1st and 4th Grade Resource Teacher
In June 2021, I accepted my first full-time teaching position as a 1st and 4th-grade resource teacher. As a resource teacher for the 2021-2022 school year, I have gained experience in using the Indiana IEP website, writing IEPs, holding case conferences, and writing FBAs and BIPs. Throughout this school year, I have written two Functional Behavior Assessments and Behavior Intervention Plans for two different students. I have also taken part in four initial evaluations and multiple reevaluations. Additionally, I have written many social stories, created visual schedules for students, collected 5-minute data for multiple students, and adapted academic work to meet students' needs. I also led a small group using our Fundations phonemic awareness curriculum, throughout the entire school year to help support students who need more interventions in decoding and encoding.
In addition to helping students and writing IEPs, FBAs, and BIPs, I have grown in my ability to communicate and collaborate with classroom teachers, other building-based team members, and parents. I have found that involving parents and asking for their input on how to best help their children learn in the classroom setting, has helped me to build strong relationships with my students' families and help parents feel more involved in their child's education. Similarly, communicating with classroom teachers gives me another perspective on my students, as the teachers sometimes see my students at different points in the day when I am not there. I always want to be sure I am getting a full picture of my students' academic and behavioral progress in the classroom. I also want to be sure I am working together with the classroom teachers to create the best plan for my students to help them learn and grow as much as possible. Finally, I try to communicate with specialists as much as I can. This includes our school reading specialists, Occupational Therapist, Speech and Language Pathologist, and Physical Therapist. I work closely with all of these people to create a comprehensive plan for my students.
This year of being a resource teacher has taught me how to be more flexible and how to better manage my time. I have learned that student's individual plans don't always work the way the building-based team may have intended them to. Whenever the team notices that something is not working well for the student, we work together to create a new plan. It is situations like these that have helped me to be more flexible. This has also shown me that the student's success is what is most important. I always want to be sure the team is doing all that we can to promote our students' success. Additionally, I have gained better time management skills this year. Making sure I have student IEPs completed a couple of days before the case conference has been beneficial, so I have time to review the IEP and make sure it is well written and comprehensive. I also like to read through IEP goals with specialists and classroom teachers before the case conference, so I can be sure the entire team is in on the same page and that everybody agrees on the goals that have been written.
While this year has been busy and full of new challenges, it has given me experience that I will use throughout my career as a teacher. I have greatly enjoyed my time at Forest Dale Elementary as a resource teacher, and I am incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to work in this position.
In addition to helping students and writing IEPs, FBAs, and BIPs, I have grown in my ability to communicate and collaborate with classroom teachers, other building-based team members, and parents. I have found that involving parents and asking for their input on how to best help their children learn in the classroom setting, has helped me to build strong relationships with my students' families and help parents feel more involved in their child's education. Similarly, communicating with classroom teachers gives me another perspective on my students, as the teachers sometimes see my students at different points in the day when I am not there. I always want to be sure I am getting a full picture of my students' academic and behavioral progress in the classroom. I also want to be sure I am working together with the classroom teachers to create the best plan for my students to help them learn and grow as much as possible. Finally, I try to communicate with specialists as much as I can. This includes our school reading specialists, Occupational Therapist, Speech and Language Pathologist, and Physical Therapist. I work closely with all of these people to create a comprehensive plan for my students.
This year of being a resource teacher has taught me how to be more flexible and how to better manage my time. I have learned that student's individual plans don't always work the way the building-based team may have intended them to. Whenever the team notices that something is not working well for the student, we work together to create a new plan. It is situations like these that have helped me to be more flexible. This has also shown me that the student's success is what is most important. I always want to be sure the team is doing all that we can to promote our students' success. Additionally, I have gained better time management skills this year. Making sure I have student IEPs completed a couple of days before the case conference has been beneficial, so I have time to review the IEP and make sure it is well written and comprehensive. I also like to read through IEP goals with specialists and classroom teachers before the case conference, so I can be sure the entire team is in on the same page and that everybody agrees on the goals that have been written.
While this year has been busy and full of new challenges, it has given me experience that I will use throughout my career as a teacher. I have greatly enjoyed my time at Forest Dale Elementary as a resource teacher, and I am incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to work in this position.