Answer

Part 1: Introduction to portfolio

            Teaching students struggling with emotional and behavioral disorders is often a challenge for many teachers, even those who have taken time to undergo pre-service training. This is why this portfolio has taken the time to address the issues associated with teaching students with the EBD. The first section will feature professional presentation whereby the topic of educating students with EBD is addressed. The Second section will feature a personal reflection on the course and topics covered.

Part 3: Individual Reflection

            Considering the topics learned in school, I plan to be an exemplary teacher who students can easily relate to. I expect to be an educator that students will love, despite their struggle with EBD. Therefore, it will make it easy for me to promote effective instruction and positive behavioral changes. I hope that my future class, upon spending a few weeks with me as the teacher, will be able to change and showcase positive behavior.

            To get to this point, there are certain factors that I must take into consideration. First, I plan to attend pre-service training designed to specifically improve the skills of EBD teachers (Stormont, Covington & Lewis, 2006). This is important as it will ensure that I update my skills and knowledge on EBD. Therefore, I will be better skilled and equipped with up to date knowledge on how to manage these student. Second, I plan on conducting my own individual research into this field. Although training offers knowledge, conducting my own advanced research will ensure that I get to understand other approaches taken by researchers, which have resulted in improved performance (Abrams, 2005). Hence, I will be able to apply evidence based practice in my approach. Third, I will take time to master many different approaches to the assessment and evaluation of progress in children with EBD. This is important as it will inform my practice in the sense that, when one approach seems not to be working, I will always have many others to choose from (Conroy et. al., 2009). Similarly, depending on my students, I will be able to make a decision on the approach choice that suitable for them.

            From the course, there are several topics which I thought were of relevance to me. They helped to fill the gap posed by lack of sufficient knowledge in this field. They brought to light the issues which I never knew I would possibly face in future, and explained possible ways of reacting. Thus, I can now deal effectively with varying situations in the field of EBD teaching. The first topic, “History of and Foundations for Working with Students with Emotional/ Behavioral Disabilities” was of relevance in that it featured examples of what other teachers have applied in their instructions, as well as the outcomes. It is almost as if I was learning from their experiences as now I know what is acceptable and what is not. I have been able to identify trends in changes of how teaching students with EBD takes place. This gives me an opportunity to forecast on future trends, thus I will be more prepared once I start my practice. The second topic, “Causal factors and Models of Interventions of Students with EBD” is also relevant to me in the sense that it discusses how various students can be handled using models and interventions. In this topic, I was able to understand the various causal factors, which I will look out for in my students once I start teaching. There is no way to effectively handle and manage students suffering from EBD without first identifying what the cause might be (Keller & Duffy, 2005). This is because the management of the problem must first feature correcting the causal factor. For instance, if the child is suffering from EBD as a result of family issues, it will be my duty as the teacher to approach the parents and discuss ways forward. They should know that the issues at home are also affecting their child, both in terms of academics and behavioral. Hence, advice on how to minimize this effect will be given.

            The fourth topic, “Cognitive Behavioral Interventions/ Social Skills/ Collaboration” was also of relevance to me in that it featured examples on the kind of interventions that I will need to apply in various situations (Anderson et. al., 2006). This topic equipped me with skills of identifying the right intervention for specific students suffering from different EBD. I was also able to learn about the educational implications of collaboration with students. For instance, I realized that the students are bound to respond more actively and positively towards my instruction only if I use high quality, individualized approach. Therefore, each student is treated differently, as their EBD needs are also unique. I have also learned that the interventions have limitations as well. Therefore, when applying them in a classroom, it is important to control for these limitations so as to minimize poor outcomes.

            The main objectives of this course involved familiarizing students with the historical and current trends that are linked to emotional and behavioral disorders. Individuals are expected to familiarize themselves with the causes, assessment and appropriate modes of interventions. I feel like I have fully met the set goals for this course. This is because I now have a clear understanding of the principals of EBD. I can tell the difference between its history and its present trends. There is a big difference in the approaches used previously, and those that are being used in the present (Abrams, 2005). The latter are advancement from the previous approach in that nowadays, instruction features both academic and behavioral at the same time. Previously, behavioral instruction was given priority before academic instruction. I can apply the concepts learned in different situations effectively. If I was given a class to teach today, I can comfortably manage and instruct the EBD students including those with co-morbidity. This is because I have learnt how to address and help the students with two or more underlying EBD. I will not focus mainly on their EBD, but on the academic instruction. This is because I have learnt that academic instruction can trigger better performance if designed in the right way.

            My plan to continue my professional development in this field will feature conducting further research whilst attending workshops and training. Sometimes, workshops are planned and people have to pay to get in. I will always ensure that I attend most of the workshops, and not only the one provided by our organization but also many others. This will aid in my professional development as various individuals will be present, hence we can interact effectively and learn from each other. The speaker is usually a well establish person who has experience, and can pose a good example for my development. Research conducted will feature the use of already available library materials such as books and case studies. This research approach has been chosen because of time and financial constraints. Therefore, I will further improve my knowledge by ensuring that I analyze research conducted by others effectively. Not all materials will be chosen as sometimes the validity and reliability may be questionable. Hence, upon the identification of reliable and valid material, I will spend most of my free time analyzing the approach taken towards teaching students with EBD. I will consider the models, their set goals, the challenges experienced and how they were overcome, among many others.

            Training in this case will feature attending lessons in a college so as to further my development. I will take part time courses in the field of EBD teaching, whereby I will be attending in the evening after work. This will be very important especially because I will be able to apply my learnt knowledge at the workplace immediately. Therefore, I will readily apply concepts to practice.