Teamwork and Collaboration

From the readings this week and class, the main thing that stands out to me and that I learned the most was the importance of teamwork and working with others to develop the best possible plan and solutions for children with special needs in the classroom. I really enjoyed an activity that we did on Monday in class, the Mock MDT meeting. It was cool to pretend to be part of a team that was discussing the needs of Esther Ramirez. My part was the Special Education teacher. It was really cool to see the different roles and how each one of them all contributed to a similar cause, deciding whether Esther qualified for Special Education or not.

Collaboration is key. There are so many different factors that determine special education and all come together for each and every individual student with special needs. One person such as a general education teacher cannot provide the needs that a student needs alone. It is so essential for all the different people involved to actually be involved. Since I am an early childhood special education major and will be specializing in that, I will have to work with the general education teacher as well as the principal and any other professionals involved to provide the students with the services that they need.

I learned this principle a lot on my mission. Us as missionaries could not provide the people with what they needed alone. We most importantly had to collaborate with the Lord through prayer. But we also collaborated with the ward members, the bishopric, the ward mission leader, and other missionaries in the area. When we did this and sought council and advise, the people were able to progress much more because we were teaching them what they needed to know. It is an eternal principle.