Building a team that supports the student is essential. It is important for everyone to know their role on that team as well. If it’s possible, provide some PD to general education teachers and training for paraprofessionals about their expectations in the general education classroom.
Are you working with a general education teacher who is new to inclusion and you feel is resistant? I have had teachers who were resistant to my students entering their classroom and I always find it is because they lack knowledge themselves. I always recommend this book to teachers and have my own copy I’m more than willing to lend out:
Who should be on that team? It depends on your site and your program. Often on my students team I have myself, the general education teacher, parents, paraprofessionals, behavior specialist, speech and language pathologist, and occupational therapist.
Don’t freak out about that team! It’s a lot of people but I’m not suggesting you hold an IEP for this student all the time. Your role as case manager is to make sure the communication and expectations flow well between those team members. Is your student having trouble focusing in class, call in the expertise of your OT and see if they have suggestions they can share. Is your student lacking independence in classroom routines? Utilize a paraprofessional to structure tasks and teach the sequence (then fade themselves out). The main goal of this team is to collaborate to ensure the student in the classroom is successful.
Need a quick cheat sheet about team member roles and responsibilities. Grab this free resource.
Check back next week to get some tips on building awareness!
What are your tips for successful inclusion?
Great post, was wondering what the book was that you recommend for general education teachers?
Thanks 🙂
Kay,
It's called "Your'e Going to Love this Kid" by Paula Kluth.