Real Teachers-Real Strategies 13: Manipulative Multiplication

 Teaching Tips  No Responses »
Apr 032012
 

Our last winning blog post comes from Cindy in Oklahoma City, OK. Cindy is a Special Education Teacher to 5th and 6th graders with special needs. She has paired rhymes and manipulatives with multiplication facts that brings success to her students learning their ‘facts.’

The Project: Multiplication with Manipulatives.

I teach multiplication facts to my 5th and 6th grade students with special needs using manipulatives and catchy rhymes. My students are low achievers who have special needs that prohibit them from being successful in the general education classroom. The program I use for teaching multiplication facts helps my students reach goals, develop self-confidence, and feel successful. I make multiplication facts concrete and fun! When my students learn and apply these facts, they are proud of themselves.

I work to motivate my students and encourage them in all areas of learning. I have seen students learn these multiplication facts and their feeling of self-worth soars. Learning multiplication facts may seem insignificant, but when this small thing can turn a child from having low self-esteem and feeling worthless, it is a huge thing! I will continue teaching multiplication facts this way, reaching out to my students, hoping  they will see their worth and that they are not failures.

Learning Objectives:

My students are given a foundation for math application by learning their multiplication facts in elementary school. I teach my students a rhyme or “trick” for each fact using manipluatives to make it a concrete learning experience. Students keep track of facts they know, showing them progress toward a goal. Students work together to learn the facts, and they encourage each other along the way. Once students have mastered all the multiplication facts presented, we celebrate their achievement.

Materials:

I use small manipulatives, such as plastic spiders or toy worms to teach the facts. Some facts are acted out by the students to help them internalize the facts and remember them. I present the facts in many ways using a SmartBoard, dry erase boards, chalkboards, computer games, and worksheets to reinforce and meet all students’ needs and learning styles. We play games with the multiplication facts as well.

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Brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education for the Fall 2011 Teacher Grant: http://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-ideas/grant/teaching-idea?app=18477&grantId=75

 

Real Teachers-Real Strategies 12: Does Size Really Matter?

 Teaching Tips  No Responses »
Mar 272012
 

Our next winning teaching idea comes from Joelle of McMinnville, OR. She is a Structure Learning Program Teacher to high school students. Her idea is using a visual comparison and thought provoking questions to help them understand that special needs are everywhere and how to advocate for themselves.

The Project: We Need a Bigger Tank?

Goldfish are able to live in all sizes of bodies of fresh water, but a small fish in a small tank will always remain small. A big fish in a small tank would not have enough resources to thrive. My thought is to have two fish tanks of different sizes and measure the growth of the fish throughout the year. The idea is to build awareness in students with disabilities about advocacy and inclusion and how important these things are to their education, self esteem and life after high school.

 

Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to compare how being a student with special needs is similar to being a small fish in a big pond (resource room), or a big fish in a small pond (self-contained classroom). They will be able to write and imagine what their life would be like if they were given more opportunities in a bigger tank. Similarly, what would it be like if their big tank were a little smaller and they didn’t have to struggle for resources.

Materials:

The materials needed would be two fish tanks of different sizes (example 10 gal tank and 20 gal tank), goldfish, food, tank equipment such as filters, air pumps, and cleaning supplies, tank lamps, tank decorations and measurement tools for fish growth.

This project depends on the district policy to allow fish tanks in the classroom and has to be cleared by the school board in certain situations; however, I feel that the information the students take away is well worth the effort.

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Brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education for the Teacher Grant Ask: http://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-ideas/grant/teaching-idea?app=17017&grantId=75

 

Real Teachers-Real Strategies 10: Being Prepared for the World of Work

 Teaching Tips, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Mar 082012
 

This post is from our #1 voted winner: Susie in Minerva, OH. Preparing her high school students for the work force is as important as ever in today’s economy. She truly believes in her students and their ability to be active and productive members in their community after high school. Susie helps her students to prepare for this new world with every tool she can provide them.

The Project: Being Prepared for the World of  Work.

I teach a transition life skills class to students with multiple disabilities. I use the School-to-Work DVD series with worksheets I have made up and some home made video’s using a Flip Camera to show students role playing and real life situations about being prepared for work and how to interact at work. The students are engaged when watching the video’s of real job skills and sites where they can learn job skills and possibly become employed.

Learning Objectives:

Students will see past graduates in their current jobs putting into place some of the job skills/ life skills that we emphasize in our classroom daily. Students can see good and bad ways of dealing with different situations that may occur on a job site through role playing videos. Students will then get to go into those same job sites and experience some of the same situations and know how to respond or interact appropriately.

Materials:

Flip Camera, other “getting a job” curriculum, transition planning materials, job sites and real employees/employers. The Functional Skills System: Social Skills or Workplace Social Skills. The Life Skills Readers and other Read-to-Learn library sets are also great tools. I would like to use iPods/iPads to also run the videos on and take video for immediate reinforcement learning. PCI’s Getting Along with People Series would be a nice addition to what we are teaching as well.

Susie also says:

I very much love my job, and the materials and resources available have come along way since I began teaching 12 years ago. Thank you for continuing to look for interactive and engaging materials that can reach the students I work with. In the world today where it is getting more and more difficult for the average person to find employment has made it that much more important for my students who already have struggles to work through to be even more prepared for the world they will soon enter.

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Brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education’s Teacher Grant: http://http://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-ideas/grant/teaching-idea?app= 18246&grantId=75

 

Real Teachers-Real Strategies 6: Leadership

 Teaching Tips  No Responses »
Feb 072012
 

From Jennifer of Colorado Springs, CO, comes our next intriguing teaching strategy. Jennifer is a junior high school Center Based SIED Level IV teacher. She strives to teach students with emotional and behavioral disorders that they can learn and exhibit the characteristics of being a leader.

Her project: Character Education: Leadership!

Using past and present leaders to teach students with severe emotional and behavioral disorders, how to be a leader. Students are taught through video clips, power point, and their own experiences how to be a leader and what characteristics all leaders have. It is important to be a leader in today’s society. Students learn a new character trait each week. Some traits already learned this year are respect, responsibility, being ready to learn and honesty. The students really respond well to the multi-media format and are eager to learn positive characteristics to show their families and others to learn how to do the same.

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn the importance of positive character. Through character education, students are able to focus their behaviors in a positive manner. Students engage with their peers to practice positive peer interactions and how to support others. Character traits that will be discussed and learned are: being trustworthy, caring, hardworking, compassionate, leadership skills, responsibility, being respectful, ready to learn, being independent, understanding, dependable, helpful, proactive, and many more.

Materials:

In my character education class, I use Power Point, projector software, video clips from classic movies or educational videos, student knowledge (K-W-L charts), and student input.

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Brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education’s Grant Ask: http://www.weareteachers.com/ideas/partnerask/teachingidea?app=%2016870&grantId=75

 

Real Teachers-Real Strategies 5: Creating Books for Articulation

 Teaching Tips  1 Response »
Feb 012012
 

This teaching strategy is brought to us by Virginia of Andover, MA. She is a Speech/Language Pathologist for students in Early Learning through 2nd grade. Virgina’s teaching technique is to engage her students in a creative adventure to put together a story of the sound or letter they are targeting in their lesson.

Her project: Creating Books for Super Articulation.

Using Target Sounds for the lesson, the students name a stuffed animal or puppet as the main character, such as Ricky Raccoon for ‘r’ words. Using a picture of Ricky along with others chosen by the students they build a book of Ricky’s likes, dislikes, activities, habitat, friends, etc. Each page starts with “Ricky the Raccoon…” This sense of adventure and creating is great for motivating articulation practice of /r/, as well as practicing sentence structures, asking questions making it a multisensory experience. Ricky and the book go home for practice with the student’s parents. Huge interest & success!

Her students really enjoyed this project and have a new one entitled “Lily the Leopard.” This book will incorporate not only /l/, but the vowelized /r/ combinations needed… ar, er, ir, or, ur.

Learning Objectives:

Practice of learned skills including: phonemic awareness, placement, production; syntax: organization/formulation of verbal expression; benefit of model/imitation of therapist and parents; and independent experience. The results are increased sound production and intelligibility from single words to connected speech! Great motivating lessons for articulation practice, intelligibility, and building confidence as an effective communicator.

Materials:

Pictures, construction paper, glue,  laminate, markers/computer printed labels and sentence starters, and homework sheet, as well as a small puppet or stuffed animal that can travel home with the book for a week’s practice.

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Brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education’s Teacher Grant Asks: http://www.weareteachers.com/ideas/partnerask/teachingidea?app=17630&grantId=75

 

Real Teachers-Real Strategies 4: Conflict Resolution Skills

 Teaching Tips  2 Responses »
Jan 242012
 

Our next post is from Lisa from Suffolk, VA, a middle school/high school Special Education teacher. Her strategy is to teach conflict resolution skills with differentiated instruction so each student can learn the skill according to how they learn best.

Her strategy: a Conflict Resolution Menu.

“The students have been learning a unit on how to deal appropriately with conflict. Proper problem solving skills and techniques to all types of possible conflicts they may come across. Since all students learn differently, I created a unit assessment that was Differentiated Instructional (DI) focused. This menu has 3 appetizer activites, 3 entree activities, and 3 dessert activities to choose from. Each student may choose the activities they feel most comfortable doing to demonstrate mastery.”

Learning Objectives:

“The students will demonstrate their knowledge on conflict resolution and problem solving techniques that they can carry with them into adulthood. These skills will help them handle peer conflicts, issues with teachers, and even frustration that may occur from academics. Being able to properly identify a conflict and the appropriate way to handle that conflict is a skill that will help them be successful in school as well as in life.”

Materials:

Conflict resolution lesson, art supplies, conflict resolution menu, problem solving scale, PowerPoint (student choice)

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This post is brought to you by We Are Teachers partnership with PCI Education’s Grant Asks: http://www.weareteachers.com/ideas/partnerask/teachingidea?app= 17846&grantId=75

 

Aspergers vs. Autism or Aspergers = Autism

 Special Education Classroom  No Responses »
Nov 112009
 

austim vs aspbergers

In Tuesday’s New York Times,  Simon Baron-Cohen reviews the implications of merging Aspergers into Autism Spectrum Disorder in the American Psychiatric Association‘s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.  He gives a solid overview of reasoning on both sides of the issue but recommends that we wait because we don’t yet know if there is a true difference at the biological level.

What stuck out for me was the clear distinction he makes between psychiatric diagnosis and medical diagnosis.  Psychiatric definitions remain in flux and fixate on the symptoms only.  Medical diagnosis goes deeper, and attempts to understand the biological mechanism behind the symptoms.  He states:

“…psychiatric diagnoses are not set in stone. They are “manmade,” and different generations of doctors sit around the committee table and change how we think about “mental disorders.”

With this in mind some good Doctors are trying to merge Aspergers into ASD because the symptoms are the same.  It seems tidier to them.  I worry that losing the distinctions that do exist will not be useful in the classroom.

Without a deeper understanding, all of us who serve these communities will struggle to treat the symptoms without understanding the underlying causes.  This isn’t about finding a “cure” – it is about providing effective tools that enrich the lives we touch.  The needs of teachers (and publishers) run counter to the desire at the APA for concision.  As we create resources to teach reading and other skills we need more finely defined distinctions, not fewer.  That, after all, is what an INDIVIDUAL Education Plan is all about.

by Lee Wilson, President and CEO

Funding, Idea Sharing Available Through Microgrant

 Special Education Classroom  No Responses »
Oct 152009
 

WeAreTeachers announces a new microgrant, “Special Education: Individual Attention, Collective Impact,” sponsored by PCI Education. 

 

Share how your work, project or idea can make a positive impact for special education students.  All of the grant submissions will be published online, where members of the WeAreTeachers community will vote for their favorite project.  The 10 submissions that receive the most community votes will be awarded a $200 cash microgrant and a Flip Videoä camera to share the project in action.  Your project will inspire other teachers who collectively can make a difference in the lives of more students with special needs.

 

PCI-WAT-Microgrant-BlogGrant submissions will be accepted through Oct. 31st.  To apply for this grant online, visit www.weareteachers.com.  Voting will begin Nov. 3rd, when the submitted projects will be posted online for community review, and winners will be announced Nov. 19th.

 

The microgrant is part of a new partnership between PCI Education and WeAreTeachers, an online network that brings together teachers, learners and content in the education industry.  The partnership provides the WeAreTeachers community with special education expertise, by offering teachers access to community support, idea sharing, product recommendations, and grant opportunities.

 

Through the PCI Education home page on WeAreTeachers, special education teachers can connect with one another, share best practices and interact with one another, as well as with PCI Education, to create a classroom culture that is up-to-date with the latest and best in teaching techniques and products.

 

In addition, WeAreTeachers offers members the opportunity to rate PCI Education products to help colleagues make informed purchase decisions.  Teachers can write and share reviews and implementation recommendations on products they are using in their classrooms.  Each review provides members with points that can be redeemed for charity contributions, gift cards or other classroom supplies.

 

 To access the online community, visit www.weareteachers.com/web/pcieducation.