Welcome to the World of Teaching! How Can I Take Your Order? (Part 2) by Kim Reza

Welcome to the World of Teaching! How Can I Take Your Order? (Part 2)

Help! I have IEPs to write, lessons to develop, meetings to attend, the list goes on and on…Plus, I need to collaborate with the general education teachers. How do I manage it all?

To be honest, as a special education teacher, collaboration with general educators tends to be one of the hardest parts of the job. Over the last few years, the expectations for the amount of time special education students spend in the general education classroom has increased significantly. These adjustments have impacted me greatly. Not only do I have to control what is going on in my classroom; but I also need to implement support for my students mainstreaming in other classrooms.

On my previous blog,( Tips for collaboration among teachers and parents. Click here: Welcome to the World of Teaching! How Can I Take Your Order? (Part 1), I compared collaboration with team members to my experience as a waitress. The parents are the "customers"; our colleagues are the other "severs" on the floor. As a waitress, there were often times I felt overwhelmed by the customers' demands. In order to satisfy the customers, I would have to rely on the other servers to help pick up the slack. At first I took their help for granted, assuming it was our job to support one another. This assumption,lead to bitterness and reluctance to help from the other waiters, when I needed it the most. I quickly realized I needed another approach in order to get the support I needed. I started to build relationships. I learned to collaborate and communicate. We would voice our struggles and come up with a plan. I would look for opportunities to help others (bus tables, drop of drinks/ food, write orders, pick up shifts). I showed appreciation (shared tips, did extra side work, spoke highly to the manager).  By simply implementing these tips into my daily routine, I developed genuine relationships with my colleagues. I was confident with the service we provided, as a result, the customers left happy and wanted to come back.

To best support “OUR STUDENTS”, now, more than ever, collaboration between special education teachers and general education teachers need to take place in a meaningful way. I can see the challenges from both perspectives, having filled both positions during my teaching career. To promote collaboration between these equally important groups, here are some tips that I've learned from being a waitress that I hope will help.

1.       Build Relationships: I personally believe, in order to build strong foundations for collaboration, effort needs to be made outside the classroom. My first year of teaching, I would eat in my classroom because I was overwhelmed by the work that needed to get done. Over time, I began to see the negative effects of isolating myself. No one really knew me, so it was harder to approach the general education teachers for collaboration. Once I began putting in more effort to make connections outside the classroom, (like joining the staff during lunch, making small talk while making copies, acknowledging all with greetings, etc.), it became less intimidating to initiate collaboration.

2.       Collaborate and Communicate: When working with a large team of professionals, communication is key. Although we all work with the same student, each one of us is working through a different lens. Communicating the student’s strengths, needs, and growth is so important when working with the general education teacher. Collaboration is also crucial. We can work together to plan instruction, services, aids, and supports for the student. The special education teacher and general education teacher are each experts in their own area, and collaborating can benefit not only your students with an IEP, but all of our students.

3.    Bring something to the table: When collaborating with general educators, I try to never come “empty handed”. When I mainstream a student, I find ways throughout the year to best support the general teacher. Here are some examples: My instructional aides and I have used our prep to administer the Wonders’ Fluency Test in the general education classes, make copies, provided extra support, opened my classroom for any of their students, monitored and gave strategies for students of concern. Warning- There is a fine line between support and being taken advantage of, so only provide what you feel comfortable with.

4.       Show Appreciation: I truly appreciate the general education teachers I collaborate with. I try to show them my appreciation throughout the year with simple reminders. Here are some simple ways to show thanks: random notes of praise throughout the year, before Thanksgiving break and during teacher appreciation week, I ask my mainstreamed students to come up with ways to show appreciation, shout outs during meetings, a smile paired with a thank you, samples of student improvement, etc.

“The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives” –Robert John Meehan

I humbly admit successful collaboration with general education teachers is still a skill I constantly struggle to maintain. Please add any additional tips to this blog.

At the end of the day, we are severing the same "customers".

For the Love of Teaching,

Kim Reza