Interview with Ginger Gow-Carnes

Interview Prompt

Christina's Response

21. What would you do to address inclusionary support with the general education staff? How would you deal with a general education teacher who refused to honor IEP modifications for the special education students in their classrooms?

Interview Prompt

`

“If you meet a person with Autism, then you have met precisely one person with Autism”

Interview Prompt

4. How would you communicate with the parents of your students? What issues would prompt you to contact them?

"Communicating with them is always important. Informing them (legality of the IEP, information on disability & how they are manifesting itself, explain why some problems occurred, how they can be prevented, etc.) No teachers are allowed not to follow IEP since it is a legal document. If talking to a teacher directly does not yield result; I would have to take it up to my supervisor."

22. A general education teacher is concerned that a child with an IEP does not belong in her classroom due to behavior problems. How do you respond?

Teacher Interview

"Sticking to facts is most important. Empathy is also very important. As a mother myself, it is easier for me to imagine how I may react if I have a child with disabilities – this helps me to stay calm and continue to work with all parents. I may decide to contact them if any of my students engage in behaviors that make me concerned about their safety and well-being, or other people's safety and well-being. I will also contact them to let them know any incidents, problems that the student engaged in. I may also contact parents to ask their help for getting assignments done at home. I also communicate any improvements, or accomplishments – at secondary level you seldom ever hear from teachers when a child does well – so I make a point in contacting parents with good news."

• This quote had a profound impact on my thinking. In fact, I continued to think about this response continually after I had finished reading through her answers. I saw this firsthand through her teaching style and it is something that I want to use in my own approach.
• I also found the way she approaches communication with her peers as well as the parents to be a fantastic role model. By putting yourself in the other person's position you are more able to stay empathetic when the situation deteriorates.

"Monitor and gather information to identify the trigger and goal behind the behavior, and then implement appropriate strategies to counter behavior problems and teach alternative more pro-social behaviors to accomplish the goal. After implementing strategies, we monitor and consider effectiveness of the strategies, modify if necessary, or consider alternative placement if needed."

Ginger Gow-Carnes:

Autism Specialist in Special Education

Phoenixeville Area High School (Grades 9-12)

Interview Prompt

5. How would you delegate responsibilities to a paraprofessional and monitor his/her performance?

"Depending on the paraprofessional. For some, I can just give an idea of what I want and they can run with it & get it done. The others I have to be specific and give step by step instructions. For much of the day, I send my paraprofessional out to classrooms to help students who may need more support. I have a yearly report to complete regarding the paraprofessional performance."

Group 1: Emily Amodei, Kellyann Bradley, Christina Caldwell

Interview Prompt

3. What does “diversity” mean to you as a special education teacher?

Emily's Response

Group Reflection

"Each student is different in that each can have different disabilities, background, culture, academic ability levels. Two students can have the exact same disability but manifest in different behaviors… “If you meet a person with Autism, then you have met precisely one person with Autism” is so very true. The key is to get to know each student, and figure out what works with each."

Kellyann's Response

"Empathy is also very important. As a mother myself, it is easier for me to imagine how I may react if I have a child with disabilities – this helps me to stay calm and continue to work with all parents."

• I really appreciate how much Ms. Gow-Carnes cares about her students. She not only pays close to their academic needs but she also fosters their emotional, behavioral and social needs as well. She inspires me to build a strong student-teacher-parent relationship so that full communication can exist and leave the focus on bettering the student's life.
• Ms. Gow-Carnes truly inspired me through her compassion, attention to detail, sharp focus on students and willingness to help.

We found the interview with Ms. Gow-Carnes extremely helpful, just as the she was during our observations at PASD. Not only was she was ready and willing to participate in the interview process but she also provided us with an amazing amount of resources that we can one day apply in our own classrooms. She also allowed us to interact and be hands-on in her classroom, thus providing us with direct experience in the field. Her thoughtful interview responses ultimately act as another tool for us to utilize throughout our education. Ms. Cow-Garnes used her range of professional experience to give proficient and varied responses to our questions. We especially appreciated how she was able to keep such a fresh point of view in how she operates in the classroom environment. It makes the field of Special Education appear approachable, exciting and interesting. Ginger Gow-Carnes treated us as pre-service teachers and responded so thoughtfully to our interview questions that it made us feel much more motivated for our further classes in the hopes that we can one day emulate such professionalism and wisdom.

"...at secondary level you seldom ever hear from teachers when a child does well – so I make a point in contacting parents with good news".

• This quote from Ms. Gow- Carnes really resonated with me. I will be a secondary school teacher and I want to make it a point to contact parents and give them positive feedback instead of only contacting them about negative occurrences.
• She has such a positive attitude and outlook on her students and it really inspires me to mirror her teaching style. She gave us such great advice and was so willing to share her resources and practices. She truly loves being a Special Education teacher and its apparent through her work.

Interview with Ginger Gow-Carnes