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Greetings & Welcome! 👩🏻‍🏫
My name is Ms. Ortiz & I am a student in a multiple-subject teaching credential program as well as a substitute teacher. As an educator, it is fundamental for me to have a set of tools that are both accessible & valuable when working in a mainstreamed classroom. It is my job to ensure that all students feel respected, safe, & appreciated within the classroom. As a result, I have created my own website consisting of strategies, resources, & ideas that I plan on using in my future mainstreamed classroom. I mention a few that I feel are essential for me to keep in mind but there are many more great tools out there!
Thank you for visiting & I hope you too find something that can be of good use.

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First off, I have generated a list of important words to know along with their definitions. The following terms are good to know when working with mainstreamed students.

Mainstreaming
Placing students with an IEP or 504 plan for a certain amount of time in a general education classroom.

IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Legal document defining special education services needed by a student between a school district and the parents.

504 Plan
Made to ensure that students with disabilities receive accommodations that will ensure their academic success as well as give them access to a learning environment.

IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)
Law--guarantees educational rights to students with disabilities without any discrimination.

LRE (Least Restrictive Environment)
Environment, close as a general education classroom setting, where students with disabilities must be educated--according to IDEA.

Accommodation
Arrangement(s) made in a students learning environment in order to aide the student with reaching success.

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Some strategies that can be used in a mainstreamed classroom are:

Scaffolding

Modeling how to do something to students and then stepping back and allowing the students to do it on their while supporting them as needed.

Hands-On

Engaging in actively doing something as opposed to listening or learning about it.

C ollaborative Learning

Actively working in groups.

Chunking

Breaking a lesson or activity into smaller sections.

Graphic Organizers

Visual display showing relationship(s) between more than one thing--used for guided thinking.

Realia

Making things real and engaging for the students--aides with building real-life connections.

Visual Cues
Signal(s) and reminder(s) of something.

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What's inside?
Vision statements, stories, and strategies to guide teachers in promoting social justice and creating classrooms that allow all children to experience academic success.

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What's inside?
Behavior guide with solutions.

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iPads are a great technology resource to have in the classroom--specially in a mainstream classroom. There are infinite possibilities for them and students love them.

What they bring to the table:
Bright, colorful visuals.
Clear sound.
Use of earphones.
Captions.
Hands-On.
Interactive.
Engaging.

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Like iPads, ChromeBooks serve many great uses in the classroom.

What they bring to the table:
Keyboard for typing.
Bright, colorful visuals.
Clear sound.
Use of earphones.
Captions.
Hands-On.
Interactive.
Engaging.
Practice for State Exams.

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ONLINE RESOURCE: TYPES OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES (14) 

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ONLINE RESOURCE: TYPES OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES (14) 

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This is an awesome informational video that I found on Teachings In Education 's YouTube channel. It does a great job in describing the 14 different categories and classifications in special education students by providing a descriptive definition and gives strategies to use in the classroom with those students. Check out the link to the video below!

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Students with Disabilities: Special Education Categories

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ONLINE RESOURCE: APPS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

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ONLINE RESOURCE: APPS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

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I came across the blog Moms With Apps where they mention various apps suitable for students with special needs. The apps were made to assist both students and their families. I have included the link down below for you to check them out!

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These apps for special needs were made by the developers at Moms With Apps to assist children and families. We will update this list periodically. If you have feedback on the apps, please contact the developers as they are very open to collaboration. The descriptions below are NOT reviews - they are descriptions written by the developers.
ConversationBuilder™by Mobile Education Store ConversationBuilder™ is designed to help elementary aged children learn how to have multi-exchange conversations with their peers in a variety of social settings. The auditory pattern of conversation is presented in a visual format to help students recognize and master the flow of conversation. Students will learn when it is appropriate to introduce themselves, ask questions, make observations and change the subject of the conversation. Being able to converse with peers is the cornerstone of developing relationships, and ConversationBuilder™ promotes development of this skill that so many elementary aged children struggle with in a fun and engaging way.

First Then Visual Schedule by Good Karma Apps First-Then Visual Schedule application is designed for caregivers to provide
positive behavior support for those with communication needs. This application provides an affordable and convenient audio-visual prompting tool for use on the iPhone or iTouch. The portability of the iPhone and iTouch and ease of use of the application make it perfect for use at school, home or in the community.

Grace App by Steven-Troughton Smith (See news clip Demo Video) A simple picture exchange system developed By and For non-verbal people allowing the user to communicate their needs by building sentences from relevant images. It can be customised by the individual using their picture and photo vocabulary with the user taking and saving pictures independently to the app.

iCommunicate by Grembe (See Demo Video) Create pictures, flashcards, storyboards, routines, and visual schedules. Record custom audio in any language. We include 100+ pictures(first 5 have audio) to get you started. Add pictures with your camera, or from your camera roll, or use Google image search. Utilize as audio visual prompting tool or AAC device.

iComm by Mias Apps (See Demo Video) The iComm (short for I Communicate) is an app providing an affordable, custom built and easy to use communication system using pictures and words - both written and spoken. It is ideal for children under three until they are able to express their needs through well formed speech. The iComm is also very useful for children with a broad range of disabilities who have trouble communicating such as cerebral palsy or autism.

In My Dreams by DevelopEase (See Demo Video) Have fun with reading, matching, and sign language. "In My Dreams" uses animation and repetition to promote literacy. Each page has the same sentence structure and reinforces understanding of nouns, verbs and prepositions. "In My Dreams" is an instructional app designed with illustrations that provide language cues. Personalize the app for your child, student or client by adding their photo!

My Talk Tools (LITE version) MyTalkTools Mobile Lite is a fully-functional version of MyTalk Mobile with 12 cell capacity, using one or two boards. Using the 12 cells offered by MyTalk Mobile Lite, users can gain comfort with the mobile use and our online authoring (building communication boards or pages) via MyTalk Workspace. Using MyTalk Mobile Lite, experience the ultimate in customizable communications. If you find that MyTalk Mobile Lite provides the right solutions, but you would like the increased capacity of 32,000 cells, consider MyTalk Mobile.

Off We Go! Going on a Plane and Going to the Dentist books are available as iPhone and iPad apps in English and Spanish. If you are going on a plane or visiting the dentist, you can use your iPhone or iPad to help prepare your child and make the experience easier for everyone. These books are a visual step by step guide to everyday experiences, particularly for children with special needs.

Open-Ended apps that have received positive feedback from parents and therapists who work with special needs kids. These apps don't have a "right" or "wrong", but rather an open platform for children to experiment and explore: Draw With Stars, Snow Wonder, Faces iMake.

RainbowSentences by Mobile EducationStore Rainbow Sentences is designed to help students improve their ability to construct grammatically correct sentences by using color coded visual cues. The who, what, where, and why parts of sentences are color coded to help students recognize and understand how combinations of these parts create basic sentence structure. Students will learn how to recognize the parts of sentences such as nouns, verbs, and prepositions, improve their understanding of how combinations of these parts create basic sentence structure. Students have the opportunity to record their sentences in their own voice to improve their receptive and expressive language skills.

Sentence Builder by Mobile Education Store Sentence Builder is designed to help elementary aged children learn how to build grammatically correct sentences. Explicit attention is paid to the connector words that make up over 80% of the English language. Sentence Builder offers a rich and fun environment for improving the grammar of all children.

Sign Me A Story by GraceSigns is designed to help children learn sign language and reading through story and video. The first two animated stories teach 26 signs in this highly interactive adventure series. Enhanced with music and sound effects, the pop-up videos feature children with special needs as the signing demonstrators. Children use Sign Me A Story to practice reading and comprehension all while improving their communication skills. Free parent/teacher curriculum downloadable @ http://signmeastory.com/links.htm

Speech With Milo: Verbs by Doonan Speech Therapy (See Demo Video) Created by a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist, this app offers a versatile and entertaining speech therapy tool for children. The app is for speech therapists working with children, or parents who want to teach language skills to their children. The animation that comes with Milo will keep any child focused and attentive. And most important- it is fun!

Story Builder by Mobile Education Store Story Builder is designed to help children accomplish the following educational goals: 1) Improve paragraph formation; 2) Improve integration of ideas; and 3) Improve higher level abstractions by inference. Extensive use of audio clips promotes improved auditory processing for special needs children with autism spectrum disorders or sensory processing disorders.

Story Pals by Eric Sailers LLC, Whimsical. Enjoyable. Data-driven. Practicing listening and reading comprehension has never been easier or more exciting than with StoryPals. StoryPals is a story comprehension app for iPad that features fun, original stories with unique characters, colorful, modern artwork and interactive illustrations. Best of all, it collects and saves student scores automatically so tracking student progress is simple.

Zanny - Born to Run "Zanny, Born to Run" is part of the very first book series ever written expressly FOR children with special needs. We know that not all kids are the same, so each book address a different symptom, not a disorder. This way, stories can benefit "typical" children who might have difficulties in one area while also helping kids diagnosed with learning disabilities.

Additional Resources for Special Needs:

A brief demo video of this app is available on UTube:

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These apps for special needs were made by the developers at Moms With Apps to assist children and families. We will update this list periodically. If you have feedback on the apps, please contact the developers as they are very open to collaboration. The descriptions below are NOT reviews - they are descriptions written by the developers.

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ARTICLE RESOURCE: ADAPTING K12 FOR STUDENTS WITH AUTISM

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ARTICLE RESOURCE: ADAPTING K12 FOR STUDENTS WITH AUTISM

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By: Regina Whitmer

Brief Summary:

Focuses on adapting the K12 program for students with autism in the U.S.

Mentions restraints of IDEA and different methodologies for working with autistic students in different classroom settings.

Discusses why it is essential for staff to undergo training in working with children with autism.

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Article: Adapting K12 for Students w Autism-Whitmer R.pdf

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ARTICLE RESOURCE: CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE READING INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES 

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ARTICLE RESOURCE: CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE READING INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES 

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By:  Lefki Kourea, Lenwood Gibson, & Robai Werunga

Brief Summary:

Discuses and analyzes three primary domains of culturally responsive reading instruction for students with learning disabilities

The three domains are: instructional delivery, environmental support, and curriculum context.

Describes strategies and tools from each domain to aide teachers in making the day-to-day reading instruction culturally responsive as well as relevant to student needs.

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Article-Culturally Responsive Reading Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities.pdf

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ARTICLE RESOURCE: REVERSE INCLUSION: PROVIDING PEER SOCIAL INTERACTION OPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS PLACED IN SELF-CONTAINED SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS

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ARTICLE RESOURCE: REVERSE INCLUSION: PROVIDING PEER SOCIAL INTERACTION OPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS PLACED IN SELF-CONTAINED SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS

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By: Kimberly D. Schoger

Brief Summary:

Focuses on a special education teacher who attempted to use a unique program of reverse inclusion to bring social interaction opportunities to students with disabilities.

The subjects consist of three students with special needs.

Students were given goals and were monitored throughout.

The results were beneficial to all students.

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The purpose of mainstreaming special need students in a general education classroom is to be able to improve students’ academic achievement. In addition, students also gain valuable social skills through peer interactions and they can improve their self-esteem.

Throughout the day a special needs student might be in-and-out of the classroom due to meetings with different ad-hoc personnel. Despite that, it is still meaningful for a student to be a part of a general education classroom so that they can feel accepted and engaged in general student activities. Students are capable of being empowered through support and acceptance and in the long run, that can help them be successful hard-working individuals who are capable of achieving their dreams no matter what their situation is.

Through parent, school staff, and peer support, special need students can thrive and reach their full potential with whatever they set their mind to—all they need is someone to believe in them and guide them.

As an educator, I want to be that teacher that makes a positive and lasting impact in students’ lives. I want my students to remember me as the teacher who believed in them and supported them throughout their education even when things got tough. All students are our future and therefore, it is my job to guide them and fulfill their needs so they can be successful.