Image from FlickrThere has been a frustrating situation at school for the past couple of weeks. I talked to my team (OT and SLP) and my boss about it and presented my data, but still didn't feel like I had a good grasp on what the data was telling me. Finally, following a teachers meeting I casually mentioned what was going on to a couple of other teachers and one of them had the answer in under a minute. It all seemed so obvious and so much more workable once I had that input.I am wondering, how do other special educators, working in intensive special education classrooms, get input from their "job-alike" colleagues? One of the things I love about this field if the ability to work on my own according to my own timetable at whatever pace my students demand and at the same time on of the things I find most difficult is how isolating that can be at times. Please comment and share what works for you.
I have a colleage with a similar class (younger) next door. This gives me a wonderful resource for bouncing ideas. Yes, it can be very isolating in our field. I am in a high school and I find it much more so as each department hangs together and there are only two of us special ed people.
ReplyDeleteIt really is isolating, as there are no other teachers in my building that do anything close to what I do. Even other special educators are doing co-teaching. And they are all so young and new!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about walking away for quite some time, and isolation is one big factor. But getting out online has been rewarding on a lot of levels and sharing what I do. I don't get 'round here as often as I'd like as my school block blogger!:-(
D.