1. How can I meet ALL my students’ needs? Compiled by: Jessica McDowell ITED 7530 Oct. 3, 2010

2. Scenario You are a 3rd grade teacher who has a few students that require you to differentiate your instruction. Kelvin, Dominick, and Shiranta have been diagnosed with ADHD. Sarah has an auditory disability and requires a special device in order to hear. In addition, you have a number of students that have mild learning disabilities that impact all areas, especially reading and writing. As you prepare for the school year, you ask yourself, "What resources do I have in order to help me meet my students' needs?" Resource: ITEC 7530 Module 6 Assignment

3. Goals Develop needed vocabulary for discussing students with special needs Develop an understanding of the requirements by law of working with special needs children Provide resources for working with special needs children Introduce instructional practices and technology available that are beneficial to students with various disabilities

4. Special Needs Vocabulary Individual Education Plan (IEP): This is a plan developed by teachers, parents, and other school professionals to help a child identified with special needs to succeed in school. It is required by federal law that the services described are delivered. Inclusion: Students’ services are delivered within the regular education classroom. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE): Services should be delivered to students in the regular education classroom as much as possible. Assistive Technology: Assistive, adoptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also includes processes used in selecting, locating, and using them. Consultative: A professional consults with the regular education teacher to develop strategies to help the student in the classroom without actually giving any hands-on instruction.

5. Working with Students with Special Needs Like in the scenario that we began with, we all have students with differing needs that we must serve throughout the day. Students may be identified as having a disabilities and have an IEP which identifies specific services that child must receive from the teachers at the school. Other students may struggle in class, but not be identified as special needs students. We, as classroom teachers, must have the ability to teach all of these students with in our classroom.

6. Who are special needs students? Students with the following problems could qualify for support services or an IEP. Learning Disability Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Emotional Behavior Disorders Autism Hearing Difficulties Visual Difficulties Developmental delays The disability must not only be present, but must be affecting school performance for the student.

7. Where are special needs students served? According to IDEA, students must be served in the LRE. This means that most students are served in an inclusion setting, in which another teacher assists in the regular education classroom. Students may also be served in a resource room, which means they are pulled out of the regular education classroom to receive special services in a smaller setting. Students with extreme disabilities may be served in a self-contained classroom setting, where they join regular education students only for non-academic sections of the school day like music and PE.

8. What resources are available? One great resource is your school’s special education department, as well as your school psychologist. Two great websites are: The Learning Disabilities of America (great for learning strategies) Georgia Project for Assistive Technology (great for assistive technology ideas, as the name implies)

9. What learning strategies are most affective ? The Learning Disabilities Association of America suggests teachers apply the following strategies to help your students with special needs. Scaffolding Break learning into small steps Administer probes Supply regular quality feedback Use diagrams, graphics and pictures to support what the you were saying in words Provide ample independent, well-designed, intensive practice Model instructional practices that you want students to follow Provide prompts of strategies to use Engage students in process type questions like “How is that strategy working? Where else might you apply it?” Retrieved from: The Learning Disabilities Association of America Website

10. Assistive Technology for students Many teachers are unaware of the assistive technology available to their students. Assistive technology promotes greater independence for the individuals needing them. The earlier students are introduced to assistive technologies, the more prepared they are to use these effectively in the future!

11. Assistive Technology for Special Needs Lo-tech possibilities for students with Learning Disabilities as well as ADHD: Structured note-taking sheets Outline Flow charts Adjustable height chairs Preferential seating Mid- to High-tech possibilities: Laptop computers Touchwindow-which creates a touchscreen on any computer Video-taped class Word processor Graphic software Email notes PDAs Spreadsheets

12. More Assistive Technology! For Hearing-impaired students are the following Assisted listening devises: Personal Frequency Modulation System that works on FM frequencies Infrared System-sends sound through infrared signal Inductive Loop System-a loop is installed under the carpet around the speaker and listener. The loop creates a signal that the speaker can hear. You can also help your hearing-impaired student by: Providing strong visual cues (pictures, etc) Use manual or sign language Provide preferential seating Use written language to supplement any spoken language in class

13. Resources The Learning Disabilities of America http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/teachers/understanding/strategies.asp The Georgia Program for Assistive Technologyhttp://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/Supporting_SWD_Participation_in_Typical_Classroom_Activities.pdf?p=6CC6799F8C1371F6FD8D894FF6ED583364611E352AD9CF6669483D120D35625B&Type=D Assistive Technology for Mild Disabilities: http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-1/assistive.htm Synapes Adaptive: Examples of Productshttp://www.synapseadaptive.com/edmark/prod/tw/default.htm Assistive Listening Deviceshttp://www.asha.org/public/hearing/treatment/assist_tech.htm

14. Resources Kidshealth: http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/learning/iep.html Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology Edutopiahttp://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video Guidelines to choosing Assistive Technologyhttp://www.ldonline.org/article/8088 Overview of Assistive Technologyhttp://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~wilbur/access/assistive.html

15. Thanks! I hope you feel a more prepared to assist ALL of your students in reaching their goals this year, or at least know some good places to start looking for some information!