CEC Standard 7
Beginning special education professionals collaborate with families, other educators, related service providers, individuals with exceptionalities, and personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of individuals with exceptionalities across a range of learning experiences.
Reflection of my knowledge related to the standard:
I understand that it is important to collaborate with many people in order to assure that the needs of students with learning disabilities are being addressed. Collaboration is an essential part of education because educators, families, and outside agencies work together to help meet all of the individual needs for students. Communicating with families is necessary to stay up to date about the student’s progress, needs and home life. Teachers and parents can create a strong line of communication to ensure that all areas of the student’s needs are being met. Collaboration and communication between teachers is also a vital part of the child’s education. Teachers such as special educators, general education teachers, and specialists should communicate often about the student’s needs, wants, interests, strengths and weaknesses and decide what future instructional decision should be made. By doing this, the teachers are ensuring that student’s needs are meet throughout various settings.
Throughout my experiences in the program I have had the opportunity to collaborate with teachers, classroom assistants, and my classmates. I have seen how different everyone’s backgrounds and experiences are and how these can positively influence and strengthen instruction. In one of my courses we taught a lesson using various co-teaching models. Our group worked together sharing our prior knowledge and learning from one another as we created our lessons. We each had a role that we were responsible for when teaching the lesson.
During my intense field experience, I had several occasions to practice collaborating with my peers, professors, and coaching teachers. During this experience, I saw first-hand how teachers, therapist, school staff, and parents work hand in hand to create a balanced and well-rounded program for students. Collaborating is very important, because each member of the team is able to bring their specialty to the table, which in turn helps the students overall learning in multiple settings. For example, I don't understand all of the ins and out of speech therapy, just like the speech therapist may not understand the ins and outs of the law the way I do.
Similarly, I had the opportunity to attend several IEP meetings. It is essential for the IEP team to collaborate about the student’s needs and progress so informed and accurate decisions can be made as a group. Being honest and having an open line of communication among staff and parents is necessary to ensure a quality education. When we work together we are able to create a comprehensive program for our student that meets their needs.
Artifact(s) that Demonstrates my Knowledge Related to the Standard:
P-2
A newsletter is a great way to communicate with Parents about what’s going on in the classroom. The following is an example of one used in a Wayne Township preschool class.
A newsletter is a great way to communicate with Parents about what’s going on in the classroom. The following is an example of one used in a Wayne Township preschool class.
preschool_newsletter.pub | |
File Size: | 2540 kb |
File Type: | pub |
3-6
The following is a letter that I wrote to the parents of a student that I tutored in reading for eight weeks. My goal for this letter was to describe the work that I had did with their child and the success that the student accomplished as a result.
The following is a letter that I wrote to the parents of a student that I tutored in reading for eight weeks. My goal for this letter was to describe the work that I had did with their child and the success that the student accomplished as a result.
tutor_binder--_parent_letter.docx | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
File Type: | docx |
7-12
School social workers play a unique role in the schools as they work with school staff, students, families, and community agencies in removing barriers to education. The following document summaries my interview with the school social worker at George Washington Community School. In this report, we discuss how her role strengthens the home/school/community partnership and address barriers to student learning.
School social workers play a unique role in the schools as they work with school staff, students, families, and community agencies in removing barriers to education. The following document summaries my interview with the school social worker at George Washington Community School. In this report, we discuss how her role strengthens the home/school/community partnership and address barriers to student learning.
collaboration_issues--_social_worker.docx | |
File Size: | 20 kb |
File Type: | docx |