Day in the Life of a Disabilities Coordinator
Watch this set of short videos to see some of the ways a disabilities coordinator supports both teachers and children in Washington State inclusive learning settings.
This set of short videos demonstrates the process that Kellie Nketiah, a Disabilities Coordinator in Washington State, goes through when she supports both teachers and children in inclusive classroom settings. These vignettes show clips of her talking about the types of support she offers. The videos also highlight a classroom teacher who has implemented some of the suggestions that this particular disabilities coordinator had offered her.
Head Start Center for Inclusion would like to thank Kellie Nketiah for providing us with a valuable look at the process she goes through in supporting teachers on a daily basis. We would also like to thank Christina Nolan and the children in her preschool class for allowing us to film in their classroom for this highly informative video series.
Strengthening the Foundation
This first series shows Kellie talking about a variety of topics related to making sure that a classroom has a strong foundation before she begins helping a team implement specific behavioral or instructional plans for children. Below are several topics that she highlights. Also, visit our Extended Professional Development Packages page for related content.
What are the foundations of an inclusive classroom?
What are specific things you do to set up an inclusive classroom?
What are visual cues and strategies used in the classroom?
How do you help kids engage in play?
Gathering Information From Teacher
This video shows Kellie talking about how she gathers information from teachers when she has been called in due to a classroom concern. She asks the teacher many questions about the child as a whole, what strategies he or she has already tried and what the teacher would like her to focus on during her observations.
How do you work with the teacher to gather information?
Observing Classroom Behavior
This set of videos shows Kellie talking about both what she does before she comes into the classroom to observe, as well as what the teacher can expect during her classroom observation.
What happens before the actual classroom observation?
What happens during the classroom observation?
Recommending Solutions
These videos show both Kellie and the teacher talking through the last step, which is learning about the recommendations that Kellie offers after she has observed the classroom. She describes the recommendation process and gives examples of what types of things she can offer support with. The teacher then reflects on how important this whole process has been for her. She talks about how it was challenging at first to get her classroom systems up and running but that, in the long run, taking the extra time to create her plans has paid off immensely.
Can you describe the recommendation process?
What’s an example of the recommendation process?
Has this process made teaching easier?
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Office of Head Start Department of Health & Human Services
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