Attend conference focused on social skill development for individuals with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities. Tour Australian and New Zealand special education programs to learn new approaches for developing and executing social skills curricula to prepare adults with disabilities to become successfully employed community members.
This opportunity was a once in a lifetime experience. This fellowship has given me tangible skills and first-hand experiences that will increase my teaching abilities and classroom environment. Learning best practices from educators, providers and leaders in the special education field has reenergized me for the new school year. Through collaborating with these colleagues from the other side of the world, I have developed useful tools to further my development as an educator in my community.
The best piece of advice I received during my fellowship was “to not recreate the wheel.” Through this experience, I have identified the successful parts of my current teaching practice as well as new, outside-the-box ideas and techniques that will enhance my current instructional practices. Through using the innovated techniques and research-based practices, I can enhance my current teaching techniques and bring the best out of our current program.
My greatest personal accomplishment was traveling alone and creating connections with new colleagues. Traveling alone can be very daunting. However, in each new location, I met very welcoming professionals that instantly embraced me into their community. Through their support, I was able to navigate their city and embrace new experiences. This opportunity to meet dedicated educators and people with similar passions was incredibly inspiring.
Throughout NZ and Australia, two key skills have been encouraged in their communities: Social Emotional learning and the importance of resilience. Through this experience, I have created a social skills curriculum to teach my students tangible skills that will assist them in becoming more independent and will prepare them for employment. In addition, through my connection with programs similar to mine, I have created an email “pen pals” program. This will increase their communication skills.
I have created a PowerPoint and google share drive that I have presented during both my district staff development and school campus staff development. I have given teachers the research-based practices that I learned through this experience and tangible resources for them to recreate the social skills programs I have observed during my fellowship. In addition, I have collaborated with my partner teachers on the best way to use this experience in our program for the upcoming school year.
Through learning the best practices of social and emotional learning, my students will be better equipped to display their new skills out in the community. Through our vocational experiences in local businesses and through our community exploration activities, our students will have first-hand opportunities to display their newly learned skills. By learning these basic core skills, my students will have the ability to access higher levels of employment at the end of the school year.
After discussions with my colleagues during this fellowship, it is clear that transition to adulthood is a difficult time for all young adults with special needs across the world. I hope that, with these new additions to our curriculum, we can increase our students’ self-esteem, resilience and independence to help them get the courage to be successful after graduation. I believe if we are able to give them these tools we will positively impact our local community.
Stepping out of your comfort zone and into a new community opens your eyes to new experiences. When leaving home, you’re encouraged to learn from others’ life experiences and environment. Learning another country’s community and culture perspectives opens your mind and helps you create a more inclusive environment. Through this fellowship, I was given the opportunity to further develop the skills I had already had as an educator and learn new inventive ideas to enhance my teaching.
FUND FOR TEACHERS ©