This week has been very productive; I have improved on my classroom
management strategies, presented present levels of performance (PLP) in an
annual Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting, and learned how to
clearly communicate my needs towards success to my master teacher.
Last week I took over the classroom. I am now teaching all subjects,
with the support of my master teacher. At first, I tried to use her same
classroom management strategies, because I believed that would benefit the
students more than if I were to bring in my own system. I quickly learned
that I was wrong; I had failed at modeling my master teachers same
strategies. On Friday, I brought in my own classroom management and the
students have had a very positive response to the new system. I explained
to students that when I could down from five they needed to give me their
full attention and silence by the time I reached number one. If all students
complied, they earned one point, if they did not because they kept talking, I
earned a point. I mark these points on the whiteboard, which serves as an
excellent visual. When students receive fifteen tale points, they earn a
whole class DoJo point, when I receive five points, students all lose one DoJo
point. Since implementing this strategy, students have been motivated by

Case 2
the rewards they can earn and are more attentive and willing to participate
during class.
On Tuesday I was able to present a students, PLPs in an IEP meeting.
This semester I have been unable to attend many of the IEP meetings. It has
been a challenge to attend the meetings because they are mostly on
Thursdays, when I am attending EDSP 577, or in some situations, I was ready
to attend the meeting but the parents had reschedule on the day of the IEP
meeting. This particulars students IEP meeting was supposed to take place
two weeks ago. Everyone was ready, I was ready to lead the PLP discussion,
and after an hour of waiting for the parents we called to reschedule the
meeting with his mom. This student and his mom moved to California from
Mexico three years ago. The students mom speaks very little English and
had a translator present in the IEP meeting.
I am currently working on writing an IEP for another student, and I will
be presenting it next Thursday. The data system Garden Grove Unified
School District uses for IEPs is called SEIS, Special Education Information
System. The program simplifies and condenses tasks of the IEP, and its
primary easy to use. The challenge I am faced with is that I am writing an
IEP for a student that will last a whole year, and I am leaving this job site in
less than a month. For this task, I really need to collaborate with my master
teacher because she will be the one legally responsible for carrying out the
goals of the students updated IEP. I am learning about how to connect

Case 3
baseline data, with goals, and how to create benchmark points for each
annual goal. I am also learning about the importance of a students present
level of performance. I plan to collaborate with my master teacher after
updating the goals, to get her feedback.
I believe I have demonstrated the Competency of Historical and Legal
Foundations
this week. The competency explains, Candidate demonstrates ability to
communicate orally or in writing or through artifacts, the historical and legal
foundations of special education that apply to their site at a high level;
practice partially aligns with state/district, legal, and ethical mandates. Also
aligns to their personal philosophy.
Competency #1 of this states that I must describe the historical, legal,
social, political, and economic underpinnings for the educational practices
evidenced at the field site. This week as I have presented a students
present levels of performance and explained them in detail to a parent in a
way that she would be able to understand and make educated decisions, I
feel that I have met this competency.
Competency #3 states that I must implement educational practices
reflective of a clearly articulated and comprehensive personal philosophy of
education. I believe that I have met this competency because at the IEP
meeting this week, I was able to communicate the students PLPs and explain
them in my own way, using my personal philosophy of education. I consider

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myself to be a positive and personable person. I believe IEP meetings should
not be stressful, nor intimidating, and that the parent should feel open to
expressing their needs as well as their childs needs without feeling any type
of judgement. During the IEP, I made this very clear to the students mom,
and I saw her juxtaposition change from tense, to becoming comfortable with
me and able to easily express concerns. This directed the meeting in a
positive way and lead to a successful meeting.
This week I plan on completing my CPR and First Aid certification, along
with working towards completing my portfolio.