Notes, Notes, NotesI bet you've got at least 1 student in your class who receives "copy of class notes" or some derivative... Are you unsure of what that actually means or what that requires for you to do? Click the image below for a review of everything you need to know about Copy of Notes! Are you Struggling with Mods/Accoms?You may remember that last year, we started sharing tips to help you with supporting your special education students... well, get ready for what we've got for you this year! This year on our weekly posts, you will find information for how to support your special education students through differentiation when planning, how to handle behavior in your classroom, how to incorporate AVID strategies, tech tools to support struggling learners, and much, much more! Help Sessions!The first help session of the school year will be held next week! Please come with your questions, lessons, and paperwork! Let's make some magic happen for our kids! Catch this!How can this blog help you this year?
Where are you struggling? Please complete this quick survey to catch a prize! Everyone who completes the survey by 4pm, Friday 9/9 will get a prize! Shout out!There have been some awesome things going on at AMCMS this past week! If you've passed by the 7th grade science classrooms, you've probably seen a lot of movement and talking going on in there, but the students are so completely engaged with what they are doing! Students did some research, and now they are working with groups to assemble different space travel-related items. Within the framework of this project, students with varying levels of need have been able to get their needs met seamlessly! Awesome job 7th grade science! You are....... More Review Tools
Help Session InfoWe've got one help session left! If you've got questions or need support with modifying or accommodating, please come by! We will also have 2 sessions to help with modifying/accommodating exams as well! Bring your exam and your paperwork, and let's take a look at it together!
Easy BehaviorAs we move into the last few weeks of school, there are a lot of different things going on on and off campus (STAAR test, concerts, Talent Show, Field Day, etc). So it goes without saying that our students are going to be a lot of fun until the end of the school year! The more engaged our students are, the less likely there will be behavior issues! Interactive and fun activities can go a long way to minimize the need for handling problem behaviors in these last few weeks! Review toolsBelow are some tools that can be useful for all students!
Help SessionsWe only have a few more sessions left this year!
If you need support or aren't sure how to modify or accommodate, please come by! Thank You!Thank you for filling out ARD paperwork and for attending ARDs! Without your input on the forms and attending the meetings, we could not make informed decisions that affect the future of our students! By giving your time, you are improving the future of our students! Thank you!!! Accommodations DailyAs we are nearing the end of this semester, please keep in mind that classroom accommodations are still important and necessary for the success of our students! Test accommodations are imporant, but what we do for our students on a daily basis is even more important! If you're not sure how to accommodate, let's talk about it! Come by 112 before or after school or chat with that student's contact teacher! Which of the pictures above represents your students? Even in these last weeks of the semester, let's do our best to be the second picture! Upcoming Help Sessions2 more official sessions left!
Thoughtful ConsequencesIn behavioral terms, a consequence is stimulus that occurs after a behavior--in other words: a consequence is your response to a student's behavior. Future behaviors are influenced by the consequence that follows, so it's imperative to be mindful of how we are responding to each and every behavior. Your response to a behavior in this moment sets the stage for future behaviors. A consequence can be positive - such as praise, or a piece of candy, or a thumbs up. A consequence can be punitive - such as redirection, correction, or detention. On a day to day basis, as teachers, we provide behavioral consequences all day long that are not necessarily just praise and "punishment." The way that we respond to each and every behavior sets the stage for behaviors in the future, so we have to be mindful of the way we respond to all behavior (even something as simple as a raised hand, talking out, or asking to go to the restroom). Our response to the behavior right now is down payment for the behavior that we will see in the future, so pay wisely! Upcoming Help Sessions:We have 3 more scheduled help sessions this school year!
If you are working on an assignment, project, or test, and you're not quite sure how to modify or accommodate, come by 112 at the times below! The Power of PraiseThink about how you feel when someone praises you. Now, think about how you feel when you are corrected. Doesn't it feel good to be praised in front of others? Doesn't it feel embarrassing to be corrected in front of others? Keep in mind that our students are no different from us! Do your best to praise publicly and correct privately. You'll be amazed at the result! Help SessionsWe are nearing the end of the school year, and accommodations and modification are still extremely important and required for the success of our students! Are there areas where you are still struggling? Please ask for help or support so that we can work together to do what is best for our students! Can't make it to those dates? No worries! Come by 112 any day after school if you'd like to chat! Your students' contact teachers are also a great resource if you're not sure how to support a student!
Post-Break Behavior Tips:We've all had a week off to (hopefully!) rest! For many of our students, that week off of school means there was no structure at all with no demands being placed on them at all. The transition back to our highly structured school environment where we will be asking them to do work may result in a little difficulty transitioning back to school this week! To help our students transition back to the school mindset, this is a great mid-semester, mid-six weeks, post-break time to review your classroom expectations! This is also a great time for us as teachers to remind ourselves of the things that we can do to help our students to be successful behaviorally! Take a minute to review this infographic about behavior and how we can promote student success! Need Help?Don't we all?! There will not be an accommodation/modification help session this week; however, if you are working on a lesson, assignment, or test and need some guidance on your accommodations, please come by 112 or chat with that student's contact teacher! We are here to help! Upcoming Sessions:Tips from this WeekThis week, a few folks came by to ask questions about accommodations, and their questions were great! Here's what we discussed so you can benefit too! Simplified Vocabulary: This only applies to non-academic words, so the vocabulary words your class needs to know should still be included! If the student functions at a very low reading level, you can always supplement with a simplified synonym, example, or picture to help them know what the word means. The important thing with simplifying vocabulary is to know the level where your student functions, which means taking a look at the present levels section of their IEP paperwork. If you need help dissecting paperwork or making these changes, please ask for help! Chunking: When you're giving a test or an assignment, breaking the assignment into small pieces can serve a number of purposes. It can help ease anxiety and resistance to doing the work. It can help the students stay on task and on track. It can give you the opportunity to check in to make sure students are doing what they're supposed to be doing on an assignment. If you're doing a matching or fill in the blank section on a test, chunking can make it a little easier for the student to come up with correct answer simply because they're having to choose the answer from fewer choices. When chunking matching or fill in the blank, try to aim for 4-5 questions per section. It can also be helpful for attention span on a test if you chunk and mix the types of questions presented: Ex. give 5 multiple choice, then 5 matching, then 5 fill in the blank. This can be less intimidating for kids, and the slight change in the type of thought process needed for each type of question can help with focus! Chunking is your friend! And it's really easy to do! Test Length: When is a test too long? If you are giving a test that has more questions than there are minutes in a class period, then you definitely need to reconsider. While some students may be able to work that quickly, a great number of students need more time than that! For a slower-reading student, it can even be difficult to get through fewer questions in a class period. Keep in mind that there are quite a few students who read at lower reading levels or who have attention issues who do not receive a modified test, so please be sure to consider those students when planning your tests! A modified test should be 2/3-3/4 the length of your regular test. Also consider that if a test is open book or open notes that our students who have reading difficulties are going to have those reading difficulties on the test and in their notes. Please keep that in mind when determining the length of your open book/notes test! Scaffolding Steps: Have you see this accommodation and have no idea what it means? You're not alone! If you teach math, this might be a little easier to accommplish because you can demonstrate how to work parts of a problem or use highlighters to give reminders of where numbers need to go (as in examples shown previously this year). An easy way to scaffold steps for your students for any class is to include a reminder about what they need to do for that problem or question. Is there a formula they need to use? If there a rule they need to remember? Is there a mnemonic device/acronym your class has learned? A little note/reminder on the question can go a long way toward getting that student on the right track. This week:As you are working on your assignments for your students (daily work, tests, and projects), if you are unsure about how an accommodation should look or you don't know what to do, please come get help before or after school any day in room 112!
Let's talk it out! Let's figure it out! Let's do what's right for our kids! A Series of Behavioral Events:Reminder: Mark Your Calendar!The next help session will be on March 1! If you have questions or want to bounce ideas about accommodations in the mean time, come by 112 most days after school!
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