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How to Guide A Successful Paraprofessional
Paraprofessionals As special education teachers, it tends to be our responsibility to guide a paraprofessional. Even if it is not officially our job responsibility, our paras are working with our students, and we want to make sure that they know what they are supposed to be doing so we tend to take this on. Who are they? If you are unfamiliar, a paraprofessional is someone who works in your school, but usually is not a licensed teacher. In my experience, a lot of paras are working towards their license, or are newly licensed and are trying to get their foot in the door. I have also worked with some paras…
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Pre-Reading Strategies for Middle School
Teaching reading to middle school students can be difficult. There aren’t as many resources for teaching middle school reading intervention. Check out 4 Resources for Middle School Reading Intervention. It can also be difficult to find age-appropriate activities to work with students on pre-reading. K-W-L Chart This is one technique for pre-reading that does translate to older students. A K-W-L Chart is where you have the students start by listing what they know about a topic (this is the “K”). Then, you have them make a list of everything that they want to know about the topic (the “W”). And then post-reading you add the third column of everything that…
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Special Education Guide: The Difference between Accommodations and Modifications
So you have a student that isn’t doing well. Your school uses some version of the RTI model, and you’ve tried to help them in the classroom. But, no matter what you do, they still are struggling so your Child Find team decides its time to explore special education. You start hearing words thrown around like “accommodations” and “modifications,” but you’re not quite sure the difference. Aren’t they both kind of the same thing? No, they’re not. Accommodations are the basis of a 504 plan, and Modifications are the basis of “specialized instruction” or an IEP. Here’s why: Accommodations: Let’s start with accommodations. Accommodations are things that you put in…
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When Co-Teaching Gets Tough
Let’s face it, co-teaching can be hard! Seriously, co-teaching can be really difficult! You have to work very closely with another teacher that you don’t get to pick. Your principal decides one day that you will be working with another teacher. Who knows if your personalities will mesh well!? There is a lot of anxiety that comes with co-teaching, and fortunately, my three current co-teachers are all strong, amazing women who are patient with me, and we work well together. But this isn’t always the case! Sometimes you get assigned to work with a teacher, and co-teaching may be difficult. Be Patient Most of the time (hopefully all of the…
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Benefits of Color-Coding for your Middle School Students
Do I show signs of OCD because I’m a teacher, or am I a teacher because I show signs of OCD? Really it’s the chicken-or-the-egg debate all over again. But, to get down to business, I color-code EVERYTHING! Color-Coding Color-coding is a tool that adults use to keep themselves organized. If this works so well for us, why don’t we use this tool for our students too? Color-Coding in Math I use color-coding when teaching multi-step equations. I will update this post with a picture to illustrate this but I am writing this post from home. We teach the students to use “DCVS” when solving multi-step equations. DCVS stands for…
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Special Education – Providing Services Discreetly
I am an eighth-grade special education teacher. One of the more difficult parts of my job is finding ways to provide my students with their accommodations, without making them self-conscious. Working in a middle school, often the students’ main priority is being cool and fitting in. The last thing that they want is to be identified as someone with a disability, or to have their friends think that they’re “stupid” (their word, not mine!) Constantly getting extra attention from teachers, or being pulled out of the classroom is a definite way to put a target on students’ backs. I work hard to give my students all the help that they…
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Fidget Toys for Middle School
Fidget Toys? When kids are little, their lessons tend to be highly interactive. We build time into our lessons to let them get up, move around, and burn off some energy. In elementary school, students are given recess where they get to go outside and play for a while after lunch. But, once students get into middle school, they are often expected to sit down and focus for longer periods of time. A fidget toy can help! As middle school teachers, we work hard to keep our lessons interesting and interactive, but there is so much content that we have to get through that it can be difficult. These long…
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Accommodations to Support Students Who Struggle With Executive Function
What are executive function skills? Executive Functioning skills are the skills that allow us to make a goal, plan on how to meet that goal, and follow through with that plan. They are the skills that help us with impulse control, keeping ourselves organized, and regulating our emotions. Students who have difficulty with their executive function skills tend to be disorganized, impulsive, and do not follow through on plans. These difficulties are typical of students who have been diagnosed with ADHD, as well as some other learning disabilities. A student who struggles with executive function is not hopeless, these skills can be taught, practiced and developed. Break down a project into…
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5 Keys to Great Co-Teaching
Communicate Like any relationship in life, communication is key to a successful co-teaching relationship. Before the year begins, sit down, and DTR as the kids say. Define the relationship! If you start the year with a discussion about who is going to be responsible for each responsibility, you avoid a lot of problems. Neither of you will feel as though the other is stepping on your toes because they’re doing something you thought was your job. And, neither of you will feel like the other isn’t picking up the slack when they’re not doing something you thought was their job. It will also make the classroom routine go more smoothly.…
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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…
