This week my head was spacey from being sick so instead of doing all the final edits (due to not being able to concentrate long enough in front of a screen), I started reading for the professional learning community book study that I will begin this upcoming week on UDL and Equity. I read through Chardin’s and Novak’s (2021) “Equity by Design: Delivering on the Power and Promise of UDL.” The book study will begin on Friday, and on my second read through with the group I will re-read the chapters assigned to go more in-depth. The book, itself, has some amazing links to bring UDL to life and some appendices that will help pre-service teacher candidates think about adding UDL into their lesson plans and their practice. I can bring some of these resources back to my classes and my department so that they can utilize them in their coursework.
This week I also went through educational surrogate training in New Hampshire, where I live. An education surrogate is someone that makes educational decisions for an individual on an IEP who has a parent that is unknown or can’t be located, is in DCYF custody, or a judge issued a written order that an educational surrogate is needed for any reason. As an educational surrogate, I will be representing and speaking on behalf of the child and their best educational interests as I fulfill the role of the parent at the IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting. When assigned a student to work with I will follow their entire educational career until they either graduate from the public school system, no longer need an IEP, or no longer need a surrogate due to adoption or some other reason. This role will help me keep a different pulse on what is happening in K-12 schooling than I currently have so I think this will be beneficial to my position in teacher preparation. I also think it will be good to use my expertise in this way to help teach advocacy skills to individual students, and to partner with local districts through meaningful communication in IEP meetings. I really want to partner and not be “the know it all” because I have advanced degrees in special education so how I approach communication will be really important in this role. It is usually that teachers at IEP meetings are in a position of power over the parents, but I know that when I was in K-12, if a parent was coming into my district with an advanced understanding of special education I would have been intimidated. I have to keep this “perceived power” in check and how I approach communication, I think, is the best way for me to do this. The training, itself, talked about federal and New Hampshire special education laws, appropriate communication strategies, and broke down the IEP process. There were two other individuals in the training with me, a special education director and a high school math teacher—so it was good to be in the company of other educators who want to give back to the profession in this way. After the training, I had to take a test, and I am now officially certified to take on the role of an educational surrogate. The next step is to be assigned a student that lives in my county. I am excited about this opportunity to be in schools supporting a K-12 student and to be forming a collaborative partnership with districts in this new way, as well.
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AuthorKristina Scott Archives
February 2023
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