I hope this first post sheds some light on my overall goals for this blog.
As both support staff and a teacher, I've often had the same conversation with many colleagues, and it all centers on one question: "What is the goal?" When we talk about mainstream students, it's easy to answer: "Help them build grade-appropriate skills and create opportunities to learn the curriculum." But when this question is about special education students, the answer can be trickier.
Special education students often face significant learning disabilities and self-regulation challenges. This can shift the focus from "What is the goal?" to "How do I manage that student in a way that impacts the rest of the class the least?" At this point, I usually hear about what the student can't do or isn’t doing, leading to descriptions of how they spend their time in class. Often, the student is doing their own thing at the back of the class while the teacher delivers lessons to everyone else, sometimes with support staff and sometimes without.
This brings us back to the key question: "What is the goal?" The goal should be the same for all students: to help every student develop the skills needed to succeed in class and create opportunities for them to learn the curriculum. If they are always "doing their own thing," how can they learn the skills needed to be part of the classroom community?
Join me for insights and strategies to keep this question at the center of your teaching practice, no matter who is in your class. I look forward to sharing this journey with you!
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