Running head: INTERVIEW WITH A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

InterviewwithaSpecialEducationTeacher
ErinLenox
IvyTechCommunityCollege

INTERVIEW WITH A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

TeacherInterview
ThisinterviewwaswithMs.KatrinaVancelette,oneoftheSpecialEducationteachers
workingatIsomElementaryinGreenwood,Indiana.Shehasbeenateacherforsevenyearsand
iscurrentlyinherfifthyearofteachingatIsom,andshehasexperiencedandworkedwith
specialneedschildrenfromkindergartenthrougheighthgrade.Ms.Vancelettesharesthatthe
reasonsheenteredtheteachingfieldwasduetoherfirstjobasababysitterforanonverbalboy
withautism.Withhimwashislittlesister,whohadtroubleacademically.Vancelettesaysthat
shetaughtthelittlesister,triedtocoachher,andafteralongtime,whenthelessonsfinally
clicked for the little girl, Vancelette enjoyed that feeling of helping and getting through to
someone.Forme,IdidnotrealizeIwantedtobeateacheruntilIwasworkingatadaycare.I
had no early interaction working with children aside from my younger cousins or friends
siblings,somydesiretoteachdidnotcomeuntilIwasinthemiddleofajobalready.ButIdid
havesomewhatofasimilarreactiontohavingachildfinallyhavethatconnectiontowhatthey
weretryingtolearn.Itisoneofthebestreasonstogointothefieldofeducation:knowingthat
whatyoudoandwhatyousaycanmakeadifferenceandhelpsomeonegrowtobetheirbest.
Ontheareaofcoteaching,Vancelettehashadsomeexperience.Shebelievesittobea
valuableteachingmethod.Inparticular,sheandanotherteacherhavestrengthsandweaknesses
thatareoppositeandthusplayoffofeachother,andtheyusethatknowledgetosharetheloadof
mainteacherandsupportingteacher.Shebelievesthatcoteachinghelpsthestudentsbypushing
themacademically.Iagreewiththeideathathavingacoteacherdoeshelpboostacademicsby
beingabletodooneononeorsmallergrouplessons.Coteachingalsohelpsemotionallyand

INTERVIEW WITH A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

sociallybyincludingthestudentswithspecialneedsintheirpeergroupsandnottakingthemout
oftheclassroom,allwhilestillgettingtheirindividualizedanddifferentiatedhelp(Ferry,2013).
Coteachingalsohelps takethestress offofonesingularteachertobeinchargeofallthe
students,whethertheyhavedisabilitiesornot.
Vancelettestatesthattheschoolusedtohaveaseparateclassthatstudentswithhigh
incidence disabilities were pulled out to go to, some on track to their General Educational
Development(GED),andsomenot.Shementionsthatasfarasteachingmethodsforthosewith
highandlowincidencedisabilitiesgoes,sheteachesthemthesamelessonforallofthem,but
setsdifferentexpectationsforallofthem.Forexample,shesays,forafewshemightexpectto
write five sentence and for others she only expects five words. While I agree that the
expectations for each child should be different based on their strengths and appropriate
development,iftherereallyaresuchdifferingexpectationsforeachchild,thestudentsmight
benefitfromhavingacoteacherintheclasswiththem.Thestudentswithhigherexpectations
canbegivendifferentchallengesbyoneteacherandtheotherscanworkonbuildingupwiththe
secondteacher.Idonotknowiftheircurrentmethodisworkingintheirclassroom,butIbelieve
thattheymightbenefitbyworkingindifferentgroupsforasettimeperiodduringtheday.
Ms.Vancelettealsomentionstheaccommodationsthatsheisabletouseinherclassroom
tomakeitmoreinclusive.Shegivesmeafewexamples:providingachildwithAttentionDeficit
Disorderanalternativedeskforstorage,givingextramilkcratesforstorage,andprovidingafew
studentswithlowprocessingspeedscalculatorsinordertodotheirwork.Idoappreciatethat
theyareabletoprovideextrastorageforchildrenwhohavetroublekeepingtheirbooksandthe
likeinorder,butthatissomethingthatIwouldprovidefromtheverybeginning,justinorderto

INTERVIEW WITH A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

makesurethateveryhadtheirbooks,thattheyweretakencareofproperly,andthatnothing
wentintheirdesksthatdidnotneedtobethere.InmycurrentservicelearningroomatIsom
Elementary,thechildrenpacktheirdeskssofullofpapersandbooksthatanytimetheyreachfor
apencil,fivemorethingsfalloutandIhavetohelpthempickitup.Providingthemwith
adequatespacefortheirsuppliesisanessentialfromthestart.IdowishMs.Vancelettewent
intomoredetailontheaccommodationsthatsheprovidesforherchildren,becauseitseemslike
extraspaceandcalculatorsarenotthekindofaccommodationsthatwetalkaboutinclass.In
classwediscussalternativeseating,roomtomovearound,andotherthingsthatdidnotseemto
bepresentinherclassroomatthetimeIwastherefortheinterview.Iwouldhaveliketoknow
whatsortofthingsshecanhelptoaccommodateforherstudents.Shealsoonlymentionedthe
highincidencedisabilities,notanyofthelowincidence,whichismoreraredisabilities,like
speech and language disabilities, emotional disturbances, visual impairments, or multiple
disabilities(LowIncident&High=IncidenceDisabilities).Perhapstheydonothavechildren
withlowincidencedisabilitiesinthisparticularschoolsetting.IrememberthatwhenIworked
inadaycareandwehadatwoyearoldboywithautism,hebenefitedfromhavingapersonal
beanbagchairthatwewouldleadhimtowhentheenvironmentandchildrenaroundhimwere
too stimulating. Iwant tokeep that inmind as Iprogress inthe educationfield; providing
accommodationshelpstheteacherandhelpsthestudent.
Whenaskedabouthowsheanalyzesalearnersneedstomaximizetheirachievements,
Ms.VancelettespecificallymentionsFunctionalBehavioralAssessments(FBA),whichcanbe
usedtotargetbehaviors,findthereasonbehindit,andsetagoaltocurborendthebehaviorto
have a beneficial effect for the student. For cognitive achievements, there is a school

INTERVIEW WITH A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

psychologistthatdoesthoseassessmentsandsharesthemwiththeappropriateteachers.Based
onthose,theysetacademicachievements.Vancelettementionsthatthecognitiveassessment
scoremaybelow,butbecausethestudentpushesthemselvesandismotivated,theacademic
scoresmaybehigh,orviceversawhenthestudentisunmotivated.Idolikethinkingintermsof
motivated and unmotivated because, according to Ms.Vancelettes response, the reason
childrenmightscorelowacademicallyisbecausetheyarenotpushingthemselvesortryingto
learn,wheninfacttheymaybedoingjustthat.IrememberinschoolIhadahardtimestudying
and turning in homework, resulting in incompletes. Partially because of my ADD, partially
becauseIhadahardtimeincertainsubjectareas,Istruggled,butItry.Aseducatorsitisourjob
tofindhowwecanhelp,whetherthatisassistinginorganization,gettingoneononetimewith
thestudent,orfindingthethingthatmotivatesthemthemostandwhatmakesthemstriveto
learn with their peers. Even Toby Karten, author of Inclusion Strategies That Work!, says,
Studentsneedtoviewthemselvesascompetentandcapableofachievements(2015,p.142),
whichwillnothappenwheneventheirownteachersviewthemaslazyorunmotivated.
Whenwemoveontothesubjectofassistivetechnologiesintheclassroomforstudents
withexceptionalneeds,Igrowexcitedwhenshementionsthatshehadaspeciallaptopforone
ofherstudentswhodidnotreadaswellastherestoftheclass.Thispersonallaptopreadthe
assignmentsandbooksoutloudtohim.Ithinkthisisanexcellentwaytomakethestudentfeel
included,becauseevenifheisnotatthesamelevelastherestoftheclass,heisstilllearningat
thesametime.
To Ms. Vancelette, the role and responsibilities of a general educator in motoring a
learner with exceptional needs are to take data. General educators are to take data on the

INTERVIEW WITH A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

behavior,lookatthestudentsacademicdata,theareastheystruggleinthemost,andallofthe
progressmonitoringthattheteacherstakealongtheway.Allofthatdataiscombinedtomakea
behaviorplantobenefitthestudent.ShedidnotgointothedetailIthoughtshewouldhave.I
expectedhertosay,likewehaveinclass,thatthegeneraleducatorisresponsiblefornoticing
theirpotentialareasofsuccess,identifyingclassroomdemands,andbrainstormingwaystomake
theinstructionsdifferent.
Ms.VancelettetellsmethattheyuseformalassessmentssuchasKTEA,Woodcock
Johnson, and AIMSweb, which are intelligence tests that find out where a student is
academicallyandskillwise.TheirinformalassessmentsareRigbyandotherguidingreading
levelsandbenchmarksthatassesswherethechildis.Ms.Vancelettecreatesherownmathtests
thathiteveryskillsbasedontheirtestsandquizzes.Ilikethatshemakesherownassessments,
becausesheisawareoftheirstrengthsandweaknessesandwheretheyneedtobeassessedto
helpthemachieveevenhigher.
ThereasonIamenteringtheeducationprofessionistokeepthechildreninterestedin
education. I had teachers when I was in elementary school that made going to school and
learning such a joy for me and my fellow students. My goal is to make my classroom an
experience,andnotjustaplacetositanddowork.Iwanttokeepthemexcitedandengagedfor
aslongaspossible.Whentheylearntoloveeducationandlearningatayoungage,theycankeep
thatmindsetformuchlonger,intotheirfurtheringeducation.Imaynotbethemostfunorclever
orfascinatingteacher,butIwilldomybesttomakesurethechildreninmyclassroomhave
goodexperiencesthattheywillrememberandpassdowntothenextgeneration.

INTERVIEW WITH A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

INTERVIEW WITH A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

WorksCited
Ferry,Melissa.(2013,March25).TheBenefitsofCoTeachingforStudentswithSpecialNeeds
Friendship Circle Special Needs Blog. Retrieved October 18, 2016, from
http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2013/03/25/thebenefitsofcoteachingfor
studentswithspecialneeds/.
Karten, Toby J. (2015). Inclusion Strategies that Work!: ResearchBased Methods for the
Classroom.ThousandOaks,CA:CorwinPress.
LowIncident & HighIncidence Disabilities Research Paper Starter eNotes.com. (n.d.).
Retrieved October 18, 2016, from http://www.enotes.com/researchstarters/low
incidencehighincidencedisabilities.