Elizabeth Curtin
E-Portfolio
Integrative Reflection 2
The field of Special Education is an ever changing, enlightening, and enriching field for both students and educators. As a special educator, there are many opportunities for advocacy, communication, relationship building, and personal and professional growth. Through various experiences both in and out of the classroom and school setting, teachers have the chance to change the lives of students in a variety of ways. Educating students through effective instruction and classroom management can help students achieve worthwhile outcomes. Additionally, communicating, creating collaborative relationships, and developing professionally are all crucial aspects of facilitating successful outcomes for students of all ages. This past semester, I had the chance to take a class titled Collaborating with Families, or SPED 438. It is in this class that I have developed crucial communication and collaboration strategies that will allow me to develop joint, yet professional, relationships with my students and their families (Collaborative Relationships (CC& LBS1, IPTS & Communication -IPTS). It is through these relationships that I will develop a thorough understanding of my students individualized needs, backgrounds, and experiences. I will be able to use these collaborative relationships to provide instruction to my students that meet their individual needs while remaining respectful and educated about their family life. Through this class, I was able to spend over 10 hours with a family in the community who had a daughter with Down Syndrome. Throughout the semester, I was able to reflect on my experiences with this family through reflective journal entries (Journal 1, 2, 3). It is through this experience and reflections that I gained insight into the everyday lives of families who have members with disabilities. I was able to create a partnership with my family mentor family over the course of a couple of months. Through this partnership, I observed familial and community interactions and was able to have in-depth discussions with a family that is similar to those I will be working with in the future. I became much more understanding of the importance of communication between families, students, and teachers. It is through this communication that families and students feel valued and respected. As well, I was able to learn much about the experiences families have with schools, transitioning, support services, family subsystems, and everyday life. As a future teacher, I will take these experiences as an opportunity to be more understanding and educated of families needs, and I will be sure to communicate consistently and effectively with my students and their families. Additionally, this course provided me with vital information about advocacy and partnering with families both in and out of the classroom. For a class assignment, I created a
Elizabeth Curtin
E-Portfolio
Integrative Reflection 2
brochure and voice thread which provides information to families on community services for people with disabilities (Brochure, Voice Thread). Not only was I able to investigate various supports for students and their families, but I was able to discover various ways to provide and modify this information for families. After understanding the importance of communication and advocacy for students and their families, I provided both a visual and auditory version of my brochure in order to advocate for them in an accessible manner. Through this project, I learned the importance of respecting and communicating information to families in a way that will create partnerships. It is through mutual respect, communication, and partnerships that I will be able to advocate effectively for my students most successfully. To continue, I have had the opportunity this semester to gain vital classroom experience through my phase 2 practicum placement. It is through this experience that I have been able to develop myself as a professional. Through supervisor observations, midterm meetings, and assignment reflections, I have been able to continuously reflect on my instruction and student successes (Reflection and Professional Growth CC & LBS-1, IPTS). Weekly journal entries have allowed me the chance to observe and reflect on various teaching experiences I have had or observed. For example, after first implementing my fluency instructional Program, I noticed that the program was not working as well as I had hoped. In response, I made a few small changes to the program in an attempt to improve my students fluency more quickly. I wrote a reflective journal entry on the changes I had made. This allowed me the opportunity to reflect on my current program and the changes that needed to be made. Additionally, I continued to notice various aspects of my program that needed modification throughout the semester. In response, I continued to reflect on my program and make changes in an effort to meet the needs of my student. At the end of the semester, I was able to discuss the various changes I made and how these changes affected my students progress in my instructional program reflection. Overall, assessing my instruction and its success throughout the semester allowed me to make changes that helped facilitate greater outcomes for my student. In addition to this instructional program, my weekly journal entries and other reflection assignments allowed me to continuously selfreflect and make appropriate changes that would help further my teaching competencies as well as my students development. In addition to my own self-reflections, meeting with my supervisor weekly, my cooperating teacher daily, and both during my midterm evaluation has allowed me to gain insight into my own educational development from another professionals perspective. My
Elizabeth Curtin
E-Portfolio
Integrative Reflection 2
supervisor evaluated me every other week and provided me with direct feedback on my instruction, professional conduct, growth, and development (COPY EVAL FORM). Feedback from other, more experienced professionals has allowed me to recognize my strengths and weaknesses. As a result, I have been able to modify my teaching methods to become a more competent and successful educator. Through evaluations, I am able to continue to develop professionally in a way that will best benefit my students. Finally, special educators are expected to practice general curriculum standards in order to provide an extensive and comprehensive core content curriculum to students (General Education Standards for Special Education Teachers). Through various courses I have taken, I have been given extensive information and preparation for modifying and teaching core content general education curriculum. In my curriculum development II class (SPED 447), I have been provided tools for teaching my students core content areas. When teaching these subjects to students with disabilities, special educators can teach the core curriculum, a modified curriculum, or a different intervention program. These services are often provided to students through use of a response to intervention model at a school. I was able to investigate the RTI model and reading scope and sequence in my practicum setting through my curriculum planning assignment. This allowed me to discover various aspects of the reading curriculum at my practicum site and suggest a curriculum plan for an individual student. I was able to determine various ways to implement a reading scope and sequence with students with disabilities. Looking at the various aspects of a students home life, school background, grades, and other factors allows teachers to provide the best instruction to meet their needs. Also, my instructional strategies II class gave me the opportunity to modify a general education social studies curriculum to meet students various needs. When completing my summative 2 assignment I was able to apply various strategies such as manipulatives, modified assessments, and field trips to meet the individual needs of three students. Recognizing students learning needs will allow me to develop and modify general education curriculum in a way that will lead students toward successful outcomes. In summary, I have been able to reflect on my work throughout this past year in order to recognize my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher. As well, I have learned various strategies for instruction, communication, and collaboration through my courses, practicum, and
Elizabeth Curtin
E-Portfolio
Integrative Reflection 2
assignments. I will be sure to apply these experiences in my future practicum and classrooms to most efficiently provide instruction to students of all ages and needs.