Education

The Spectrum In Education

The class:
Good morning, good morning, good morning to you.

Instructor:
very good

The class:
Our day is beginning, there is so much to do.
Good morning, good morning, good morning to you.
Let me hear you sing in Spanish.
I know, Gabriel is ready.

The class:
Buenos dias, buenos dias, buenos dias a ti.

Sharyn Howell:
Parents have specific dreams and hopes and plans for their children and they want an education that matches what those hopes, dreams and expectations are.

Song:
… and when we get together, together, together
… and when we get together, together, together
… how happier we’ll be

Vanaman:
Each child is unique and individual and you’ve got to look at the full range of services. So that means you’ve got to look at what’s the appropriate classroom setting and then you look at what we call relted services and those related services can be anything the child needs. Ranging from speech and language services through and including social work services if that’s what’s necessary in order to get there with a variety of services in between incluing occupational therapy, physical therapy, recreational therapy. Saying all of that the reality is that is has to be a program that provides benefit for the child.

Education Options
Nancy Franklylin:
it’s so important that family’s are well informed about the huge array of services there are for their children.  We have children who attend general education classrooms, full time, we also have students who attend Spcial Day Programs part of the day for core areas of weakness where they need some intensive instruction, but spend the rest of their day with typical peers. 

Instructor:
4, 5, 6, 7. Do it again.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 then stop.
Now, now, don’t get silly and creative because it’s going to get hard
...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 

Nancy Franklylin:
In addition to that, we still have a small number of Special Ed Centers where there are children with more significant disabilities.

Press the ‘Z’
say zipper 
zipper
good job
what’s this?
elephant

elephant 

yeah, lion 
can you point to the lion for me 

Nancy Franklylin:
So when I think of those opportunities for children with autism, I want you to think about just about anything, Sort of like an à la carte menu 

James Koontz:
At Grandviwew McBride we have a very special program that’s happening there this year. We are working to integrate two groups of kids. Kids from a special education center and kids from a general campus, a typical school.

Instructor:
Triangle, Circle, Triangle.
Circle, triangle, what’s next?

Carolyn Mayes Taylor:
It teaches them about each other. And it really teaches them empathy and they start to understand one another 

Instructor:
he lapped up the milk in poor kitty’s bowl 
he nibbled on noodles in the caserole 
Shoo fly shew fly shoo
That’s good but a little bit louder. 
Shoo fly shew fly shoo
You got it exactly.

Alfredo Ortiz:
One of the things that we celebrate is multi-culturalism.
And in that we make sure that our kids learn about diversity.
The fact that we aren’t all of the same make-up and have the same capacities.
Having a special ed program be a part of our instructional program and the make-up of our school, goes a long way in teaching these values.

James Koontz:
Whenvever something is new, it’s gona be very difficult to know if it’s going to be right for your child. We we meet that aprehension from parents.  We asure them that we didn’t just come up with this and are trying it at their school. Research is conclusive, that when students are included, they learn better.

Marian Ventura:
In the real world, we are going to be having different interactions with different people and my philosophy is, we need to get them used to that.  We need to start as young as possible, even once they start getting diagnosed.  Because you’d be surprised. They always think they need structure, they have to be in a systematic way but sometimes change is good for them.

James Koontz:
If we want kids to gain independant skills and to be able to interact in society they have to be part of somehat typical society.

Our philosophy is developing citizens that will be independant.

We may not always have every tool that we can use but we don’t let that hinder us.  We’re not just here to teach children how to read, write and comprehend.  We are also here, hopeully, to instill some values in our children.  And I think that if you have the right people and if you embrace diversity and the importance of that I think you’ll go a long way.

I.E.P.

Ventura:
Oscar your so smart, what’s this?
Pease.

Pease.
what’s this? what’s that? Say Pea, and what’s the sound?

For my classroom, in regards to how we teach the program. It depends on the Individual Education Plan which is the I.E.P.. And each year we come up with the goals of what we think they need to accomplish in order to get them to the next level.

This is an annual I.E.P. for Jorge

‘Esta es una junta annual para Jorge”
The goal of this I.E.P. is to establish learning objectives for the student, this year as well as next year.

It’s important for us to thnk about the goals that are developed in the I.E.P. It maps out the combinations that the student needs, any modifications, the supports and services that the student is elgible for.

Part of the issue has to do with using the proper tense.  He starts off in present tense, then goes to the past tense, then goes to future tense, then he’s all over the place.

Do you enjoy writing?

Not much, it’s difficult for me.

Alright, we’d just like to point out that a strength here is he is able to focus on a topic and write a clear paragraph.

We keep the student at the center of both the development of the I.E.P. as well as the implementationo of the I.E.P. and what you see among all of the staff and certainly the families, is this, ‘let go of all the educational jargon and let go of anything that doesn’t make sense and really think about, how can i say this in a way that is meaningful. 

Tell me about your transition from Miguel Contreras to here.
Was it easy? was it hard? And how did you improve?

Miguel:
When I came here to Cross-Country, Coach Marino, helped me, guide me to improve a little more, my skills. What was it before?

Oh, when I was at MT?
Oh the fastest I ever cut was 06:54 and I could tell you, the Belmont girls were a lot faster. I was the last one. 

When you think about, ‘how do you create the perfect plan for a child?’, you really need to see that child in several different environments.

Part of the assessment process includes really getting to know the family and asking the family the questions about their child, so that you’ve got the parents perspective.

Uh. he doesn’t even like to go to the groceries, go out.

Maybe that’s something mom could work on with him.  

Dice que es algo que a lo mejor puede trabajar con el. 
Si es lo que estoy haciendo, ultimamente.  Lo motivo, por ejemplo, si el me dice, “Mama necesito para mi desayuno, alguna fruta.  Yo le digo, ok, no lo tengo. Vamos a la marketa, me acompanas? El tiene que acompanarme 

Yeah!

Pero antes no lo hacia. No lo hacia salir de la casa.

When I see families who have been completely prepared.  They have seen the reports ahead of time, they have reviewed those reports with one another, they come in with questions because they have not just had the material presented, and they’ve processed it.

Any questions about the content goals?

No pues, me parece muy concreto.  Las metas me parecen muy interesantes, muy positivas, para que el pueda mejorar en su desarollo academico.

Parent’s participation is of prime importance in an I.E.P. meeting 

Parent’s Right’s:

Parents should participate in the meeting and ask for it to be scheduled at a time and location they can make.
Secondly, Parents have a right to have their concerns known.
Third, Parents have a right to be involved in the discussion of what are called goals and objectives for their child.
Fourth, parents have the right to participate in the decision-making with regard to the placement of their child. 

For a family who is entering the system for the first time and they are going to do their first I.E.P,, it can be a scary process.  There is a federal and state law in every state that will set-up, generally the process.  It’s a lot of information for the family to learn for the first time. And often parents will decide at that point that they would like to have somebody accompany them. 

Advocates:

Generally an advocate will go over all of the records that exist with regard to the child.  Have meaningful communication with the parent about the child’s strengths, needs, what’s available in terms of program.  What they are looking for.  And then go into the I.E.P. meeting and make sure the parent’s right’s are protected.  And will assert the needs of that student during the I.E.P., and of course, there are a variety of advocates out there.

Types of Advocates:
People who generally have a background in psychology or they were teacher’s themselves - they’re lay advocates.  And then there are of course, lawyers, whom they carry malpractice insurance which sometimes. the Lay Advocates do not.  There are public interest law firms around.  They can provide training sessions for parents. Plus they can provide representation.

If we are all in agreement that this is the plan we will all use for next year, then I’d like to get signatures.

Me gustaria que firmara por favor 

For the I.E.P., just to confirm that we are all in agreement. 

It’s so important for families to feel like they’ve been heard and for us to have been able to really give back to them.  What that all looks like nested in an educational system.

Gracias:

Thank you so much for participating and thank you for being here.

Gracias por participar y por haver venido.

So of course we need that level of dedication on both the part of the I.E.P. team as well as the school team to honor what we’ve learne about that child and to put it in action.

Vanaman:
They are a pool in the educational system to really make a difference. I’m not telling you that it cures anybody, but what it does do is provide an increased level of abilities and skills for a child, that enables them when they are an adult to be much less dependant. It improves the quality of everyone’s lives.