Lisa Parker Interview

Currently, I am a Personal Care Instructional Aide for a nonverbal Down Syndrome student at West Hempfield Elementary. I work hand and hand with the special education teacher to devise lesson plans to suit the needs of my student. I am responsible for implementing the lesson plans one-on-one with my student in Language Arts, Mathematics, and social skills interactions daily. On a daily basis, I am also responsible for molding and shaping my student's behaviors and prompt when necessary. Working in the learning support room has taught me a variety of ways to incorporate differentiated instruction to suit the needs of all students. It has also shown me the type of teacher I should be, a teacher who adapts content to meet the needs of all learners and the importance of inclusion.

I decided to interview Mrs. Seppa first because I wanted to be able to have a basis for the questions that I would ask Ms. Villalobos, who teaches in a sixth grade special education class. I noticed after reviewing and comparing responses from both teachers how much of a difference there was not only in the grade, but also the teacher. My first question was asking if they always wanted to be in the area of Special Education. I asked this because I knew I did not always see myself as a potential special education

I enjoyed this 20-hour field experience, special education has always been a passion of mine. This gave me the opportunity to see first-hand what my future teaching job could look like. I noticed there was numerous amounts of paper work that must be filled out for each student that is in the special education classroom. There is also a lot of data scores that must be collected and used when determining a student’s IEP. Time management is very important when creating a daily schedule to meet the student’s needs.

For this assignment, I interview a service provider for special education services. The service provider I interviewed, takes part in the educational team, and provide services. The service provider is developmental therapist. I was able to develop a better sense of the importance of inclusion. After interviewing the service provider, and learning her philosophy of inclusion I have was able to better understand the accommodations and modifications for special needs students.

As Ms. Brown and I walked down the stairs back to the classroom she was asking me why I wanted to be a teacher. We arrived at th classroom door and I told her, the reason is because I have struggled in school with ADHD and ADD and I wanted to make sure students get the help they need. We both sat down and started the interview. One answer that Ms. Brown said "I always wanted to help guide children to see their path to success. To me it all starts when the child is little" (personal communication, March 9, 2017). I was blessed to have the chance to talk one with Ms. Brown. She was happy that I choose her to do my shadowing with. When Ms. Brown showed me her lesson plans I was amazed. Know I have a good idea as to what to expect when I start

When I arrived for my interview at Tunica Middle School for the seventh grade math teacher position, I was asked the usual questions about strengths, weakness, and my previous work experience. In turn, asked questions about teacher expectations. The teaching position was open in February. However, I believe it was the perfect opportunity for Mr. Newson, the principal, to divulge and share his vision for the school. He did not. Mr. Newson did not display many of the Envisioner traits in my first year.

I have had to do both numerous times because our school is so diverse. For instance, two students came from Egypt towards the end of the school year and could not speak English. It was hard for me as their teacher to explain to them what I needed

I interviewed several service providers in my school, Stephen Knight Center for Early Education, that included the psychologist, special education teacher and a general education teacher. I interviewed Ms. Iris, the school psychologist, Ms. Kathy, the special education teacher, and Ms. Hilary, a general education teacher. Ms. Iris’ responsibilities include working with students who have social emotional needs. This can include behavior challenges, learning new social skills, managing grief, etc. She works directly with parents and teachers to provide resources regarding the child’s well-being, and ensure good attendance by setting up plans. Ms. Iris works with children in general education, counseling groups, and one-on-one situations, including special education minutes. Ms. Hilary is a general education classroom teacher. She is responsible for the well-being of her students academically, socially, physically and developmentally. Ms. Hilary also advocates for families and students to receive the support that they need to feel successful in their first years of school. Finally, Ms. Kathy is the staffing

The special education teacher interviewed, co-teaches algebra into three class periods. She is able to teach up to 50 students. In her classroom she can teach children with disabilities or up to 25 at-risk students.

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

Carnes I feel as though I have a better understanding of dealing with the school system from the parent’s point of view. I think doing this interview can help me to be more prepared if a child with disabilities is present in my classroom. This is actually the cause of the high point of the interview because Ms. Carnes had a surprised tone when hearing my questions because of the dedication the educational system is putting into preparing the new generation of teachers to be fully aware of any situation we may face with a student with disabilities. I feel a sense of pride knowing I can be knowledgeable in any situation may face with these special cases in the classroom. On the other hand, I was surprised by the amount of patience she has as a parent with a child with cerebral palsy. From her answers in the interview she has to face challenges parents with the average child do nor. I gave me a deep respect to the parents who face these challenges such as making sure their child receives the proper education they need. Lastly, after completion of the interview, I feel slightly more nervous about going into the teaching field. I know teaching these students I want to make sure

When trying to communicate diversity issues with parents about certain needs in your class for their child may be difficult. Especially, when trying to communicate among parents of ELL (English language learners) and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students. Some of the difficulties you may run into are language barriers, misunderstanding of dialect, offensive gestures, and even frustration. As teachers when need to keep a cool head on our shoulders and approach this situation with a positive attitude, a plan, and a great expectation of the outcome.

“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.

For my interview, I interviewed a woman by the name of Mrs. Miskell. She is a close family friend and also teaches at the elementary school that I used to attend. Mrs. Miskell has been teaching for fifteen years. She has a class of 21 including 2 special education children who are mainstreamed into her class for a few areas of study. She team-teaches one day a week with the remedial math teacher, and one day a week with the remedial reading teacher. Her children switch classes with one other class for social studies and science. In this interview, I covered her views on special education and security in today's schools.

Throughout my years at Lehigh, I have proclaimed that I have a passion to teach, to show students that mathematics is not difficult, and that they are able to understand mathematics. However, when it came to special education students, my philosophy changed, due to their learning disability. I was ignorant to the special education movement of inclusion, because I feared the idea of teaching students who were not “normal”.