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Classroom Management Strategies for Children with Special Needs

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Classroom Management Strategies for Children with Special Needs

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https://blog.stageslearning.com/blog/11-classroom-management-strategies-for-children-with-special-needs

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Inclusion is a great thing. Children with special needs are no longer isolated in "Special Ed" classrooms and only seen on the playground or in the lunchroom. Kids with special needs thrive in the presence of their peers. There are so many lessons that children with special needs can learn from other kids, and so many friendships to be formed.

FREE Download: ARIS Behavior Tracking Sheets

Children with autism spectrum disorder and other learning disabilities, such as ADHD, perform better, both academically and socially, if the classroom is set up to accommodate their special needs.

Teachers are called upon to be creative and innovative when preparing classrooms. Managing an all-inclusive classroom is easier if simple, personalized teaching strategies for the special needs student are implemented. The following tips will help you create a learning environment that will help students bloom where they are planted!

1. Use computer based programs to hold the interest of students with autism. Stages Learning Line is an invaluable tool when working with children with autism. The platform is a revolutionary visual learning and assessment tool for teachers and educators working with young children wit autism. The program includes thousands of images and exercises created by a certified behavior analyst. You can also use your own images to personalize lesson plans for students who have specific interests. One standardized platform allows teachers to create effective, customized lesson plan, that can be shared with other students and teachers who may share the same interests. The products preceding Stages Learning Line have been researched and implemented in schools around the world and have proven to be effective learning tools for instructing students with autism.

2. Set the desks in the classroom is rows, rather than using circular seating around large tables, if possible. Students with autism need their own space. The student with ADHD is easily distracted, so a seat close to the teacher, facing forward works best. Children with special needs are easily distracted, so keep their desks away from the windows, doors and activity centers in the classroom.

3. Post classroom rules in a conspicuous place in the classroom, and review the regularly. Ask students to take turns reading the rules aloud as part of the daily routine. Make sure all students understand the rules of the classroom and the consequences for not adhering to them. It may be helpful to allow the class to help formulate the classroom rules.

4. Keep it simple. Give verbal prompts frequently, and be sure your instructions are easy to understand. Repeat instructions if the student does not seem to comprehend what you are saying.

5. Use visual aids such as charts, graphs, and pictures. The Stages Learning Line computer program consists of colorful, vivid pictures that are sure to please. Children with autism tend to respond well to technology. Stages Learning Line is very appealing to them and allows them to be interactive while learning.

6. Peers can be wonderful role models for students on the autism spectrum. Pair compatible children together when working on projects or participating in classroom activities. Many children welcome the opportunity to be a peer role model to the special needs student. The experience is not only positive for the student with autism, but for the peer counselor as well.

7. Have a predictable schedule. Children with autism tend to prefer predictable routines. Give advance warning if the daily schedule is going to change. If there is going to be a field trip, a special guest in the classroom, or a substitute teacher, try to let the class know in advance. Unexpected changes in the routine can be difficult for the child with autism.

8. Teach social skills, such as hand raising, taking turns and sharing as part of the learning curriculum. All students will benefit when reminders are given. Children with autism often engage in self-stimulating behaviors such as hand flapping, rocking or even slapping themselves in the face. Help the other students in the class understand these behaviors.

9. Provide opportunities to take a break. Read a story, play a short game, stand up and stretch, or have casual conversation. Sometimes an opportunity to get out of his seat and walk around the room can be very calming for the child on the autism spectrum. Try to be aware of the signs that your student may need a short break.

10. Focus on student strengths. If a child is interested in dinosaurs, baseball, dogs or water sports, he or she needs the opportunity to exhibit expertise in that subject. Stages Learning Line was developed with the personalized lesson plan in mind. Students with autism thrive when they are studying a lesson plan that was formatted specifically for them.

11. Be aware of environmental triggers. Loud noises, bright lights, and hot or cold temperatures can disrupt a child's thinking pattern and cause an unnecessary classroom outburst. Be mindful of these environmental triggers and eliminate them whenever possible.

A Positive Experience All Around

Teaching students with autism is a challenge, but the experience can be a positive one for the autistic child, his teachers, and his classmates if the proper teaching strategies are incorporated into the daily routine. Autistic children struggle with socialization. The Stages Learning Line computer based program opens a world of wonder for each student who is enrolled. The autistic student can work independently, and can feel a sense of pride and accomplishment as he masters skills and learns new concepts. The program makes it possible to focus on the things that appeal to the student. Teachers are impressed as they watch in wonder as their students with autism improve their verbal skills as they progress through the program at their own pace.

Stages Learning Line helps teachers improve the effectiveness of their teaching. Parents are delighted when they attend parent-teacher conferences and hear about the positive accomplishments being made in their child's education. The combination of classroom management strategies and the Stages Learning Line program can help teachers create a learning environment that is productive, enthusiastic and conducive to academic success.

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11 Classroom Management Strategies for Children with Special Needs

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The following tips will help you create a learning environment that will help students bloom where they are planted!

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/ensuring-instruction-inclusive-diverse-learners

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Using ideas from Universal Design for Learning with all students can make classrooms more welcoming for those with learning disabilities.

©Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images

Humans have a tendency to fall into patterns of behavior. For teachers, that means that if we're not careful, we begin to teach things the same way every year. This is comfortable for us, but it can result in a rigid curriculum that may not work for all students-and traditional classrooms are curriculum-centered already, not easily adapted to the differing needs of individual students. Instead, students are required to adapt to the curriculum.

As a special education teacher, part of my job was helping students who had a diagnosed learning disability access the general education curriculum, so I frequently found myself co-teaching with a math or English teacher. When students with learning differences are placed in the general education classroom, they often receive accommodations and services. However, when those accommodations are paired with-and constrained by-a traditional, rigid curriculum, the result can be the opposite of inclusion, in my experience.

Teachers in this situation may become frustrated because trying to accommodate each child individually creates a lot of stress and often an unmanageable workload. Another issue I saw at the middle school level is that despite teachers' best efforts, students with learning differences often feel singled out, and as they get older they may reject accommodations in order to fit in-even though that means forgoing supports that could help meet their learning needs.

The majority of students need something different, but how can you design a curriculum that works for all students-and for the teacher?

In working together, the general education teacher and I would work out ways to flex and adapt our teaching styles to fit our students' needs. As a team, we modified our instruction based on what worked and what didn't. We used what we learned to design instruction that could change based on students' needs.

All of this work was based on the well-known, flexible model called Universal Design for Learning, which can be used in any classroom to make instruction more accessible.

3 Ways to Implement Universal Design for Learning

1. Teach content in many ways: In a traditional classroom, planning for the lesson is done with the "typical" student in mind. Often, there is one way for all students to learn the material, such as a lecture or a slide presentation.

Instead, try to plan the lesson with all students in mind. Survey students to find out what they already know and questions they have about the new topic. Use that information to scaffold instruction and make lessons more relevant to students. You can also vary the methods that you use to deliver the direct instruction portion of your lesson-try showing a demonstration or video clip for one lesson, and have students participate in stations or listen to a podcast for another.

If possible, use more than one modality within a lesson, and think about supports that students may need for learning. If students are moving around the room, have clearly defined procedures and a goal at each learning center. If they're listening to you or a podcast, it may be helpful to provide an outline where they can add notes or sketch visuals while they listen. If they're reading texts, you can allow them to partner read or use technology to adjust the font and text size.

2. Provide choices to sustain student engagement: Allow students to choose an activity. For guided practice, they could decide whether to answer questions independently and receive feedback, play a game, do a role play, or practice in a group. To demonstrate their understanding of a concept, they could decide whether to create a poster or construct a model, write a paper, make a video or podcast, or do a presentation. Making choices allows them to relate to the content in a way that sparks their interest.

Teachers can often offer students other choices in the classroom, beyond instruction. For example, you may be able to provide flexible seating, allowing students to choose a quiet area of the classroom to finish up an assignment on their own, or to sit at tables for group work, or to grab a seat at a computer to watch a video, print a new worksheet, or read a digital textbook.

3. Provide accommodations for all students: Instead of providing accommodations only to students with an IEP or a 504 plan, think about accommodations that such students frequently need and make them available to all students.

For example, if you often have students who need a copy of the notes, using a site like Blackboard or Google Classroom to post each slide presentation and assignment makes it easier for everyone to access those materials. Students who are absent, lose their copy, or have trouble taking notes can use the online notes and documents. Having documents available online also makes it easier for parents, special education teachers, and paraeducators to help students without making extra work for the teacher.

Another example would be teaching students to use a free text reader like the Read and Write extension for Google Chrome or a voice-to-text tool like those available in Google Documents. Students may choose not to use them, but they're a good option for students who happen to retain information better when they hear it or who have a disability that interferes with writing.

Universal Design for Learning allows instruction to become student-centered by creating a more welcoming and flexible classroom environment and a curriculum that is more accessible to all students. Flexible instruction should lead the student to be more personally accountable for their learning: Instead of the teacher expecting all students to learn in one way, the student sets their own goals for how they will learn the required material.

The student becomes an expert not just on the content but on how they learn. Once the content has faded from their memory, this is the skill that will allow them to acquire the knowledge necessary for whatever endeavor they decide to pursue.

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Ensuring That Instruction Is Inclusive for Diverse Learners

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Using ideas from Universal Design for Learning with all students can make classrooms more welcoming for those with learning disabilities.

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Using Performance Feedback to Increase Special Education Teachers' Use of Effective Practices 

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Using Performance Feedback to Increase Special Education Teachers' Use of Effective Practices 

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https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1197395

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There is a growing body of research that supports the use of performance feedback as a method of increasing teachers' use of effective practices (Cornelius & Nagro, 2014; Sweigart et al., 2016). Put simply, performance feedback involves a colleague or coach observing a teacher and providing specific feedback about the instruction to increase a teacher's use of a selected practice. At the minimum, performance feedback requires two components: observation and non evaluative reporting. For students with disabilities to improve academic and behavioral outcomes, it is necessary for teachers to identify and use effective practices that are aligned to meet the learning needs of their students. For special education teachers, who often work in collaboration with other school personnel (e.g., general education teacher, educational assistant), performance feedback can be a promising practice that can be done easily with minimal training and resources required and can lead to meaningful opportunities to engage in collaborative discussion about methods for effectively supporting students with disabilities.

Descriptors: Feedback (Response), Performance, Teacher Effectiveness, Disabilities, Instructional Effectiveness, Student Behavior, Academic Achievement, Student Needs, Special Education Teachers, Progress Monitoring, Intervention

SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com

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ERIC - EJ1197395 - Using Performance Feedback to Increase Special Education Teachers' Use of Effective Practices, TEACHING Exceptional Children, 2018

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There is a growing body of research that supports the use of performance feedback as a method of increasing teachers' use of effective practices (Cornelius & Nagro, 2014; Sweigart et al., 2016). Put simply, performance feedback involves a colleague or coach observing a teacher and providing specific feedback about the instruction to increase a teacher's use of a selected practice.

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Educating Students with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms

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Educating Students with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms

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http://dspace.fudutsinma.edu.ng/jspui/bitstream/123456789/1671/1/Educating%20Students%20with%20Learning%20Disabilities%20in%20Inclusive%20Classr.pdf

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Practices for Teaching Students with Disabilities 

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Practices for Teaching Students with Disabilities 

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https://www.oneontacsd.org/Downloads/research-based-practices-for-teaching-students-with-disabiliti.pdf

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This research pointing to the academic and social benefits of inclusive educational placement. In this article it highlights the five most salient categories for each focus group prompt.

https://link-springer-com.libproxy.csudh.edu/article/10.1007/s10803-021-05266-4

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How to develop an Inclusive classroom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00sRVmZa_zg

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The ABC of inclusive education. https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/inclusive-education-strategies/

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General education teachers and special education teachers alike are recognizing the benefits of inclusive education. This approach to learning aims to cultivate learning environments that are equitable and nurturing to every student.

Inclusive learning provides all students with access to flexible learning choices and effective paths for achieving educational goals in spaces where they experience a sense of belonging. In an inclusive education environment, all children, regardless of ability or disability, learn together in the same age-appropriate classroom. It is based on the understanding that all children and families are valued equally and deserve access to the same opportunities.

Inclusive learning goes hand in hand with Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a set of principles for curriculum development that gives all students an equal opportunity to learn. According to UDL on Campus, a collection of resources developed by CAST:

"UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone - not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs."

UDL shares many commonalities with the Theory of Multiple Intelligences espoused by Harvard Professor Howard Gardner, whose work documented "the extent to which students possess different kinds of minds and therefore learn, remember, perform and understand in different ways."

EARN YOUR MASTER'S! Video Explores ABCs of Online M.Ed. >>

Why Is Inclusive Education Important?

Studies have shown the benefits that inclusive classrooms offer for children with disabilities and their peers. Instead of pulling children out of the classroom to offer them specialized instruction, in an inclusive classroom, special education teachers come into the classroom. This allows for general education teachers and specialists to work together in the same learning environment, benefiting all students, who are offered additional resources and support.

This support often results in greater academic gains for students with disabilities. According to a 2017 report from the Alana Institute:

"A large body of research indicates that included students develop stronger skills in reading and mathematics, have higher rates of attendance, are less likely to have behavioral problems, and are more likely to complete secondary school than students who have not been included. As adults, students with disabilities who have been included are more likely to be enrolled in postsecondary education, and to be employed or living independently."
[RELATED] How to Advance Your Career: A Guide for Educators >>
Students without disabilities can also benefit from inclusive teaching strategies. One research study published by Frontiers in Psychology found that inclusive practices in education help children without disabilities:

Develop a positive attitude toward diversity

Learn social skills related to helping others

Improve academic learning and cognitive development

Inclusive Classroom Strategies

Are you ready to support inclusion in the classroom? To do so means challenging the status quo, removing curriculum barriers and presenting educational goals in interesting ways to engage all learners and serve all students equitably. Below are four important strategies to consider when designing an inclusive classroom and curriculum.

Use universal design principles to create accessible classrooms

UDL is a set of principles that were born from the desire to offer every student an equal opportunity to learn, based on the idea that every person has their own unique and individual learning style.

According to CAST, there are three primary brain networks that are responsible for how a person learns: the affective network, the recognition network and the strategic network.

These networks provide the basis for the three UDL Guidelines:

Engagement, or the "why" of learning, which corresponds to the affective network

Representation, or the "what" of learning, which corresponds to the recognition network

Action and Expression, or the "how" of learning, which correspond to the strategic network

Understanding the foundation of UDL - the brain networks and corresponding guidelines - is imperative for teachers who wish to implement inclusive teaching strategies in the classroom.

The National Center on Universal Design for Learning has a plethora of resources and information for educators interested in universal design. You'll find videos offering helpful implementation tips and ideas in the "UDL Principles and Practices" section of their YouTube Channel.

Loui Lord Nelson, author of the best-selling UDL primer, Design and Deliver, recommends starting small. In an interview with Brookes Publishing, she said, "Focus on one guideline or checkpoint and use that to make a change to your learning environment that you can sustain. That way, there's no extreme investment of mental-energy or physical time."

Use a variety of instructional formats

"Provide multiple means of representation" is one of the three UDL guidelines and specifically pertains to the "what" of learning.

While some students are visual learners, others may grasp information better when it is presented through text, when it is spoken orally or taught through kinesthetic learning. Some students do best with a combination of the above. While these differentiated teaching methods may support the needs of students with disabilities, they also offer diversity of instruction to the entire classroom, giving each and every student an opportunity to learn in the way they do best.

Similarly, using different mediums to present information and engage students is important in inclusive classrooms. "Multiple means of action and expression" is another UDL guideline, meant to represent the "how" of learning. Some students may find that their best outlet and means of expression comes through writing, while others may prefer to give an oral presentation, act out a play or create a piece of art.

Each student is different and should be given the opportunity to express their knowledge through the methods that work best for them. Additionally, teachers can use a diversity of materials and mediums to engage students. Examples of mediums could include theater, art, video and computer software in addition to the traditional mediums of lecture and text.

Through using varied teaching techniques and mediums, teachers can increase the engagement of their entire class, not just the students who respond to a particular style of learning and expression.

Know your students' IEPs/504s

To create an equitable learning environment for everyone, it is important to familiarize yourself with students' Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plans. If you have a student with a 504 or IEP plan, you are legally required to make any necessary accommodations as outlined in that plan. You can work with the school counselor or teaching specialists to better understand the student's specific needs.

Much like the concept of inclusive learning, 504s were designed to ensure that students with disabilities are allowed to learn in a regular classroom environment, while still being provided with services, educational aids or accommodations they may require.

An IEP is only slightly different than a 504; the difference being that students with an IEP may require additional educational services outside of the regular classroom. These services are typically provided and monitored by additional support staff.

Develop a behavior management plan

Disruptive classroom behavior can affect not just the teacher, but the other students in the classroom as well. Developing a behavior management plan can help you prepare for the inevitable moment a student or students exhibit disruptive behaviors - with the understanding that some behaviors are of much less consequence than others (talking out of turn vs. being defiant or aggressive).

The behavior plan should be shared with parents and students, so that everyone is aware of the expectations and consequences should those expectations not be met. The most effective plans typically involve a great deal of positive reinforcement and a clear understanding of the expectations.

There are several different types of behavior management plans you can implement depending on the needs of your classroom, including a whole group plan, a small group plan, an individual plan or an individual plan designed for particularly challenging students.

Inclusive Learning Resources for Teachers

Inclusive Schools Network (ISN) - ISN is a digital resource for families, schools and communities looking to design and implement effective inclusive schools. They offer a wide variety of resources including assessment tools, collaboration strategies, technology advice and much more.

National Center for Learning Disability (NCLD) - NCLD advocates for people with disabilities offering programs and resources for parents, young adults, professionals and educators. They also publish reports and studies on a range of topics related to disability and offer scholarship information for students with learning and attention issues.

Wrightslaw - Wrightslaw is a great resource for those looking to learn more or stay up-to-date on special education law, education law and advocacy for children with disabilities.

TASH - TASH works to advance inclusive communities through advocacy, research, professional development, policy and information and resources for parents, families and self-advocates. They offer several different publications including a blog, annual reports, a podcast and more.

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) - ASCD covers a range of educational topics not limited to inclusive learning. This is a great resource for educators across all disciplines and grade levels, whether they are looking to create an inclusive school or to simply find new strategies to improve their effectiveness in the classroom.

Frequently Asked Questions

At the University of San Diego, we believe in the power of inclusive learning. We also understand the importance of an educated teaching force when it comes to inclusion and special education. That's why we offer a 100% online Master of Education degree with a specialization in Inclusive Learning, Special Education and Universal Design. To learn more and view the curriculum, visit the USD Master of Education program page.

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4 Proven Inclusive Education Strategies for Educators + 6 Resources

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Create an inclusive classroom for students with disabilities and their peers. Find inclusive teaching strategies and resources here.

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Steps to implementing inclusive practices and action plan frames.

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Steps to implementing inclusive practices and action plan frames.