For the Teacher
Teaching Students with Dis/Abilities
As one of the most rewarding professions, being a special education teacher requires a lot of expertise, patience, and dedication. One of the most important aspects, I think, of being a good special education teacher is framing and conceptualizing our students rightly and with dignity. Using person-first language helps put emphasis on the person, rather than the disability. Therefore, it is helpful to say, "my student has a medical disability" rather than "my medically disabled student." This type of syntax comes from disability rights advocates who have pioneered ways make education accessible for students with disabilities.
KEY CONCEPTS TO MASTER
As a special education teacher, it is your responsibility to know how these concepts interact with one another.
LAWS TO KNOW
It is important to know how students with disabilities came to have the rights they do now. Familiarize yourself with some of these on your spare time.
* Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA), amended in 2004
* Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American Disabilities Act (ADA)
REGARDING TRAINING AND YOUR EDUCATION...
Having the proper support as you train and are educated as a special education teacher is vital. I suggest entering a teacher education program, not just a teacher training program. You cannot just have the tools if you do not know the guiding vision behind using each tool. A comprehensive understanding, an education, around special education is important to knowing how to really advocate and teach your students in an informed and purposeful way. Proper placement and support from teachers who have been in the field for a long time can teach you wonders. You take the good and leave the bad behind, but it is ultimately about crafting the art of teaching with a diverse group of students that makes it universal, and not just specific to special education. Knowing how to calm a student down before they escalate into a larger crisis is a useful skill any teacher could benefit from. In short, enter a reputable education program that can train and educate you well with the right supports in place.
| DOWNLOADS
NYC DOE: Creating a Quality IEP
From the NYC Department of Education Website, here is a copy of how to create a quality IEP. It is horrendously long, so take what you can out of it. This is the most recent downloaded copy as of October 29, 2011, and the document dates back to January 2005. Things are changing, though, because NYC announced it is transitioning to an online Special Education Student Information System (SESIS). The justifications for each section of the IEP are provided in this document and may prove useful.
NYC DOE: Assistive Technology PDF
This document outlines how you can get your student assistive technology (AT). AT is important in helping students with disabilities have access to ways to participate in the classroom and communicate with others. In this document, you will note that anybody with an IEP qualifies for AT (See Chancellor's note). This is the most recently downloaded copy as of October 29, 2011; the document itself dates back to the year 2008-2009.
TCICP: Checklist of Services
This is a great document shared by TCICP during my time at Teachers College, Columbia University. It is a comprehensive list of various services teachers must think through in order to make sure they have capitalized on all the opportunities that the student will benefit from. TCICP has many great services and I encourage you to attend one of their workshops in the future. This is just a sample of some of the amazing supports they provide teachers of students with special needs.
LINKS
TCICP: Teachers College Inclusive Classrooms Project
The TCICP project in NYC holds free Saturday workshops where educators from across the city come and share their ideas on special education, assisstive technology, differentiation, and other new breakthrough ideas in special education.
Here is their website: http://www.tcicp.com/ Here is their blog: http://inclusiveclassrooms.pressible.org/celiaoyler/nyc-doe-phase-one-tcicp AAC Intervention
Caroline Musselwhite's website that talks about ways to integrate assistive technology into the classroom. Great resource.
|
TIPS & SERVICES
American Sign Language (ASLPRO)
For your nonverbal students or students who do not speak, I highly suggest teaching them sign language. ASLPRO.com has some great videos, but their website interface is really cluttered by ads. If you can navigate past the ads, this is a useful website. Additionally, for students who do not speak, I highly encourage using a variety of visuals and a consistent pattern of response for your students. For example, one of the responses my mentor teacher, Kevin D., had in the Bronx with one of our students consisted of affirming what they wanted, but also letting them know they needed to do work. He signed and said, "First do work (or x), then you can do y (whatever it was the student wanted to do presently." It was effective because the student responded and not only stayed on task, but felt understood and was able to enjoy her activity at a later time that was appropriate.
BODY BREAKS
As a type of sensory outlet, students go out in the hall and choose three short-term energy release exercises from a menu of options. Options may include: crab walks, sitting against the wall, rolling on the floor, pushing a "heavy" up and down the hall, bouncing on a ball, stretching in a body sac, etc. The body break typically takes about 3-5 minutes outside. An adult can be with the child to initially introduce the idea of a body break. Usually, the last, or third option, that students must do is pushing against the wall for ten seconds to calm their body down and enter the classroom peacefully. Body breaks have been useful for students who have too much energy and need a way to exit and refocus their bodies. Body breaks were developed from my experience with Katharine M. and Lauren G. at a school on the upper east side of Manhattan.
Conceptualizing a Problem
Some of the best ways to help a student conceptualize a problem they are having is to help them understand the scale to which their problem should elicit an appropriate response. For example, if a student did not get what he wanted when it was his turn to choose something, it is important to help a student understand whether or not that was a problem with him/herself, a problem with another person which may require a teacher, or a disaster where they may have to call the President of the United States. Having a visual velcro board may help students conceptualize the scale of the problem and then having options underneath for the student to choose from may help them think of ways to respond appropriately. (As seen and developed with Katharine M, and Lauren G.)
Working Collaboratively with Your Paraprofessionals
It is crucial that you establish good rapport and a respectful relationship with your paraprofessionals in your classroom. I collaborated with a few colleagues of mine at Teachers College, Columbia University and we created this document to help assist with establishing that relationship. Additionally, If you have non-verbal student(s) in your classroom,it may help to put up sign language communication boards (or create them like I did) to help all adults in the classroom learn a little bit of sign language to assist with teaching and communicating with a child.I collaborated with Kevin D. at a school in the Bronx to create the Sign Language Communication Boards.
A Guide to Working with Your Paraprofessional
| Sign Language Communication Boards
|
