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Summary

The essential ideas that I am taking away from Module 1 are reminders about the barriers to inclusion that exist and the strategies (systemic and pedagogical) that have been created to lower those barriers. Some of the biggest barriers to inclusion are funding, Pro D or training, resource shortages, myths and misinformation, resistance, too much time/work, and mental health. The strategies that exist to try to lower those barriers are Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Response to Intervention (RTI) and differentiation.

One of my biggest take-aways was recognizing the ways that the program I work in is structured to minimize the barriers to inclusion. The program is built on a foundation of UDL, differentiation, and RTI.

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I have included this resource from Jennifer Katz as a reminder about the links between RTI and UDL.

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Coonects the Three Block Model of UDL to Response to Intervention (RTI)

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Valuable Resource 2: Designing Education for Diversity

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Valuable Resource 2: Designing Education for Diversity

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The conversation with Leyton Schnellert in this podcast includes many gems. It highlights the ways that the BC Curriculum supports radical inclusion. It also highlights the ways that we can make learning accessible to all students (open-ended tasks, low floor-high ceiling, etc.).

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‎Good Things in Life podcast: Designing Education for Diversity with Leyton Schnellert on Apple Podcasts

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‎Show Good Things in Life podcast, Ep Designing Education for Diversity with Leyton Schnellert - Apr 18, 2021

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Useful Strategy: Designing Interactive Learning with SEL and UDL

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Useful Strategy: Designing Interactive Learning with SEL and UDL

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I chose this document as my useful strategy because it was a good reminder about CASEL's 3 Signature Practices which help to embed social emotional learning and UDL into all classrooms and lessons. The suggested activities within this document also show simple and easy ways to build classroom communities and embed trauma-informed practices (e.g. consistent routines) every day.

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The essential ideas that I am taking away from Module 2 are about the decisions that must be made about using adaptations and modifications in the classroom. I recognize that even when using UDL as a foundation for designing learning, adaptations and modifications are still necessary to meet the needs of ALL students.

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Valuable Resource 1: A Framework for Classroom Assessment

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Valuable Resource 1: A Framework for Classroom Assessment

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This document is a good reminder about what we should focus on when assessing students. Having a clear understanding of assessment allows us to design learning tasks that help all students achieve success in our classrooms. Also, focusing on formative assessment allows us to more clearly define what students know and can do while also providing a clear pathway for where to go next.

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Valuable Resource 2: Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom

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Valuable Resource 2: Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom

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This resource includes a fantastic chart for scaffolding and extending student work that I intend to come to back to. I also enjoyed reading the description of the CAI (Curriculum-Assessment-Instruction) Connection along with the questions that can be used to help teachers focus their attention on "what's important" to move students forward in their learning.

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Useful Strategy: UDL Tips for Assessment

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Useful Strategy: UDL Tips for Assessment

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I found this tip sheet helpful when considering the links between UDL and assessment. The questions for each of the suggestion are especially helpful and are good reminders about what we should be looking for when designing assessments for ALL students.

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The essential ideas that I am taking away from Module 3 are about the importance of using technology and visuals in the classroom to allow all students access to curriculum. Specifically, I learned about the purpose of social stories and visual schedules, different types of assistive technologies, and explored both provincial and local resources for inclusive education.

My biggest take-away was just recognizing the sheer volume of resources that are available to teachers, schools and students. Because I am still new to the province, I was not aware of many of the local and provincial resources.

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Although I had heard about social stories before, I did not know much about them. The explanations and examples provided on Carol Gray's website provided me with important information about the definition of a social story, their purpose, and their defining characteristics.

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Social Stories are a social learning tool that supports the safe and meaningful exchange of information between parents, professionals, and people with autism of all ages. The people who develop Social Stories are referred to as Authors, and they work on behalf of a child, adolescent, or adult with autism, the Audience.

Authors follow a defined process that begins with gathering information, discovering a topic that 'fits' the Audience, and the development of personalized text and illustration. Most frequently associated with short, simple Stories, there are also Social Articles for use with older or more advanced individuals. The Social Story Definition and ten defining characteristics (The Social Story Criteria) guide the development of every Story and result a patient, respectful, and unassuming quality that is the hallmark of the approach. It is that quality that distinguishes genuine Social Stories from social scripts, skill checklists, or 'social stories' that do not meet the current the definition.

What is a Social Story? presentation

There is only one definition for the term 'Social Story':

A Social Story accurately describes a context, skill, achievement, or concept according to 10 defining criteria. These criteria guide Story research, development, and implementation to ensure an overall patient and supportive quality, and a format, "voice", content, and learning experience that is descriptive, meaningful, and physically, socially, and emotionally safe for the child, adolescent, or adult with autism.
Additional Social Story Information:
Where did Social Stories come from?
The History of Social Stories

Check your knowledge of Social Stories
The Social Story Quiz and Answers to The Social Story Quiz

Is THIS a Social Story?
It is NOT a Social Story if... An initial screening instrument

How the Social Story Criteria keep pace with experience and research
Social Stories 10.0 - 10.2 Comparison Chart

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What Is A Social Story? - Carol Gray - Social Stories

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Social Stories are a social learning tool that supports the safe and meaningful exchange of information between parents, professionals, and people with autism of all ages. The people who develop Social Stories are referred to as Authors, and they work on behalf of a child, adolescent, or adult with autism, the Audience.

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Valuable Resource 2: Visual Schedule Tip Sheet

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Valuable Resource 2: Visual Schedule Tip Sheet

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Prior to this module, I did not realize that there were specific guidelines that visual schedules should meet. Reading this helped me understand what should be included and why.

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I was aware of a few of the POP groups prior to this course and module, but did not realize the volume that existed. I think connecting with these groups, using their resources and taking some of the training they offer would be incredibly helpful for teachers at all stages of their career.

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This is an assistive technology that I was already familiar with, but hadn't thought much about since I moved to the province. Taking some time to reacquaint myself with it was a good use of my time. I am hoping to advocate for my school to use it because it is such an amazing program that can be helpful for all students. It is also simple to use and the symbols are familiar to students from other tech and software. The use of images instead of words also makes it accessible to all students.

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Our support site gives you access to lots of common questions that other users of our software have about the technical stuff. If you can't find what you're looking for there, then our Tech Support team is on hand at support@texthelp.com 9-5pm every day to help with troubleshooting or technical problems.

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assistive technology for special education

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Read&Write For Education - Reading, Literacy & Assistive Software

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Discover the literacy support software that's helping millions of students across North America to read, write and express themselves independently.

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I struggled with this module because (secondary) literacy is what I am trained to teach and I have years of training and experience in it.

However, the essential ideas that I am taking away from Module 4 are the necessity for all literacy teachers to continually be adding strategies to their toolkit. Although programs may offer easy to follow lessons and resources, we need to be adaptable in order to meet the needs of the students in front of us. Ultimately, we don't teach programs, but children, and they each come to us with different funds of knowledge. There are many ways to meet their needs and our literacy programming should be comprehensive.

Another big takeaway for me is that despite my training and experience, including a linguistics course in university, I have little understanding of primary literacy teaching. I am still trying to wrap my head around this and this is why I am currently completing some professional development in the Orton-Gillingham method.

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Valuable Resource 1: Working with Struggling Readers

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Valuable Resource 1: Working with Struggling Readers

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I enjoyed watching these videos quite a bit. I found Linda Farrell's insights about what reading teachers need to do a helpful reminder about best practices. In particular, I enjoyed the videos about teachers as diagnosticians and positive error corrections. One thing that particularly stood out to me was her description of the need to be patient.

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Working with Struggling Readers - Every Child Can Succeed

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Linda Farrell talks about her role as a reading intervention specialist, and what more than 20 years of experience working with kids, teachers, and schools has taught her about the potential of struggling learners - that with the right instruction (and patience) every child can become a better reader.

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Valuable Resource 2: Resilience and the Power of One

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Valuable Resource 2: Resilience and the Power of One

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I really enjoyed listening to Monique Gray Smith's TED Talk about resilience. Hearing her speak allowed me to make connections to previous learning I have done regarding teaching for reconciliation. Specifically, I found the ideas outlined in the Umbrella of First Nations Resiliency closely linked to Dr. Brooke Madden's framework for using Indigenous counter-stories as a lens which focuses on resilience, resistance, refusal and re-storying/resurgence quite powerful. Using these frameworks allows teachers to move beyond a "single story" of trauma and victimization to one which honours Indigenous ways of knowing, doing, and being.

Madden, B. (March 11, 2019). Indigenous Counter-Stories in Truth and Reconciliation Education. Ed Can Network. https://www.edcan.ca/articles/trc-education/

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Resilience and the power of one | Monique Gray Smith | TEDxLangleyED

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Valuable Resource 3: Implementation Guide for Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning

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Valuable Resource 3: Implementation Guide for Anti-Racism and Universal Design for Learning

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I thought that this guide created by CAST offered some very concrete and practical questions and ideas about how to evaluate where and how racism is showing up within educational organizations. The guide does not stop with just asking for identification, but also asks educators and leaders to consider how universal design for learning can be used to help drive change. At the outset, it does not shy away from recognizing that some policies, practices and protocols may need to be dismantled in order to repair harm.

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After doing some research, and starting some professional development in OG, I came to really appreciate that OG is a method rather than a program. It provides tools that teachers can use to figure out "where students are" and then use that to guide instruction. It is a flexible and adaptable method that can be used at a variety of ages and grades.

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Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators

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The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling does not come easily to individuals, such as those with dyslexia. It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system.

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Math is a new teaching area for me. Everything is new! And I am also teaching a group of students with many, many stretches related to math. The essential ideas that I am taking away from Module 5 are that math can be more than just worksheets and the standard algorithm. In fact, for many students, that method actually makes math more difficult. I appreciated that many of the resources provided in this module offered play-based (games!), authentic, culturally connected strategies that would help all students access learning in math.

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I love this resource and am already thinking of ways that I can use it in my middle school math class. I think the stories are accessible for all learners (both text based and video). There are also a variety of languages available for some of the lessons and videos. I really appreciate the way that Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being have been woven with math. This is a culturally responsive resource and would help to Indigenize our math classrooms and meet some of the curricular outcomes. This resource would also help to introduce literacy into the math classroom which provides for cross-curricular learning opportunities.

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The main character in our animations thus far is a boy called Small Number. He is a bright, playful kid, with the ability to recognize patterns and calculate quickly.
Other characters introduced so far are Big Circle, Small Number's best friend, Perfect Number, Small Number's sister, and Small Number's parents and grandparents. An important part of our stories is love. His grandparents, his parents, his sister, and his friend all love Small Number, and he loves them back. To underline the universality of mathematics, Small Number and the plots of our stories are not attached to a particular time and space. In the first story, Small Number lives in a tipi settlement somewhere in the plains. In the second story he lives by a body of water, a river or a sea, and the third story is set in an urban environment.

Small Number Counts to 100
Our intention is to create stories in such a way that they allow for interpretations at multiple levels of mathematical knowledge. For example, our first story, Small Number Counts to 100, can be shown to elementary school students as a counting practice/puzzle or as a pattern recognition problem. For high school students, it could be a way to introduce arithmetic progressions, modular addition, or an idea of number systems with a base different than 10.

Small Number's Team

Veselin Jungic and Mark MacLean, Small Number's authors, are two mathematicians who are interested in promoting mathematics and who have enormous respect for Indigenous traditional knowledge. In their essence, our stories are inspired by what we have read in relevant literature, by what we heard from our Indigenous mentors, collaborators, and friends, and by what we experienced working with the Indigenous students.

We partnered with artists Simon Roy, Jean-Paul Csuka,Bethani L'Heureux, and Kyra Pukanich and directors Andy Gavel and Aidan Wright to produce the stories and movies.

We are thankful to our translators and narrators for their valuable contributions to the Small Number project.

***

"I am currently taking a math additional qualifications course series, upgrading my teacher's qualifications so I am a math specialist. One of our assignments this week is to link math to Aboriginal children's literature. The first two students to post their findings used the Small Number books! They complimented the rich problem solving activity posed at the end of each. I now have to find other resources for my presentation, but that's okay. I am glad my school colleagues found Small Number!" (Melanie)

GIVE NOW. (Search For "Math Catcher Outreach Program")

Your generosity allows the Math Catcher Outreach Program to continue to promote mathematics and scholarship among Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth.

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The main character in our animations thus far is a boy called Small Number. He is a bright, playful kid, with the ability to recognize patterns and calculate quickly. Other characters introduced so far are Big Circle, Small Number's best friend, Perfect Number, Small Number's sister, and Small Number's parents and grandparents.

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I wish I had known about this resource earlier in the school year. It would have allowed me to complete a more comprehensive pre-assessment on my math group before we started our learning together. The website also provides a number of other teacher and student resources that would be helpful to have in the math classroom. However, I think some of the assessments might need to be modified due to the literacy demands.

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"What might happen if students were ... at the heart of the assessment process, using goals and results to fuel their own learning? What if they were more assessment capable?" (Absolum et al., 2009)
Years ago, the Island Numeracy Network wrote the Diagnostic Mathematics Assessment (DMA) which was used all over the province. Over the years, the assessment was updated to meet changing learning outcomes in BC Ministry Curriculum. The purpose of the assessment was to provide teachers in our province with an effective assessment of student content-knowledge. Important to us all, the DMA was written by teachers for teachers.

Our new assessment, the Island Numeracy Assessment, or INA, was developed to align numeracy assessment practices with current numeracy learning expectations of BC students. Our team met over a span of two years to prepare this assessment. The project grew from rigorous study of BC's Curricular Competencies.

The design offers comprehensive, ongoing assessment of student thinking and learning. It is our hope that teachers will use the assessment tool to inform instructional decisions and help students become aware of their current level of understanding in mathematics; actively monitoring their own learning.

Background Materials

About the Assessments

Flexibile Uses - there are many ways the assessments can be used. They are NOT just summative assessments to be used for each grade. Here is a summary of some ways they can be used by classroom teachers: INA in the classroom .

Assessment Components and Structure

How to administer the assessment

Assessment Pages by Grade

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"What might happen if students were ... at the heart of the assessment process, using goals and results to fuel their own learning? What if they were more assessment capable?" (Absolum et al., 2009) Years ago, the Island Numeracy Network wrote the Diagnostic Mathematics Assessment (DMA) which was used all over the province.

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I love that Peter Liljedahl's numeracy tasks are authentic tasks that could be used in multiple ways. They provide students with opportunities to use math in more real world scenarios and I can see myself using them with my middle school learners throughout the year.

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… efforts to intensify attention to the traditional mathematics curriculum do not necessarily lead to increased competency with quantitative data and numbers. While perhaps surprising to many in the public, this conclusion follows from a simple recognition that is, unlike mathematics, numeracy does not so much lead upwards in an ascending pursuit of abstraction as it moves outward toward an ever richer engagement with life’s diverse contexts and situations.

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This module was my first introduction to Dan Finkel and I really appreciated it. I love his approach to math as both play based and rigorous. I think many of his ideas would help to contribute to a classroom where math is fun, engaging, and authentic. For students who find math challenging, this seems like an excellent way to provide access points.

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Instantly built a devoted audience of children and adults who fell in love with the game's beautiful, colorful display, and connection with deep mathematical understanding.

Honestly, this has got to be one of the most engaging and effective ways of introducing the idea of primes being the 'building blocks' of numbers and building other general logic skills... Overall, Prime Climb is an incredibly flexible game, and certainly met the high expectations it set itself.

This game blew my mind! It blew my wife's mind, it blew my kid's mind... it is one of the coolest visualizations of mathematics and prime numbers I've ever seen ever. It is awesome!

Take a look at Prime Climb, an excellent new game... perfect for adults and children alike.

This game is so rich in mathematical ideas that I literally spent a week investigating it with my class.

Rated #1 Educational Math Game!

Prime Climb is an excellent way to teach about prime numbers, factors, common multiples, and that math is fun!... I loved how Prime Climb engaged my math loving kids and my kids who tolerate math. It was engaging and challenging enough that no one was bored, but easy enough to understand that no one was frustrated. It was the perfect balance. (It was fun for the adults as well.)

This is an amazing game! It is genius actually. You can play this with both young and old and adapt it to anyone's ability. Players must not only use their math skills but their strategy skills as well. I believe this game should be in every classroom in America as well as every home!!

For a game that is a relatively pure experience of math equations, I think you'll be surprised how much fun it can be for players of all ages.

A fun and simple way to bring multiplication, division, and prime numbers all in one easy to play game. Awesome!

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Math for Love is devoted to transforming how math is taught and learned. Offering a free lesson library, plus games, summer curriculum, and more.

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Although I was familiar with the literacy Daily 5, I did not realize that there was a similar framework for math. The Math by Myself and Math with Someone seem similar to other variations of math learning stations that I have come across before and use in my own classroom. The one that is new to me is Math Writing. I am interested in researching this more and seeing how it can be used to increase literacy in math. I also think that it might tie in well to the Math Journal article/strategy that was also shared in this module.

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Math Daily 3 is a framework for structuring math time so students develop deep conceptual understanding, mathematical proficiency, and a true love of mathematics. This framework can be adapted to district-adopted curriculums and state mandates. In addition, teachers are able to provide differentiated instruction, helping to ensure that all students reach their potential.

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The essential ideas that I am taking away from Module 6 are about the hows and whys of creating replacement goals. I particularly liked Shelley Moore's "formula" for inclusion: PLACE + PURPOSE = Where? + Why?. Two key takeaways from Dr. Moore's replacement goal planner video for me were:

1) the difference between explicit and strategic planning;

2) the process for planning and creating replacement goals (choose grade level/course, determine big idea, determine goal for all, determine access point, determine strategies to meet objective).

I also appreciated Dr. Moore's strategies for identifying access points:

Make it all about me!!!

Comprehension levels

Vocabulary

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Earlier grade levels to help

Prior Knowledge

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Valuable Resource 1: Replacement Goal Planner

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Valuable Resource 1: Replacement Goal Planner

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I really appreciated this video about the process for planning replacement goals for students. I think this would have been an excellent resource to know about earlier in the course or in the previous course because it explains how to use Shelley Moore's UDL lesson planning template which includes a section about access points. I believe that this is a resource that I could see myself returning to in the future.

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Video Strategy: The Replacement Curriculum Goal Planner

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Valuable Resource 2: A Guide to Adaptations & Modifications

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Valuable Resource 2: A Guide to Adaptations & Modifications

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Although I was already familiar with this document, I have included it here so that I have an easy way to access it on a regular basis. I think it is a foundational document that all teachers should know well.

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Valuable Resource 3: I & CB IEP Flow Chart

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Valuable Resource 3: I & CB IEP Flow Chart

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Useful Strategy: Student Summary/Overview Sheets

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Useful Strategy: Student Summary/Overview Sheets

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I had never heard of or seen a student overview or summary sheet before this module. I think it would be helpful for teachers to create these types of documents for students with IEPs and make them accessible for TTOCs. I can see myself making up summary sheets for my most challenging students and putting them in my TTOC binder so that a TTOC can easily get an overview of how best to meet certain student's needs without having to read their whole IEP.

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This course has provided me with a multitude of strategies that I can use to make my classroom more accessible to all learners. It has also helped me to identify some wonders and areas for growth.

Wonders:

With the move to the proficiency scale and descriptive feedback for grades K-9, are replacement goals going to disappear for students until high school? What about once the proficiency scale moves up to high school? How will we determine who is working towards an Evergreen instead of a Dogwood?

Areas for Growth:

I need to continue my professional learning and build more strategies for teaching some of the fundamental literacy skills taught at the primary level (phonemic awareness, phonological awareness).

I would like more practice with developing replacement goals and the opportunity to see more exemplars.

I need more background knowledge and experience working with students with intellectual disabilities.