Good IDEA(s)
A Professional Development Newsletter for Special Educators
A Publication of the Montgomery County Educational Service Center
Volume 2, Issue 3
Poverty's Impact on Brain Development - What research is saying....
Some strategies that are helpful to use in the classroom to improve working memory are: Use visualization skills. Have students draw a picture along with or instead of writing about a topic. You can also have them use manipulatives, diagrams, power point presentations, etc. Have them describe or present the item to peers or the class; Have students work in pairs or groups to accomplish a task. Designate someone from each group to share with the class; Have students repeat single step directions and slowly increase to multi-step directions; model active reading skills; have one student explain how they solved a math problem to another student and then to the class; have students do mental math and skip counting, etc.
In another study done at Johns Hopkins University and Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore with adults, Kara Blacker and her team found that the team that used the 'dual n-back test' each day performed better than the group using a 'complex span' test. A demonstration of this approach can be found on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZZPMcs482M There are short term memory apps for older students using this method. Daily use is recommended.
In their book and and on their website, Teaching Kids to Thrive,, Debbie Silver and Dedra Stafford have numerous activities and games that students can do in the classroom to improve short term memory as well as other executive function life skills. http://www.teachingkidstothrive.com/
Families need to be encouraged to play games at home with their children. Simple card games such as Go Fish, Crazy Eights, or Distraction are fun to play at home. Memory games such as I Spy or My mother sent me to the store.... can be played while riding in the car or waiting at a restaurant. The parent website, Understood for Learning and Attention Issues is a good resource for parents. https://www.understood.org
In all the research one theme is consistent, short term memory can be improved but practice is needed daily.
In The SPOTLIGHT
The Autism Coaching Team consists of administrative consultant and behavior specialist Lisa Combs, Intervention Specialist Allison Officer, Occupational Therapists Susan Aebker and Lynn DeMange, and Speech and Language Pathologist Carol Dittoe. These coaches support participating school districts in a variety of ways, including job embedded coaching (for individual students and classrooms), professional development sessions, classroom support plans, sensory assessments and recommendations, functional communication inventories and behavior planning assistance. The ACT program also shares many instructional resources on social media sites, including Facebook, Pinterest, and Boardmaker Share.
A highlight of the ACT program is the A-List, which is a network of exemplar teachers and other service providers, who serve as invaluable partners to the coaches in providing support to the region's teachers and therapists.
You can learn more about the Autism Coaching Team services and connect to their social media sites by visiting their page on the Regional Center website: www.mcesc.org/9/Content/396 or just google the Miami Valley Autism Coaching Team.
Which is more effective: teaching manuscript, cursive or keyboarding?
Dr. Berninger writes that "during early childhood, writing letters improves letter recognition, as shown in brain imaging studies; and teaching handwriting leads to improved reading, as shown in instructional studies. But studies also found that when it comes to speed of composition, handwriting (which requires only one hand), lost its relative advantage over keyboarding (which requires coordination of two hands) during early adolescence, when imaging shows frontal brain regions support more efficient cross-hand coordination".
What does this mean for whether or not to teach cursive writing and is it important at all? Dr. Berninger suggests that a case can be made for teaching both print and cursive. "Children encounter manuscript fonts more often than cursive fonts in reading hard copy books or written texts on their computers or e-book readers. Teaching both of these handwriting formats has advantages, including learning to recognize and write letters despite small variations in letter forms sharing the same name. Consider all the fonts computer users can choose from for word processing. Apple's Steve Jobs was an accomplished calligrapher before he became a pioneer in technology tools to support writing and that is one of the reasons we have so many font styles to choose from in computer writing! Cursive links all the letters within a word with connecting strokes and facilitates attention to all letters in a word, thus improving spelling and the speed of writing and reading."
Studies show that about one in five students struggle with writing." Some have dysgraphia (impaired handwriting, forming letters by hand) which is not just a motor disorder. Dysgraphia results from impairments in the mind's eye (storing and analyzing written words and their letters in working memory and integrating these letter codes to finger movements to form letters). Some may have dyslexia which is an impairment in word-reading and spelling." Both areas of disabilities require specialized instruction and accommodations in the classroom.
In her article titled, Strengthening the Mind's Eye, The case for continued handwriting instruction in the 21st. century, Dr. Berninger writes that "evidence reveals an advantage for handwriting using pen and paper over keyboarding for students in grades 2-6 for amount written, rate of word writing, and number of ideas expressed. Despite advances in computer technology, research supports the argument that today's students still need instruction in handwriting for two primary reasons. First, learning to form letter by hand improves perception of letters and contributes to better reading and spelling. Second, automatic letter writing promotes better composing-both amount written and quality of writing."
Current research has demonstrated that poor writing skills contribute to poor reading and math skills and are a factor in higher student drop out rates.
To read both articles by Dr. Berninger, go to: https://goo.gl/apHegF
Upcoming Holiday Events and Activities
Cookie Walk Homemade Cookie Sale - We Care Arts, 3035 Wilmington Pk.
On Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 10:00 - 2:00 pm We Care Arts is sponsoring a Cookie Walk Homemade Cookie Sale. Parents can get a bakery box and plastic glove and walk around the room picking out homemade gourmet cookies for $8.00/lb. These make a great gift for teachers, bus drivers, etc.
We Care Arts is a place where people with disabilities learn independence and build self esteem.
Sensitive Santa is held every year for families and children with special needs who need a more controlled and welcoming environment to visit Santa. Adjustments are made to reduce the sensory stimuli (muted lights and music) which create a more calming environment. Both of these events are free but require a reservation.
This year both the Dayton Mall and the Fairfield Commons Mall will be holding their Sensitive Santa events on Sunday, December 3, 2017 from 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
To make a reservation at the Dayton Mall go to: https://goo.gl/iDR5M1
To reserve a time at the Fairfield Commons Mall go to: https://goo.gl/hxUkbe
A Charlie Brown Christmas
This popular holiday TV show comes to life at the Sinclair Blair Hall Theatre from December 13 through December 17, 2017. All seats are $8.00 and reservations are required.
ASL Shadow Interpreted Performances on Dec. 14, Dec. 16 and Dec. 17. Information about the show and tickets can be found at www.daytonlocal.com.
For more information about all the holiday events across the region, go to:
www.daytonlocal.com, click on Things to Do.
2018 Professional Development Opportunities
January 24, 2018
Self-Regulation in the Classroom to Support Positive BehaviorsJackie Renegado and Georgia Jewell will be presenting at the Greene Co. ESC from 8:30 -3:30 pm. Topics include Developing self-regulation strategies to aid all students, an introduction to the Zones of Regulation and other self regulation programs, etc. To register for this program click https://goo.gl/ugQnj8
or go to the Mont. Co. ESC or the Western Ohio Service Collaborative Professional Development event calendars.
February 13, 2018
Moving Students from "Not on Track" to "On Track" in K-3 Literacy
with Pam Bauser, Literacy Specialist and Consultant. How do you use your assessments to inform your instruction? How do you plan intentional lessons that are academically purposeful while meeting the variety of social and emotional needs? Using your assessments to inform instruction, we will explore strategies to break down literacy skills into manageable steps for each learner. This workshop will emphasize a balanced literacy approach with the goal to strategically nudge those fragile readers forward along the literacy continuum....and have fun growing readers in the process. To register for this program at the Miami Valley Regional Center, click https://goo.gl/bndFXN
or go to the Mont. Co. ESC or the Western Ohio Service Collaborative Professional Development event calendars.
November is National Careers Month
In the October 3, 2017 article in the Harvard Graduate School of Education Usable Knowledge publication titled , Interpersonal Skills and Today's Job Market, Leah Shafer writes that in today's labor market, " professions requiring high levels of social interaction - such as managers, teachers, nurses, therapists, consultants, and lawyers have grown. Math intensive but less social jobs shrunk. Computers can increasingly perform single-task jobs and complex programming work, but they can't adapt to changing needs or unforeseen circumstances, and they can't collaborate with others to overcome those obstacles. People, however, can excel if they have the right social competencies."
So what does this mean for schools who are preparing students to enter the work force? "Schools don't yet have reliable measures for how to develop and assess so called 'noncognitive' skills. A number of researchers and educators are working on approaches, reflecting a growing recognition of their importance not just on labor market outcomes but on educational attainment. For high schools, this research at least suggests that educators should think more about how students are learning, rather than just what they are learning."
For students with disabilities, these skills are even more critical. Students with a disability need more opportunities to interact with peers in the classroom, participate in extracurricular activities and volunteer work just like their typically developing peers. Students with disabilities are not unlike other students. With additional focused opportunities and practice, all students can develop these 'noncognitive' skills.