Fieldwork

Special Education Teacher Interview and Observation

Cynthia Alvarado

Professor Kristina Lyman

ITL 604

Learners and Learning I

May 25, 2019

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Information

 School: Willard Elementary School

 Grade level: K-2

 Demographics: 14 students total, 9 boys and 5 girls with diverse needs.

 Content: K-2 multiple subject. Severely handicapped self-contained

 Amount of time for the interview:

4 hours’ observation. Interview took approximately 17 minutes.

 Teacher name: Lindi Killen

Interview

 What is your current position?

K2 severely handicapped SEC classroom. Self-Contained.

itself in taste what are the ages and

 What are the ages and grade levels of your students?

K-2 and they range from 5 to 8.

 What student information system do you work with?

We use SEIS, ERIS, and Goldbook.

 What data is collected for teacher use?

So I collect the data based on their IEP goals I have a little chart and when we work on the

goal that we have written out I write down the date and how well the kid did on those goals.

 What are the assessments used in the process of early screening and/or identification?

We use something called the Sandi just like a questionnaire that we do based on what their daily

abilities are and then when they go a little bit older we can use something called the Brigance

and even older than that we use the Wyatt.

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 What are the most important legal mandates a general education teacher should be aware of

regarding services for students with special needs?

Accommodations modifications in the classroom setting not to mention their goals and services

but I would say the general education teacher need to make sure they follow the accommodation

of the modifications. And they know the student is in special ed because I've been to IEPs where

the teacher goes “I didn’t even know they were in special ed. Which is terrible they need to read

the IEP at a glance.

 What are important insights for a general education teacher regarding issues related to common

medications administered to children and adolescents?

For gen ed teachers? Well then it should be done by the nurse. It should be done by the school

health clerk or the school nurse all medications should be in there if there's a medication in the

classroom setting there has to be a parent release to allow that, but I can't imagine a gen ed

teacher has time to do that. Special ed, we do medication in the classroom sometimes if we need

to.

 What is your experience implementing UDL in your teaching practices and / or collaborating

with other teachers?

So working with teachers is done very well here. Here at Willard we are an IB school,

international bachelorette school, so we have IB unit curriculum in addition to state standards

school curriculum and their IEP goals. So today Thursday the reason why my students have

extended recess is because I meet with the first grade team and we go over the IB curriculum and

how we implement it in the classroom so I hear about how they do it in their first-grade

classrooms and then I see what I can take for my setting so we do a lot of collaborating which is

very nice second grade teachers that are just down this area from here they invite us to do things
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with them, they come in here. They pass our students every day (the teacher said) I'd like for my

students to know their names can we be like a play time so once a week we do the play time with

them which has been a lot of fun for my students and for them. So the teacher went on maternity

leaving her sub did it continue our playtime so when she came back and had our first play time

back together her students are just like it’s like when you don't see your friends all summer and

then they’re back. Collaboration is done very well here. staff meetings every other Monday and

department meetings the alternate Mondays so a chance to work with a lot of people and

kindergarten teachers have let our students like go be in their classroom for certain activities how

we’re invited on their grade level field trips there's no exclusion here that's very nice and that's

not the norm. In the three districts in schools Ive been at and this is the first one that I see

really do that well where it's not like those are your kids these are our kids.

How long have you been teaching and what districts have you worked at?

16 years so this is my second in a mod-severe setting though Ive had my mild- mod credential

and I just finished my mod-severe credential. I taught k-5, middle school, and I started an autism

program that lasted 5 years. Then I came here. I always want mod severe setting and my

daughter is here.

 What steps can be taken so that caregivers, teachers, and staff are on the same page when dealing

with a child’s learning goals.

Collaboration is generally good here. It can be difficult at times when parent doesn’t want to be

involved or bothered, but that’s when gen ed and special ed teachers come together to come up

with a plan.
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 What can general education teachers do when a child is showing signs of special needs and their

parents refuse to have them tested?

All a parent has to do is sign a form and then their child won’t be tested. At that point its really

we have to do the best with what we got. I’ve seen a lot of students who need IEPs and some

who don’t need it but the gen ed teacher though it was easier to refer them to special ed. When

the process changed and the gen ed teachers had to start writing the notes and filling out the

paperwork the number of IEPs dropped.

Observation

Upon entering the classroom, the arrangement and the décor of the classroom stood out to

me. I noticed that the room was decorated in jungle theme and there were many behavior

strategies in place. Token boards, classroom management strategies that involved rewards, and

individual feelings system on the board. The schedule was posted 3 times. One for the staffs,

one for the students, and one that was a main schedule for the week. The room was full of

artwork and of sign language symbols and posters. Nothing was posted in only one way. There

was a large carpet where the students would gather with their aids and have circle time. I noticed

that this was a very large classroom and was surprised to find out there was no limit. The

technology in the classroom was antiquated and many of the supplies were low or scattered. I

should not have been surprised because “Since the nineteenth century, many of the needs of

[special education students] have been neglected by local and state school authorities because

of the expense of special facilities and teachers (pg.135 Spring). As the day progressed I say

that the teacher was extremely overworked and that there needed to be more help in the

classroom.
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The classroom had a total of 6 aids and to help the teacher would assign two students to

an aid. I was delighted to see that two of the aids were close to their students and had a good

connection to them. The other aids I was disgusted by and honestly I felt the need to report

them. During circle time two of the aids were not present and one spent the whole time on her

cell phone or eating. I saw her grab at the students, roughly handle them, and even use her

phone to swat his hand away. I even heard her using derogatory words to address the child

“Education professionals must avoid using labels in a way that unintentionally stigmatizes

students, dehumanizes them, segregates them socially from their peers, or encourages

discrimination against them in any form” (pg. 303 Slavin). Her behavior was not only

unprofessional, but dangerous.

I was honestly shocked that the teacher would work with this aid and the others who also

seemed to be very unprofessional. My interview with the teacher lasted about 17 minutes and

the transcript above is only part of what we discussed. As I continued talking to her it felt more

of a discussion than an interview and I felt as if she was a wealth of knowledge on education. I

helped her move furniture around after the interview to create a play area for her students and

include a mini trampoline in her classroom.

Conclusion

I have not spent much time in classrooms. Most of my career has been in nonprofit

organizations so I enjoy observing and being able to participate in classroom setting. I think the

best part of my experience was taking to the teacher and finding out why she chose special

education. I have dated what area I wanted to teach and I find myself loving each aspect of

education. While talking to the teacher she told me that a general education teacher with an

interest in special education is a special educations teachers best friend because she understands

and wants to support all of her students. I want to take a new perspective from my experience on

collaborating within a school.

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References

Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice. NY, NY: Pearson.

Spring, J. H. (2018). American education. New York, NY: Routledge.