EDUC 618: Parents and Agencies
This course lays the foundation for individuals to develop collaborative problem solving in special education. Special educators and general educators interact together in many collaborative activities both inside and outside of school to support students, families, and the community. This course explores evidenced-based practices in key collaborative spaces in schools, including (1) IEPs, (2) pre-referral intervention assistance teams (i.e. child study teams, student support teams), (3) Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports, (4) RTI teams, (5) behavioral consultation, (6) collaborating with para-educators, (7) transition planning, (8) collaborative teaching, (9) servings as an intervention specialist who helps to create access to the general education curriculum, and (10) home/school/community services.
1 Credit
Instructor: Mueller
Fall 2012
1 Credit
Instructor: Mueller
Fall 2012
educ_618_paper.docx | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Artifact Description
The artifact I chose for EDUC 618 Parents and Agencies is a paper titled "Collaboration Between Parents and Teachers". This paper is about the role that parents play in special education and offers suggestions on how teachers can encourage active participation and collaboration with parents. I used my classroom experience and researched professional literature to describe collaboration strategies.
Professional Growth
Before this course, I only had a few strategies to facilitate collaboration and communication with the parents of my students. I mostly used a notebook sent to and from school to write about the school day. I used yearly IEP meetings to ask parents for input on their child's education.
During this course, I researched collaboration ideas to use with the parents of my students. I reflected on how the parents of my students were currently involved in their education. I spoke with other educators and administrators to get ideas on how they collaborate with parents.
After this course, I have more open communication with the parents of my students and they are more involved in the decisions made about their child's education. I present information in IEP meetings in a simpler, understandable way for parents so they feel comfortable and able to participate and voice their opinions. I have also recently developed a new form to send home after each day that the students can help fill out about what they did that day and how the day went.
Understanding and Application of Standards
CEC Standard 1 Learner Development and Individual Learning Differences : Beginning special education professionals understand how exceptionalities may interact with development and learning and use this knowledge to provide meaningful and challenging learning experiences for individuals with exceptionalities.
Standard 1, Learner Development and Individual Learning Differences, was addressed in this course through learning how language, family, and culture can influence learning. I learned how each student and their learning is affected by their family and how the student was raised. We discussed how it is important for special education teachers to be aware of these differences in students' home life so that we can modify instruction or support the student as necessary. In order for teachers to understand a student's home life and culture, there must be collaboration and open communication with families. With open communication between teachers and families, the teacher is better able to create meaningful learning experiences for each student. I apply this standard to my classroom by developing a relationship with the families of all of my students. I have learned from the families about strategies that work at home, or difficulties that they are facing. The open communication allows me to develop better learning experiences for my students
CEC Standard 7 Collaboration: Beginning special education professionals collaborate with families, other educators, related service providers, individuals with exceptionalities, and personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of individuals with exceptionalities across a range of learning experiences.
Standard 7, Collaboration, was addressed in this course through learning how to collaborate with parents and agencies. I learned about many agencies within my community that I could collaborate with in order to better support my students and their families. I also learned new strategies to collaborate with families. Families are only able to collaborate with the school when there is open communication. I apply this by using a variety of communication methods with families of my students including take-home notebooks, notes, emails, phone calls, and meetings. I have grown to understand the importance of collaborating with parents and outside agencies so that my students can work on skills in multiple settings and so everyone is on the same page with programming.
Impact on Student Learning
Since my participation in this course, my students have improved their life skills and behavioral skills. Parents have been more involved in meetings and comfortable communicating their successes and concerns. This allows there to be a continuum of services provided for the students both at school and at home. This consistency has shown an increase in skills for my students. This past quarter, both of my student who live at home met their goals of decreasing negative behaviors by 25%.
The artifact I chose for EDUC 618 Parents and Agencies is a paper titled "Collaboration Between Parents and Teachers". This paper is about the role that parents play in special education and offers suggestions on how teachers can encourage active participation and collaboration with parents. I used my classroom experience and researched professional literature to describe collaboration strategies.
Professional Growth
Before this course, I only had a few strategies to facilitate collaboration and communication with the parents of my students. I mostly used a notebook sent to and from school to write about the school day. I used yearly IEP meetings to ask parents for input on their child's education.
During this course, I researched collaboration ideas to use with the parents of my students. I reflected on how the parents of my students were currently involved in their education. I spoke with other educators and administrators to get ideas on how they collaborate with parents.
After this course, I have more open communication with the parents of my students and they are more involved in the decisions made about their child's education. I present information in IEP meetings in a simpler, understandable way for parents so they feel comfortable and able to participate and voice their opinions. I have also recently developed a new form to send home after each day that the students can help fill out about what they did that day and how the day went.
Understanding and Application of Standards
CEC Standard 1 Learner Development and Individual Learning Differences : Beginning special education professionals understand how exceptionalities may interact with development and learning and use this knowledge to provide meaningful and challenging learning experiences for individuals with exceptionalities.
Standard 1, Learner Development and Individual Learning Differences, was addressed in this course through learning how language, family, and culture can influence learning. I learned how each student and their learning is affected by their family and how the student was raised. We discussed how it is important for special education teachers to be aware of these differences in students' home life so that we can modify instruction or support the student as necessary. In order for teachers to understand a student's home life and culture, there must be collaboration and open communication with families. With open communication between teachers and families, the teacher is better able to create meaningful learning experiences for each student. I apply this standard to my classroom by developing a relationship with the families of all of my students. I have learned from the families about strategies that work at home, or difficulties that they are facing. The open communication allows me to develop better learning experiences for my students
CEC Standard 7 Collaboration: Beginning special education professionals collaborate with families, other educators, related service providers, individuals with exceptionalities, and personnel from community agencies in culturally responsive ways to address the needs of individuals with exceptionalities across a range of learning experiences.
Standard 7, Collaboration, was addressed in this course through learning how to collaborate with parents and agencies. I learned about many agencies within my community that I could collaborate with in order to better support my students and their families. I also learned new strategies to collaborate with families. Families are only able to collaborate with the school when there is open communication. I apply this by using a variety of communication methods with families of my students including take-home notebooks, notes, emails, phone calls, and meetings. I have grown to understand the importance of collaborating with parents and outside agencies so that my students can work on skills in multiple settings and so everyone is on the same page with programming.
Impact on Student Learning
Since my participation in this course, my students have improved their life skills and behavioral skills. Parents have been more involved in meetings and comfortable communicating their successes and concerns. This allows there to be a continuum of services provided for the students both at school and at home. This consistency has shown an increase in skills for my students. This past quarter, both of my student who live at home met their goals of decreasing negative behaviors by 25%.