It is an educator’s responsibility to understand the individual learning differences and special needs of their students. For students with Ministry of Education Designations, it is important to participate in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. My practicum provided me with the experience of gathering/contributing information and attending IEP meetings for both a learning-disabled student and a student with autism.

These meetings were very productive and identified the goals and strategies that the student’s educational team would focus on. For both students, I had spent enough time teaching them that I was able to describe their strengths, weaknesses and the skills or behaviours that I considered to be of greatest importance or concern. Although the two students’ needs were very different, the overriding goals were the same – to set learning goals that were specific and reasonable (i.e. attainable) for each student, and to outline the agreed-upon strategies to achieve these goals.

Participating in these meetings provided an opportunity to experience the importance of collaboration with other professionals who can provide additional information and perspectives related to the student’s development and learning.  Having the parents participate was valuable for a number of reasons. The parents were able to provide insight into the student’s development (i.e. changes seen outside of school), identify home factors that could be affecting the student’s performance at school (both positive and negative) and express opinions and suggestions about the identified goals. It was an incredibly satisfying experience to have the school staff and parents functioning as a team; with all members on the same page – all sharing the same goals for the student.