2010 March » Special Education and Learning Differences

In Your Shoes

PCI Company Culture, Special Education Classroom, Special Education Resource, Teaching Tips No Responses »

Mar 222010

by Leslie Buteyn

A customer called me this week to ask a few questions about some of our products. After we discussed several different titles, she told me how much money she had to spend and asked what I would buy if I were her. What a great question, and I was thrilled to answer it! I loved the opportunity to put myself in the shoes of a middle school language arts teacher working with a group of students reading significantly below grade level; those are the very shoes I wore before I came to work at PCI!

One of the things that I love about working in PCI’s product development group is that our content team is comprised of educators. We have all spent time working in the classroom, and we know what it’s like to be in your shoes. That knowledge and experience drives the development of our products. I hope that you can see and feel that each time you use a PCI product in your classroom.

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Leslie Buteyn

Leslie Buteyn is tasked with developing products from the idea phase to the marketplace and is responsible for managing the development of many of PCI Education’s bestselling products. She has developed products for students from preschool age to adult in all subject areas.

Prior to her career at PCI, Buteyn was a middle school language arts and reading teacher in San Antonio. She holds a Bachelor’s in English and a Master’s in Teaching. Both degrees were earned at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Bundles of Straws: Place Value Made Simple

Special Needs Community, Teaching Tips No Responses »

Mar 222010

by Kristi Lindsay

What is a number? Have you ever tried to define that word? It’s not easy. Number concepts aren’t always easy to explain either. For those with learning disabilities, many number concepts pose quite a challenge, especially the abstract basic concepts. The best way to help struggling learners is to make the abstract tangible. Using manipulatives gives students a means to tactilely learn, manipulate, solve, and understand challenging math skills.

One concept that many of my former students had difficulty with was place value. Explaining the ones, tens and hundreds place was complex. But, many math concepts build upon this understanding, so it’s vital for students to understand what these place values mean.

To help my students comprehend place value, I used a lot of straws!

I began by demonstrating a one digit number in the ones place. First, I wrote the numerals 1 through 9 on the board. Then, students gathered the correct amounts of straws to represent those numbers, such as two straws represented the numeral 2. Then we moved on to the tens place. We counted out and bundled ten straws. As I wrote the two-digit numeral on the board, I said “zero ones and one ten.” We repeated the bundling process for numerals 11 through 19. For example, for 14, we bundled up ten straws, had four left over, and I wrote and said “one ten and four ones.” For many days I wrote numbers on the board and had students make straw bundles and explain how many tens and ones were in each numeral.

Once students grasped the concept, I reversed the process. For example, I displayed a ten bundle and six straws. The students identified one ten and six ones and wrote the numeral 16. Reversing the process helped students understood that groups of tens represented the digit in the tens place and the single straws represented the digit in the ones place.

Eventually we progressed up to 99, then added one straw to make 100. The addition of the tenth set of ten straws moved us up to the hundreds place.

What was beneficial about using the manipulatives with place value was the smooth transition into addition. For problems such as “7+9=”, students gathered sets of seven and nine straws, counted and bundled ten straws, and then counted the remainder. They understood that the sum was one ten and six ones or sixteen. When students practiced addition with regrouping, they understood the abstract concept because they were used to bundling straws into groups of ten.

In addition to identifying numbers, place value, and addition, students learned to skip count by tens. Students quickly caught on that they could count the bundles of tens by ten and that 6 bundles was 6 tens or 60.

Through the use of tangible manipulatives, learning disabled, kinesthetic and visual learners were given learning tools and skills to comprehend and understand these abstract basic math concepts. Go grab a bunch of straws and start learning!

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Kristi Lindsay

Prior to working with PCI Education, Kristi worked for another international publishing company, editing and writing elementary spelling and reading texts. At PCI, Kristi has written a plethora of teacher resources, activities, small readers, binders, board games, and software.

Engagement of games for students with special needs

Special Education Classroom, Special Needs Community 1 Response »

Mar 092010

by Janie Hohlt

While watching some of the Olympic events recently, I realized just how compelling games can be. There I sat, a casual observer of the action, and yet the experience had an emotional appeal.

As an educator, I had to consider whether or not the engagement of games combined with the emotional appeal might help students with special needs. Thus I began an online search for an answer. I was pleased to find a wealth of information and studies that support the use of games for learning. One site in particular is worth sharing. Autism Games, www.autismgames.org is a well organized site, created by Tahirih Bushey, MA-CCC Speech Language Pathologist. On this site, Tahirih shares her techniques of using game play to help students with autism acquire oral language. In addition, Tahirih has included a collection of videos that highlight some of her popular techniques.

I was impressed by many of her videos, but one in particular touched my heart. It is a video named “Play Doh.” I encourage you to watch this video and listen to Tahirih as she playfully encourages a boy with autism to talk while he is engaged in playing a game.

Here is my all time favorite modeling dough recipe to use with students. Why go to the trouble of making the dough?

Cost!

- 1 c corn starch

- 2 c baking soda

- 1 ½ c cold water

In a medium saucepan, stir together corn starch and baking soda. Add water and stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. The mix will come to a boil, and then start to thicken. Continue stirring until the mixture reaches the consistency of slightly dry mashed potatoes. Turn the mass onto a plate and cover with a damp cloth. When cool enough to handle, knead thoroughly on a corn starch dusted surface. Add in a little corn starch at a time until the mass becomes smooth and pliable.

If desired, add food coloring to create custom dough colors. Store in a tightly closed plastic bag. . . when not playing of course!

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Janie Holt

Janie Hohlt is a technology content director and product development specialist for PCI Education. Hohlt has authored several other educational print and software programs for PCI, including the Basic Writing Series. During her 20 years as a classroom educator, Hohlt taught at every grade level from kindergarten through sixth grade. She received the Superintendent’s Award four times while serving in a large urban school district in San Antonio, Texas.

Educate Yourself on Education Reform

Special Needs Community, SPED Legislation 1 Response »

Mar 032010

by Kristi Lindsay

“We want to challenge everyone — parents, teachers, school administrators — to raise standards, by having the best teachers and principals, by tying student achievement to assessments of teachers, by making sure that there’s a focus on low-performing schools, by making sure our students are prepared for success in a competitive 21st century economy and workplace,” said President Obama.(http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-announce-plans-race-top-expansion. March 1, 2010)

As a former educator and parent of three young children, I am conflicted by this referendum. The Obama administration’s Race to the Top initiative and funding program promises funds to states who improve their education systems. I’m all for improving and providing top quality educations for all students. But tying teachers’ jobs to students’ academic success bothers me.

As I read the ideals behind the Race to the Top federal plan, as a parent I say “yes that is what we should do.” But having been a teacher, I worry that top educators are going to leave the profession because they are being devalued and set up for failure.

Is it fair to fire a teacher whose students’ achievement scores are still failing, but improved from 20% to 65%? Is it fair to reward a teacher whose top students’ scores improved from 90% to 95%? Is it fair to assess an entire year’s worth of teaching on one standardized test with so many variables? So much weighs on so little.

Yes, we need major education reform. I want my own children to be taught by highly qualified educators. But when so much emphasis is placed on students’ achievements, will the strong and qualified teachers apply to work with those students with learning disabilities, ESL, or low performing students not labeled or too low for special education requirements?

During my teaching career, my classes were composed of 504, inclusion, and ESL students. Every year, my coworker had all of the Gifted and Talented students. Daily I struggled with behavioral problems, lesson modifications for special ed and ESL, and the tasks of teaching 22 different students at 22 different ability levels. My coworker had 10 students pulled each day to attend Challenge Class while she worked with the remaining 12. Would I have wanted my teaching skills, qualifications, and classroom management judged by my students’ performances on standardized tests? No. And would my students’ academic performances be a true assessment of all of the effort, energy, resources, and modifications I made daily? Should my coworker and I have been held to the same standards considering how completely different our teaching experiences were? I see so many gray areas with “tying student achievement to assessments of teachers.”

While I don’t have the answers or a better solution, I do feel that we should all be held accountable for our children’s education. Our future depends on these students, so we should all take active roles in ensuring their educational success. To learn more about the Race to the Top, visit the website http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/RTT_factsheet.pdf and research if and how your state is participating and what your school district is doing to improve education. Get educated about the policies affecting our future’s academic success.

Sound off in the comment section.

Morgan’s Wonderland – The World’s First Theme Park for Friends with Special Needs

Special Needs Community 3 Responses »

Mar 012010

by Denise Jacks

I had an opportunity to see a dream come true yesterday. Not a dream of my own but, the dream of a father with a child with special needs.

I visited Morgan’s Wonderland here in San Antonio one week before the official opening day. It’s the world’s first ultra-accessible family fun park – but it’s not just a park – it’s 25+ acres with rides, a lake, an amphitheater, multiple playscapes , a gym and an interactive childrens museum all rolled into one!

The inspiration for this amazing destination is a young lady named Morgan. During our visit, her father spoke about spending time with his daughter and witnessing opportunities that were unavailable to Morgan and her friends as a result of their physical or cognitive abilities. Seeking to create an environment where children of all abilities could share and play and learn, the idea for Morgan’s Wonderland was born.

This park will serve people of all ages with special needs with their friends and family. The designers and managers of the park have gone to great lengths to make sure that no matter what the challenge – physical, cognitive or emotional - families can enjoy a rewarding play experience together. The general manager showed us the train, go-karts, carousel and swings as well as the playscape and waterworks – all wheelchair accessible or with special seats for the riders! They even have a pier over a lake stocked with fish so that park visitors can catch and release.

Believe me, they thought of everything. They had to – this is the FIRST OF IT’S KIND IN THE WORLD! There is even a quiet park/sitting area tucked away from the noise so that guests can take a break with soothing music and beautiful landscaping.

One of the most amazing things about Morgan’s Wonderland? The admission. Any individual with special needs is admitted to the park free of charge. Their family and friends pay only $5 for admission. Why? Because the people that created this park knew that many families are financially unable to afford such entertainment with the sometimes overwhelming cost of caring for a loved one with special needs.

This is one of those times that I wish I were a much more eloquent writer. I know I have not done it justice, because Morgan’s Wonderland is a place you have to see – to know that dreams can come true.

Enjoy the pictures!