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Interview Paper

Julia Kaufman

University of Kansas
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I chose to interview Kylie Waite who teaches Kindergarten through third grade

special education at my school, Bradley Elementary. Kylie and I work side by side on a

daily basis and I wanted to get to know her philosophy of special education, her history

with special education, and learn more about her and her beliefs as a teacher. Kylie and I

had a great discussion during our mutual plan periods and I really enjoyed getting to

know her and her inspiration as a teacher.

Kylie decided to become a special educator after she volunteered with an

Adaptive Physical Education teacher in Lawrence, KS. She really liked to see his

involvement with special education students and the potential that all of them had. Kylie

is in her third year of teaching special education. Her best advice is, dont hesitate to ask

for help, write down your thoughts/ideas to become a better teacher but dont try to

accomplish it all in your first year, learn how to manage your time as efficiently as

possible, and try to stay organized! I have taken this advice to heart and remind myself

often that I cant do it all my first year! This is especially true since I am starting my

masters degree as well.

Being a special education teacher on a military base we have several move-in

students each year. Those students often have behavior difficulties. These are often the

most challenging cases for Kylie. Kylie helped a particular child this year by putting in

interventions (para support, sensory breaks) and providing direct instruction to the

student on how to rate her behavior, provide coping skills (take a break; blow feathers,

take a walk, etc.) to help her better manage and maintain a positive behavior in the

classroom. While this was a challenge, Kylie was up to the challenge and has done great
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things to support this student! Having discussed interventions throughout this class, it is

great to hear about the successes of specific interventions.

Kylies favorite part of teaching is the ah-ha! moments. Seeing students make

progress and analyzing the data to show that students are making academic and

behavioral progress keeps her coming back every day. She is able to see these moments

by instilling specific procedures in her classroom, keeping up to date on researched based

practices, and using data to make decisions. There are several specific procedures she

uses to make her time with students the most effective. Kylies students always look at

the SMART board when they first come in to review what they will be learning within

the time that they are in her classroom. She also tells them the materials that they need

to gather. This allows for them to get everything ready ahead of time to minimize

transitions. In addition, the students collect their own data at the end of the time or she

reviews the data with them so that they are aware of their progress and can strive to be

better during the next session. This goes back to what we talked about when we were

planning for direct instruction of students based on IEPs and services times. Making the

most of each minute with our students is very important.

Kylie is able to stay up to date on the best practices by being involved with an e-

mentoring program through the state of Kansas that allows for her to take part in

professional development 1-2 times a year. In addition to staying up to date on the

newest special education practices, she uses data to help determine the best practice to

help her students. Kylie believes data is very important. It ensures that students are

making adequate progress toward their IEP goals. Generally, she tries to do take data on
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a daily basis. She uses the data on behavior and academic goals to help to modify

instruction to meet all of her students needs.

Kylie feels that communication with parents and teachers is key to educating the

student fully. It can also be one of the most difficult parts of the job. Kylie has done

several things throughout her years to ensure that she is communicating adequately.

This is especially difficult and important on a military base. Being on a military base

changes things, says Kylie. She says it is the most challenging part of the job. There is a

75% turn over rate the first year and a 90% after a second year. Each year at Bradley you

get new students and it is challenging, just by reading the IEP to make appropriate

supports ready for the first day of school. There has to be a quick learning curve the first

month of school, as many children with behaviors need that stability. Having open

communication and patience with the staff is a MUST. Kylie pushes her students as

much as she can, regardless of them being with her for one school year or not, she wants

them to be as successful as possible and find what works best for them. Kylie does not

use a co-teaching approach in her position, but she knows how important communication

is when working with general education teachers. She talked about a difficult situation

she had with general education teachers and attempting to dismiss a student from special

education, I currently had a teacher throw me under the bus in a dismissal meeting.

She brought up concerns she had never vocalized to the team (even after several team

meetings) and questioned all of my data. I was able to back up all of my data and it

ended well, but it was very frustrating at the time. She said that she feels the teacher

wasnt trying to sabotage the meeting and Kylie thought they were both on the page,

which made it even more frustrating. I was relived to hear that these situations have not
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happened often, but know that it can be difficult coming from a different perspective as a

special education teacher. We have talked several times in this class about the

importance of team communication. While this situation isnt what we mean by good

team communication, it is important to understand it wont always be perfect, but if we

have the students best interest in mine we will be successful.

In order to help the child succeed, Kylie has great relationships with the parents of

her students. Kylie sends home weekly notes updating parents on the skills the students

are targeting in her classroom. She also provides activities and models instruction to

parents both in person and in emails so that they can carry what they are working on in

class over to home. That great communication doesnt always mean that relationships

with parents are easy. She has had challenges working with parents and she said that

there have been times her and parents didnt see eye to eye. She noted that it can be

challenging for parents to trust her because they are here for such a short time and we

dont know their child or children from the start. Kylie had a parent her first year of

teaching not trust that she was fully supporting their child. In order to build that trust and

encourage cooperation Kylie had data collected all day on the student to share with

parents. She also has multiple notes home for students who require more support that

go home daily to parents so they know what is happening at school. I am thankful that

my interactions with parents this year has been great! I have done my best to

communicate regularly with positives, as well as things that we can work on as a team.

Supervising paraprofessionals is a huge part of the special educators job and has,

personally, been one of the most challenging parts of the job for me! Kylie offered great

advice. She has very open relationships with her paras. She has built strong relationships
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with them and put in a lot of time and effort in to being over prepared with resources and

support so that they can be set up for success. They feel comfortable coming to her when

there are issues so that we can brain storm to help the student learn, grow, or cope with

whatever is happening. We talked in depth about the challenging parts of working with

paras. The most challenging part of working with paraprofessionals is the different

backgrounds that they have prior to working in this profession. Some have multiple years

of experience and others have never had a job. Playing their strengths is the best way to

utilize a para to not only make them feel valued, but to have a working team during the

school day. There are always opportunities to learn as well, so continuing to make sure

that even the veteran paras are learning something new not only keeps the job interesting,

but allows for everyone to grow.

Overall, this interview was a great way for me to get to know a colleague on a

deeper level and look at the job in a new light. Several of the things we talked about tie

back to what weve worked on throughout this class. Several of the challenges that

Kylie and I discussed are things we have talked about in class. Throughout this class we

discussed the importance of data, conducting evaluations, working as a special education

team, and the importance of communicating with parents. These are all real parts of a

special educators job and I cant wait for the day I get to be the interviewee for a new

special educator.
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Interview Questions SPED 730

Interviewer: Julia Kaufman
Interviewee: Kylie Waite

All answers are the interviewers interpretation of what the interviewee said or
quoting the interviewee

1. What inspired you to become a special education teacher?

When I was a freshmen in college I volunteered with the Adaptive Physical
Education teacher in Lawrence, KS. I really liked to see his involvement with
special education students and the potential that all of them had. I decided then
that I wanted to be a special education teacher.
2. How long have you been teaching Special Education and with your experience
what advice would you give to a new Special Education teacher?
I am in my third year of teaching special education. My best advice I could give;
dont hesitate to ask for help, write down your thoughts/ideas to become a better
teacher but dont try to accomplish it all in your first year, learn how to manage
your time as efficiently as possible, and try to stay organized!
3. What has been your most challenging experience (behavioral or academic) as
a special education teacher and how did you handle the situation?
My most challenging experience thus far has been receiving move-in IEPs each
school year and figuring out what works best for the students. I had a student who
had a difficult time coping with and managing her anxiety and aggression. In
addition, her medication was being changed and was inconsistent. I put in
interventions (para support, sensory breaks) and provided direct instruction on
how to rate her behavior, provide coping skills (take a break; blow feathers, take a
walk, etc.) to help her better manage and maintain a positive behavior in the
classroom.
4. What has been your most rewarding experience as a special education
teacher? Why did you choose this experience?
I love the ah-ha! moments. Seeing students make progress and analyzing the
data to show that students are making academic and behavioral progress keeps me
coming back every day. I have been working with a student for a year and a half
on refusals. He has a hard time leaving the classroom and just recently has
verbally request breaks. Something we have been working on for over a year now.
I choose this experience because he has been a very challenging student and
seeing that little progress makes it worth every minute of my job.
5. What procedures have you established in your classroom? Why did you
decide on those procedures and how did you implement them?
My students always look at the SMART board when they first come in to review
what they will be learning within the time that they are in my classroom. I also
tell them the materials that they need to gather. This allows for them to get
everything ready ahead of time to minimize transitions. In addition, the students
collect their own data at the end of the time or we review data that I have
collected so that they are aware of their progress and can strive to be better during
the next session. They also work hard to had a piece to their puzzle to earn prizes
or rewards.
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6. How do you ensure you are staying current with the best practices in Special
Education?
I am involved with an e-mentoring program through the state of Kansas that
allows for me to partake in professional development 1-2 times a year. In
addition, I collaborate with colleagues and supervisors.
7. How do you motivate and challenge your students, without overwhelming them
and while maintaining a community based learning environment?
I have them work towards earning puzzle pieces to complete a puzzle. Each time
they complete their puzzle they earn a prize or reward and then move on to the
next color level (much like karate belts). This motivates them so that they can
unlock or access new prizes and rewards. In addition, they log their own data
daily/weekly, if they progress and/or work hard they get to add extra puzzle
pieces.
8. What practices do you use to help address the behavioral needs of students?
What do you keep in mind when developing an FBA and BIP?
I collect data consistently utilizing my paras in the general education classroom
or myself when using on/off task behaviors, refusals, etc. This helps maintain the
data collection to see if the student is making progress. I have utilized visual
schedules, behavior rating scale, and behavior mapping to walk students through
the expectations and coping strategies when they are escalated. When developing
an FBA and BIP I utilize data collection to analyze what the student is accessing
or avoiding and I provide interventions with data collection to
9. Is there a specific curriculum or program you use to help students that are
struggling with reading? What do you feel makes the curriculum or program
successful?
I have used Reading A-Z and the resources on that website for a year now. There
are many types of resources and text that can be used with struggling readers that
focus on fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. In addition, I use BARTON as
a fundamental reading program, which helps teach phonics and decoding skills to
students. I feel that both these programs are diverse and differentiate for each
students individual need.
10. How do you balance the different needs of the students in your room? How
do you ensure you are meeting their individual needs when you are unable to
work with them one-on-one?
I have to make sure that each students materials are prepared ahead of time.
When I am instructing I will provide that direct instruction to one student and
have another practice a skill or do work independently (worksheet, ipad app,
SMART board activity) and then switch when the student has been instructed
fully. It is challenging at times to teach two different subjects to different
students, but with routine and practice it gets easier.
11. What strategies do you use to help students struggling with math? Do you
have a certain curriculum or method that you use, or would like to use?
It depends on the math skill. I utilize the way my student learns best to instruct
them in those areas (visual, auditory, etc.) and approach the skill in different
ways. I do not have a specific curriculum, but I make hands on activities for them
to practice their skills.
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12. How does working on a military base, with a very transient population, affect
your job as a special educator? How do you meet these challenges to ensure
success in your students, even if you only teach them for a year?
This is the most challenging part of the job. There is a 75% turn over rate the first
year and a 90% after a second year. Each year you get new students and it is
challenging, just by reading the IEP to make appropriate supports ready for the
first day of school. There has to be a quick learning curve the first month of
school, as many children with behaviors need that stability. Having open
communication and patience with the staff is a MUST. I push the students as
much as I can, regardless of them being here for one school year or not, I want
them to be as successful as possible and find what works best for them.
13. What role do you feel data plays in special education and how do you ensure
you are collecting reliable data? Give an example of a reliable form of data
you use.
Data is very important. It ensures that students are making adequate progress
toward their IEP goals. In general I try and do reliability checks frequently to
verify that the data being collected by someone other than myself is doing it
accurately. It is easy to tell when there are not consistent tally marks being
collected, or their notes do not align with what was being collected. I have
provided multiple trainings and demonstrations on data collection to every para
educator to have them be reliable data collectors. I have all paras collect data of
some sort daily; refusals, prompts, on/off task.
14. Talk about a time it was challenging to work with general education teachers.
What did you do to ensure the students needs were being met and what
strategies do you use to ensure collaboration?
Communication is the key when working with general education teachers. I
currently had a teacher throw me under the bus in a dismissal meeting. She
brought up concerns she had nerve vocalized to the team and questioned all of my
data. I was able to back up all of my data and it ended well, but it was very
frustrating at the time.
15. Do you use a co-teaching approach? Would you like to try to teach in a co-
teaching setting and why?
No, the way this district supports students and IEPs requires direct instruction in
the special education room. I think that co-teaching would be interesting to try,
however, there are also huge impacts with direct instruction.
16. What strategies do you use to encourage parent involvement in student
learning?
I send home weekly notes updating parents on the skills the students are targeting
in my classroom. In addition, I provide activities and model instruction to parents
both in person and in emails so that they can carry that over to home.
17. Have you ever been in a situation where a parent and yourself did not see
eye to eye? How did the situation turn out and what strategies did you use
to encourage cooperation?
Yes, especially with the military background. It can be challenging for parents to
trust because they are here for such a short time and we dont know their child or
children from the start. I had a parent my first year of teaching not trust that I was
fully supporting their child. In order to build that trust and encourage cooperation
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I had data collected all day on the student to share with parents. I also have
multiple notes home for students who require more support that go home daily
to parents so they know what is happening at school.
18. What relationship do you have with your paraprofessionals? What is the
most challenging part of working with paraprofessionals?
I have very open relationships with my paras. I am friends with some of them
outside of school as well. I have built strong relationships with them and put in a
lot of time and effort in to being over prepared with resources and support so that
they can be set up for success. They feel comfortable coming to me when there
are issues so that we can brain storm to help the student learn, grow, or cope with
whatever is happening. The most challenging part of working with
paraprofessionals is the different backgrounds that they have prior to working in
this profession. Some have multiple years of experience and others have never
had a job. Playing their strengths is the best way to utilize a para to not only make
them feel valued, but to have a working team during the school day. There are
always opportunities to learn as well, so continuing to make sure that even the
veteran paras are learning something new not only keeps the job interesting but
allows for everyone to grow.
19. What advice would you give a new teacher in regards to supervising
paraprofessionals?
Remain patientthere are times when it is more challenging to deal with adults
rather than kids. Just make sure that you are doing all that YOU can to make them
successful in the school (Ex: providing training, communicating effectively, etc.)
and dont feel bad asking for help if you need it! That is what administration is
there for.
20. Where do you see your career in special education going? Do you enjoy
your position or do you envision yourself in another position in the future?
I want to continue with special education as long as I can. I also see myself being
in an administrative position, reading specialist, curriculum specialist, or working
for an educational technology company.