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Interview With A Teacher At Elwood Junior / Senior High School

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After being asked to choose an administrator to interview, I did not have to think twice about whom I would be interested in interviewing to speak on the terms of collaboration. After having Mrs. Kimberly Bernard as a teacher, I was extremely curious to learn about her experiences and opinions on this subject. Mrs. Bernard is an English teacher at Elwood Junior/ Senior High School, which is located in Elwood, Indiana. Additionally, she is the head of the English department, which consists of advocating for the department. Mrs. Bernard teaches an eighth grade English class as well as a sophomore Honors class. She has also taught in Connecticut for two and a half years, Illinois for three years, Ohio for one year, Indiana for five years, …show more content…

Unfortunately, both teachers did not have much time to prepare since this is the first year that a push-in class was incorporated and both teachers found out right before school started. However, they are accommodating with the circumstances by spending one hour each day collaborating ideas, specifically incorporating strategies that Mrs. Bernard has learned at a workshop. She has had a difficult time adjusting because her push-in class has twenty-eight students with various disabilities. Overall, Mrs. Bernard’s goal is to work on creating an equal position for both teachers and to make improvements in order for the co-teaching experience to be as successful as possible. I thought the idea of a push-in class was brilliant because it does not seem appropriate to pull students out of class because it makes it more noticeable to other students. Additionally, it would be difficult to collaborate with another teacher, especially if you had completely different views than the teacher that was placed in your classroom. Overall, the push-in experience gives special education students the opportunity to feel like a regular education student, which I find to be highly important in today’s society.
Next, I asked Mrs. Bernard about the changing structure of schools, including the dynamics between general and special education classrooms. She elaborated on the fact she tries to stay out of politics, but it is difficult since

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