At this point my interviews are goin well, I have met with one of the interviewees and the process as been a great learning experience and I look forward to the next interview. I have had the opportunity to observe a resource teacher in action with a small group of students who are very eager to learn and who gives feedback when asked.
I am truly surprised at how the professional was able to maintain the students focus and proceed with her planned lesson. The students were engaged and all of the four students participated and stayed focus on her and were not worried or concerned about me being in the room.
The only challenge that I have is that I did not want to be a disruption to the class, so all I did was sit in one area of the room so that I didn't draw any attention to myself throughout my time in the classroom.
My Course Project (Major Assessment) is coming along well, I have everything I need and I have began the writing process. I am so glad that I chose this topic and the two individual professionals that I am and will interview. I have always heard about Special Education, but now I have a complete understanding of the process.
How can professionals in the early childhood field, make sure that young chidlren receive the support and/or resources that are needed to help them become successful?
Lori Gardner
Lori,
ReplyDeleteI think as an early childhood professional you need to fight for the young children which you believe need services. During my teaching career, I had children who were struggling and needed additional services. For instance, one child who poor fine motor skills. He had difficulty holding a pencil, his writing was barely legible and visible. In Maryland, when a child turns 5, he is no longer allowed occupational therapy if they are not receiving additional special education services. This child was recently dismissed from speech therapy, so he no longer qualified for occupational therapy but desperately needed it. I worked with the occupational therapist. I had her observe him, and she had the same concerns. She gave us strategies to use with him in the classroom. She had extra time in her schedule, so she created a fine motor skills group. She pulled a group of students once a week, and the child's skills improved. If I had not been proactive, if I had not fought for the child, he would not have received the necessary services. Fight for the child. If one person says no, talk to someone else. Be an advocate.
I totally agree with you, Melissa. If we do not become advocates, children may get lost in the system. However, we also need to encourage parents to become knowledgeable about their rights so they can fight for their child as well. We need to be the voice for these children.
DeleteLori,
ReplyDeleteWho is your other interviewee? Is it a parent of a developmentally delayed child? What information are you hoping to gain from this individual?
Hi Lori,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned you have a complete understanding of the Special Education process. Do you believe English Language Learners (ELL) are disproportionally assigned to special education classes? I look forward to your insight.
Thanks,
Debi
Debi,
DeleteWe have a lot of ELL students up in this area and unfortunately I see where many of them are placed in special education classes. There seems to have been the lack of understanding what to do with children who do not speak English. Most of these children do not need special services, they simply cannot speak English. This is a gross discrimination on the part of school officials toward these non-English speaking students. As educators learn more about inclusion of non-English speaking children into the classroom, things will hopefully improve. Much instruction is needed in this area so that these children can benefit academically.
Darla
Lori,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dixie in that we must become advocates for the children. I had a student in the first grade who struggled greatly with reading comprehension and in other areas. The child needed services to help him succeed in the classroom. As a private school, we have to refer to the local public school for services needed. I had made the contact to have him tested and never heard anything back from the public school where the testing would take place. After a month of waiting I determined that I would contact them every single day until I received a response. After a week of no response the child's mother and I went to visit the school superintindent's office to see if we could get some kind of response. This got the attention of everyone involved in testing the child and it took place within a matter of a week. I understand that sometimes things take time, but to receive absolutely no response was unprofessional. I had a child in need and a parent who was more than willing to do whatever was necessary to help her child. In this case we became advocates for this child because greater harm would have come from not getting involved. Hopefully when we advocate for the child it does not have to be as aggressive as the situation I discribed, but the educator and parents must stand up for the child.
Darla
Lori-
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above posts of the need to fight for the child. In my project I am researching the characteristics of autism. I am now focusing on interventions to use to help the child learn while in my class. The reason for this is the parents have decided to keep the child in my classroom so he will not be receiving early intervention services. One of my interviewees is an early access interventionist. We have discussed this problem and she assured me she would continue to help me find ways to help the child learn even though he is not technically receiving services. We both are fighting for the child's social and academic learning.
Laurel Jeffries
Hi Lori,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! How far along are you in the Course Project? Did you have a difficult time scheduling with the interviewees? How was your experiencing searching for related articles on your challenge? What specific strategies did you learn from the first individual you interviewed? Is there anything you would have done differently during the interview process thus far? You asked, “How can professionals in the early childhood field, make sure that young children receive the support and/or resources that are needed to help them become successful?” I think professionals can ensure that young children receive support/resources needed by being diligent and following up on the child’s progress.
Shamanie