Wrap Around Personal Student Eco-Portfolio

(WRAPSEP)Capacity Building Project

Plan

Penelope Hovorka-Alcock

Chantal DalyJoel Wiebe

Goal

To build capacity to access, utilize, communicate, and collaborate with parents/legal guardians, teachers, school support team, divisional services team, and community services/agencies in the interest of students with special needs.

Overview

What is the Wraparound Approach?

http://resources4specialneeds.wikispaces.org

Tools to support Wraparound Approach.

Wiki websitePortfolioEco-mapResource Handbook

Chantal

Using WRAPSEP from a parent’s perspective.

Steps to accessing various supports for preschool children.

WRAPSEP Chantal.docx

Penny

Using WRAPSEP from a early years classroom teacher’s perspective.

Steps to initiating the Wraparound process.

WRAPSEP Penny results.docx

Joel

Using WRAPSEP from an adult education teacher’s perspective.

Utilizing pieces of the Wraparound approach that are already in place.

WRAPSEPJoel.docx

Portfolio - Pros

It links all people involved in the child’s education in a timely manner.

Changes can be made on a regular /ongoing basis and easily be passed along via e-mail.

Portfolio is kept up to date and managed by parent/”Guardian angel”.

It remains confidential.

Portfolio - Cons

Not all parents have high speed internet access.

Will not work if one of the team members is unwilling/unable to fully participate. It affects the overall product of the child.

There may be resistance to buying into the portfolio concept because the resource teacher may feel that their job role is threatened.

Ecomap - Pros

It is easy to understand and put together for all members involved.

Having the student involved in the process (when able to) is a positive self-reflection for not only the student but also the parent/classroom teacher.

It provides a visual overview of the child’s strengths and weaknesses.

There are various types of personal eco-map models which can be implemented depending on the age of the child and personal preference.

Becomes a springboard for programming throughout their life – has direct continuance

It builds context for understanding where the child is.

It is child directed rather than adult directed (as much as possible), which gives the child the opportunity to be an active participant in decisions made about their programming in and out of school.

Ecomap - Cons In order for the personal eco-map to work more

effectively the student must have trust in the person(s) that they are doing their eco-map with. Otherwise it will become a “social-status bias”.

Parent/student have to trust that this is confidential or it will affect the credibility of the personal eco-map.

Self-reflection/self-knowledge may be difficulty for a child/parent to acknowledge.

Is there an age or maturity indicator for a child to be able to participate in completing their own eco-map? What has been researched in or still needs to be studied in this area?

Wiki Website - Pros

Information is accessible wherever there is an internet connection.

Lots of available information, with valuable links to various resources.

Google searches for individualized special needs is not necessary with this catalogued system of information and resource links. This is time saving and convenient.

Very easy to collaborate on as a group or a team.

Free to use and user friendly.

Allows for e-mail feedback/correspondence.

Wiki Website - Cons

Formatting is cumbersome within wikispaces.org. For example, it is difficult to cut and paste graphics. It is not easy to edit the table features. Spacing looks different from editing mode to viewing mode (HTML language takes some getting used to). Sometimes while working in editing mode, the program freezes without saving your work. Need to restart and redo. Need to save work frequently.

Parents don’t always have computers or high speed internet access.

Schools may not be willing to share information on the wiki website because of confidentiality concerns.

Some people may be more comfortable communicating via e-mail or telephone or even passing along agenda books between the home and school.

Like all website, they need to be updated regularly and this requires an conscientious and consistent effort.

Wraparound Approach- Pros

We have a head start on knowing what the Minister of Education in Manitoba will be implementing soon and we can start incorporating some of these ideas in our teaching practices.

The Wraparound Approach allows Classroom Teachers to have more connections with all specialists and people working with special needs children.

The Wraparound Approach eliminates second hand information.

The Wraparound Approach allows group members to share information frequently and supports the idea that the student’s IEP should be a work in progress.

Teachers who use the Wraparound Approach will be able to better integrate practices from various specialists into the classroom teaching.

The Wraparound Approach allows the parent (the people who know the child best) to be the Case Managers.

Wraparound Approach- Cons

The Wraparound Approach will not be as productive if the Classroom Teacher is not comfortable using it; is overwhelmed or is unable to take on a leadership role due to various circumstances.

Some Resource Teachers might have difficulties changing their professional role as it has been practiced in the past.

There needs to be a conscious effort by all parties to keep the information going on a bi-weekly basis. The communication must be ongoing, and not only when the student is having difficulties or if there’s an IEP meeting being planned.

Even if the Resource Teachers and Specialists are in place, there may be difficulties accessing their services in a timely manner. This could be due to inefficiencies in the system.

The Wraparound Approach will not work well if parents lack the confidence to work with professionals. Parents with less confidence will need more supports in place.

The Wraparound Approach will not be beneficial with parents who are in denial of a child’s disabilities or refuses to play an active role in their child’s education.

Think, Pair, Share

From what we have presented this morning with the WRAPSEP (Wraparound Approach, Eco-maps, Portfolios, Wiki website), is there something that you would change in your present work/life situation to make it more collaborative? Explain/elaborate.

Questions? Comments?

Thank-you!