Special Needs 2
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Special Needs-2-Specific Strategies for Online Differentiation and Personalization (Option 2)
(Please note: These are out of order. This is Blog Post #2.)
Teachers should attempt to learn as much as possible about their students at the beginning of the term---not to be "nosy," but in order to be more fully aware of what their students' circumstances might be---family issues, learning issues, health issues, etc. since a child's academic performance is impacted by the peripheral circumstances.Details related to a child's home life/health/past behaviors will be helpful as we get to "know" our students in the first few weeks of the term. (Teachers must be careful not to become biased as they learn more about students' situations and behaviors.)
I have had students in various situations that severely impacted their academic performance and I was unaware of the situation til well into the term when their lack of progress became a very serious issue. (Ex. unable to contact parents regardless of how many ways I tried to contact them, refusal to answer the phone when they knew I was calling, etc.)
Just this term I have had a student who was in the wrong class in the wrong grade because a counselor made a mistake, a student who is enrolled in an online course yet has no computer or Internet connection at home plus no time at school to complete GaVS work, etc. I found these things out in the first third of the term, but I have never spoken with the counselor (refuses to respond to emails, voicemails, etc.) and I have spoken with a parent who has borrowed a computer but still has no Internet connection. So communication (investigation) early in the term is tantamount to helping students navigate online courses and to helping them to succeed early before they become frustrated and anxious.
1. In an online course I am unaware of assessment data that I can access outside of my own course. BUT in a face-to-face school I could access permanent records to gain insight into my students' previous achievement levels. In my course I can access student assessments once the term begins and closely analyzing the assessment data that is available in the Student Success System in BrightSpace is the BEST way to determine academic strengths and weaknesses, just one facet of a student's "profile."
2. Additionally, many times a phone call to a chatty parent will reveal a LOT of information about a student's struggles or successes or both! Many parents are only too happy to tell you their child's life history and that is a very positive thing for a teacher who is trying to ascertain each student's specific situation. I take notes while talking with parents and then transcribe relevant information into TheSIS for future reference if there is a question about a student's performance. Moreover, the facilitator in the public school setting can provide insight into the students' situation.
For example, I have a student now who is an ESL student and has been struggling because of the challenges of being a non-native speaker AND because he is the oldest of 6 or 7 children at home and the parents don't have time (or even the ability) to help him with his school work. So the facilitator has taken it upon herself to help the student at school on her own. She and I have had many conversations on the phone (even on fall break and weekends) because the teachers are all afraid he will drop out of school. Our phone calls have made all the difference for this student. I am aware of his challenges and so I provide very specific feedback, a LOT of extra resources and study guides (for all of the students in the course) that I created for two students in the course who have special needs. Had I not had the information, I would have gone about my normal business and he might have failed.
I have a special needs student with an IEP in the same class as the student mentioned above and he struggles with all quizzes and tests. (S3 data made ALL the difference in targeting this student's challenges. I have spoken with the parent at length and have gained a lot of insight into his situation. I provide very specific feedback, lots of details related to expectations for assignments and discussions and I speak to him at least twice a week by phone. (I am very lucky that he is confident enough and willing to contact me with questions!) He is doing pretty well as a result of all of these extra strategies.
Both of the students mentioned above also have reduced coursework and that has helped them to focus on the essential parts of the course.
3. GaVS Special Needs teachers are SO helpful with contacting parents, keeping teachers apprised of students' capabilities, challenges and strategies for helping students to succeed. They provide details about how to implement IEPs and how to handle situations as they arise during the term. While these professionals are not a "communication strategy," communication with them is essential to the successful implementation of IEPs and 504s.
4. Surveys of student preferences, strengths/challenges and interests are a great way to ascertain early in the term specific details about students. (I have not tried this strategy before, but I will be making use of surveys in the spring!)
5. Assessments in the current course reveal a LOT of information about a student's academic performance. As I mentioned in the beginning a student from this term failed all of the first quizzes and tests and I was on the look out for him because I knew he had an IEP. So I caught him very early before he got in "too deep." I created study guides for the quizzes and tests in the course (It took all day!) and posted them for all students. (This was a great way to provide for my special needs students without them knowing that I did it specifically for them. I think that alleviated some of the self-consciousness associated with the knowledge that you are "special.") The S3 data helped me to pinpoint where the student was having issues. It was obvious that the quizzes and tests were pulling his average down.
Log in histories, course access histories and the student engagement tools all provide valuable data for teachers when analyzing a student's weaknesses and determining how to help the student improve.
Special Needs-2-Best Practices for Online Communication
In this option the student is labeled "Emotional Behavior Disorder," had severe depression and anxiety, OCD tendencies and self-harming tendencies. He is a good student who works hard but is behind and struggling to catch up two months into the term. His main accommodation is breaking assignments down into components and regular teacher check-ins to provide feedback and encouragement. There are concerns that the student is shutting down and there are several project-based assessments on the horizon.
1. Phone Call to Parent: My first communication would be a call to the parent. Parents can provide the online teacher with very valuable information related to their student's behaviors, stress levels and challenges. Also I would ask the parent to alert me if the student begins to shut down. I would ask the parent if he/she has observed any withdrawal on the part of the student. I also would let the parent know about the log in history if there were any notable gaps to try to find out what might be occurring.
2. Email to the Special Needs Representative/Facilitator/Parent: I would email all stakeholders to alert them that there are several projects on the horizon since the student struggles with anxiety and is overwhelmed by big projects. Again I would ask the stakeholders to be on the look out for troubling behaviors and to please keep me "in the loop." I would also explain my plan for helping the student to complete the projects (chunking, teacher check-ins, progress reports, etc.)
3. Email to Student (and Stakeholders) with the "Plan" for the Projects: I would email the student with the details of how to best dissect the projects into manageable parts.
For example, I have a student who can't deal with a three-part project in my U.S. History course. So what he has done is take it one part at a time. As he submits the parts I add points til we get to all three parts. He submitted Part I, and I entered a 33. Then he submitted the 2nd part and I made note in the feedback for accountability as to why I was adding points. So now he has a 66. He is going to submit the 3rd part by the deadline tonight and I will add the rest of the points with additional feedback. This project is a big one and students began work on it before the Thanksgiving break. I would do the same type of plan for the hypothetical student in the prompt. That way the student doesn't see a zero and understands that his grade will increase as he submits work. Hopefully that would be an incentive to complete the 3rd portion of the project.
Additionally, throughout the term, I would reinforce that the student should contact me as soon as there are any questions/concerns about how to go about completing the project. Then I would also schedule a weekly check-in (or even check-ins as needed) in Jigsaw, so that I could explain 'in person' or use the whiteboard to illustrate or make notes. I would record the session of course, but I could also provide the link to the student for playback if there were questions about what we discussed.
4. Modifications as a Last Resort: While I would prefer that the student complete the same project requirements as fellow students, I realize that sometimes modifications must be implemented.
A reduction in coursework might be a possibility if the projects were just too overwhelming for the student OR an abbreviated project could be completed by the student. Additionally, a different project format might be appropriate if the student has specific challenges that cause extreme anxiety, meaning that the student learns the same standards but completes a project in a different format from other students. Instead of writing an essay, a student might record an audio file or create a YouTube video project for example.
Outcomes for all of these strategies should be much more satisfactory than just leaving it up to the student to complete the projects and letting the proverbial chips fall. I would expect that regular communication via phone, email or Jigsaw meeting would be much superior to just leaving the student to his own devices.
Moreover, I would expect that the "chunked projects" would be much less stressful for the student and that would lead to a much better performance (level of success) as well as alleviate any additional stress for the student.
Hopefully, this "chunking" practice would transfer to other situations and would become a strategy that the student could employ in other settings (college, the workplace, other areas of daily life.)
The truth is that this chunking strategy would be a good one for all students (much like most strategies employed with special needs students!) This is a great way to teach all students to tackle most any project in school or in life!
Jennifer Egas
Email: jennifer.egas@gavirtualschool.org
Location: Orange Beach, AL, USA
Phone: 678-779-7901
Special Needs-2-Creating Products to Assess Mastery in the Online Environment
Part I: Summary of the Project
For Blog Post #1 I thought about the Family History Project in the U.S. History-A course I am teaching this term. The project has three parts. Part 1 is a short research essay about immigration in the last quarter of the 19th century. Part 2 is a family tree that the student creates by interviewing his/her family members about their family history. Part 3 is a narrative of the family's history--information about what the student already knew about his/her family history, what he/she learned as a part of the process and what his/her thoughts are about the family's past--surprising parts, thoughts about the project, etc.
The strengths are that students research immigration in the late 19th century. Then they create a family tree and learn more about their own family's past, making history a very real part of their own family---making a connection between the content in the course and their own family.
Students are advised to start the project at least a week before the due date because it's a lengthier project than the norm and they need to interview family members. A shortcoming would be that it's pretty detailed and students sometimes don't read the requirements carefully or don't follow the directions completely.
The other issue might be for students who are adopted or are foster children and might not know about their own biological families. The topic might be a sensitive one for some students. (Although most students LOVE the project and they all learn something new about their families--and usually they learn many new things about their heritage!
NOTE: One student just this week said she had NO idea that her family was Italian since they changed their names when they came to the United States a couple of generations ago! Others have commented that they realize how much their families have sacrificed for them when they realize how hard it was to be an immigrant to the United States. They remark that they appreciate their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents more now than ever!)
Part II:
This project could be transformed in many ways.
1. Choice/Different formats: Students could present their immigration research with a PowerPoint, video, etc. instead of writing an essay.
2. Choice/Family Trees: Students could create a digital family tree or one on paper and then upload a picture of the tree. They could create slides or a newspaper or newsletter that chronicles their family's history. They could use images of their family's faces to make their trees more creative (at least as long as they can get photos or images of their family members.)
3. Online Resources: There are different websites that allow you to create an online family tree.
Here is a link to an article about the 10 best websites for online family trees.
Students could also use PowerPoint, Smore or Padlet to create a presentation about their family trees or about their immigration research.
In a blended classroom students could make a 3D project or a poster to illustrate their research and their family trees. (Although for privacy, students might not want to present their family trees. If so, the student could just present his/her research about immigration in the late 19th century.)