Multiple Personalities in the Classroom. . . And I Don’t Mean

Students!

Needs, Expectations, and the Roles of Special

Education/Regular Education Teachers in the Classroom

All About Us

• Raccoon School is located in south-central Illinois

• Serves a K-8 rural population of about 250 students

• Full- inclusion for 6 years

Full-Inclusion Includes:

• Teachers

• Special Education Teachers

• Administrators

• Paraprofessionals

• Parents

• Students: regular and special education

Regular EducationTeachers

Special Education Teachers

Student Needs

In A Perfect World. . .

In The Real World. . .

Special Education Teachers:

• Feel a loss of control/classroom

• Don’t feel like real teachers

• Fear students will not progress or thrive

Regular Education Teachers:

• Feel a loss of control/classroom

• Feel tied to curriculum/state standards/ISAT scores

• Fear students will not progress or thrive

Scheduling!!!!

• Everyone must live and die by the schedule

• People and papers must be timely, correct, and consistent

• The teams’ success depends on everyone carrying their own weight

• Changes in scheduling must be agreed to by all parties well in advance

Modifications

• Need to be made in advance so that the material can be approved and adjusted

• Need to be student appropriate and challenging

• Need to be predictable in format

• Need to be in a clear, clean format

Assessment

• Parents, administrators, teachers, and students need to view assessment differently

• “Buy in” to non-traditional assessment

• Understand that grades are not standardized, but are based on individual growth and performance

Models of Co-Teaching• One Teach, One Observe

– One collecting data, one teaching• One Teach, One Drift

– One “working the room, one teaching• Parallel Teaching

– Small groups, both teaching same information• Station Teaching

– Small groups rotate through stations, teacher instruct different content

• Alternative Teaching– One large group with one teacher, small group with other

teacher• Team Teaching

– Tag team teaching

Planning

• Time, Time, Time!!!!!

• Come prepared!

• Be clear, concise, and flexible

• Use a format for staying on task – assign roles

• Be realistic about modifications, progress, and time

The Pill Everyone Must Swallow

• Administrators provide team planning opportunities and training

• Teachers, administrators, students, and parents must learn to look at grades differently

• Classroom management and instruction based on “fairness”

Students

• Students adjust to full inclusion quickly

• Students recognize learning differences

• Students quickly adjust to different levels of materials

• Students easily utilize all instructors present in the classroom

Benefits

• Creates a school “community”

• Lower frustration levels

• Higher academic achievement

• Classroom behavior improves because of constant and consistent age appropriate modeling