Teacher Interview Summary
I had the pleasure of interviewing Mrs. Elisabeth Brantley who is the Special Education Lead Teacher at Yorktown Elementary School, Yorktown, VA. She has 23 years teaching experience in the field of Special Education. Mrs. Brantley is sincere and I would describe her as a winning, warrior/advocate when it comes to meeting the needs of the students she serves. It is obvious that she implements many of the strategies used in our text. When teaching, it is important to have a strong educational team when searching for methods to ensure student success. Mrs. Brantley knows her students well, and as stated by Ackerman (2011), "a teacher who gets to know his or her students will recognize where assistance can be found and will be creative in utilizing the help of others. Though challenging, positive, intentional, effective, and explicit instruction is modeled regularly so student achievement is the result.
Interview Questions
1. What is your approach to classroom management?
"I believe it is important to create an environment that fosters learning. Kids learn when they can focus their energy and behaviors on their lessons. It is my responsibility to create that environment and to provide structure, routines and clear expectations. When students believe they are valued and important, and have an environment that encourages productive, positive behavior, there are few behavior problems. '
2. Under what circumstances would you refer a student
Since I have been a Para educator working with special education students for the past three years, many of my chosen dispositions were already in place. Now that I am in my second eight weeks of student teaching I still hold true to the dispositions that I choose in the beginning. The only disposition that I had no knowledge of was number 9-Utilizes standards and curriculum guides to create learning goals. This disposition is one that I learned once I was placed in the classroom with my co-op teacher. There was a variety of exceptionalities in my special education classroom and along with those exceptionalities came different learning skills. Those exceptionalities encompass the disposition that students learn in many different ways. This also hold true in the general classroom. There are visual learners as well as kinesthetic learners. This is why teachers must engage their students in many different ways. In my lessons I use a variety of learning techniques such as journals for those students who like to express themselves through writing, and cooperative learning exercises such as concept mapping. Concept mapping helps students connect terms in the material with the theme in that part of the lesson. Videos are also shown to launch a lesson. This helps the
I believe that each child is unique individual who needs a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. It is my desire as an educator to help students meet their fullest potential in these areas by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invite a sharing of ideas. There are three elements that I believe are conducive to establishing such an environment namely, the teacher acting guide, allowing the child’s natural curiosity to direct his/her learning, promoting respect for all the things and all the people.
By implementing this idea in Area Two schools to support special education students, we will create a more data driven approach to increasing student achievement. By following this idea the team will also do a better job of implementing professional development and mentorships that greatly increase teacher effectiveness. The idea will also increase understanding of the diversity of the schools and promote community involvement by establishing more open communication with the parents and the community to support their students’ needs. The leadership teams will work together to set goals and objectives to support achievement in all grade levels. They will develop a framework for good communication between teachers and leaders so there is
“One of the essential roles of special education teachers is coteaching and working with other professionals, as well as communicating with family members and between special education teachers and other school-related professionals(Vaughn & Bos, 2015, p. 114)”. With the importance of a least restrictive environment special education and general education teachers are working together in a classroom with varying levels and abilities of learners. It is vitally important to have an effective relationship between the two teachers while developing and implementing lesson plans for learners with special needs. The physical space and dynamics of the classroom should fit the needs of the students and the established procedures should ensure a highly functional environment. Importantly, educators need to communicate to families “encouragement about what they can do at home and about an effective plan for providing instructional supports for their child(Vaughn & Bos, 2015, p. 114)”.
Teaching students with exceptional abilities requires funding, training and planning. Being in a regular classroom with children from various cultures, ethnic backgrounds and intellectual ability help students learn how to work together toward a common goal: reduce discrimination and stereotyping people with physical and mental limitations. Instructional strategies that break the work down so everyone learns better can improve education as well as reduce cost. This is achieved by including special education students in environments that will allow them to develop normal social interactions as well as receive specific attention to their learning needs. ("What is Special Education”)
As we grow in education, it always seems as in there is someone that is left behind. Educators need to be able to reach out as many students as possible, but some may argue that it does not feel this way. Often, students with special education needs are considered to be too difficult to teach, or simple just a “lost cause.” The way we interact and care for all students not only shows in each student, but it shows in the impact it has on the community as a whole.
In the profession of a special education teacher, a person commits to helping children achieve their best and to help “students overcome their obstacles” while finding a way that the child can effectively learn (Hollingsworth). My mom’s career as special education teacher for twenty-two years, allows me insight and experience into the tougher aspects of this career, but also the rewards to the job. My mom helps me understand that a special education teacher guides a child to expand their strengths, develop strategies to overcome weakness, and to make best use of all available resources. Through helping her, and learning from her experiences, she taught me that a career in special education can not only challenge me, but may also become a
I have had the opportunity to work with students in both the sub-separate and general education classroom to enhance students learning through their least restrictive environment. The working and teaching experience has allowed me to carry out the dedication that the Special Education program has for the students with disabilities in the current school system. I have been able to help students achieve educational success through providing a safe-learning environment for all students and helping students assessing curriculum and reach their full potential by promoting and supporting students diverse learning
It is my strong belief that each child is entitled to a safe, secure, stimulating and caring learning environment. I always believed that each child is a unique individual with much curiosity and many academic, social and emotional needs. Children need our support in order to mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. As a teacher, one should aim to help students in fulfilling their dreams to become successful and educated individuals. We must provide them with a safe learning environment for their learning to succeed.
“Special education labels don’t define children; Children define themselves” (Dalien, 2015). I am interested in becoming a special education teacher because I have always loved being around children, and I have a soft spot for kids with autism and other disabilities. The first time that I ever thought about working with special needs children was when I was in the fifth grade. My mom worked at my school as a teacher assistant in a first grade classroom, so in the morning I would go to her classroom and wait for the bell to ring. A little boy named Alex who had Cerebral palsy and a spinal problem, came into class early as well. I immediately connected with him, and began going to my mom’s room every morning to play with him before class. It soon became the highlight of my day. Alex could not talk very well and could not walk, so we rolled cars around the floor, traced shapes on to the whiteboard, or sometimes crawled on the floor chasing each other as monsters. I loved seeing how me playing with him made him smile so big and become more outgoing. My dream is to give kids like Alex a reason to smile and help them reach their full potential. In this speech you will learn all about special education teachers, including, but not limited to: What they do, where they typically work, their environment, how much they get paid, benefits the job entails, the education and skills required to become a special education teacher, and information on the job outlook.
The paper will examine and appraise a teaching session that I planned and implemented as a nursing student on a cardiology ward, in the form of a reflection what? So what? Now what? (Bortons, 1970). The aim of the teaching session is to provide up to date and relevant information to enable individuals to make an informed choices on there nutritional intake.
The teacher I interviewed has taught for more than ten years at the same school. She started as a fourth grade teacher but she now works as an interventionist.
The key to any successful school district is the administration. Teachers essentially provide structure, organization, and the background of a child’s future. To educate students with learning disabilities, it is essential that the staff has the training and resources needed for the appropriate people, place, and time (Lazarus) (What is Inclusion, 2001, n.p). It is unrealistic to expect that regular education teachers will always be aware of the latest research or be able to readily adapt the school's
Teaching is a profession that is considered to be a rewarding challenging and complex role. An effective teacher does not simply teach knowledge their students and instead aims to arm students with the knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes that will prepare students for life-long learning. The constructivist theories developed by Piaget and Vygotsky have impacted on the way that teachers teach and this has changed the approach of teaching to place a greater importance on the teacher instead to act as a facilitator of learning in an open, constructivist environment and providing students with the tools to challenge themselves to develop both academically and personally. The education of students within classrooms of today is
An effective teacher of students with disabilities is one that actively utilizes the available resources to positively influence students’ educations. This includes anyone that may be on the IEP team or other school professionals that could be of assistance at that time. The most common person