Gina's Story
Storyboard Text
- The story of Gina had quite the profound impact on my view as my role as a teacher. One of the biggest takeaways from her story for me was how important it is to be an advocate for your students and their parents. So often people in educational positions think we know best. But that is not always the case. We only see students for a select amount of time everyday. Parents are with them every day. As a professional, I want to make sure to hear out my parents when it comes to their children's education. All the degrees in the world sometimes don't make up for having hands on experience with a child and their needs. Gina's story illustrates just how important just listening can be.
- The second way I would go about helping parents share their voice would be to keep an open line of communication with them. Everyone is just an email away these days. I would want my parents to know that (within healthy limits) my inbox is always open for their questions and concerns. Another way Gina's story has influenced my own classroom procedure also has to do with communication. But this time it would have to do with helping parents express themselves to other school officials. Walking into an IEP or 504 plan meeting can be scary. Being able to develop a parent-teacher working relationship where parents feel they can come to me if they need help in this capacity is important to me. Sometimes all it takes is a "professional" to say "I believe this child would benefit from this accommodation" for them to get the help they need in school. And if I could assist in any way in my scope of work, I would absolutely do so.
- Finally as a teacher to help my parents share their voices, I think it would be interesting to give my parents some type of platform to talk about their experiences. This way they can share their experiences with other parents who may be going through the same struggles or put them in touch with people who could help them. I do not know which way would be most effective in a school setting. Whether it be an online setting like a blog/forum or an in-person setting like a support group remains to be seen. But especially for parents of students who have disabilities, being able to form connections with others going through the same or similar situations can be extremely helpful. Not just for ones mental health, but to help their child achieve the best learning outcomes as possible.
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