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Module 5: Differentiated Instruction: Reteach and Enrich- Time for all students

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Module 5: Differentiated Instruction: Reteach and Enrich- Time for all students

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Reteach and Enrich: How to Make Time for Every Student

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Module 5: Differentiated Instruction: Reteach and Enrich 

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Module 5: Differentiated Instruction: Reteach and Enrich 

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Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom at Mesquite Elementary School

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Module 5: Inclusive Instructional Strategies: 5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom

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Module 5: Inclusive Instructional Strategies: 5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom

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Loralie Baum

Students with special and exceptional needs are placed in inclusive learning environments more frequently than in the past. For general educators with a limited special education background, this can often be anxiety provoking and stressful. Every teacher wants to provide the best instruction and education for her students. As a special education teacher for the past ten years, my job has been to support general education teachers when we share responsibility of students with special needs. I work with them to ensure that all students have the necessary resources in order to be successful, and that they themselves can grow and learn as an educator. Here are five strategies that have been successful for working with students in the inclusive classroom.

1. Get to know your students' IEPs/504s

Upon receiving notice that a student with a specific plan is entering your class, it's important to connect with that student's case manager. For a student with a 504 plan, that is usually the school counselor; for a student with an IEP it's either the Special Education Teacher or Resource Specialist. You should receive a brief synopsis of the IEP, often referred to as the "IEP at a Glance" form. This will detail the specific services and minutes each student receives, as well as any accommodations and modifications that are available for them.

One of the most common accommodations for students with special needs is preferential seating. This doesn't always mean in the front row of the classroom right next to the teacher's desk. There are many instances where seating a student in the front row can be catastrophic! Most of the rooms I see are grouped in clusters; I like to make sure that a student I am working with is next to peers they feel comfortable with, and can help explain a concept during collaborative time. Seats away from distractions such as windows or doors is quite helpful for students with attention issues.
Take Action: Check and make sure you have current documents for students in your class. Make a chart with what services each student receives and how frequently. Make note of their next IEP meeting date. If you haven't started one yet, start a folder for student work samples-this will make the Special Educator's job that much easier!
2. Implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Universal Design is so much more than one of the hottest buzzwords circulating around education circles. It's an approach to curriculum planning and mapping that makes learning engaging and accessible to a wider range of learners with different strengths and needs. UDL builds on Howard Gardner's theories of multiple intelligences , in that it calls for teaching to utilize multiple modalities, and for students to respond to learning with a variety of assessment tools. Educators that recognize the importance of UDL realize that we all learn and express ourselves in different ways, and that in order to assess skills we need to be allowed to use our strengths, while practicing our areas of need at the same time.

A great introduction to the concepts behind UDL can be found at CAST's website .
Take Action: View the video and reflect on your teaching practices. How are you engaging students? How do students show what they know? How are students presented with material?
3. Support Important Life Skills

As a seasoned educator, when I hear the term "life skills", I often think of tasks that are performed by our more severely disabled students, many of whom are not in a general education environment. When I do this, I am shortchanging my students, many who lack very necessary skills they need in order to be a productive and contributing member of society. Many general education mainstream students cannot perform the following simple tasks:

telling time from an analog clock

writing a simple letter

signing their name in cursive

note taking and study skills

Many of the teachers that I work with have a "Study Skills Thursday", where students clean out their backpacks, organize their binders and notebooks, and focus on developing and self-reflecting on both short and long-term goals. I also do locker checks with some of my students. The battle is half won if a student comes to school organized and prepared.
Take Action: Find or create a survey for your students to gauge what essential skills they have, and what they need (I use this Learning Skills and Work Habits Student Self-Assessment Checklist from Teachers Pay teachers). How can you incorporate instruction in these skills into your everyday schedule? Take Action: Try to find a common time to sit and meet with your grade-level Special Education teacher. How can you work together to improve student learning? Draft a plan to hand to your administrator; perhaps you can receive a stipend for your planning time!
4. Engage in Collaborative Planning and Teaching

No classroom is an island, especially an inclusive classroom. Opening up your room to service providers, paraprofessionals, special education teachers, and parents gives you valuable opportunities to participate in collaborative teaching. Collaborative teaching looks differently depending on what school, level, and setting you are working. I am fortunate enough to work in a school where collaborative teaching is encouraged and celebrated. Teachers have common planning times, and professional development time is often set aside for teachers to plan together. This often spans grade levels and subject areas.

5. Develop a strong Behavior Management Plan

Having a successful inclusive classroom depends upon having control of your classroom. It is essential to have clearly communicated expectations and goals, that are accessible to all students. Your classroom environment should be tailored to better suit diverse students' needs. With students' and specialists' input, create a checklist or action plan for students.
Take Action: Look through student IEPs to see if any student has a formal Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP). Consult with your Special Education teacher for resources on how to establish and strengthen behavior management in your classroom. If possible, have the SpEd teacher observe and give feedback.
Some specific behavior management strategies that support effective instruction are:

Posting daily schedules

Displaying classroom rules and expectations

Encouraging peer to peer instruction and leadership

Using signals to quiet down, start working, and putting away materials.

Giving students folders, labels and containers to organize supplies.

Checking in with students while they work

Utilizing proactive rather than reactive interventions as needed

Speaking to students privately about any concerns

Employing specific, targeted positive reinforcement when a student meets a behavioral or academic goal.

There are many pieces to the puzzle for creating an effective inclusive classroom. Communication is key, and collaboration with other educators and professionals has a great benefit to all.

5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom

Author

Kristin Vogel

Kristin Vogel is a Resource Specialist in San Bruno, CA. She has been teaching in the Bay Area for the past ten years, and has worked in a variety of school settings for students with special needs. Kristin brings a strong sense of social justice pedagogy to her craft, and actively participates in local, state, and national advocacy groups to ensure the best education for all students. She resides in San Francisco, CA, and is a pretty big nerd.

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5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom

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Students with special and exceptional needs are placed in inclusive learning environments more frequently than in the past. For general educators with a limited special education background, this can often be anxiety provoking and stressful. Here are five strategies that have been successful for working with students in the inclusive classroom.

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Module 5: Inclusive Instructional Strategies- The General Ed teacher's guide to an inclusive classroom. 

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Module 5: Inclusive Instructional Strategies- The General Ed teacher's guide to an inclusive classroom. 

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Inclusive classrooms might contain several students with special needs who are mainstreamed full time into the general classroom, or one or two students who spend time each day in both a special education classroom and a general classroom. Either way, your role as a general education teacher is to create a community conducive to helping all students meet academic and behavioral goals; however, you should not have to achieve this aim alone. Ongoing communication is essential for locating individuals, services and materials to best support all of your students. In addition, some key planning and teaching strategies can make a dramatic difference in reaching students with diverse abilities and skill bases.

Begin at the End

Backward planning is the most straightforward way to ensure that you align daily lessons and units with your year-end goals. This is a multi-step process:

1. Consult the records of your students who receive special education services, particularly their individualized education programs (IEPs), to determine overarching behavioral and academic goals.

2. Figure out how these goals intersect with national and state standards and other year-end goals for all of the students in your classroom.

3. Review your curriculum to figure out which units will help you meet which year-end goals.

4. Map out individual lessons within the units that align with these goals.

5. Formulate a to-do list of people and services to contact so you that can schedule support when necessary. For example, if you plan to have students complete a cross-curricular research project, you need to know when you will schedule a visit to the school or public library so that you can ask a parent or aide to support students with special needs.

6. Adjust lessons to ensure that they accommodate the needs and abilities of your students, including those in special education programs.

Embrace Universal Design

One of the buzzwords in contemporary education is universal design. This approach makes your curriculum accessible to all students, regardless of their backgrounds, learning styles and abilities. There are several ways for you to accomplish this feat:

Relay content in diverse ways (visually, verbally, written).

Ask students to share what they are learning in diverse ways (speaking, illustrating, writing).

Utilize multiple materials to engage students (software, art, theater, video, object lessons).

These approaches ensure that you reach all of your students with special needs, as well as deepen their thinking and reinforce new information so it moves from short-term memory to long-term memory.

Apply Multiple Intelligences Theory

Universal design shares much with Howard Gardner's Theory of the Multiple Intelligences, which outlines students' varied approaches for processing information (known as "intelligences") and how teachers can access these pathways. For example, in an inclusive classroom, a unit in the core curriculum, such as one on the solar system, might feature vocabulary and abstract concepts that are challenging for students with disabilities to master. A general education teacher can make these concepts more comprehensible by employing various strategies and leading hands-on activities such as:

Showing videos about the solar system.

Making models of the planets.

Interviewing an astronaut.

Visiting a science museum or planetarium with an astronomy display and program.

Looking at books with images of the solar system.

Making up songs, poems, rhymes and chants about the cosmos.

Drawing or painting images of stars, meteors, galaxies and planets.

Acting out a scene of astronauts in flight.

According to Sarah Murray and Kylie Moore, in their article " Inclusion Through Multiple Intelligences," utilizing techniques that are suited to multiple intelligences "allows students to explore important concepts using a range of domains, and find information based on their own abilities."

Incorporate Life Skills Training

According to the National Down Syndome Society's guide to implementing inclusion, some parents and educators are concerned "that functional life skills cannot be addressed in general classroom settings." Indeed, integrating functional life skills into a general education curriculum can seem time-consuming to a teacher.

However, integrating some basic, daily strategies can make a profound difference in your students. Consider the classroom tasks in which you and your students regularly engage and how you could make these tasks accessible and valuable to your special education students. For instance:

Organizing school supplies, art materials, learning centers and the classroom library teaches valuable life skills while making all students feel part of the classroom community.

Creating backdrops and decorations for the bulletin board and other classroom displays teaches responsibility while enhancing students' spatial and visual intelligences.

Being in charge of homework collection, attendance charts, computer equipment or record-keeping teaches organizational skills.

Incorporating life skills training into your curriculum is not a one-time proposition. To effectively impart these skills, you will need to model the required tasks and reinforce them on a regular basis.

Employ Collaborative Teaching Techniques

No classroom is an island, particularly an inclusive classroom. Opening up your room to volunteers, teacher's aides, service providers and the special education teacher gives you valuable opportunities to engage in collaborative teaching.

In " Effective Teaching Practices for Students in Inclusive Classrooms," Sue Land, M.Ed., reviews the diverse applications of collaborative teaching in the inclusive classroom:

1. Interactive Teaching: Two or more teachers shift roles between leading whole-class instruction, observing instruction and monitoring learning.

2. Alternative Teaching: One teacher leads small-group instruction while the other teacher works with the rest of the class. This model works particularly well if a small group requires reinforcement or reteaching to master a concept.

3. Parallel Teaching: Two or more teachers lead small, mixed-ability groups of students in the same lesson. This approach functions well when teachers require a high level of focus and participation from students.

4. Station Teaching: Two or more teachers lead or observe small groups of students as these groups rotate through several learning stations. This technique helps students stay on task as they complete shorter activities and transition clearly from task to task.

Formulate a Flexible Behavior Management Plan

Effective planning and teaching in an inclusive classroom depends upon having control of your classroom. This does not mean that you must adopt an authoritative model laden with punishments and rewards, but it does require that you be assertive and clearly communicate your expectations and goals.

With many students, those with special needs and otherwise, a rigid behavior management plan will not serve you in every circumstance. For example, if you have a student who has a shorter attention span due to developmental issues, it is unfair to expect that student to stay focused on seatwork for as long as students with longer attention spans. No amount of punishment or reward can extend that student's focus.

Instead, tailor your classroom environment to better suit diverse students' needs. With students' and specialists' input, create a checklist or action plan for students. It can list, with short phrases, symbols or cutouts, how to review work, put away supplies and find an independent task to do, such as writing in a journal, drawing in a sketchpad or reading a book from the classroom library.

Among the other behavior management strategies that support effective inclusion are:

Posting a schedule and sticking to it.

Displaying classroom rules.

Diversifying instruction.

Encouraging peer instruction and leadership.

Using signals to quiet down, start working and put away materials.

Giving students folders, labels and containers to organize supplies.

Checking in with students while they work.

Speaking to students privately about any concerns.

Employing specific, targeted positive reinforcement when a student meets a behavioral or academic goal.

The Power of Inclusion

Practicing these planning, teaching and management strategies is underscored by a recognition of the unique gifts of all your students. You model respect for and celebration of who they are as individuals. This appreciation transforms your room from a mere meeting place into a genuine community.

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Support and Advice for General Education Teachers on Inclusion

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Inclusive classrooms might contain several students with special needs who are mainstreamed full time into the general classroom, or one or two students who spend time each day in both a special education classroom and a general classroom.

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Moduel 3: Environmental Supports from California Department of Education

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Moduel 3: Environmental Supports from California Department of Education

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http://www.pent.ca.gov/pos/cl/environmentalsupports.pdf

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Module 3: IRIS moduel on Assistive Technologies 

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Module 3: IRIS moduel on Assistive Technologies 

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https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/at/cresource/q01/at_01/#content

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Teachers who use only traditional classroom instruction and materials may find that students with disabilities often have difficulty accessing the general education curriculum. Helping to overcome this challenge is assistive technology (AT). AT is any device or service that helps a student with a disability to meet his or her individualized education program (IEP) goals and to participate in the general education setting to the greatest possible extent. More simply, AT improves the functional performance of an individual with a disability. Students can utilize assistive technology to:

Communicate

Perform academic tasks

Participate in social and extracurricular activities

Move or travel around the school

Use proper seating and positioning

Access materials

When AT is appropriately integrated into the general education classroom, students are equipped with multiple means to complete their work and meet their educational goals. As you will see in the movie below, to successfully access the general education curriculum a student might require a slant board, magnifier, reacher, calculator, computer, amplification system, alternative keyboard, or any number of other tools (time: 2:45).

The movie includes images of various assistive technology devices over a music track.

Battery powered stuffed animals and other toys sit on shelves in a child's room. A caption reads "Adapted Toys."

A student types an essay on a computer that reads the words aloud as she writes. A caption reads "Text Reader/ Word Prediction Software."

A book is displayed on a desktop easel, which is also identified in the caption.

A student wearing headphones uses a book scanner/ reader/ magnifier, which enlarges the text in her book on a computer screen and reads it aloud. The device is identified in the caption.

An alternative communication device is displayed on a desktop and identified in the caption.

A student in a classroom uses a "Reacher/ Grabber" to hand down a plastic bag to a teacher.

A student reads a "Braille Book."

A student uses a "Braille Writer," using a stylus to write braille on a pad of special paper.

A student uses an electronic "Choice-Making Device," which speaks his choices back to him.

A strip of "Dycem® Non-Slip Surface Covering" prevents a pen and pencil from rolling off a student's desk.

A student uses a "Handheld Magnifier" to better see a teacher's lesson on a faraway wall.

A student wearing earphones reads along in a print book while listening to a recording of the text. The caption reads "Audio Books."

A teacher shows a student how to use "Mathematical Equation Software" on a computer to solve math problems.

We get a close look at a "Braille Display/ Input Device," a keyboard with braille symbols on the keys.

A student uses an "Alternative Keyboard and Customized Index Finger Extension." The alternative keyboard has large, white keys stamped with bigger-than-usual symbols. The finger extension is worn on a ring around the student's finger and helps her to press the keys more easily and accurately.

A multi-tier "Card Holder" is displayed on a desk.

A student manipulates a "Joystick Input Device" to help her put information into a computer more easily.

The joystick moves a cursor, which presses the keys on an electronic "On-Screen Keyboard."

The movie ends.

Though assistive technology has the potential to improve both their quality of education and their quality of life, many students with disabilities simply do not have access to it. In order for school personnel to consider assistive technology, they must first understand assistive technology can come in the form of:

These forms of assistive technology go hand-in-hand because success for a student is dependent not only on having access to a device but also on having the support and services needed to use it effectively.

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Teachers who use only traditional classroom instruction and materials may find that students with disabilities often have difficulty accessing the general education curriculum. Helping to overcome this challenge is assistive technology (AT). AT is any device or service that helps a student with a disability to meet his or her individualized education program (IEP) goals and to participate in the general education setting to the greatest possible extent.

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Moduel 3: 5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom

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Moduel 3: 5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom

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http://ww2.kqed.org/learning/2016/01/04/5-effective-strategies-for-the-inclusive-classroom/

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Loralie Baum

Students with special and exceptional needs are placed in inclusive learning environments more frequently than in the past. For general educators with a limited special education background, this can often be anxiety provoking and stressful. Every teacher wants to provide the best instruction and education for her students. As a special education teacher for the past ten years, my job has been to support general education teachers when we share responsibility of students with special needs. I work with them to ensure that all students have the necessary resources in order to be successful, and that they themselves can grow and learn as an educator. Here are five strategies that have been successful for working with students in the inclusive classroom.

1. Get to know your students' IEPs/504s

Upon receiving notice that a student with a specific plan is entering your class, it's important to connect with that student's case manager. For a student with a 504 plan, that is usually the school counselor; for a student with an IEP it's either the Special Education Teacher or Resource Specialist. You should receive a brief synopsis of the IEP, often referred to as the "IEP at a Glance" form. This will detail the specific services and minutes each student receives, as well as any accommodations and modifications that are available for them.

One of the most common accommodations for students with special needs is preferential seating. This doesn't always mean in the front row of the classroom right next to the teacher's desk. There are many instances where seating a student in the front row can be catastrophic! Most of the rooms I see are grouped in clusters; I like to make sure that a student I am working with is next to peers they feel comfortable with, and can help explain a concept during collaborative time. Seats away from distractions such as windows or doors is quite helpful for students with attention issues.
Take Action: Check and make sure you have current documents for students in your class. Make a chart with what services each student receives and how frequently. Make note of their next IEP meeting date. If you haven't started one yet, start a folder for student work samples-this will make the Special Educator's job that much easier!
2. Implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Universal Design is so much more than one of the hottest buzzwords circulating around education circles. It's an approach to curriculum planning and mapping that makes learning engaging and accessible to a wider range of learners with different strengths and needs. UDL builds on Howard Gardner's theories of multiple intelligences , in that it calls for teaching to utilize multiple modalities, and for students to respond to learning with a variety of assessment tools. Educators that recognize the importance of UDL realize that we all learn and express ourselves in different ways, and that in order to assess skills we need to be allowed to use our strengths, while practicing our areas of need at the same time.

A great introduction to the concepts behind UDL can be found at CAST's website .
Take Action: View the video and reflect on your teaching practices. How are you engaging students? How do students show what they know? How are students presented with material?
3. Support Important Life Skills

As a seasoned educator, when I hear the term "life skills", I often think of tasks that are performed by our more severely disabled students, many of whom are not in a general education environment. When I do this, I am shortchanging my students, many who lack very necessary skills they need in order to be a productive and contributing member of society. Many general education mainstream students cannot perform the following simple tasks:

telling time from an analog clock

writing a simple letter

signing their name in cursive

note taking and study skills

Many of the teachers that I work with have a "Study Skills Thursday", where students clean out their backpacks, organize their binders and notebooks, and focus on developing and self-reflecting on both short and long-term goals. I also do locker checks with some of my students. The battle is half won if a student comes to school organized and prepared.
Take Action: Find or create a survey for your students to gauge what essential skills they have, and what they need (I use this Learning Skills and Work Habits Student Self-Assessment Checklist from Teachers Pay teachers). How can you incorporate instruction in these skills into your everyday schedule? Take Action: Try to find a common time to sit and meet with your grade-level Special Education teacher. How can you work together to improve student learning? Draft a plan to hand to your administrator; perhaps you can receive a stipend for your planning time!
4. Engage in Collaborative Planning and Teaching

No classroom is an island, especially an inclusive classroom. Opening up your room to service providers, paraprofessionals, special education teachers, and parents gives you valuable opportunities to participate in collaborative teaching. Collaborative teaching looks differently depending on what school, level, and setting you are working. I am fortunate enough to work in a school where collaborative teaching is encouraged and celebrated. Teachers have common planning times, and professional development time is often set aside for teachers to plan together. This often spans grade levels and subject areas.

5. Develop a strong Behavior Management Plan

Having a successful inclusive classroom depends upon having control of your classroom. It is essential to have clearly communicated expectations and goals, that are accessible to all students. Your classroom environment should be tailored to better suit diverse students' needs. With students' and specialists' input, create a checklist or action plan for students.
Take Action: Look through student IEPs to see if any student has a formal Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP). Consult with your Special Education teacher for resources on how to establish and strengthen behavior management in your classroom. If possible, have the SpEd teacher observe and give feedback.
Some specific behavior management strategies that support effective instruction are:

Posting daily schedules

Displaying classroom rules and expectations

Encouraging peer to peer instruction and leadership

Using signals to quiet down, start working, and putting away materials.

Giving students folders, labels and containers to organize supplies.

Checking in with students while they work

Utilizing proactive rather than reactive interventions as needed

Speaking to students privately about any concerns

Employing specific, targeted positive reinforcement when a student meets a behavioral or academic goal.

There are many pieces to the puzzle for creating an effective inclusive classroom. Communication is key, and collaboration with other educators and professionals has a great benefit to all.

5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom

Author

Kristin Vogel

Kristin Vogel is a Resource Specialist in San Bruno, CA. She has been teaching in the Bay Area for the past ten years, and has worked in a variety of school settings for students with special needs. Kristin brings a strong sense of social justice pedagogy to her craft, and actively participates in local, state, and national advocacy groups to ensure the best education for all students. She resides in San Francisco, CA, and is a pretty big nerd.

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5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom

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Students with special and exceptional needs are placed in inclusive learning environments more frequently than in the past. For general educators with a limited special education background, this can often be anxiety provoking and stressful. Here are five strategies that have been successful for working with students in the inclusive classroom.

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What is AT and how to use it.
Also, different AT's for different subjects.

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Learn about assistive technology basics. Read more about optical character recognition, universal design for learning and other types of assistive technology.

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Technology and Disability in Educational Reform

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Module 3: Collaborating AT & IT in the classroom

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Module 3: Collaborating AT & IT in the classroom

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Module 5: DI Ignites Elementary School Learning

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Module 5: DI Ignites Elementary School Learning

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Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction.

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6 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction in Project-Based Learning  Edutopia

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by Stacia Levy 60,616 views

One of the biggest challenges of the ESL educator is teaching the multi-level class.

And all ESL classes are multi-level, even those not officially designated as such: for example, one student may be strong in speaking skills while another strong in reading. A concern with teaching the multi-level class is holding everyone's interest and meeting everyone's needs, no matter their level. A variety of students study in a multi-level class: students who are just learning to speak English, students who are fluent but want to work on their pronunciation, as well as students who have conversational English but need to work on academic skills.

How do you meet all of these varied needs?

Methods for Meeting the Varied Student Needs of a Multilevel Class

1. Needs Assessment

Start with a needs assessment. Find out what students want to learn and are interested in. If most in a class are career-oriented, for example, focus on the vocabulary needed for career success. For example, academic English vocabulary is full of Latin root words such as "obese" that are different from the more Anglo-Saxon roots of conversational English, such as "fat." It is this vocabulary students need to succeed in college classes for later professional success.

2. Skills Assessment

In addition, do a skills assessment the first day and find out what students' levels are by an informal interview, asking students about their background and then taping it. Also do a writing assessment on a simple topic like "A Life Lesson." Then make decisions about grouping from this assessment. Sometimes it makes sense to group students of similar ability levels, such as when doing a listening comprehension task; other times, however, such as when engaged in discussion, students can be grouped across levels.

3. Themes

Choose themes. Find out what themes students are interested in by polling them and showing visuals: sciences, education, art, and so forth. Build your class around these themes, with easier materials for the lower levels and harder for the higher levels. Usually one week of focus on a theme is sufficient.

4. Plan Carefully

Plan carefully for the multilevel class. This is crucial, to have enough activities for each of the levels, or flexible activities, with different material for students at different levels of English acquisition. So while a beginning student could be working on vocabulary related to college life, for example, a more advanced student could be writing a paragraph or essay on the same topic.

5. Proper Approach

Use the whole-class-to-leveled groups approach. In larger classes, you may group students by level or in heterogeneous groups while in smaller classes you can split your time effectively between individual students. Start an activity by discussing it in general with the class as a whole: the topic of family, for example. Allow students to offer comments as they wish at the beginning then break into leveled groups for learning vocabulary words related to family, for example, for lower levels; higher levels can do a more advanced reading on the topic.

6. Variety of Strategies

Include a variety of modalities and strategies: use visuals, stories, and movies. These are amazing tools in a multi-level class because a variety of students at different levels will relate to and gain something from them. Showing a movie, for example, provides opportunity for a variety of activities. If the movie can be show with closed caption, in English, this helps students' reading skills. Higher level students can write critiques and engage in discussions after about the movies; lower level students can focus more on short oral and written summaries.

7. Variety of Activities

Include also a variety of activities for different language skills within a class. This is a way to meet the needs of all students, from the student who needs work on basic literacy to the student who wants to work on more advanced pronunciation and accent reduction.

Referring back to your themes list, you may start out with an activity such as a visual that all students will benefit from: a provocative picture from a recent news magazine, for example, or a picture of an abstract painting. Have students first discuss the visual as a whole class, and then the higher level students may write their interpretation of the visual while the instructor can help the lower level students with vocabulary and grammar.

Language experience, in which students dictate a story related to the theme, and the teacher or another student writes it on the board, is also a useful approach involving a variety of skills and levels. Again, move from a broader topic and break it down by pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. This also presents an opportunity for teachers to mix up groupings, from heterogeneous to level based to skilled based.

8. Assign Projects

Projects are a great way for students to all students to be able to participate at a level that is comfortable yet also challenges them. For example, in the project of setting up a class website, the student with excellent literacy and computer skills may find himself in a leadership role that challenges him to use his speaking skills more, skills he is not so sure of. The students who are just learning English may also participate by posting their profiles to the site. Projects are a good way for everyone to participate, develop English skills, and make friends.

9. Peer Tutoring

A multilevel class provides a great opportunity for peer tutoring, where students work in pairs, with one tutoring the other. Students with strong reading skills could be matched with students strong in speaking skills, and they could assist each other.

10. Drama

Finally, drama is an activity that all students in a multi-level classroom can benefit from. In completing the class project of a short play, the upper level students can write the scripts, and the lower-level students can participate in minor roles while students with stronger speaking skills can take the major roles.

Teaching the multilevel class can be challenging.

Instructors have to be flexible to accommodate not only different levels of English learning but also different language skills and instructional methods. With flexibility, however, teaching the multilevel class can be very rewarding.

P.S. If you enjoyed this article, please help spread it by clicking one of those sharing buttons below. And if you are interested in more, you should follow our Facebook page where we share more about creative, non-boring ways to teach English.

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Teacher, I'm Bored; Teacher I'm Lost - Teaching Multi-Level Classes

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by Stacia Levy 60,616 views And all ESL classes are multi-level, even those not officially designated as such: for example, one student may be strong in speaking skills while another strong in reading. A concern with teaching the multi-level class is holding everyone's interest and meeting everyone's needs, no matter their level.

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Module 6: Attainable Interventions for the Classroom

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Module 6: Attainable Interventions for the Classroom

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Module 6: Hanging in There; Keeping students comfortable, relaxed and focused. 

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Module 6: Hanging in There; Keeping students comfortable, relaxed and focused. 

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Keeping Students Comfortable, Relaxed, and Focused
Adapted from: P. Kluth (2010). "You're Going to Love This Kid!": Teaching Students with Autism in the Inclusive Classroom (Rev. ed.). Baltimore: Brookes.
Oftentimes, learners with autism struggle to stay seated, remain focused, and engage in required work or assigned tasks. With proper supports and adaptations, however, students may be able to increase their time on-task and remain comfortable even during longer periods of whole-class instruction. In this article, five options for helping students "hang in" during such moments are offered.

Encourage Fidgeting

Some students can be comforted if they have an object to manipulate during lessons. One student I know likes to pick apart the threads on patches of denim. Another folds and unfolds a drinking straw during long lecture periods. A third student creases paper over and over again, creating interesting origami-type sculptures.

Students having such a need might be offered squishy "stress" balls, straws, stir sticks, strings of beads, rubber bands or even key chains that have small toys attached to them. When possible, students might be given objects that are related to course content. For example, a student in a social studies class, liked to pinch a stress ball during class. His teacher found a globe-themed stress ball at a teaching conference and gave it to the young man. The two then began playing an informal and somewhat humorous game of "Which country are you squishing?" at the end of class each day. Likewise, a student in an elementary-level math class often used small interlocking cubes as a fidget support; he stacked the cubes during whole-class instruction and then used them for counting and other calculations during individual work time.

Allow Doodling

Allowing students to draw can be another effective "stay-put" strategy. Unfortunately, doodling is often seen as off-task behavior by teachers. Many learners with and without identified needs, however, are better able to concentrate on a lecture or activity when they are given the opportunity to draw on a notepad, write on their folders, sketch in a notebook, or even (depending on the student's age) color a worksheet.

Have Them Walk it Off

Some students work best when they can pause between tasks and take a break of some kind (walk around, stretch, or simply stop working). Some learners will need walking breaks - these breaks can last anywhere from a few seconds to fifteen or twenty minutes. Some students will need to walk up and down a hallway once or twice, others will be fine if allowed to wander around in the classroom. Teachers concerned about the student missing content can give the learner a content-connected task to accomplish during his or her walking break. For instance, a teacher in a middle school language arts class regularly asked her student, Mary Liz, to do a library search for the class during one of her walking breaks.

Another teacher who realized the importance of frequent movement and interaction decided to offer "ambulatory opportunities" to all learners. He regularly gave students a prompt to discuss (e.g., What do you know about the stock market?; What is a statistic?) and then directed them to "talk and walk" with a partner. After ten minutes of movement, he brought the students back together and asked them to discuss their conversations.

Offer Seating Choices

Appropriate seating may not be the first thing a teacher considers when planning for a student with autism, but for some, the right type of classroom furniture is pivotal to their success and comfort. One of my former students could not tolerate sitting on the hard desk chairs provided in all of his classrooms so the teachers let him bring a cushion to class. Another student often preferred sitting on the floor (where he would prop himself up with two large pillows) so at any point during the day, the young man was allowed to sit in his "nest" (as he called the space) or in his desk (where he sat on a small pillow).

Having a few different seating options in the classroom can potentially boost the educational experiences of all learners. Seating options that may appeal to learners with and without autism include couches or loveseats, stuffed footstools, padded seat covers, rocking chairs, lawn chairs, pillows, floor mats, and swivel stools.

Ask the Student For Help

Depending on the age of the student, the teacher may want to explain the situation to the learner and explore whether or not the individual has ideas for improving the situation. One student was asked how the teaching team might help him with his "jumpiness" during the last twenty minutes of the day. The child swore that sucking on jaw breaker candies would help him stay in his seat and feel more relaxed. The team laughed and was skeptical, assuming that the suggestion was a ploy to get the teachers to supply a daily treat, but the "jaw breaker pedagogy" (as it came to be called) worked beautifully. From the first day it was instituted, the young man was able to keep his body calm during the time period in question.

If the student with autism is unable to communicate in a reliable way, teachers can go to families for help. Parents can share tips they have found most useful or observe the situation and provide possible solutions based on their experiences in the home and community.

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This article is from the website of Dr. Paula Kluth. It, along with many others on inclusive schooling, differentiated instruction, and literacy can be found at www.PaulaKluth.com. Visit now to read her Tip of the Day, read dozens of free articles, and learn more about supporting diverse learners in K-12 classrooms.

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Keeping Students Comfortable, Relaxed, and Focused Adapted from: P. Kluth (2010). "You're Going to Love This Kid!": Teaching Students with Autism in the Inclusive Classroom (Rev. ed.). Baltimore: Brookes. Oftentimes, learners with autism struggle to stay seated, remain focused, and engage in r

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Module 6: Behavioral Intervention. 10 Tips For Classroom Management. 

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Module 6: Behavioral Intervention. 10 Tips For Classroom Management. 

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Module 6: Behavioral Intervention Strategies Video

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Module 6: Behavioral Intervention Strategies Video

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autism behaviour strategies communication special needs education teachers

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Strategies for effective behavioural intervention. Teachers or carers of children or adults with autism, ADHD, communication difficulties, intellectual disabilities may find these strategies useful.

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PBIS World | A Complete Tier 1 Through Tier 3 Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports System

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PBIS World is in no way affiliated, associated, or connected with any other website, entity, organization, or federal, state, local, or other government agency, department, program, policy, organization, or initiative.

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Module 6: Behavioral Analysis Case Study

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Module 6: Behavioral Analysis Case Study

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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/03/top-10-books-disability-paul-wilson

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https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/films/
https://www.thinkinclusive.us/5-videos-that-will-change-your-mind-about-inclusive-education/

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http://inclusiveeducationed338.blogspot.com/2015/05/module-2-collaboration-and-community.html

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Module 1: Foundations of Inclusive Education

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Module 1: Foundations of Inclusive Education

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http://inclusiveeducationed338.blogspot.com/2015/05/foundations-of-inclusive-teaching.html

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Module 4 Using Multilevel Instruction Through UDL

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Module 4 Using Multilevel Instruction Through UDL

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http://inclusiveschools.org/using-multi-level-instruction-for-a-classroom-of-diverse-learners/

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Module 4 Using Multilevel Instruction through UDL

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Module 4 Using Multilevel Instruction through UDL

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http://www.maneuveringthemiddle.com/teach-multi-level-class/?utm_content=buffer86f1f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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Module 3 - National Center on Accessible Educational Materials 

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Module 3 - National Center on Accessible Educational Materials 

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AEM: About Accessible Educational Materials

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Accessible educational materials, or AEM, are materials and technologies usable for learning across the widest range of individual variability, regardless of format or features. Whether a material or technology is designed from the start to be accessible for all learners or is made accessible for learners with disabilities, it is considered AEM.

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Module 3 - Using the SETT Framework to Level the Learning Field for Students with Disabilities By: Joy Zabala, Ed. D., ATP

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Module 3 - Using the SETT Framework to Level the Learning Field for Students with Disabilities By: Joy Zabala, Ed. D., ATP

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http://www.joyzabala.com/Home.php

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Module 3 - Video : Assistive Technology Professional on Assistive v. Instructional Technology 

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Module 3 - Video : Assistive Technology Professional on Assistive v. Instructional Technology 

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Dr. Therese Willkomm, ATP - Assistive Technology vs. Instructional Technology & Universal Design for Learning

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An interview with Dr. Willkomm - Three Questions in 5 minutes.

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Module 3 - Lakeshore Classroom Designer 

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Module 3 - Lakeshore Classroom Designer 

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https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/classroom_designer/cd_launch.jsp?popup=yes