Running Head: WEEK FOUR REPLIES 1

Week Four Discussion Replies

SPED 854: Family and Interprofessional Collaboration in Special Education

University of Kansas

Dr. Irma Brasseur-Hock & Naheed Abdulrahim

Brent Seager

June 5, 2017
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Week Four Discussion Replies

Rose Strousse
Rose,
I think that your selection of brainwriting was great, as I also selected this term from the

readings and materials this week. I found brainwriting to be a great resource for groups that have

members who find difficulty expressing their ideas or who are prone to arguments and

disagreements. It is also great process for large groups of people, as not every person may have

an opportunity to express their ideas or opinions, and this allows them to participate in the

collaboration process. I also like the fact that in brainwriting, that new ideas can be generated

based upon the ideas presented earlier by other members. Using the brainwriting process can be

time consuming, but also produces results that can be very beneficial and worth the amount of

time spent brainwriting. I can think of several situations this school year when addressing

student concerns in which the brainwriting process would have allowed the team to reach a

decision based on new and creative ideas. The image you chose does a great job representing

and highlighting the brainwriting process and how it is interconnected.

I also thought that your choice of the blurring of special education to be good as well, as

this was one of the main topics discussed this week. During this past school year, I observed

how my old-school district was beginning the process of blurring special education, as the

district began implementing several processes and programs into the general education

curriculum that were already in place in the special education curriculum. One such process was

the use of career cruising to address transition needs and goals, something that is already in use

by the special education team. Another process that special education teachers was the teaching

of how to access post-secondary information on colleges and technical careers, which is also

addressed in the career cruising modules that will be implemented district wide next school year.

While I understand the initiative to begin blurring special education and related services by many

school districts, I also believe that there are groups of students that are still in need of the
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specialized supports and services provided by special education. Therefore, I believe that special

education should continue to remain in effect for students that need the specialized supports and

services. I also liked the image that you chose for the blurring of special education, as I believe

that it ties in nicely with the goals and reasons why the blurring of special education and related

services is underway.
Brent
Allie Davis
Allie,
Reactive and proactive problem solving was one of several concepts in the readings and

weekly materials that caught my eye as well. I also chose reactive and proactive problem

solving for my Padlet presentation as well, because proactive and reactive problem solving are

relevant terms that describe any given teams reaction to supporting struggling students in the

classroom. While working as a para educator with students that had severe behavioral concerns,

most of the problem solving by the team was reactive; and this was made me wonder what could

be done to be more proactive. I once posed this question during a team meeting about a

particularly challenge student, about why not be proactive instead of reactive? The team took

my advice and we developed a plan of action for the student, and it seemed to have positive

impact on the student, and this has made me an advocate of proactive problem solving. While I

understand that not every issue or concern can be resolved using proactive problem solving, I

believe that having a plan in place and being prepared to address concerns through reactive

problem solving is the best solution for teams working with struggling or challenging students.
I also like your selection of identifying the problem, as this allows the team to determine

potential problems and narrow these down into one specific problem. This also saves the team

time, as they are all working to address one problem instead of multiple problems. To narrow

down multiple problems and concerns can be a daunting task, but it is necessary to ensure that

the team can be the most effective to problem solve a specific concern or issue. The issue of

identifying the problem and narrowing it down was an issue that I faced this past school year; as
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I had a student with many concerns and issues that needed to be addressed. During staffing and

planning meetings, I urged the team to work together to identify a common issue that could be

addressed right now and we could meet later to address other concerns and issues. The team was

concerned about student grades, work completion, interactions with others, and time

management; I suggested that we address self-regulation, which covered all issues and concerns

of the team. This proved to be beneficial, as the team could problem solve more effectively

based on one problem instead of multiple problems and concerns.

Brent
Kimberly McAteer
Kimberly,
I think that your selection of problem solving skills was one of the most essential

elements contained within the readings this week. This is a process like the one that I had my

students using in my learning strategies about problem solving in and outside of school. I

believe that problem solving can be beneficial for many problems and challenges faced in a

variety of situations and contexts; and therefore, I see the relevance of using such an in-depth

problem solving process like the one discussed in the readings this week. Teaching students to

implement this style of problem solving is very time consuming, but it is also beneficial, as the

students begin to implement the process and show signs of progress in making better choices in

and outside of school. I highly recommend this method of problem solving for any special

education teacher or general education teacher, as the skills it teaches students are invaluable and

transferrable as well. I also like the video that you chose for problem solving, as it involves the

OCALI modules, a resource that I found to be extremely helpful in working with challenging and

struggling students.
The selection of the three most common types of problems was something that I found to

be an important concept in the readings. As an educator, we face challenges and problems every

day that are representative of the three common types of problems: ill-defined, partially defined,

and well-defined. We are also faced with the task of resolving or addressing these three types of
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problems without the benefit of knowing the full extent of the problem; which is why it is

important to define and narrow the problem or concern, as this will create a solution that will

correctly address the problem or concern. During my first year of teaching, I was often faced

with the challenge of implementing or problem solving when a problem or issue was ill-defined

or partially defined; and working with others to narrow and fully define the problem allowed me

to design and implement the best possible solution. Therefore, I believe that it is imperative that

educators do not attempt to problem solve when a problem or concern is ill-defined or partially

defined, as it could create more problems and concerns than it resolves. I also liked your

selection of other videos in your Padlet, as these videos connect with other topics and important

terms found in the readings and materials this week.

Brent