Innovation Proposal

Dear Central Office Staff,

Many students who have a learning disability and in special education classes spend their whole day inside the same classroom with the same students and teachers five days a week. With me being a special education teacher, I understand that some students become anxious and begin to move around the room and ask to go outside because it's not fun to be in the same area for almost eight hours a day. SPED students should be able to have the same opportunity to communicate with other students outside of their own classroom. At my campus, we started a program called Inclusion where a SPED student gets to participate in a general education classroom lesson once a week for about 45 minutes. I feel as though Inclusions would benefit all SPED students because they get to go out and interact, they get to participate and answer questions or play games with the supervision of a teacher assistant so if anything ever goes wrong, that assistant is there to help. Another problem that special education students face is that they are not utilizing technology as much as general education students. Technology can be a great learning system for special education students since they have millions of resources out there that the students can utilize. I believe there are ways that sped and general education students can communicate and work together while using technology.

The problem with SPED students being secluded can be solved by having one-on-one sessions with a general education student a couple of days a week working on an ePortfolio. One general student can work with a SPED student to help create and build each other’s ePortfolio with the supervision of a support staff who has a broad knowledge of ePortfolios. These one-on-one sessions can teach both students about patience, communication, and the ability to work with others that are not on the same spectrum as them. I am proposing that with the supervision from a support staff, special and general education students can have one-on-one sessions twice a week outside of their perspective classrooms to work and build on their own ePortfolio. To get started, I am proposing that both students get assigned to watch a few videos at home with parent supervision on ePortfolios and jot down a few notes about it. I would then want the students to come to school and sit with their partner student and support staff and explain what ePortfolios are and to see if they have any questions. With this proposal, more parent engagement will be needed. I am also proposing that each SPED student get to participate in Inclusions once a week to get the feeling and joy of being around other students and participating in the teachers’ lesson.

Both general and special education students can benefit from these sessions. First, it gives SPED students the chance to get involved with other peers while teaching proper and improper communication skills. Next, it teaches SPED students how to use technology and navigate resources. Third, it teaches both students the benefits of an ePortfolio that they can use for the rest of their schooling. Another is it gives general ed students a teaching ability to show, guide, and direct another student. It shows the student empathy and the ability to work with someone who is on a different spectrum than them.

I will first pilot my innovation proposal with a few of my special education students before concerning general education teachers with my idea. I will get the students parents involved and explain to them my idea so that it can increase their engagement with their child watching those videos at home. I will assign two or three videos to the students and have them watch them at home with their parent's supervision. I would like the student and parent to jot down a few notes on what they learned about ePortfolios and any questions they might have. Students will then come to school and engage with the support staff on what they watched and learned. Data tracking will be very important while students are doing one-on-ones. I will give a sheet to the support staff working with the students so they can take notes on ePortfolio progress, technology progress for the SPED student, and how the general education student is getting along and working with the SPED student. I will find one or two general education teachers to help pilot all SPED students going to Inclusion once a week with a teacher assistant. The general education teacher just must provide me with a time frame and the lesson she will be teaching so that the SPED student can come into the class, be prepared, and participate. I am asking for all educators to give students a chance to teach other students instead of the teacher always doing it. It exemplifies freedom, opportunity, and a leadership role for general education students while also teaching both students empathy.

Thank you for your consideration,

Jasmin Galbert