Interview With a Family Friend Essay

I interviewed three different family member of all different age that have experienced my family culture in their own way. For my interview I interviewed My mother Okala Mundeke. She is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo but she moved to America when she was 35 years old and she is now 50 years old. She has grown up mostly in Congo so she has a strong knowledge of our heritage and family history since she was around it more.. My sister Emmanuella Kalonda she was born in the congo but has little memory of it since she was less than a year old when she came to america. she is currently sixteen years old. But she was raised with my mother learning about family and our culture. My next candidate is my other sister Jocelyn Fetner

I decided to interview Mrs. Seppa first because I wanted to be able to have a basis for the questions that I would ask Ms. Villalobos, who teaches in a sixth grade special education class. I noticed after reviewing and comparing responses from both teachers how much of a difference there was not only in the grade, but also the teacher. My first question was asking if they always wanted to be in the area of Special Education. I asked this because I knew I did not always see myself as a potential special education

A stereotype that is often associated with special education is that its only for students with a severe disability. Special Education is for all disabled children no matter how severe or the need for the special education services. This stereotype often leads faculty and others to misclassify or inappropriately place students in a special education program. Another stereotype is that special education can only be performed in a “special” classroom with other students with a disability. Being placed in special education doesn’t mean that the student needs to be restricted from the other students without a disability. Children with a disability should be educated in general education classrooms with typical peers as much as possible. As teachers,

I had the opportunity to interview a family very close to me whom I have been blessed to know since I was three years old. The mother Heidi, who is 59, remarried at the age of 31 to Paul, who is 57, and they have been married for 28 years now. Heidi had her first son Markie, who is now 38, with her previous husband who is no longer in the picture. Paul and Heidi have a son named Travis who is 26 and a daughter named Tina who is 24. Paul used to work as a carpenter but retired when he was 52. He then began working at a grocery store and eventually retired from there as well. Heidi also worked at a grocery and just recently retired. Paul loved what he did as a carpenter and still continues to build things for the family such as cabinets and furniture.

For this assignment, I chose to interview Ms. Lisa Parker, who is a Math co-teacher and resource teacher for grades K-5 at Krahn Elementary which is a part of the Klein Independent School District and is one of the teachers I have been observing for my field experience. Ms. Parker has been a teacher at Krahn Elementary since 17 years. She started as a 1st grade teacher and was moved to 3rd grade after three years. The administration saw that she was really good with management and math, so she was given the below average, special education students and kids with adaptive behavior after seven years of teaching. With this, she adopted a style for teaching kids with special needs and decided to get a certification in Special Education. Ms. Parker has been teaching specifically in Special Education (SPED) since five years now and the special populations served by her in Krahn elementary include Gifted and Talented students (GT), students with Autism, students with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), students with Learning disabilities (LD), students with Other Health Impairments (OHI) and Emotionally Disturbed children (EBD)

On March 6, 2017, I interviewed my host teacher, Ms. Moos. The interview took place in Ms. Moos’s room at Hamline Elementary at 11:30 A.M., which is during her prep hour, lasted for almost a half hour. Ms. Moos is an EBD (Emotional Behavioral Disorder) teacher for Kindergarten through second grade. She uses a combination of pulling students out of a general education setting, giving more intense educational support, to inclusion within a general education setting, so students are actively engaging with their peers with a more personalized and supported approach. Students that she provides services for have exceptionalities such as developmental delays, learning disabilities, and other heath disabilities.

While my grandfather, Frank Smith, and my great-grandmother, Jeannette Smith, were alive they resided in my home. I never met my grandmother, Georgie Smith, as she passed away when my mother was seven.

I completed my inclusion/diversity field experience at the Isanti Intermediate School/School for all Seasons in Isanti, MN. I was able to complete my 15 hour observation in a special education classroom. The classroom consisted of one special education teacher and multiple instructional assistants. The special education teacher taught kindergarten through 5th grade students’ social skills, math, and reading. In her social skills she currently has three 1st grade students and the topic was about stranger danger. She has as three kindergarten students, two first grade students, three third grade students, six fourth grade students, and three fifth grade students who came in throughout the day for both math and reading instruction. She also has multiple students’ come in and out for additional help with homework throughout the day. Also, one student

Are there any rules or specific roles you have set with your family to help incorporate a more functional routine?

“I want to protect my students. I’m going to stand in front of any bullet for any student that is in my protection and so I want another option to defend us,” commented Kasey Hansen, a special needs teacher in Utah (Murphy page 1). “We are the first line of defense. Someone is going to call the cops and they are going to be informed, but how long is it going to take for them to get to school? And in that time how many students are going to be affected by the gunman roaming the halls?” Explained Kasey Hansen (Murphy page 3). A school should be a safe and comforting place for students. Teachers want to protect their students and keep them

For my interview paper, I decided to talk to my neighbor Rebecca Schwartz, who I have known for 14 years. I decided to interview her because she was an early education teacher for infants and toddlers and has experience working with an entire classroom of students with disabilities as well as experience working with a classroom with only one student with a disability. I wanted to gain insight on her experiences teaching a classroom with only one student with a disability, while the remaining classroom was non-disabled students. I would like to talk about Tyler, a deaf student with Down syndrome, and Rebecca’s experience working with him.

For this assignment, I decided to interview my oldest son, Landon, because I know how much he has a love/hate relationship for school. He has always been top of his class, has many friends, but I know that school can be a drag at times. Since a child’s opinions change all the time, I figured I could interview him and find out what he likes and dislikes about school. Some things changed, like I did not know what “Word Work” was and how much he really enjoyed it. I did know that he loved playing sports, math, and P.E., but I did not know he did not like reading as much. He is an excellent reader so this really surprised me, but I believe most children at this age does not care much about reading.

The idea of children with disabilities, whether they be mild or severe has been a very controversial and misunderstood topic. In the past inclusion has brought about huge changes for not only the students, but also the parents and families of these children, and staff at schools. Teachers and education professionals were the first to really feel the wrath and intimidation of this dramatic shift in education. There were several different factors that were coming about that made it very difficult for schools and teachers, the unorganized mandates were strict and didn’t allow much time for change. “President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) into law in 1975. Since the original passage of the EAHCA, the law has been amended four times and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)” (Conroy, Yell, Katsiyannis, & Collins, 2010, para.1).

Have you ever had someone in your life who helped you figure out who you were? Someone who showed you the right path. Someone who was there right next you even if you did not take that path. Someone who always seemed to be right, but never held it against you when you were not. Someone whom without your life would most likely be entirely different. I have. Her name was Jessica.

We all have at special someone that has always been there for you. Someone who would jump in front of a train for you. Andrew a good friend of mine has always been there for me. He showed me that you are never going to make everyone happy, you can't stretch yourself too thin, and he taught me how to follow my dreams not anyone else's.