Special Education Classroom by colleen edwards

The Whole Child Approach

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-07 01:39:46 UTC

The whole child approach works on the basis that every child should be happy, healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged to grow in their educational environment. Schools must promote a culture that ensures pupils are given time to develop their interests and learn the wider skills required of them in a safe and supportive environment, while still being academically engaged and challenged (Paget, 2019).

Specialized instructions for students with Speech/language impairment SLI)

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-08 12:32:28 UTC

Students with speech/language impairments in the classroom are give instructions with the gen ed students. However, they are given speech therapy services two or more times a week based on the severity of the impairment. They do get small group instructions, but the are seated closer to the front of the classroom.

Speech /language instruction in the Gen Ed classroom

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-08 13:21:30 UTC

Accommodations:

Give students extra time to process classroom directions.
Use visual supports such as highlighted written directions, pictures, or symbols.
Seat students at the front of the classroom to reduce distractions
Provide graphic organizers to help students with assignments

Provide lists of key vocabulary words for topics or units.
(Johnson, 2024)

Learning disability needs

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-08 13:40:49 UTC

We do small groups differentiation with four or five students per group, then give clear directions about their task along with frequent feedback. We also do chunking the material into small, manageable pieces. If the students are working on their devices, we do scaffolding where we assign each group a leader (peer support), who makes sure the task(s) get completed. Sometimes at the end of their task, we would tell them it is a graded assignment, which can be positive/negative. They are then offered positive feedback, motivation and a small reward such as a snack or a sticker.

Assessments

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-08 15:52:16 UTC

All students including SLI and ESOL/ELL are tested in the least restrictive setting possible, which will include COKs (Celebration of Knowledge). These are five question problems done in the general education classroom. Other graded assessments such as CUAs, CFAs, district or state testing, the students are group and pulled according to their accommodations. This will include read aloud, text-to-speech, frequent breaks, extended time, test individually, etc.

Knowing where our students are after testing

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-08 16:10:27 UTC

After the assessments, we do a review using data dig to know which level our students are. These are the four categories:

Level 4 - advance learners - color blue

Level 3 - proficient learners - color green

Level 2 - developing learner - color yellow

Level 1 - beginning learner - color red.

The students in levels 3 and 4 are encouraged to continue with the hard work. The focus is then placed on the students in levels 1 and 2, mainly level 1, as it is considered an immediate intervention.

Next Steps

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-08 16:26:12 UTC

For next steps school administration, case managers, teachers and parents meet to discuss. Meeting are done by way of inviting parents to "data and dinner," for parent teacher conference, or a meeting over the phone, whichever works best for the parent(s). We also would re-visit their IEPs and their re-evaluation period to check if they need to be re-evaluated for other issues.

What is an IEP?

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-08 16:55:46 UTC

An Individualized Education Program, or IEP, is a program tailored to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities. It is in collaboration with the child's school district and their parents or guardians and sometimes the student (Pendharkar, 2023).

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-is-an-iep-individualized-education-programs-explained/2023/07

Next, next steps

colleenedwards1 — 2025-02-08 17:12:26 UTC

After meeting with administration and the parents we then put a plan of action in place. We will be implementing more small group activities, having at least two students at one time where we can have more one-on-one time with them. There is also Seminole support, tutoring and weekend workshops from 9am-1pm. Students will be provided with transportation and a meal. Also, since they will be transitioning to high school, we re-visit their IEPs ensuring it is amended and their accommodations are updated as well.