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Reference Sheets for Your Inclusion Students
The Problem Currently, I teach eighth-grade inclusion. This means that I co-teach three math classes and two ELA classes. I have learned why the students benefit from reference sheets. Remembering the steps necessary to do a problem is a struggle for most of my students. Or when we are assessing more than one type of problem, it is tough for the students to keep the different steps straight. Another problem I see is that my students spend so much time trying to remember the steps to solve the problem that they make mistakes with their computation. Reference Sheets Giving students with disabilities a reference sheet to help them take some…
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6 Effective Co-Teaching Models, and When to Use Them
Co-Teaching seems to be the trend for public schools. My school, like many others, is leaning towards a model that includes as many students as possible into the general education classroom. To make this work, many special education teachers are expected to co-teach. General education inclusion classes with the content area teachers to provide the necessary modifications and accommodations to the students on my caseload. In the meantime, there are great peer models coming from the general education population. Also, there is less of a stigma placed on students with disabilities because they are not being removed from the classroom. This concept makes it more difficult to determine which students…
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Leveled Novels on the Holocaust for Middle School Students
Each year, the ELA teacher that I co-teach with and I teach a unit on the Holocaust. This is an amazing unit that she developed long before working with me and I am just fortunate to be a part of it. This unit includes teaching them background knowledge. They explore situations where they have to decide what they would do. And, they read a book on the Holocaust and participate in book club discussions. One of the many reasons that I love this unit is because of the multitude of books there are to choose from. We can carefully select groups of students and assign them to a book that…
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The Pros & Cons of Teacher Proximity
Using your presence can be a powerful tool in the classroom. It makes you more accessible, helps with classroom management, and it can be subtle. But, is teacher proximity always a good thing? Teacher Proximity: What is it? One popular technique for classroom management is using your person to influence what is happening in the classroom, or teacher proximity. Standing close to students or standing strategically in a certain area of the classroom can affect the students and the mood of the classroom in different ways. Pro: Chatty Students If you have a group of students that is always chatty when they think you are not looking, this is a…
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The Beginners Guide to Inclusion
I recently took a course on inclusion practices. Although I am a special education teacher who is very familiar with the inclusion setting, I am always looking for new tips, techniques, or practices to bring into my classrooms and to better help my students. History and Introduction Inclusion is the practice of including special education students in the general education setting. In the past, students with disabilities were often removed from the classroom. They did this to provide them with support and instruction that was focused on their abilities and needs. But, removing students with disabilities from the classroom can cause them to get even further behind, and it also…
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6 Strategies to support students with ASD in an Inclusion classroom
6 Strategies for students with ASD in an inclusion setting.
