#studentneeds

[ocxeeltd]

Explore these amazing websites.

[phililen3]

Nothing like a long island iced tea while trying to figure out Heidegger. #StudentNeeds (at SUNCOAST Durban) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrP6Au0F7ef/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=h58njdm05qkz

[students-dhh]

Needs of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in the Classroom

Students who are deaf or hard of hearing have very diverse needs in an inclusive classroom based on their level of hearing loss and their learning ability. Some of the general needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing include:

To be made to feel welcome in the classroom environment and to feel as if though their disability is understood by their peers and teachers

To have the appropriate assistive technologies placed in the classroom where necessary or available

To be treated equally along with the other students, as well as to be taught in a positive and flexible learning environment

To be given specific, direct instructions throughout the lesson.

To be given appropriate processing time for information as many students who are DHH must translate information into a different language (eg Auslan).

To be placed at the front of the classroom or in an optimal location for the students who are DHH to be able to lip-read if necessary or able.

To be able to work in appropriate groups to develop communication

To have as much visual access to resources and curriculum information as possible. If possible, it is helpful for your students who are DHH to receive these notes prior to class in order for them to sufficiently prepare for lessons. 12

1Bced.gov.bc.ca,. (2014). BC Ministry of Education - Special Programs: Hearing Impairments. Retrieved 13 October 2014, from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/hearimpair/needs.htm

2Deaftec.org,. (2014). Student Top Ten Wish List. Retrieved 13 October 2014, from http://deaftec.org/classact/student-perspectives/top-ten

[edrd431]

Dear George, Much too late in the year, I asked you what you needed me to do to help you be a better reader. 'You could just do it all for me,' you said, hiding behind what I was coming to recognize as truth hidden behind flip responses. 'I'm afraid I can't do that. What's your next choice?' I said. You stared for a moment and said, 'What makes you think there's anything you could do? I can't read. That's it.' ......... Dear George, Looking back, I'd have to say that the only things that guided my instructional decisions that first year were our literature book and grammar book. Had I only known then what I know now, I'd have plotted a much different course for you. I'd have known how to assess your strengths and weaknesses as a reader. That assessment, rather than textbooks, would have guided instruction. Then perhaps I would have been a teacher who made a difference in your life.

Kylene Beers, When Kids Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do, pp.23/29

While we're not reading this text together, I find that you all have so many thoughtful connections in class to what Beers writes about. These letters to George came from a chapter titled "Assessing Dependent Readers' Needs."  This week in class many of you discussed and sketched the significance of building instruction from students' needs. This semester you'll have the opportunity to do just that as you work with your small teacher each week and support his or her growth as a learner.  Here's a short list of some of the things Beers says proficient readers do (many of these could lead to nice mini lessons with some of your small teachers too)....

  - readers recognize that the purpose for reading is to make meaning

  -readers use a variety of comprehension strategies

  -readers make a range of inferences about texts

  -readers use prior knowledge to inform inferences

  -readers monitor their understanding of texts

  -readers evaluate their engagement and enjoyment with texts

Any of these sound familiar? I made lots of connections to our "If You Knew Me as a Reader" sharing.... How about that!!

[dukeacejack-blog-blog]

This is a requirement for sanity and happy stomachs 

[dustin-strickland]

Puppet Pals

Puppet Pals is a fantastic app that is great for the classroom and at home.  In fact, when I first tried out the app I downloaded it at home, on my iPad, and let my kids run with it.  It quickly became a favorite app of theirs and they are constantly using it to tell stories.  As it happens, when I introduced Puppet Pals to my teachers I used a few of the videos my kids created to show how user friendly the app is.

In essence Puppet Pals is a digital storyboard.  The kids are able to choose the characters, backgrounds, and the props.  They then arrange the characters on the screen, hit record, and then move those characters around.  The program records their voices and all actions the characters or props make.  They are able to pause the recording, change background or props, and then begin recording again.  Once they finished they simply hit the stop tab and they can replay their masterpiece. Plus if they like it enough they can save it to replay it later.

On the educational front this app can be used to cover multiple content areas.  It can easily be incorporated into literacy standards to help reinforce comprehension skills, practice retell, and sequencing events.  It can also be used in content outside of Reading/Language Arts as an alternative a Power Point or poster presentation.  To be honest, if given as an option in a class project students will discover interesting ways to use this app that I haven’t even thought of.

This app is user friendly, highly engaging, the kids love it, and it applies across multiple content areas.  All around it’s an outstanding app.

[dustin-strickland]

A 504

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Twice this year I’ve had friends vent to me about their struggles and frustrations in ensuring that their child’s educational needs are being met at school and it has absolutely infuriated me that this is happening. A parent should never have to fight to ensure that their child’s educational needs are being met! This is especially true if the child has a diagnosed medical condition that impacts their learning. In these cases, which both of them were, it is not only educationally unconscionable for a school not to meet the needs of these students but it is also illegal.

The rights of students with a diagnosed medical condition are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, specifically section 504.  A 504, as it is commonly called in the school system, protects the rights of those students in any school or program that receive Federal funding from the Department of Education.  If a school or program fails to protect these rights then the school could lose their federal funding and/or face litigation by the Department of Justice.

If you feel that your child should receive a 504 the first step would be to contact your school.  Each school processes these request differently however nearly all require that you provide a physician’s report documenting you child’s medical condition.  Once this is provided the process to create the 504 is relatively simple, at our school it takes less than 30 minutes. The school will then have a conversation with you on how to best meet the individual needs of your child, so that your child receives the same quality of education as a child without a medical condition. Once this has taken place the school creates the 504 to ensure that your child’s educational needs are being met.

A couple of great resources are:

http://ncld.org/students-disabilities/iep-504-plan/developing-successful-504-plan-k-12-students

http://www.ncld.org/students-disabilities/iep-504-plan/five-things-to-know-about-504-plan

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html

  If you have any question please feel free to reach out to me and I’ll will provide any help that I can.