Reflection Paper On Job Shadowing

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) greatly emphasizes the participation of the child’s family during the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. Parents and/or caregivers are considered one of the most essential members of their child’s IEP team. Their involvement benefits their child’s overall academic success. Unfortunately, full parental involvement does not always occur and there can be many different reasons for their nonparticipation. The IEP process can be a very overwhelming experience for families with children with special needs, especially for those who are culturally diverse. It is the job of the professionals and special education teachers to understand the importance of collaborating with family’s

Marisol’s son Jason had been recommended for services for almost seven months by school teacher and supporting staff. Throughout his year in Pre- K, his teacher documented several incidents which lead her to believe he needed to be evaluated for special education. He was not reaching academic milestones for his age. In response, Marisol felt that she was being pressured into rushing an evaluation and thought her son deserved to meet the milestones at his own pace. Marisol delayed the evaluation process by not submitting necessary consent and paper promptly. When asked what hopes or fears she had about special education, she expressed fears of Jason being treated different not only by teachers and peers, but by relatives and friends. She noted that she also did not feel well- informed on the process of evaluation and allocation of services when asked about what would help calm her fears. Marisol explained that she just needed a meeting where every question she had would be answered with knowledge, exactitude, and expertise. After Jason’s behavior led to a teacher injury, Marisol felt forced to allow the evaluation process to begin. Jason, who is now five years old, was placed in a twelve-to-one Kindergarten setting upon

In 1991 the Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was replaced by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This law was passed to provide free and appropriate public education to every child with a disability. It requires that each child with a disability “have access to the program best suited to that child’s special needs which is as close as possible to a normal child’s educational program” (Martin, 1978). The Individualized education program (IEP) was developed to help provide a written record of students’ needs and procedures for each child that receives special education services. The IEP will list all the services to be provided, the student's performance level, academic performance, and

The special education teacher is in charge of informing the family on when and where the Individualized Education Program will take place. The family of the student will discuss the necessary content of the individual’s program, how reports will be received to express the child’s progress, and who will be included within the Individualized Education Program team. There will also be considerations in the development of the program, the specific role of the regular education teacher, and the requests of review and revision of the Individualized Education Program. Overall, the family plays a huge role in developing the Individualized Education Program and the parent’s consent must be obtained in order for the IEP to go forward or even be altered.

For this assignment, I chose to interview Ms. Lisa Parker, who is a Math co-teacher and resource teacher for grades K-5 at Krahn Elementary which is a part of the Klein Independent School District and is one of the teachers I have been observing for my field experience. Ms. Parker has been a teacher at Krahn Elementary since 17 years. She started as a 1st grade teacher and was moved to 3rd grade after three years. The administration saw that she was really good with management and math, so she was given the below average, special education students and kids with adaptive behavior after seven years of teaching. With this, she adopted a style for teaching kids with special needs and decided to get a certification in Special Education. Ms. Parker has been teaching specifically in Special Education (SPED) since five years now and the special populations served by her in Krahn elementary include Gifted and Talented students (GT), students with Autism, students with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), students with Learning disabilities (LD), students with Other Health Impairments (OHI) and Emotionally Disturbed children (EBD)

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

These shadowing experiences have been very insightful. Scheduling my shadowing experiences proved to be a bit of a challenge. Within the state of Maryland, public school students in third through eighth grade take the annual PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) assessment. The PARCC Assessment consists of reading and mathematics sections. The assessment for each grade level consists of at least 7 units. Typically one day is designated for each unit. Thus, while planning these shadowing experiences, I ensured that I did not visit on a testing day.

Although knowledge provided by textbooks is essential, being able to receive advice from someone whose daily life is spent teaching and interacting with students with exceptionalities is also very valuable. When I asked for advice that would be helpful for new teachers who will work with students with special needs, I received a plethora of suggestions. Ms. Moos said that a new teacher needs to have high expectations for all students, including those with exceptionalities. She also said that it is important to keep in contact with special education teachers and the students’ parents. The one piece of advice that stood out to me was to no believe everything within an IEP. Ms. Moos said this with caution. She noted that the information provided within an IEP is important and useful, but if not read with proper thoughtfulness one may understand the student differently than they may be. To combat such a situation, Ms. Moos, first, recommended that we get to know the student first before we judge them based on their IEP. She also suggested that the circumstances in which the parts of the IEP were based on may be different than circumstances a student could currently be in. This piece of advice, along with tips, gave me a new perspective on approaching an IEP.

In this article, it talks about two students who are academically successful but needs additional transition services to address nonacademic skills if they are to succeed in the postsecondary setting. Damien is sophomore and has autism spectrum disorder. He has a high grade point average but struggles to uphold for accommodations and to be accepted by his peers. Damien’s IEP team is concerned with his interpersonal, collaboration, and self-advocacy skills. Jasmine is a junior and receives special education services for her specific learning disability and hyperactivity disorder. She struggles with homework completion, time management, test taking, and paying attention. Since the two students are on the right track to graduate, their special education teacher believe that in order for both of them to succeed, in their identified

The Pre-School program for students with disabilities in Cambridge Public Schools is the Special Start program. The program provides services for preschool aged children, 3-5, who have a disability as outlined by state and federal requirements under the Individual’s with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The program is designed to service students with a variety of needs from mild to severe disabilities. The program is intentionally designed to ensure that students are educated with non-disabled peers with integrated classrooms and intensive, integrated classrooms. In addition, sub-separate classrooms are always paired in buildings with integrated classrooms in order to provide inclusive opportunities for students, as they are ready. The delivery of services is based on the intensity and need of each individual student and is determined by the student’s IEP team.

Over my high school career, I have had a difficult time deciding what my major would be. During this past year, I have discovered something that interests me and also lets me help people at the same time. During my junior year, I job shadowed at a local doctor's office to see if I would actually enjoy it and if this is something that I would like to major in while I am in college. Since job shadowing day, I have taken classes to help me be more prepared for this profession because I admire what nurses do in their profession even though they get very little praise for what they do.

On my level 1B fieldwork experience this October I went to a school based setting. Occupational therapy in a school based setting involves the therapist working with children who qualify for an individualized education program (IEP). These children must be in the age range of three to twenty one, and have a disability that effects their education in order to qualify for the IEP. The IEP allows the student to receive services from the school based team which may consist of an occupational, physical, and speech therapist depending on the child’s needs. The children who have an IEP work on skills that help them participate in school related

I did my job shadowing on the Monday of fall break at the Semmes Murphey place with Marilyn Newson. I learned so much more about this new side of nursing I did not know that even existed. Marilyn job title is an infusion nurse manager where she gives medicine and fluids to patients through injections. She is the only one with this job title in the clinic so she is a manger as well. When I first entered the room I noticed that it was set up just like a dialysis place would be the recliner chairs and IV backs to the side and TV playing.

The Problem: IEP’s were recommended for all children who are receiving support for a special educational need and are designed to set out targets that are understood by all those involved; teacher, parent and child. They establish the steps that each person will take to ensure that these targets are achieved and the child makes progress towards losing the gap.

This job shadow was one of my most challenging, yet most enjoyable assignments this semester. There were parts that surprised me, and parts that inspired me, but overall this was one of my favorite assignments ever. This assignment was difficult for me since I am usually a very introverted person, and this task pushed me to come out of my shell a little more than I normally feel comfortable with. I was compelled to take initiative in conversations in order to obtain the information I needed which was very difficult for me. At the same time, it was also very entertaining for me as I could examine how an architect thinks through, and designs buildings and other structures right in front of my eyes. Going into this assignment, I expected it was