FAQs

What are negotiating roles?

I have received many questions this month about collaborating and negotiating roles and responsibilities in the general setting! Some of you even said you have found yourself in the back of the room due to not having a voice during instruction. For collaboration, I always keep my eye on the ball and focus on what will success look like. In terms of having a role in the general setting offer to become part of daily lessons by enhancing or adding a layer to content that you know students will need support. Language enhancements are always a key area that special education teachers can have a role. Suggest to your co-teacher or teacher who you serve in a support role, that you will create activities with formative assessment to identify and tract student performance in area of content language development. Not only will you define a role for yourself, but this role will serve all students while tracking data. Who would say no to that?

Do you see your value?

This month I have been reviewing materials for an award that I have been nominated for. And seeing is believing. I do not know about you, but for me, I focus on doing and being so much that reviewing these materials have been humbling. With accommodations over the last few years, I have achieved much! I wanted to share this because by slowing down to make a portfolio I have been blessed with the "smell of the roses" and I am thankful if just for a moment. This process has allowed me to see the progress I have made. Last month, I shared that convincing myself that I am NOT less is not easy. Truly, if we slow ourselves for a moment, we can see the fruit of our labors and appricate our great efforts and accomplishments. Thank you to those who have believed in me, have nominated me for the Graduate Teaching Award of Excellence and stopped me for a moment to recognize that I am pretty great!

What accommodations do you use?

Over winter break I spent sometime with a scholar that has a disability. Our conversation lead me to sharing that the most difficult part of my disability is overcoming the fact that I still require accommodations. This fact does not mean that I am less, yet convincing myself of this has not been easy. Let me expand on this idea- I never shared about the things that I required in terms of support. In isolation, I would attempt to just figure it out. Sometimes that meant just working harder, losing sleep, or pushing myself to excel by creating ways to access materials alone. When doing this I never realized that my connections in terms of friends and family were sacrificed. And though hard work has served me well, I lacked confidence and sometimes true friends. I still struggle with this, pushing myself to "hide" a disability creates isolation in so many ways. Now, as a successful adult, I am beginning to allow myself to say, "I am a very successful and one reason I am successful is that I have learned to read aloud, or that I use note takers or have apps allowing me to access materials like Notes Plus". These productivity tools do not make us adults living with disabilities any less valuable.

While sharing the very tools that allow me to be productive, I have begun to accept myself and truly make friends- real-friends. My News Years Revolutions is to take credit for being amazing everyday, while not hiding my LD!

How do you keep up?

Students and adults with disabilities have been asking me how I keep up, in terms of consuming print. I write you all in hopes for you to consider supporting open source digital text. Please tolerate with me as I get to the heart of this answer. This is a cause so dear to me because if not for my ability to access alternative print, I would not be able to keep up with the many, many scholarly works in education that might lead us to increased outcomes in special education. Visit the National Center for Accessible Instructional Materials now, I am happy we are making strides in the K12 arena. But why do I, as an adult, require first demoralizing myself before I gain the ability to access alternative print that is FREE? I am a strong supporter in moving with the technological times and allowing people to privately accommodate for themselves. We teach students in the transition years how to use technology tools to support themselves. However, once we become a adults, we seem to lose all access to the very support tools we have become accustom. Unless I lead with my deficient, keep up with psych testing, and learn to navigate the very complicated bureaucratic system to regain access to print alternatives, I typically lose access. Many people that lose access to print alternatives that are supported in K12 education do not figure out how to regain it. Many of the tools that I am able to access for free require verification periods and lengthy access applications. Since I do have a disability this is ALL too overwhelming at times. It makes me feel gross, and reminds me of the very things that limit me. I feel empowered by choosing not to use supports that are otherwise free when it comes to limiting me through bureaucracy! Open source, ease of access, tools are the way to go! Now, getting to the aswer of how I keep up in terms of comsuming print. I use my Kindle (there are so many free classics that have the audio text enabled), I use audio book that I can access from the free public library, when it comes to reading on my computer, I use the PDF reader and NVDA. Any chance I have, I share that you all should also advocate for open source digital text as the new standard. Some disagree and that is OK, because we will get there opeing up resources in a way that is not LIMITING!