Graduation Speech : Special Education Program

Throughout my life, I feel as though I have had many encounters with special education. Growing up, my grandmothers close friend had a daughter that had down syndrome. She was extremely sweet and loved company. Her parents had six other children who were grown and lived on their own. However, she lived at home with her parents her whole life. In elementary school, I do not remember many encounters with special education students. I do remember some kids being taken out of my class for part of the day, but that was my only experience during that time.

As many know, the IEP is legal binding document that allows the students to be a recipient of special education services. It also specifies different accommodation/modifications, and instructional methods that will be of benefit to the student due to their exceptionality. As the IEP is brought together the IEP team, composed of parents, specialists, general and special education teacher, and sometimes administration are vital in the process because while the parents know the student best, it is those within the walls of the school know the best ways to help the student on their educational journey.

“The IEP, Individualized Education Program, is a document that is developed for each public school child who is eligible for special education” The IEP describes how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more effectively. When developing an IEP the team will consider how their students specific disability affects their learning and come up with goals and objectives that will accommodate those needs and place the student in the least restrictive environment to achieve the goals and

I was welcomed to Southeast Elementary by Mrs. Becca ElsaMiller. The environment as you walked into her special education classroom felt very open. As soon as I walked in I could tell that the students felt accepted in this classroom. I enjoyed the way that the adults were referred to by their first names. I was referred to as Ms. Caroline and that made me feel like I wasn’t as far off from the students. I saw a lot of trust and good connections among Mrs. ElsaMiller and her students.

After a student is identified with a disability, special education is provided. Special education is individulaized to meet the needs the student. It is fundamentally important that the plan is individualized, that is why educators, parents, and professionals develop an IEP for each student. To ensure that the student has a plan that will most benefit them, each IEP has eight components. The IDEA has six principles which are: zero-reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation, appropriate education, least restrictive environment, parent and student participation, and procedural due process.

Brandon is a middle grades student with special needs, who is on occasion placed in a Special Education classroom and program during school hours. He has always struggled in school with in-classroom assignments, but seems to struggle more when being place in a general classroom setting. When asked to do course work, Brandon ignores the teacher on purpose and does what he wants, and think that he can get away with it because of his special needs.

Hello, I am Sadè Stanton, a 2ND grade teacher at M. Agnes Jones Elementary School. Per our conversation, the second grade team will be coming to the King Center on Friday, May 6, 2016 at 10:00am-12:30pm. This will be approximately 80 students, 5 teachers, and 10 parents. If there are any further questions, please feel free to contact me at (404) 748-2261. If you need to contact the school, the number is (404)802-3900. Thank you in advance for what I know will be an amazing experience.

Although creating Individualized Education Plans is time consuming and complex process, IEPs are helpful tools that help educators define the needs of students with disabilities in order to better meet their academic and social

According to Pyle and Wexler (2012), students with disabilities are disproportionally represented in high school graduation rates. Millions of students with individual education plans (IEPs) lack a high school diploma which then in turn affects their ability to secure

When living in America, the chances of one having received some form of general education are high. Schools come in all shapes and sizes to accommodate the needs and preferences of parents and students; they can range between the extremes of religious to liberal arts and private to public education. In E.B. White’s “Education”, he describes his son’s shift from a city private school to a country public school. In contrast, the public education I received before entering college was very different from the experiences of White’s son as a child.

I’ve faced a lot of obstacles in school. But the two major obstacles that seem to always stand out to me was not having teachers who really cared about their students and how each school district has different curriculum. Falling behind and not knowing the curriculum wasn’t a good thing and it led up to some serious consequences for me. In order for me to overcome these obstacles I had to set some goals. Which were attend tutorials and play catch up with my academics.

What a college education means to me? It means pride, determination, and opportunity. The pride I have in knowing that even though I have had many setbacks and faced many challenges that I was able to overcome them and achieve one of my greatest accomplishments working toward a college degree. My determination allows me to wake up every day and even though it is not going to be easy to work, I will make sure I am able to study and complete all my school work. An opportunity, I am in no way ashamed that I have not completed college, but I know in today’s world this limits how far I can make it in the job market. I know that with a degree I will get closer to finding a career that I can be successful at and enjoy doing.

This chapter has got me thinking a lot about gifted and talented programming. I remember starting back at a new public school in 5th grade. There was a select group of students who were considered for special gifted and talented pull-outs from time to time. These students had been selected in elementary school. So when I started school in 5th grade the opportunity to participate was not offered to a new student. I would not have considered myself a gifted and talented student, but I always felt as if I had something to prove because I was friends with several of the these “special” students. I also received equivalent grades as these students. Looking back, though I felt jealous at the time, I now realize I would have overwhelmed myself with the weight of responsibility for being in that programing. I understand parents wanting to have their children be asked to participate in these groups, because selfishly it would give you as a parent a confidence boost. It brings on the “I knew my child was the smartest, they did get their good genes from me,” attitude. I really appreciated how much they focused on the pressure these students face whether internally or externally. As a student I already internally pressured myself to get straight A’s, which I accomplished, because I pushed myself to achieve that goal. I think had I been in the gifted and talents programming I would have imploded upon myself under that kind of pressure. If a parent is considering having their child

As a third grader, my daughter received a dyslexic ruling in 2003. At that time, the majority of programs in my state designed to help dyslexic students were run by private organizations. However, I was seeing an increase in the number of students in my classroom with a dyslexic ruling. As I learned methods to help my daughter learn and accommodate for her deficits in the classroom as well as find her own strengths, I began utilizing the strategies with my classroom students and sharing experiences with other parents and colleagues. Over the past few years, our state department of education has increased screening to identify dyslexic students and implemented in-school programs for addressing this learning disability. Because of my personal interest and research in the area of dyslexia, in 2006 my administration asked me to attend an annual state-wide dyslexic conference. I have done so for the last ten years. Following each conference, I report to my school’s faculty sharing the latest information and methods for addressing the issues of dyslexic students. A few years ago, I was so impressed by one of the breakout sessions at the state conference that I encouraged our district’s curriculum coordinator to purchase the materials presented in the workshop, which demonstrated the frustrations that dyslexic and attention-deficit students experience in the classroom by simulating everyday distractions and other issues which these students face. After our district purchased these

Five years ago, I graduated from High school in Cartagena, Colombia. I almost did not pass my last year of school because my academic grade was not superior, especially in languages which I had to retake. In addition, I was not clear about my future, and it looked very hard to determine what career would be benefit for me. Moreover, my parents worked hard and in many circumstances they limited the basic need for the home or for themselves in order to pay me a high education level. I was in pressure for my family because they were expecting a great career and job for me, and I was not showing a good academic standard. Even more, I was expecting a important and completely change in my life, I was moving to another country, United State of America. Now, I was more concern about my future education. If I could not demonstrate an excellent or academic performance in Spanish, how it could be better in other language. However, my perspective in education seem more optimistic since I was part of Polk State College through the change of my mind and behavior, the support of the Community College, and the programs which offer many benefits to those students who one to overcome.