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Study Hall from School News Network
Helping Ellie learn: ‘I want her to be a part of everything, just as she is’
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which requires children with disabilities be educated to the “maximum extent possible” with non-disabled students. At Meadow Ridge Elementary School in Rockford, Michigan, a team of educators is doing just that for Ellie Gard, a student with Down syndrome, who learns in a general-ed classroom alongside her second-grade peers. We talk with two of her teachers and her mother about how they work together to make this work.
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Well, hello everyone, and welcome back to Study Hall from School News Network, your window into the public schools of Kent County, Michigan, and beyond. Today we're here at Meadow Ridge Elementary School in Rockford to talk about how schools are enabling students with special needs to get their learning done in regular K-12 classrooms. Those special ed students are required by federal law to be placed in the least restrictive environment that is able to meet their educational needs. Fifty years ago, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, better known as IDEA, a civil rights law that guarantees a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment to each eligible student with a disability. That means, to the maximum extent possible, placing students in classrooms with general education students and providing the accommodations and services they need to succeed. Well, here at MeadowRidge, Ellie Gard, a second grader with Down syndrome, is seeing that success in a mainstream classroom. That's thanks to a team of educators coming up with cool and creative ways to help Ellie learn alongside her general education classmates. We'll be talking with two teachers who team up to make this work for Ellie, and with Ellie's mother, Jennifer Gard, a special education parent liaison for Kent ISD, who's pushed all along for Ellie's best educational opportunities. So let's start by going into the classroom of second grade teacher Claire Wittenbach, where Ellie is getting a little extra help from ESort's teacher, Meredith Dampierre.
SPEAKER_02:What's this word? Mom. Mom had hung wet socks. Can you find the socks? Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And what so we're back from LA's classroom to talk with her mother Jennifer and her resource teacher, Meredith, who is helping her just now with that reading lesson. We're gonna dig a little deeper into LA's educational experience and how this model of the least restrictive environment works for students like her. First, Meredith, can you tell us tell us about how you just accommodated uh accommodated Ellie's needs so that she could read along with her fellow second graders in that lesson?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so as you saw, there were her, it was a whole class uh group lesson. So Ellie was down on the rug. Um I really like to have her work with other kids who are sitting around her. Um so Ellie was kind of munching on her snack and drinking her water. Um, but I just try to facilitate that conversation between the students. They're only in second grade. Um they're kind of learning these conversational skills too. So I had uh the copy of the book and I was kind of pointing things out to Ellie, um, focusing on some key vocab words that I think would be relevant for her. Um so one of the words was lap, you know. So we were talking about the cat, Claire had a visual there. Um, and you know, she was like making the motion. We talked about what a cat does. We talked about do dogs drink milk, and she said, no, Toby drinks water, her own dog Toby. Um, so I was just really in that story, it focused on comprehension, and I was just trying to make it relevant for her. So pointing things out in the pictures, encouraging her to do the same thing, um, and then also pointing words out for her and having her point words out in the story too. So one of the words was the that she knows pretty well. So I was encouraging her to find it in a sentence, point it out, read it, um, and was another word, um, just kind of trying to bring it back to what she knows and to capitalize on her strengths. Um, and then when we went back to do the comprehension questions at the end, uh, she was working with two other students. So again, just facilitating that conversation, making sure that when they were reading out loud, that I was um kind of repeating what they were reading so that Ellie could hear it a second time. Um, and then asking her to circle the letter that kind of the group had decided on was the best answer. Um, I also had my book open then and was kind of going into the text and saying, oh, hey, like here's the answer to this question. What was dad? I think one of the ones was you swinging on a belt. So we looked at the picture. What's dad swinging on? A belt, okay. Um, she knows her letters. I said, we, you know, belt is on letter A. Can you circle letter A? So she got her pencil out and she was circling the letter. Um, so again, kind of working within what she knows, making it relevant for her and trying to involve her in as much as a lesson as I could.
SPEAKER_03:And I thought it was really nice that she was just like part of the whole group, you know. You like at times you're working with other students and her on this on the same exercise. Uh, how how does she do with reading? Is this a strength of hers? Is this an area uh area she needs a lot of help with?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Uh it's definitely an area that she needs um some support in. Um so I when I see her in my resource room class, um, we work on reading. That's one of her IEP goals.
SPEAKER_03:Um individualized educational plan? Yes, yep.
SPEAKER_02:Um, so she is doing that with me. Um, and then her when she's in the classroom, her um the support staff, they also help her. They know where her goals are what her goals are. So they're working with um with her on those things in there too when they can, um, as well as modifying the curriculum.
SPEAKER_03:So uh sh you work with her on other areas as well, like math, for instance. Yes. Yep.
SPEAKER_02:So she has reading and math goals. Um, and then she also has um different itinerant staff that she gets other supports um from as well. Aaron Powell Okay.
SPEAKER_03:And there are two paraprofessionals who work with her as well, I understand.
SPEAKER_02:Aaron Ross Powell Yes. So one has been with her, is this her third year, second, third year. Third year. Um and she is just with her in the afternoon this year, and then she has another one in the morning. So she has two different individuals.
SPEAKER_03:Aaron Powell So you spend time with her in the main classroom uh like you did this morning. Other times you'll you'll bring her out into your resource room to work on particular skills. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So um my job is to right, I pull Ellie into my resource room to work on her IEPs and goals and objectives. Um, and that's really where we're working on those foundational skills. Um and I I like to pull her out for that part because she's not, you know, she's doing something different than the rest of the class. So she's not distracted by the other kids and they're not distracted by what she's doing. Um it's just a little bit of a different setting. So I'm pulling her out to work on those things every day. I see her for about an hour a day to work on reading and math. And then a couple of things. You mean in the resource room? In the resource room. And then a couple times a week I get into the classroom and I just help kind of facilitate kind of what you saw today. So taking a look at a lesson, um, you know, the CKLA curriculum, which is our ELA curriculum.
SPEAKER_03:Um English language arts.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, it is um, you know, it follows, it's pretty structured and it follows the same pattern. So it makes it a little easier to instruct other people who are working with her in the classroom how to modify. Um, but so part of my job is to go into the classroom and, you know, I kind of model for them or I give them ideas and say, hey, when we have, you know, the read aloud, this is what we're gonna do to modify in this instance. When we have this, this is what we're gonna do. So it's kind of an instructional time for me to work with the support staff who are working with her. Um and it's also a time for me to check in and just see how things are going with Ellie and just kind of see for myself, like, what are we doing well? What do we need to keep working harder on?
SPEAKER_03:Right. So, Jennifer, you are her first teacher, of course, and her mother. Um Ellie, you said was adopted from China at age three and a half, correct? Correct. Um, so I'd like to hear your story of how you've supported her education and um how you help other parents to support their kids. But first of all, how do you think Ellie is doing in this setting, this push-in, pull-out kind of being in the mainstream classroom?
SPEAKER_00:I think she's doing really well and and thriving because of the um flexibility and knowledge that the team brings to the table. And I also think um because of the collaboration of the team, I think that really um is probably the the primary reason why she's making so many gains. Um obviously we know her gains might look different than her peers' gains. And you know, that's something that um I always have to kind of remind myself about. I think as a parent of a child with a disability, sometimes you um, especially given that she's in a gen ed classroom, sometimes you you get into that comparison mode uh when you're with her and her peers and seeing that um, yes, she's Ellie, you know, she's exactly who she's meant to be. Um and her skills are progressing, even though they might look differently. So but she's made a lot of great gains here. And uh again, I I think um, you know, my mindset is um her progress is going to be based on the team's ability to find what works for her. And I think they've done a phenomenal job here doing that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it looks like she's getting great attention. Yes. Um, we'll get into the whole, you know, how we came up, you came up with this plan for her, but in general, what would you say are the benefits uh for Ellie working in a gen ed classroom as opposed to like a self-contained classroom for special education students?
SPEAKER_00:Sure. Um I think this is something I think about all the time with her, just because uh, you know, I I worked in the school previously and and I've worked in uh like early childhood special education, which is like the first start of where students begin in special education. And, you know, generally from there, those students might go into a self-contained program or have um more needs that require assistance. And so, you know, bringing Ellie home and kind of looking at what the trajectory of what her education might look like, you know, there was always that continuous thought around, you know, is that self-contained? Is that gen ed? Um, I just knew that she deserves to be a part of her community and her community is in her school with her peers that she's in the community with. And um, I felt like she deserved to be in that space. And I and I also believe that it's pretty, it's a pretty amazing experience for other students as well to build empathy and understanding and to realize that um we're not all the same, we're different, those things are okay. Um, it's okay to be different, it's okay to celebrate that. Um, and that, you know, her I don't know. I just I feel like for me, I just I really want her to be a part of of everything, um, just as she is. And and I I don't think it's too much to ask. Um, I know there are challenges there, and I know that it takes some flexibility and it takes some creativity to make it work. Um, but I I just think it's the best option for her.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Now I know you work with other parents on this very thing. Um, so you are a parent liaison for the Kent ISD Special Education Department, correct? Correct. Um, so what do you do exactly in that role? And uh yeah, tell tell us more about that.
SPEAKER_00:So that role uh was created to help support parents in increasing their knowledge and awareness of resources for not just themselves, but for their their child and understanding special education as a whole is is very challenging. Um I have the special education background and now I'm a parent, so I I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of that system. Um, and I just want other parents to feel a little bit of that as well. I think when it comes to special education, it comes to your child, it comes to the IEP team, um, and creating that plan, a parent is supposed to meaningfully engage in that process and be a part of the team and the decision making. That becomes very challenging when you don't understand special education or the IEP process or what your role is as a member of that team for your child. And so I think in my role, I have the ability to provide resources and answer questions and address concerns that parents might have as they're navigating that. Kent County is a resource-rich county, but sometimes can be very overwhelming. So it's it's taking the resources and streamlining them down to what the parent actually is looking for. And then also supporting their communication with their district and their IEP team. I can give them all the resources in the world and answer questions, but if that collaboration and communication isn't there, um the challenges are going to continue to exist.
SPEAKER_03:So the the the IEP keeps coming up, so let's talk about that for a second. Individual individualized education plan? Correct. Correct. Uh now, does this flow out of the um IDEA Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act as part of those requirements? Correct, yes. Yeah. And tell us what the IEP uh process is. How does that work and how did it work for Ellie?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Um, so trying to think of a way to do it without it feeling like that's all. Yeah, there's a lot. Um so the individualized education plan is a plan and actually a program for students who have disabilities. So once a student is evaluated and found eligible for special education, that plan is then created. And that plan is created based on the data or the information that is received through that evaluation process.
SPEAKER_03:And who does the evaluation and who's part of the team?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so the team consists of the school team, obviously. So usually a school psychologist, and independent upon what the students' needs are. Um, so for Ellie, there was a social worker involved, a speech path involved, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, the school psychologist. So there were a lot of individuals involved in that process. Um, usually there's a special education teacher, a general education teacher. Um, so lots of people are involved, and then also a parent. So there's parent input provided, uh, forms might be filled out by a parent or evaluation documents. So everybody is playing a role in that process, and then that plan is created with that team. Um, so when the team meets for that IEP meeting, um, that's where they go over, you know, where is the student at currently? What are their strengths? What are some of the challenges or areas of growth that are needed? And it identifies then those areas and then corresponding goals to those so that we can take where the student currently is and make that progress. So, what is that going to look like? What does that take? How often does someone need to meet with the student? Um, for what length of time? You know, just it covers basically anything the student might need to have access to the curriculum, to their peers, to the educational setting. Um, it creates that plan to support that.
SPEAKER_03:So, when did Ellie first have her IEP?
SPEAKER_00:Um, so Ellie was received her first IEP in spring of 2020. Um, so right during COVID, which wasn't a great time to have an IEP, uh, when everybody was learning. So, um, but that's when she did, and then she started in an early childhood special education program in fall of 2020.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. And she's been in the Rockford Public Schools uh mainstream gen ed program all along. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_00:So she was in early childhood special education, which is actually a self-contained preschool for special education. However, she did attend a private preschool, just um I enrolled her in that because I wanted her to have an opportunity to be with general education peers. Um, and so uh we took her to a paid for private preschool along with her self-contained um early childhood special education preschool setting. Um and then when she exited that early childhood special education program, she did go right into general education in Rockford.
SPEAKER_03:Starting with kindergarten?
SPEAKER_00:Uh she went into developmental kindergarten first.
SPEAKER_03:And you've been working with her all along, I understand, is that right? Yes. Um now coming out of that IEP, then the decision was made to have her in the Gen Ed classrooms with these supports, correct? That's correct. Now, according to Michigan Alliance for Families, which is a statewide resource for families with kids in special education, the regular classroom in the school the student would attend if not disabled is the first placement option considered for each student before a more restrictive placement is considered. Now, that is in the law, right? That is in the federal law from 1975, that that is the goal. Is that correct? Correct. And how is that determination made? How do you decide? I mean, you you've got all these inputs, but in Allie's case, how is it decided that she needs this much time in the classroom, she needs this much time pulled out, and so forth. And um, how much of a role does a parent play in kind of pushing for that end goal as you clearly have?
SPEAKER_00:So um, you know, I think that determination came from her early childhood special education teacher and some of the providers that were working with her, um, as well as information that um I brought to the table from her gen ed preschool and how she was managing that general education preschool setting. Um, and then also I think me just verbalizing that um that was my desire for her and providing the reasons why I felt that was my desire for her and also knowing the law that her gen ed classroom is her um least restrictive environment. Um and you know, I think sometimes when uh we have the situation where students are in those early childhood special education programs, we don't have a lot of information or data on how they might function in a general education setting because they've been they've been in a self-contained program for their preschool years and haven't had access to that perhaps. Um so I think it's it can be hard to say, you know, well, we're gonna go from this self-contained program to another self-contained program, but we don't have information to say that she couldn't go into GenEd. So I felt that having um, you know, pushing for that developmental kindergarten setting is was gonna be kind of our way of seeing, you know, how does she do here with these supports? And I think the the individualized education plan also has to provide um an exhaustive list of supports and and services and accommodations and modifications before you get to a point where you would say the student can't be in general education because they require more. And so um we went into that year kind of um with this layered IEP of all these supports and and and things that she might need. Um, and so going into it, she was highly supported in that environment. And so it was successful. Um, and and again, going back to the fact that there's challenges, right? And I I think each year we meet um for an annual individualized education plan. You have to meet every year to update or make changes. Um and so every year we meet, we we talk about that. You know, what are the current um plans in place for her? What are the the services? How are they going? Um, she was released from her physical therapy, she does well with that. Um, you know, the social emotional piece with the social worker has ebbed and flowed over the years, dependent on her needs. Um, even the use of the um support staff. Uh so when she went into DK, it was just written that she would have a one-to-one uh support staff person with her in school. Um, we've become over over the years, we've worked together to kind of identify what are the times she doesn't need this support system. Where can we allow her to be more independent? Um, just knowing that when students generally have that one-to-one pair all the time, they can become very dependent on them and also can miss out on peer time because they're with this adult. Um, and so it was really important for me, and I think for the team as well, to really over the years identify how these supports look to best help her in that setting. And that was one that we definitely have put some energy into.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So, Meredith, it was it struck me how sort of like quietly and unobtrusively you did that work with uh Ellie in the group reading lesson. Um and do you work pretty closely with the classroom teacher uh with Claire on how this is gonna work without kind of disrupting the cloud the the whole classroom?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so um like you notice, I try to be like as minim, like I try to help her as minimally as I can while still feeling like she's being supported. So um if there is a whole group lesson, I want her to be focused on Claire. I don't want her to have to have every instruction repeated by me or me directing because she's just going to, you know, kind of not listen as much to her classroom teacher if that's the case. Um and I think Jen kind of talked about that independence. That's definitely on the top of our list is trying to find ways that Ellie can be more independent throughout the day. And that's kind of one of them when we do whole group. Um I try to kind of bounce back and forth, like today she was on the rug. Um, I kind of pushed, I kind of um backed up a bit when Ellie didn't need me right then, just so she can be with her peers. Um and what sometimes happens is kind of like what Jennifer referred to as well, like she'll want to have a side conversation with me, right? Or she'll want to like, you know, touch my hair or do something like that because we have a great relationship and she's you know the cutest, sweetest thing ever. Um so I try to give myself a little distance when she doesn't need me, and then I'm there if she if she does.
SPEAKER_03:You seem to have a really nice report with her, and I could see her pointing things out in the book as you were reading along with her. Um so talk about some of the other accommodations you've made for her. I understand you've done some pretty cool stuff like with reading to help her recognize words and so forth.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so in the classroom, she obviously has small group testing, um, she has text-to-speech on on assessments as well, um, just because she is a few years behind in the area of reading. Uh we have um visual schedule for her, um, which I don't I don't know if you saw while we were in there, but she's very um she really loves rewards, especially goldfish crackers. Um and so we kind of work together to find a way with our social worker with Jen and Brian to um kind of do like a she's working throughout the session and then we give her her goldfish crackers instead of having to do it like one by one for a compliance, you know, something that she's doing with us. So she has a visual schedule um with that kind of that positive reinforcement. The visual schedule has Velcroed um pictures on it so she can kind of monitor her day. So one side says like, I think it says like will do, and then the other side is done. Um so she's moving the pictures over.
SPEAKER_03:Um and she as she goes through the the various lessons throughout the day.
SPEAKER_02:As she goes through her transitions. Yep. So there's pictures of the people who she's going to see, recess, um, her at lunch, stuff like that. Yeah. Um, and she does really well with that. That was kind of made because she was having a hard time with transitions. Um, she's pulled, you know, for different people or out to different people throughout the day. Um, obviously her class needs to transition a lot, so we use that visual schedule to just help the, you know, make those transitions as seamless as possible.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. And you've got a picture book that you made for her, right? Yes, yep.
SPEAKER_02:So with reading, um, Ellie is definitely a whole word learner. Um a lot of students, especially students with Down syndrome, they really struggle with that um that phonemic awareness piece, so hearing sounds and words, especially students um, you know, who aren't who communicate differently. Um and so we also know that Ellie really, you know, she has a lot of interests. Um, and so I try to kind of stay up to date on her on her most recent interests. Um, but just making books um that involve high interest words in them. Um, so for example, basketball, she loves to swim. Um Spider-Man was from last year. Um, but I'm teaching her to read those words and then also high-frequency words, you know, like the and a things that really we're gonna have to read in basic sentences. So I teach her both of those, whole word reading. Um, and then Jennifer and Brian provide me with a lot of pictures of Ellie at home. We take pictures of her at school, and we make books for her with a sentence that she can read. Um, so like the one I have here um has all of the things that she likes. And so this one says, I like my family. It has a picture of her family, I like to run. There's a picture of Ellie running. So she's really interested in reading the stuff about her. You know, she likes to see the pictures. She'll go through and, you know, point out what she's doing. Um, and these are all words that she knows and can read. So she feels really successful when she can when she can read her books.
SPEAKER_03:And she can verbalize to a fair degree, correct? And she can express how she's feeling about these things. Now I know you work, you said about 15 kids in the in the building, right? Here and there. It's in on this kind of push, push-in-pull-out system, right, depending on their IEPs and what they need. Yep. Now, there's always this balance that I understand is can be tough when you're uh putting a child with special needs into a gen ed classroom. Uh how much attention uh uh do you need to put on the child to meet that child's needs versus how much attention do you need to put on the other students to meet those students' needs? And sometimes I think parents worry that their kids aren't getting enough attention because this one's getting too much. How do you how do you negotiate that balance with between the two of you to make sure Ellie's not distracting or detracting from the education of the other kids?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, excuse me. Ellie, I mean, as what you probably saw, like she is really great at following classroom routines. She's really great at mimicking and watching her peers. Um, she's getting a lot out of being in that classroom environment. And she's not really distracting to her peers. Um, she has, you know, pretty typical behavior in the classroom.
SPEAKER_03:And you're not having to slow down the material for her benefit, right? For the other kids. Is that right, Jen?
SPEAKER_00:Correct. Yeah. And I I think that that goes back again to just that collaboration and communication within the team. Um, you know, that that includes everyone. So I think, you know, Meredith has uh a working relationship with Claire and with the the support staff, and so everyone is is kind of on that same page. Um you just created that Google Doc that's shared with everyone, so then it's any updates or information or um relevant pieces of information that anyone who's working with her and myself and Brian, my husband, all have the same information. And um, you know, I think that that when you think about having a student with Ellie's needs in general education, um, it can feel overwhelming because she is learning at such a different rate than her peers. And I think for a general education teacher, unfortunately, um the training for their job is different, uh, their schooling is different. Um it's not that they're not capable, I just don't think they're being prepared um appropriately. I think we're moving in a different direction, so that's good where the general education teachers will have more experiences and training with special education students because if we want inclusion to work, that's really who needs that information. Um special education staff are trained, they know what to do, they know how to do it, but they don't have the ability. Um, you know, they're not teaching that class. So I think that that um relationship and that dynamic um has to have some energy put into it upfront from the beginning to make it work at all. Um and so I think that's kind of what you see here is that there's been um whether they felt like they had time to do it or not, they're doing it, um, and it's working um fairly well for now. And so I think that's really critical.
SPEAKER_03:So it's a pretty resource-intensive system, right, to make this work. There's a lot of people involved. Um there's been some cut cutting at the federal level, at least, from special education from the US Department of Education. How concerned are you that um this could impact your ability to deliver the necessary service for s for kids like Ellie to succeed in in classrooms?
SPEAKER_00:So I I think that in order to have all students succeed in classrooms. um students like Ellie, students in Gen Ed, you know, um and and Ellie is is kind of uh I don't want to say that we weren't doing inclusion before, you know, as far as like what kind of students, you know, what types of disabilities we have in Gen Ed settings or how extensive is an IEP before we say they need to be in a self-contained program. But I do think in order for it to work for students with LE's needs, we have to have the staff available. And we have the staff has to have the time available in order to do that. And when we cut funding, special education unfortunately, gets hit. And so I think when we think about like a resource room teacher, you know, ideally it would be great if all of inner if all of Ellie's intervention could take place in the classroom, right? That would be fabulous. But that's not the reality because we just we just don't have that level of support staff. They just don't have the the time. And so I think then that's what Meredith does is is she's able to be somewhat flexible in having that pull out and that push in. And I I think that work that can work well too. I think you we just have to find ways um to make it feasible and focus on the student you know what they need sure so um to to kind of close up here um you work with parents trying to educate them about this whole process.
SPEAKER_03:What would you say to parents in terms of their place in the process, their the importance of their place and in advocating the best for their child what what what do you advise them?
SPEAKER_00:I I think the best advice I could get is is just to try to have constant communication and to not be shy from communicating even if the staff there are not communicating with you directly. You know I think we obviously have some great communication in our team and between the school staff and myself but I don't put that all on them to do that communicating. And so I think it can be intimidating though for parents and so that's why I think also you have to educate yourself somewhat you know you have to find those resources that help you understand what it is that there's their child's receiving. But I think always always communicate and always insert yourself into the conversation because your um hopes and dreams and goals for your child when they're little and then their goals for themselves are extremely important to be verbalized at the table.
SPEAKER_03:So we earlier had a chance to talk with um Ellie's second grade classroom teacher Claire Wittenbach and asked her how this is going from her perspective being the sort of the the the coach of the team that uh serves uh Ellie's uh particular educational needs so um claire thanks so much for talking with us a little bit um what's it been why what's it been like for you to work with Ellie this year and kind of student is she what do you what do you think she brings to the classroom?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah it it's been a truly remarkable experience I was really excited when I saw her name on my list this summer um I've known her just you know seeing her around the building and I was excited to actually be the one to have her in my class this year. Ellie loves school especially PE she really gets excited about attending PE class. So um you know she's she's engaged she mimics her classmates so I think you know being in the Gen Ed classroom setting is it's really beneficial for her. Beneficial for her how how about the other students is it of benefit to them do you think absolutely yeah they um you know are learning that students learn in different ways um I've seen them just use extra patience with her they're very helpful so I feel like they're learning compassion from a young age and it's it's been remarkable to see.
SPEAKER_03:I I was pleased to see how much a part of thing she was during that reading lesson. She was right down there on the rug with all the other students and and there were times that she was interacting with other students do you uh try to find ways to uh have her uh more involved interacting with the Gen Ed students in your class so that she is feels you know more part of the lesson absolutely I have the same expectations you know if we're at the carpet learning Ellie's at the carpet learning if we are at our seats Ellie's at her seat um so I have those expectations for her and she's required or expected to speak with her turn and talk partners whenever a lesson incorporates that um and students are good at engaging her and asking her or you know um trying to help her understand um so yeah she's really much really a part of the lesson as much as she can be I noticed at one point when they were going to get their notebooks for for desk work another student brought Ellie's notebook to her is that typical that students will kind of look out for her and help help her out with things when needed yes they always often help her um you know they're patient with her they know that she might have different needs and so they're naturally looking out for her which I think is is really special sweet it is what are what are some of the challenges that come with you know we're talking about the least restrictive environment for these students with integrating a student with special needs like Ellie into the broader classroom to make sure that her needs are being met uh but also the other students' needs are being met can that be a challenging at times I think it can be challenging but I think as a teacher we are always facing unique challenges.
SPEAKER_01:So having Ellie in my room I think has really helped me as an educator. I know she does well with visuals um so I've incorporated those into my lessons and I know that helps other students as well so some of the accommodations I'm providing thinking about her really has impacted my teaching as a whole and I think helps other students as well. But then again having the support of our para pros, having the support of Meredith really makes the differentiating and the scaffolding much more accessible.
SPEAKER_03:So you don't feel like you ever have to like so sort of slow down the material for for her sake?
SPEAKER_01:I don't think I'm slowing down no I think that that's where Meredith or the other para pros come into play you know as I am teaching they are the ones kind of making the decisions in the moment scaffolding parts of the lesson to make them more accessible so you guys you and you and Meredith work pretty closely together in terms of how you design this stuff. We do yes we have a monthly meeting um but I mean we are constantly in communication so um yeah she's been a vital person to use this and it sounds like you really enjoy having Ellie in your class too I really enjoy having Ellie in my class yes and other students do as well.
SPEAKER_03:Well I really want to thank you for spending time uh you're very busy people I know and um I'm so glad we had the the the chance to address this uh it's a big it's a big uh uh a big element of what goes on in schools today and uh so thanks for talking with me Jennifer and Meredith uh and Claire and thanks to our listeners for coming to Study Hall today for learned a thing or two from the conversation and I look forward to joining you again soon on our webpage schoolnewsnetwork.org or wherever you get your podcasts. See you next time and don't forget your pencil
