Special+Education

Elizabeth from the TDSB, made thoughtful and thought-provoking postings about special education issues she has encountered in her experience. This was one of them:

//For the interest of time, I decided to organize a workshop regarding assessment and evaluation. Specifically, I brought in samples of IEP’s (i.e., student names remaining anonymous), and discussed the various components to any given profile. I also offered suggestions pertaining to various ways of catering a particular lesson to suit the students’ unique learning needs, including modifications and/or extensions for the gifted learners in the classroom. At the forefront of the workshop’s success were various case scenarios that I had devised in learning stations. Teachers were asked to work collaboratively through the task, share different strategies with their colleagues, and reflect on best practices. I would pace around the room to help guide the discussion and contribute my expertise when teachers were floundering. The most valuable component to the workshop would have to be the discussion period that followed the case scenarios. Teachers engaged in an open-ended dialogue of particular strategies used to arrive at a consensus, and shared in their classroom trials or tribulations. They offered one another practical solutions based on personal experience, and I was also able to share some of my own suggestions based on my expertise. I believe this workshop gave me greater insight into many of the challenges that teachers encounter on a day-to-day base, specifically in working with the children whom I personally shadow in my resource room. I also recognized the importance of providing classroom teachers with hands-on training in working with a diverse group of students. The workshop also opened the lines of communication for teacher discourse pertaining to special education, and helped build on peer relationships.//