Insructional Strategies

One instructional strategy that I find helpful in my special education classroom is instructional grouping. At first I thought it would be more useful in the large classroom and I didn't use it with my smaller groups. Last year I had a group of 5 students who had very similar needs in some areas of reading, but were also in very different places in other areas when it came to reading. So I had the students work together when it came to comprehension and decoding skills, but when we were working on phonemic awareness I broke them into 2 groups of two and an individual. I taught a skill to one group/individual while the other group/individual practiced the skill area that they needed support with. I also supported their different level of needs the same way when it came to building fluency. This strategy allowed me to support the groups needs while working within the same time period, which is important when there are some many needs in our school and so little time!

Benefits and Challenges of Co-Teaching

I think there are many benefits to co-teaching. The teachers are able to share ideas, resources and materials. It is nice to get a different point of view on something. I am finding that working with the other teacher I am always saying "Oh I never thought of trying that," or "What a good idea". I am able to provide some resources to the other teacher that will help her provide support to the students who are struggling. To me it is a win, win situation.
The biggest challenge we are finding as co-teachers is finding time to meet and plan. I think this is an especially big challenge for us because right now I am at home on maternity leave and the school is an hour away from me.
This is my first co-teaching experience and I am excited to see what the finished product will look like!!

What I need to learn more about in the spec ed world

I feel that I need to learn more about the resources out there to support/assess students to allow myself to become more confident as a spec ed practitioner. I have been receiving ideas and suggestions from my fellow classmates, but there is just so much out there. I know that I rely on programs that I know work really well for some students, but what about the othernstudents that maybe need something different to experience success. I also need to have more confidence in my abilities that I am planming the proper programming for my students. I need to remind myself that all students learn at a different pace, and just because they are not experiencing as much success right away as others, they are still learning and gaining the resources they need.

Most important aspect of my post-degree experience

I think the most important aspect of my experience with the post-degree cerificate so far has been networking with the other people enrolled in the class, as well as the instructors. It has been really valuable to learn of other resources that work for other spec. ed teachers. It has also been helpful to discuss with others about situations that are happening with my students and use any feedback that they may provide. There as so many resources and ideas to try, but it is nice to know which ones that worked, or were teacher friendly.