Spotlight Series 06 featuring Jessica Reed

As part of our Educator Spotlight Series, we feature educator Jessica Reed (@KYgirlinAlabama), who will share her experiences and best practices for inclusive education and co-teaching.

1. How long have you been working in the inclusion, co-teaching setting? Probably about five to six years consistently. I've been a fourth grade gen ed teacher, but now I'm on the flip side since I've been in the middle school. So, that's about five or six years now co-teaching in the middle school.

2. What is the most rewarding part about working with a co-teacher or in the inclusion setting? I think the most rewarding part is if you can actually get a good relationship, like when someone walks in the classroom and it's seamless, where you don't know who is who. That's actually my [Google] Innovator project. It's called The Collaborative Prenup. It's a book that talks about how collaboration is a marriage and how to prevent that burnout from one another.

3. What are some potential obstacles co-teachers face? How can teachers overcome these obstacles?

I think one of the biggest obstacles is that, first, people don't want to do it. Sometimes you're kind of told, "Hey, this is happening to you. You have to accept it." You really don't have an option. A lot of times, it might just be having someone else come into your classroom, but it could also be that the teacher doesn't want to have the kids. I've had the great experience where I actually teach with one of my best friends. Our current co-teaching is fabulous because you can't tell who's who. She does a great job of making sure I feel included. But the biggest obstacle I've ever faced is when I had a teacher that didn't want me there; she made it very obvious. The kids knew it. It got to the point where I was talking about Edgar Allan Poe, which is one of my absolute favorite things to teach about. She basically belittled me in front of the kids. Right now, I only do one course of inclusion, and the rest I'm still resource. So, I have a classroom where I can do things the way I want. When I go into someone else's [classroom], it's a little weird, but you have to build that rapport. 4. What strategies have you found most successful when working with a co-teacher?

My biggest tip, whenever I talk about inclusion or co-teaching, is that you have to have communication, and communication can't be through text. Well, sometimes it has to be, but it should be face-to-face. I'll give you a scenario. So, I'm a lead SpEd teacher. This is my third year doing it. I had a teacher come and talk to me about one of the SpEd teachers. The SpEd teacher flipped and came to talk to me. It would have been okay, except it was during my class time. So, I'm out in the hallway, working with these two teachers because they won't talk to each other. There's just a lack of communication. And the other thing we need to remember is that we're there for the kids. 5. What strategies have you found most successful when working with students in an inclusion setting?

One of the most successful [strategies] is when you guys have officially chosen a really good collaborative teaching style. Like, maybe you're doing team teaching or station teaching, depending on your grade level. I think once you've established that, it really gives you an opportunity to work with all students. Even if you just do alternative teaching or pull a small group, it's not just all the special ed kids together; you need to have a homogeneous mix of the students. The kids know if [the co-teachers] don't like each other. And if you can show the students that you can work with someone that you don't like or that doesn't like you, then you're showing the kids how to effectively work with each other and have patience. I think we have to set an example. One thing I hate about the inclusion setting is that you come in and a kid thinks you're a para. I've been a para before. But the paras are just as equal as we are. They do just as much. But when the teacher actually acknowledges that you can teach the class, like lets you go up to the board and do things. I mean, if the students can see you working together, then they're going to be more accepting to you as the co-teacher coming into the classroom.

6. What is one thing that you think teachers or schools can do to make sure classrooms are more inclusive?

I think there needs to be more authentic training for teachers, not just the general "let's all work together." I have my masters from Alabama in collaborative teaching. My whole thing is co-teaching collaboration. I get frustrated when people don't realize that the IEP is this legal document. I think if there was more of where you guys [the co-teachers] are coming together and you plan out, not like your whole year, but you plan out what each of you are doing. There are several examples of that. The College of William and Mary has a fantastic, very detailed description. I know the paperwork is a pain and I know it's time consuming to plan a class and do all this kind of stuff. There should be a special training, not for just co-teaching, for the teachers about accommodating for so many different levels.

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The Educator Spotlight Series features educators in the field and their experiences with inclusion and co-teaching. If you are interested in being featured in the weekly series, please fill out the interest form or reach out via DM to @AssemblingIncl1.