Allison M.

Hawkins SPED 405: Monda-Amaya November 15, 2012 Assignment A: Real World Challenges Challenge One: Inclusive Education In speaking with Mrs. Smith, a special education teacher, regarding the various challenges related to the teaching profession, one of the most problematic areas involved the general education teacher not having any kind of training in incorporating special education students into the general education environment. Most of the general education teachers she has encountered were educated solely on secondary education methods and have not had much, if any, exposure to the complexity of special education methods in todays academic communities. For example, one of Mrs. Smiths students takes an art class in a general education class. Because the art teacher does not know how to modify assignments, this particular student sits in the back and does color by number activities. This is extremely frustrating for Mrs. Smith because while her student is undoubtedly capable of participating in the art activities that the general education students are participating in, the student may need some modifications in order to complete the activity. In this case, the student in special education is completely excluded, rather than included in the general education environment and fails to learn from the teacher or peers. The key players in this situation are the general education teacher, the special education teacher, the special education students, and the individuals responsible for putting together the students IEP. All of these individuals play a key role in the students academic success and can help find a solution to this problem.

Ideal Solution to Inclusive Education Problem The solution to this problem is multi-faceted. First, Mrs. Smith, as the students special education teacher and one who has extensive knowledge of the student, should be more clearly communicating the students abilities and goals to the art teacher. Therefore, the art teacher can modify activities done in the art class accordingly. Indeed, the art teacher may have to describe to Mrs. Smith the kind of activities students will be participating in so Mrs. Smith can help model to the art teacher the kind of modifications needed for the student to succeed. The art teacher is clearly uncomfortable in his/her abilities to accommodate this student and needs to become more acclimated and educated in how to adapt the art curriculum in order for all students to access it. For example, art teacher could communicate with the student on the types of projects he/she would prefer to do and adjust accordingly. Additionally, I feel the IEP team/case manager for the student should be more actively involved in informing all of the students general education teachers on the students long-term goals for the school year. Every single one of the students teachers should be aware of not only the students needs, but also the steps for which these goals should be accomplished. All general education teachers need to be equipped with the knowledge in order to make modifications. On a larger scale, teacher preparation programs need to more readily include classes on how to incorporate special education students in the general education environment. Even if you are trained as a general education teacher, one will undoubtedly encounter students that need special accommodations and will need to know how to approach these issues.

Challenge Two: Collaboration/Co-Teaching Regarding teacher collaboration or co-teaching, Mrs. Smith has not only experienced these kind of challenges herself, but has also witnessed them in observing other classes throughout her career. In many examples Mrs. Smith recalled many teachers that were unable to follow a correct model of co-teaching. In this kind of teaching system, teachers should be sharing responsibilities in the classroom and collaborating daily on planning, classroom management, curriculum, etc. All students in the classroom should recognize both teachers as equal partners in administering lesson content. Mrs. Smith has oftentimes observed teacher paired together in a co-teach environment. However, instead of splitting duties, the one teacher seems to stay in the back and only help those students that need accommodations or have IEPs. In this way, one teacher picks up most of the workload and content delivery, while the other teacher functions more as an aide, working one-on-one with specific students. Furthermore, Mrs. Smith has witnessed that the students generally go to the first teacher with questions and respect that teacher as the central authority figure in the classroom, rather than the teacher functioning as a kind of aide. The two teachers are in no way being equal contributors to the classroom environment, completely defeating the purpose of co-teaching. Co-teachers should be able to work together to deliver instruction and share responsibilities on a daily basis.

Ideal Solution to Collaboration/Co-Teaching Problem If Mrs. Smith observes a classroom environment like this again, she should definitely recommend a re-evaluation of the co-teaching methods. Instead of simply telling the teachers to more equally share instructional delivery, it should be advised that the teacher completely re-outline their habits and scheduling in order to think about their methods in different ways. The teachers should spend more time planning lessons together and in outlining exactly what each will be doing while the class is occurring. Additionally, the teachers need to address how to more adequately include students with IEPs in this general education curriculum and/or how to modify general education assignments in order for all students to participate equally. These students have purposely been included in a general education environment and should, accordingly, have the supports implemented to help each of them succeed. Therefore, these two teachers should be collaborating with these students caseworkers or special education teachers in order to address what specific accommodations should be needed. That way, teachers will be prepared beforehand to troubleshoot issues that may arise in modifying assignments and will be able to spend more time giving equal instruction during class time. Finally, to avoid these collaboration problems altogether, I feel school districts should consistently be incorporating education on proper co-teaching models during service learning and/or professional development days. Continued education on teaching models should in an inherent part of career development for all those in the education field.

Challenge Three: Instructional Planning and Delivery In discussing a challenge related to instructional planning or delivery, Mrs. Smith differed slightly in the examples she gave. In this discussion, she found many more personal challenges rather than challenges related to dealing with a second party. Because of the nature of her position, Mrs. Smith finds it extremely difficult to find the time to adequately plan for each student she has. In her classes, Mrs. Smith cannot just plan one lesson and deliver that same version of the written lesson verbally. All of her students have specific needs that are often extremely different than one another. For example, some of her students can wholeheartedly communicate with his/her teacher or peer, while others are completely non-verbal. Therefore, each lesson has to be individualized for each student, in accordance with that students IEP goals. Additionally, Mrs. Smith has difficulty with bell-to-bell teaching, primarily because of the amount of adults present in the classroom during any given day. Most of her students have paraprofessionals with them; however, these individuals need to be informed of the goals of the lesson before they can help his/her particular student. Oftentimes, the adults need to be trained in specific realms and have to be told about any new changes that may be occurring regarding a students progress. Not all of Mrs. Smiths paraprofessionals help deliver instruction in the same way; therefore, Mrs. Smith feels she loses a large portion of time doing these kinds of activities, rather than planning instruction for each student.

Ideal Solution to Instructional Planning/Delivery I feel this an extremely common and complex challenge to overcome at any point in ones career as an educator. However, Mrs. Smith has only been teaching for a year and a half. I do believe some of these problems regarding lack of time will become clearer as Mrs. Smith gains more experience in her profession and continues to interact with students with a wide variety of disabilities. Although it may not be clear to her now, the more challenges Mrs. Smith encounters now, the more problem solving strategies she will have in the future when confronted with a difficult situation. In conjunction with this, Mrs. Smith will have had more exposure to different kinds of paraprofessionals and can develop a more complete picture of how she would like the paraprofessionals to help deliver instruction in her classroom. I would also suggest planning lessons in week-long chunks in order to anticipate student needs and not be suddenly thrust into a chaotic situation in which she was not prepared for. One possible solution to her problem might be to have weekly meetings with the paraprofessionals as a group. Although I am aware that Mrs. Smith is already crunched for time, these meetings can serve as places to discuss issues that may be occurring with students, to troubleshoot problems, to discuss the week aheads plans, and to dictate how she would like the plans delivered. While much fluctuates on a daily basis, these weekly meetings could serve as a baseline for which teacher and paraprofessionals could consistently meet. Furthermore, this could hopefully reduce stress for Mrs. Smith, as well.