Learning Never Stops
By: Megan McVannel
When I applied to Michigan State University’s Master in the Art of Education program, I decided to pursue the Special Education Concentration. My main goal in this pursuit was to become better equipped to work with the high volume of students with special needs and disabilities in my General Education classroom. Not only have I gained more knowledge in this, my understanding of students’ needs has also strengthened. I am also a stronger leader in my school in helping other educators understand how to make all students successful in inclusion classrooms.
After my time studying at MSU, I feel a strength of mine is my ability to gather information and plan accordingly based on student behavior. I have had the opportunity to practice this skill in my own classroom many times by recognizing a behavioral or academic issue. I observe when the episodes occur and the frequency. From there, I have had the opportunity to develop and implement Behavior Plans according to the data. One reason I feel this is a strength of mine is because I have implemented many successful behavior plans for my students during my time in this program. I continue to collect data once a plan is implemented and if I find it is not as effective as it could be, I make adjustments and keep working until the students finds success. Again, observation and data collection is a huge portion of this success.
Opportunities to become advocates for my students, parents, and fellow co-workers have come about from my education in the MAED program with my Special Education Concentration. I have been placed in a rare situation where I have a lot of Special Education background and knowledge yet I work in the General Education classroom setting. This has presented the opportunity to quickly identify struggles students have in the General Education classroom, often before they even qualify for Special Education and many can receive an extra boost and end up not needing Special Education services because we work so early with them and their families. I have been able to also help parents. I have been able to provide insight into why children may be struggling in General Education and little things that we can do at home and school to try and help those students. Additionally, I have been able to help my co-workers. I have been able to help identify what it is really like having a Special Education student in a General Education classroom when I attend our Student Support Meetings and how our Special Education team members can really support and come along side of General Education teachers to make inclusion more successful.
An area I would like to study further in the future are Special Education Laws and Rights. As a student’s homeroom teacher, it is very important to me that they are receiving the services they are entitled to according to their specific disabilities. My reason for wanting to know this is because I am only with students for a year, but the students’ families are with them for the rest of their lives. I want families to become students’ greatest and strongest advocates. In order to do this, I want to help my families become educated not only about specific disabilities but everything they can and should do at home and at school to help their children. A great place to start this research is right on the Michigan Department of Education’s website. A source that breaks this information up nicely and in an easier to follow format is Michigan Protection & Advocacy Service, INC. There are many other great resources out there such as contacting a representative from a local Intermediate School District, but these two sources are a great starting point.
In terms of specific learning disabilities, I would like to research more about Learning Disabilities in Language Arts, specifically Dyslexia. I currently teach First Grade which is such a formative year where so many foundational Language Arts skills that are crucial for success in later years are developed. I never want to pass off a child with a true Learning Disability as just behind due to their age or developmental skill level. I want to be able to start helping children with LD’s as soon as possible. A thorough guide for educators in this area is called Teaching Students with Reading Difficulties and Disabilities.
Lastly, I think it is important that I continue to learn as much as I can about Autism. I have had at least one student in my class over the past several school years with an Autism label. I have also been a crucial part of making observations and gathering data to help identify students with Autism. I have seen these students with the need to feel comfortable and safe within the classroom, even more so than other students. With this, I want to focus on learning about how Assistive Technology can help these students express their understanding of academics as well as social skills such as emotions. I have learned during my time at MSU that there are many amazing programs out there and I want to make these available to my students. Autism Consortium not only gives resources about different types of Assistive Technology, but can also help me in my desire to promote advocacy with their information about how to obtain these resources.
Ultimately, the MAED program has helped me achieve what I wanted to do, provide my students with tools to be successful in our school, especially those who do not come with all of the pieces they need. I want to continue helping my students obtain these tools to be successful while also stepping into roles to help parents and co-workers of students with disabilities. This is a life long journey as each and every child is different and brings different pieces to the table.
