Spedcast

Tammy Fellers taught high school math at Chanute and El Dorado High Schools – everything from Integrated Math to Trigonometry. In 2008, she became the principal and math teacher of a charter high school and in 2010, became the Assistant Principal at El Dorado Middle School.

Since 2012 Tammy has been an ESSDACK Consultant that focuses on assisting teachers with research-based instructional strategies and math content.

Tammy emphasizes the importance of instructional strategies setting the learner up for success by developing the understanding of math and not placing the emphasis on the speed of the math fact.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/SpedCast_13.mp3

Key Questions:

1.    How do you see Math practices changing now and in the years ahead?

2.    What resources/strategies do you believe teachers need to meet the needs of 21st Century learners in general?

3.    What about Special Populations?

4.    Walk us through a few scenarios on how teachers might consider differentiating Math for SpEd.

Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) is a problem-solving mathematics program designed to improve number sense and computation for students in Kindergarten through fourth grades.  According to Tammy, a foundational principle of CGI is we don’t tell the kids what tool to use however the student decides for himself or herself what tool to use.

Show notes:

The Intentional Educator Tammy’s Website

Common Core Math

ESSDACK

KATM – flipbooks

Dan Meyer

Children’s Mathematics by Thomas Carpenter

Tammy’s fraction packets are available at www.essdack.org under shop products.  You may also sign up for one of Tammy’s workshops at www.essdack.org under Workshops.

target="_blank" title="Share On Facebook" >

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/Sped_Cast_12_guest_Ginger_Lewman.mp3

 

Topic today is Project Based Learning: special guest Ginger Lewman, whose passion and   expertise  (or one of them anyway) is Project Based Learning.

Ginger has been working with districts on connecting it with the new Common Core State standards. Given the diversity of Special Education, I believe our listeners will be asking how can PBL benefit?

Key Questions:

1. Aren’t projects and project based learning the same thing?

2.  A walk through a sample project

3. PBL recipe cards – how can they support educators in the process of integrating Projects into their      instruction?

4. How should teachers assess the learning and translate that to a grade?

5. How can educators be sure that they are truly covering the standards with PBL?

6.  What about Special Populations? How do you see PBL benefiting them?

Below is a robust collection of resources to support teachers and leaders in planning for assessing Special Populations. This collection includes the recipe cards for PBL as well as a Live-binder of additional supports.

LifePracticePBL  – for recipe cards

Gingerlewman.org

Livebinder of resources

Buck Institute

target="_blank" title="Share On Facebook" >

http://traffic.libsyn.com/remarkablechatter/Sped_11.mp3

Special Education and the Common Core Standards!

“a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”… a journey to nowhere also begins with one step!

As educators begin to implement purposeful application of the new College and Career Readiness State Standards, it is important to take  a deeper look at the implications for special populations.

 Key questions to ask about special education and common core standards are:

Who are those struggling students in our districts?

How will we differentiate to meet the needs of ALL?

What tools will teachers need to reach special populations?

Martha Thurlow, working on the Chief Counsel of State School Officers states:

 “In the development of these standards,

the inclusion of all types of learners was a priority.

 Chosen language was intended to be open

and accessible to different learners.”

 Given the diversity of Special Education, why are the standards good for special populations?

*  Standards are written to address the needs of ALL students

*  Focus on College and Career Readiness and real-world application

*  Instruction for students with disabilities will allow for incorporation of supports and  accommodations

*  Requires providing students with a range of needed supports

*  Growth model assessment

Kansas is a member of  Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) which will provide a computer adaptive assessment. SBAC is committed to providing access, including augmentative devices, in order to insure that all students are able to be tested in such a way that their disability does not impede their ability to be tested. Some of the features that will be present are:

*  Avatar to read or interpret in a variety of language choices

*  Adaptive font and print size

*  Ability to pause or take a break

*  Ability to mark for review

*  An answer eliminator

*  Highlighting capability

*  Expandable pages & augmented equipment

*  Drag and drop responses

*  Touch screen technology

SBAC has made clear that they have every intention of creating access for ALL students. They are currently piloting a variety of technology tools to ensure a smooth transition.

Students who normally would qualify to take the Alternate Assessment, will be assigned a separate set of standards known as the essential elements. Dynamic Learning Maps will be a visual representation of the skills and standards mastered as well as the splinter skills that are still missing for each individual student. These “maps” will help guide learning and instruction.

Below is a robust collection of resources to support teachers and leaders in planning for assessing Special Populations. This collection includes digital resources for the ELA and Math Common Core Standards, the Essential Elements.

Livebinder of resources

Goal Book – A 30 day free trial matching standards to sample IEP goals

Kathy Schrock – Guide to apps

target="_blank" title="Share On Facebook" >

With over half a million para-educators in the United States serving special ed. populations, it is evident that para-educators play a vital role in education today. Resource teachers depend upon para-educators to be their eyes and ears especially in the inclusive environment.

Today’s special guest is a para-educator at a local High School. Please welcome, Charles Smalling!!!

     Charles shares his reasons for becoming a para-educator and why he is passionate about his role with kids. He talks about the struggles kids have and how para-educators can best meet these needs. Kids come to school with a lot more worries than their academics. Having a place to vent on occasion is important. Charles shares about the skills or strategies he believes are needed to work with students successfully. Among these are Patience, Relationship, and Empathy.

Listen in to this short but relevant talk here on Spedcast!

Important resources may be found in  the show notes:

National Center for Para-Educators

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities

Inclusion supports

Behavior Supports

target="_blank" title="Share On Facebook" >

Spedcast welcomes special guest:  Dr. Mary Kaye Siebert

Dr. Siebert is the Director of Learning and Instruction at Wamego Public Schools in  Wamego, Kansas. She has been working in education in many capacities for the bulk of her career. Dr. Siebert is especially passionate about building collaborative communities of trust among educators. She shares her desire to rekindle the love for teaching in the hearts of educators who are burned out, who may have lost their vision, or may need to renew their purpose as an educator.

Here are some of the highlights of this encouraging podcast:

* The teaching profession has the highest burnout rate of any public service job

* 50% of special education teachers leave their jobs within 5 years.

* Half of those who make it past 5 years will leave within 10 years. This equates to a 75% turnover rate every 10 years (Dage, 2006).

* Quality of teaching = #1 factor in student achievement

* Currently, there are no services available to support and sustain teachers in this capacity.

The Courage to Teach Retreat (Parker Palmer’s work and the Center for Courage & Renewal)

* What is it?

* Who can attend?

* What will be accomplished through your retreats

Dr. Siebert speaks of rekindling a spark for your vocation and revitalizing who we are as individuals.

**Listen in as Dr. Siebert talks about her vision for  teachers or as she refers to them as“culture heroes”.**

 

 

Thanks for joining us. Tune in next week to SPEDCAST!

Show Notes:

Welcome to the Center for Courage & Renewal

Parker Palmer’s book: The Courage to Teach

COURAGEtoTeachRetreat-July2013(final copy)-2

Courage to Teach Retreat July.13 Registration Form-1

 

target="_blank" title="Share On Facebook" >

Dysgraphia

I.          What is it?

Dys     = impairment

Graph = Greek for handwriting/letter formation

ia         = having a condition

DEFINED

Having a condition or impairment the affects handwriting and letter formation, or impairments that affect how people acquire written language. Dysgraphia affects written language in terms of letter formation, handwriting, and perhaps even spelling.

II.        Causes

Research indicates that Dysgraphia is a deficit in the Orthographic processor of the brain.

Brain research has come into the limelight here lately with data that reveals the brain containing several processors that need to work in tandem for reading and writing to occur.

The Orthographic processor is the coding center of the brain that makes sense of letters, symbols, and words. The brain stores unfamiliar words and information about print in the working memory of the brain as it constructing meaning .  How quickly a person can access this affects fluency and comprehension. Children whose processor is not working correctly, struggle to form the symbols correctly. These children may also have trouble planning coordinating finger movements in terms of how to hold the pencil correctly and where to place letters on a piece of paper.

III.      Signs

*             illegible handwriting

*             Poor letter spacing

*             Positioning on the page with regard to lines and margins

*             Inconsistent print/cursive

*             Strange wrist, body or paper position

*             Talking to self while writing and closely watching hand while writing

*             Slow labored copying or writing even if legible

*             Content that does not match the child’s other language skills

IV.       Accompanying disabilities

*             Dyslexia

*             ADHD

V.        Strategies for the Reluctant Writer

* Encourage creativity!

* Think of ways to engage and inspire your students who struggle with writing!

* VISUALIZE! – letter, phrase, concept, or story

* VERBALIZE!  – allow students to verbally share their thoughts as a precursor to writing them down

* DRAW! How many of our students LOVE to draw and doodle? Capitalize on it! Allow students to get the juices flowing through creating, drawing, cartooning, doodling…Allow this to replace brainstorming as a springboard into great writing!

* COMPOSE! – Open the door to writing lyrics, poems, or short themes to build excitement and sustained engagement for writing

Other reminders:

-Write for a purpose

-Persuasive writing

-Creativity with the computer or tech device

VI. Accommodations

*  rate of producing written work

* volume of the work to be produced

* complexity of the writing task

* tools used to produce the written product

* format of the product.

 

1. Change the demands of writing rate:

* Allow more time for written tasks including note-taking, copying, and tests

* Allow students to begin projects or assignments early

2. Adjust the volume:

* Instead of having the student write a complete set of notes, provide a partially completed outline so the student can fill in the details under major headings (or provide the details and have the student provide the headings).

* Allow the student to dictate some assignments or tests (or parts of tests) a ‘scribe’. Train the ‘scribe’ to write what the student says verbatim (“I’m going to be your secretary”) and then allow the student to make changes,

The new common core standards are on the near horizon and one of the key components is that we need to help prepare students for both College AND Career. We have done a fairly nice job of preparing students for College over the years, but what of Career?

I absolutely LOVE this!!! I will never forget when I went to work for  a high school with a larger than normal dropout rate.  After careful examination of the situation, it became apparent than many of the students were very bright, some even gifted, but were simply lost in the sea of  poor or lost funding. That is to say that with budget cuts the arts were extinct. Many of the classes that inspire or begin the process of laying the groundwork for careers were non-existent.

With the help of an awesome school counselor and leaders who wanted to make a new path, I was able to create some classes for my students. We had art class where student’s explored and excelled in areas they were passionate about; a technology class where students designed their own web pages and blogged. (this was way before blogging was cool!) One student even started his own car detailing business! The student’s were very excited about this process and were absolutely able to make “real world connections”.

Now Common Core is giving schools the green light to say this is important as well. The question is how will we get there?

Below are the Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards:

* Demonstrate Independence

* Build Strong Content Knowledge

* Respond to varying demands of task performance and discipline

* Comprehend as well as critique

* Value evidence

* Use Technology and digital media strategically and capably

* Understand others perspectives and cultures

How teachers embed these standards into their practices may look a little different depending upon the grade level taught!

Here are a few ideas to ponder…

Consider asking students what they believe they need. I recently heard a Podcast from a colleague of mine Jerri Kemble. She was talking about students in her school that had a dream to start a coffee shop. They started it in the school. Talk about real world connections!!!

I was thinking about all the possible things we as educators could do to get students thinking about their future. And guide them toward the path that is a good fit for them as individuals? What opportunities might they have within the walls of the school that with a little planning and creativity, seeds might be planted, watered with a little creativity and something beautiful would grow?

*  Bakery

*  Print shop

*  Scientific research lab

*  Alterations shop

*  Accounting firm

* Art Studio

* Car detailing business

* Snack shack or coffee shop

* Construction or welding business

The possibilities are endless!!! Of course most of these would take place at the high school level, but what types of conversations might we begin having with our K-8 students to prime them in setting the stage for those that choose a career oriented option?

As we launch into this era where common core, technology, and real world connections, I challenge you to be thinking – perhaps planning right now for how this might look in YOUR school!

Resources:

Connect Ed

College and Career Readiness: What does it mean?

Career and Tech Ed

Common Core

***Tune in next time “What’s writing got to do with it?”***

Topic today: Bullying: how does this affect special populations?

Is bullying still a problem? Data gives us  a pretty good idea of where we are as a nation.

* In 2007, about 32 percent of 12- to 18-year-old students reported having been bullied at school during the school year and 4 percent reported having been cyber-bullied. (National Center for Educational Statistics)

* Pew Institute of Research: 7 in 10 (71%) of teens who have not experienced bullying believe it happens more often offline, while 57% of teens who have been cyber-bullied themselves say bullying happens more offline.

* 2010, there are about 2.7 million students being bullied each year by about 2.1 students taking on the roll of the bully.

* One in three online teens have experienced online harassment. Girls are more likely to be victims, but most teens say that they are more likely to be bullied offline than online.

* Researchers Alice Marwick and Danah Boyd have recently released research that complicates the term “bullying”12 and suggests that some of the troubling interactions that adults label as bullying may be referred to as “drama” by teens. According to Marwick and Boyd, the term “drama” is used by teens to assert a greater sense of agency – or control – in their social lives. The authors argue that the word “drama” sidesteps being positioned as a “victim” or “bully” and allows teens to see themselves as active participants in the things that happen to them.

Spedcast welcomes our special guests Ginger Lewman and Kevin Honeycutt! They have been partnering with the our colleague Tamara Konrade on a new anti-bullying curriculum. Ginger is an education consultant with ESSDACK, a regional educational service center in Hutchinson, Kansas. Ginger  specializes in Project Based Learning, Technology Integration, Gifted and High-Ability Learners, and Creativity. She was formerly the Director of Turning Point Learning Center’s f2f Program where, for half a decade, she worked to create the LifePractice Model. She created a rich learning environment utilizing Project Based Learning and 1:1 laptops with a Democratic approach to learning. Online networks have been the key to making it work!

Kevin is an international Keynote Speaker & Staff Developer who has already created an online safety, anti-bullying and cyber-bullying curriculum which he shares with parents, teachers and students around the country. He certifies instructors in this curriculum and supports trainers as they go out and do this important work. His recent book, Don’t Stay Under The Couch Starbuck and The Bully is the centerpiece of his Pre-K-6 curriculum. He continues to work with schools to develop innovative, engaging curriculum to better prepare learners for the world they will face when they graduate. He is passionate about meeting the needs of at-risk learners and works with kids in juvenile detention, developing approaches to re-engage the “lost” learner. Kevin travels the country and the world speaking at conferences and working with educators at t...

“Learning happens when someone wants to learn, not when someone wants to teach.” – Roger Shank

 

Inclusion is such a powerful support system when implemented strategically and purposefully.  The final  inclusion level to examine is Level 4.  This is really a class within a class model.

Here are a few tips:

* IEP

* Student objectives are related to general content but are not on the same instructional level.

* Curriculum is determined by the Special Ed. teacher

* Intent is to support social skills and model grade appropriate skill with age appropriate peers

* Paraprofessional support is directly related to the student. The goal is still to fade support toward more independence

* Para professional collects data and communicates frequently with the special ed teacher

* Grading scale is related to  the student’s objectives

* Student qualifies to take the KAMM or alternate assessment

* Para professional ensures that all accommodations are carried out

* Primary focus is the tailored curriculum

Strategies:

* Graphic organizers

* Students track own data

Links to Resources:

Amazon  Audio books    Audio books for free   Librivox

Cool Tools

target="_blank" title="Share On Facebook" >

No matter the age, most students want to be with their peers as  part of the regular education classroom .  Studies indicate that when students are “included”, they gain more self confidence in their abilities, are more likely to work closer to the level of their peers, and are more likely to reach their full potential. It is important that teachers work together to increase the likelihood of these successes.

Level 2:   Co-Teaching

* IEP – goals are related to content

* Content/Special Ed. Teacher – co-teach

* Para professional – present if needed and NOT sitting beside student the entire time. Goal is for student to be independent!

* Multiple students assigned to the same class (class within a class)

* Content/Special Ed. Teacher select objectives required for student to pass the class AND any modifications needed based on IEP needs

* Modifications are communicated to the para professional

* Student is eligible for the regular assessment with accommodations or the KAMM

 

INTERVENTIONS (as needed)

* Modified homework and assessments related to learning objectives. (individualized for each learner)

* Notes provided and reviewed with the para-educator

* Alternative modes of assessment of knowledge: oral, computer, multiple choice etc.

* Student models

* Slow removal of supports (para) as needed

* Use of graphic organizers

* Student tracking/ ownership of their data

* Positive behavior supports

* Limited new concepts presented at a given time

* Homework structure/support (para, teacher, home communication)

* Visuals/models of end product

* Segmenting assignments into small steps with monitoring

* Highlight key points/main ideas on written directions

* Teach key words to alert important information is about to be presented

What Successful Teachers Do in the Inclusive Classroom (McNary, Glascow and Hicks)

Other Resources:

A collection of inclusion resources:  www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=116468

iPad apps to support inclusion: www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=412077&backurl=/shelf/my

target="_blank" title="Share On Facebook" >