Greer Gazette
December 2014
Greer Holiday Open House
Reminders:
- Team Leader meeting is at Greer, December 9, 2014 from 2-4
- Professional Development Day January 5th-information is coming, remember to sign up on Eduphoria
- If you are on the curriculum review committee and cannot make it, please find someone to cover you.
Esped and procedures
- Draft records must be open a minimum of 3 weeks before the ARD, this will give related service and instructional service providers time to input PLAAFPs and update the schedule of service
- Goals should be going home 2 weeks prior to ARD
- VI/AI representative are required at all ARDs for students with VI/AI. Also must obtain their input/signature on IEP amendments
Resource/Inclusion Classrooms
Effective Inclusion
What steps can paraprofessionals and special education staff take when in an inclusive setting supporting students with disabilities?
Step 1: Read the student’s IEP to become familiar with the student’s goals, accommodations, and if applicable, modifications and behavior plan.
Step 2: Talk with the classroom teacher and the supervising special education teacher about your role for helping students become independent in the classroom.
Step 3: Talk with the classroom teacher about your role in the classroom that supports the idea of helping all students in the room.
Step 4: Talk with the classroom teachers and the supervising special education teacher about ideas for fading support, what will it look like, what is his/her expectation for fading support, what is the plan for fading support.
Step 5: Talk with the classroom teacher about running small groups to help carry out planned materials, adaptions, and lesson objectives.
Step 6: Set up with the classroom teacher and supervising special education teacher regularly scheduled time to communicate about the work you are doing with the students.
Step 7: Talk with the classroom teacher about your introduction to the class as part of the instructional team and not as a specific student’s helper.
Step 8: Find out your role in parent communication and the expectation of your role with parent communication.
DSSC Classrooms
Don’t forget DSSC students should be checking in with you each morning. They sign in and pick up their daily point sheet. This is a great opportunity for you to give them a positive pep talk before they begin their day! At the end of the day, they will check out by signing out, recording their daily points they earned on each of their adaptive behavior goals and graphing their total points earned. This process not only provides you with data to track progress, but builds accountability and responsibility for behavior choices the student made during that day. Point sheets should go home to parent/guardian every day. This can be done several ways: 1) make a copy for the RADD Binder and send the other home with the student or 2) Download “Faster Scan HD” on the district IPad and email it home to parent. Thank Victor Chavez at VC for that great tip! Do you have an alternate way of getting point sheets home to parents? Let me know and I’ll share it with the team.
Classroom Management
Some kids have trouble remembering general classroom expectations and they need to be reminded often. Think about prompting your kids prior to transitions by saying something like, “We are going to the library. Who can raise their hand and tell the class what it will look and sound like in the library?” This gives the students ownership in following the expectations and allows them to be the expert. You can also ask someone to model a behavior such as, “Sally, would you please show the class what it looks like to line up?” All classroom expectations should be modeled consistently by the teacher and reviewed after long breaks or holidays. Reviewing specific behavior expectations right before they are needed sets your kids up for success!
STC and FAC Classrooms
TEACHING A NEW BEHAVIOR USING A TASK ANALYSIS
A task analysis is a list of steps that a student must perform in sequence to perform a particular behavior or complete a task. The following are considerations when developing a task analysis:
Can be used to teach any skill including self-help, academic, social, and communication skills.
Each must be individually designed for the student based on their functioning level.
To develop a task analysis, perform the skill and write down the steps that are involved as the task is completed.
State each step in terms of observable behaviors.
Collect data to determine mastery of the skill. Break skill down further if necessary.
Jami O’Connell, BCBA
LS Classrooms
8 Important Tips for Working with A Special Needs Child
1. Interact – Use inflection in your voice, eye contact, and physical touch because they are listening and want positive interactions.
2. Observe - Remember that all behavior is communication.
3. Use common sense - Put safety first and arrange the environment for physical and emotional comfort.
4. Be flexible - The whole point of teaching is to use a variety of methods to help another person understand and master new skills.
5. Be consistent - If a set of rules is presented to the group, apply those rules consistently to everyone.
6. Use visual, auditory, or tactile cues - Having the right cues in an environment can mean the difference between participation and non-participation for many children with special needs.
7. Have a plan - Think about what each participant can do instead of focusing on what they can’t contribute.
8. Be positive - A positive attitude is the single most important quality for anyone who works with children with special needs.
Written by Karen Wang, a Friendship Circle parent.
Look at Next Step
The Next Step program at McKinney Boyd has established their own lunchtime tradition of preparing and dining with their own unique family.
Special Olympics
2. Due to STARR ALT testing, the basketball individual skills competition will now be held Thursday, March 5, 2015.
3. We are happy to announce that staff shirts and spirit wear are available with several options for MISD Special Olympics, the McKinney Mavericks!
For this years shirt, we went back to 1979. This was the first year McKinney ISD competed in a Special Olympics competition, with 5 athletes. What a difference 35 years make! We currently have 263 athletes!
There are several options for shirts. We will have Carolina blue or heather gray T-shirts or white, polo shirts with the embroidered Maverick logo. If you choose an embroidered polo, you can add anything you would like under the logo, "Mom", "Dad", "Grandma", etc. T-shirts can also be jeweled. Shirts are available in mens and women's styles as listed:
Carolina Blue Men's T-shirt Crew Neck $12
Heather Gray Men's T-shirt Crew Neck $12
White Men's Polo $28
Carolina Blue Women's T-shirt Crew Neck $12
*Heather Gray Women's T-shirt Crew Neck $12
*Heather Gray Women's T-shirt V-Neck $12
White Women's Polo with buttons $28
White Women's V-neck Polo with no buttons $28
*The Heather Gray Women's V-neck and Women's Crew Neck run a size small. So if you typically wear a Medium, you would need a Large.
Orders can be sent to Janice Morriss (jmorriss@mckinneyisd.net). The shirt(s) will be sent home in your athletes backpack and money can also be sent to school with you athlete or dropped off at Greer Annex, 510 Heard Street, McKinney, TX 75069, attention Janice Morriss.
Cash or checks made to MEF-Special Olympics.
Procedure Updates
- Procedures for requesting a BS/IDF/LSSP/BCBA/Crisis Para have been changed just a little, you will need to make sure the coordinator has observed prior to requesting. The updated procedure is on the portal and will be discussed in more detail at Team Leader and next Class meeting
- There is also a new student withdraw procedure for eligibility folders, it is written down now and hopefully this will help guide you through the process!
- If a special education student needs homebound, please refer to our updated procedures on the portal ( this includes pregnancy homebound step by step)
- There is also written guidelines for SMART ISS on the portal
Special Thanks
- A special thanks and recognition to Amy Thomas/Wolford TL as has shown great leadership as the teacher mentor for our new SPED teachers in MISD!
- Evans MS is going a great job in getting their PLAAFPs, Goals, and paperwork completed in time to be reviewed/audited and sent home to parents!
- FMS is welcoming a teacher and working together as a team to make sure all students are being served
- MHS is VERY short handed and is working hard to continue what is best for students!
- Let’s give a big hand to Tiffany Shoemaker at Press! Tiffany’s alma mater SAGU in Waxahachie is sponsoring her class this year and Tiffany, Press, and No Excuses was highlighted on the front page of their web page. Check it out atwww.sagu.edu Way to go Tiffany!
- Thanks to Boyd/Dowell/Glen Oaks special education staff for showing your synergy. You have had some remarkable challenges this year but always find a way to put students first