Co-Teaching!!!

This year is a NEW year where I will embark on a CHALLENGE, a challenge to CO-TEACH 100% of the time! How will this impact student learning? How will I grow and develop as a teacher? How can I make this work really well?


Jane M. Sileo stressed how important it is for special education teachers to know the curriculum. When teachers know the curriculum, they can more confidently participate in lessons. They should have common plan time to plan lessons together and discuss how things are going.  It's important they constantly review how things are going and communicate.

Co-Teaching Methods
1. One Teach, One Observe—when one teacher is responsible for whole
group instruction while the other teacher observes the students and gathers
information on their academic, social, and behavioral skills. This co-teaching
structure allows co-teachers an opportunity to gather information about
their students, and each other as well.

2. Parallel Teaching—when the co-teachers place the students into two equal
groups and each teacher simultaneously teaches the same material to his or
her small group. The benefit of this co-teaching structure is that it allows
for increased teacher interaction and student participation as well as differentiation
of instruction.

3. Station Teaching—when the co-teachers arrange the students into two or
three equal groups, and the students rotate through each of the instructional
stations. In this structure, the stations should not build on one another, but
rather be nonsequential. The advantage of this co-teaching structure is that
it also allows for increased teacher and student interactions.

4. Alternative Teaching—when one teacher teaches the whole group and the
other teacher teaches a small group of students. The grouping for this structure
should change according to students’ needs. This co-teaching structure
allows either teacher the opportunity to teach (e.g., remediation, preteaching,
vocabulary development, and enrichment activities) for a short period
of time.

5. One Teach, One Assist—when one teacher instructs the whole group and
the other teacher assists individual students. The co-teaching structure
allows the drifting teacher the opportunity to provide brief periods of individualized
instruction to students who may be struggling with the academic
content.

6. Team Teaching—when both teachers deliver instruction simultaneously to
a large group of students. This structure affords the team teachers the
chance to interact with the students. It also provides them with an opportunity
to ask clarification questions of one another, thereby eliminating the
potential confusion in instruction.
(Taken from "Co-Teaching: Getting to Know your Partner" by Jane M. Sileo)

Additional Ways to Love Your Co-Teacher!!!

Teaching What Works Wiki!

Please join my wiki:
http://teaching-what-works.wikispaces.com/

CBM!!!

Here are some GREAT sites for CBM probes and information on progress monitoring :)


http://easycbm.com/teachers/auth/
Free probes in a variety of areas.


http://www.precisionteachingresource.net/
This site provides instruction, tools, and performance standards for improving academic and social behaviors using an instructional measurement practice called Precision Teaching.


http://www.studentprogress.org/
This site is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs. Provides information on monitoring progress.

http://www.progressmonitoring.net/
University of Minnesota sponsored website for the Research Institute on Progress Monitoring.

http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/interventions/cbmwarehouse.php
Intervention Central's CBM section.


https://dibels.uoregon.edu/
DIBELS

http://www.edcheckup.com/
Edcheckup

http://www2.ctb.com/products_services/ypp/index.html
Yearly Progress Pro

http://www.aimsweb.com/
A commercial website for CBM. It is very similar to DIBELS, but includes more academic areas.

Horray for Technology!

Today from 12-3 we had a technology workshop. I attended a session on digital storytelling and learned a lot that I will put to use right away in the classroom!

Starting this week I will be using VoiceThread to monitor my students' reading fluency throughout the year!!! This way, parents can actually hear their child reading each week rather than just seeing the score. See the technology links for more information on VoiceThread.

Today I also learned about Animoto which I plan to use to create a video of each child throughout the year set to music. I thought this would be a great way to get an IEP off to a great, positive start!

Horray for technology :)

Online Resources for Educators

Let's get one thing straight- I LOVE the internet. I love being able to have any question I have answered, at any time, almost instantly. However, it is overwhelming for some people. There is so much information out there! I've sorted through some of it and made a list of all my favorite resources for teachers. Please let me know your favorites as I continue to learn more and add to this list.

Online Resources for Educators

Curriculum-Based Measurementhttp://www.aimsweb.com/
A commercial website for CBM. It is very similar to DIBELS, but includes more academic areas.

http://www.precisionteachingresource.net/
This site provides instruction, tools, and performance standards for improving academic and social behaviors using an instructional measurement practice called Precision Teaching.

http://www.studentprogress.org/
This site is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs. Provides information on monitoring progress.

http://www.progressmonitoring.net/
University of Minnesota sponsored website for the Research Institute on Progress Monitoring.

PBIS
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports

Teaching Strategies

Annenburg Media

Council for Exceptional Children

Doing What Works

Dr. Whitten
Website for Dr. Elizabeth Whitten- click on “Strategy Bibliography” for strategies

Florida Center for Reading Research

International Mind, Brain, Education Society

Intervention Central

The IRIS Center

LD Online

National Center on Response to Intervention

New Horizons
New Horizons research-based strategies along with a list of recommended reading
 
Reading Rockets
News and research based strategies regarding reading.
 
What Works Clearinghouse

Differentiation 

http://www.renzullilearning.com/

So many learning activities for increasing student engagement, using technology, and making sure instruction is universally designed for all learners.

National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials

Note-taking

Diigo.com
Highlight and put sticky notes on websites. Access your highlighting from any computer!

http://www.eleven21.com/notetaker/
Print off sheets to take notes on for class.

http://www.webspirationpro.com/user?destination=go%2F462925
Design graphic organizers online.


Assistive Tech

 http://tinyurl.com/

Makes a long website shorter.  It makes it much easier for students to type in.

Digital Storytelling
http://animoto.com/
Create a digital story set to music by uploading photos.

http://www.digitales.us/
Introduction and resources for digital storytelling.

http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/storyboarding.html
Introduction and resources for storyboarding.

http://search.creativecommons.org
A way to copyright your photos and information that you put online.

http://teachmemoretech.wikispaces.com/Images+%26+Music+for+the+Classroom
Images and music for digital storytelling.

http://voicethread.com/#home
VoiceTread. Comment on documents, photos, etc. This is an alternative to class discussion. This is a great way to share student work and have parents, family members, teachers, etc. comment on the work.

http://www.xtranormal.com/
Turn text into movies.

http://www.glogster.com/
Create your own posters to tell a story. You can include embedded videos and several images. It looks really cool- like a collage.

http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/
Students can add in their own subtitles to Indian dances and movie clips.

http://www.timetoast.com/
Create your own timeline online. 

http://prezi.com/
Create Power Point 2.0 essentially.

http://www.toondoo.com/
Cartoon Maker

Phonicshttp://www.fitbrains.com/play_game/super_word_scrapers?v=2.1
Build words as you build skyscrapers.

Hooda Word
Fun reading games!

Reading Fluency

Hooda Word

Fun reading games!

http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
Children’s books to read online

http://www.storylineonline.net/index2.html
Books read aloud by famous actors. Subtitles are included if students want to follow along with the words.

http://librivox.org/
Listen to books online for free.

http://www.starfall.com/
Read easy reader books online. Allows readers to click on words they don’t know. There are also games.

http://ebooks.mlcnet.org/B5A65E3D-87A6-4085-B26F-D104244F5DC5/10/230/en/Default.htm
Free online audio books for individuals to check out through their public library account for two weeks. Great for students to have a hard copy of a book along with an audio copy to follow along with!

http://www.bookshare.org/
Online books for students with disabilities.

Reading Comprehension

Hooda Word

Fun reading games!

http://www.googlelittrips.org/
Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place... and so much more!

https://hosted30.renlearn.com/176197/
Accelerated Reader

http://tuneintoreading.elpcorp.com/windows_index.html
Tune In To Reading

Vocabulary

Hooda Word

Fun reading games!

http://www.verbalearn.com/
Makes MP3s of your vocabulary words.

http://www.visuwords.com/
This site is amazing!!! It’s a graphic dictionary. Type in a word and it links it to other words in a sort of web.

http://quizlet.com/
Make flashcards to help you study.

Typing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/
A fun game from the BBC to practice typing.

http://todaysmeet.com/
Chat room for kids.  Great for bell work.

Writing
Hooda Word
Fun reading games! http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?lang=uk
Add subtitles to a Bollywood video. Great for teaching "voice" in the 6 Traits.

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp
Create a story and make it look like a newspaper clipping!

http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx
Add words to a photograph that you find captivating.

http://www.favoritepoem.org/
Favorite Poem Project

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
Create your own comic strip.

http://easybib.com/
Automatic citation maker.

http://www.buzzword.com/#o
Internet-based word processing. Documents are saved online in your account.

https://www.pdfonline.com/convert_pdf.asp
Convert Word files to PDF via email.

501 Writing Prompts
Writing prompt book for teachers to pull from.

Kid Blog
Allows kids to have a blog!


Science

Hooda Sci

Fun science games!!!

Social Studieshttp://www.capzles.com/
Create virtual time capsule slideshows set to music.

http://animoto.com/
Slideshows set to music.


Mathematics

Hooda Math

Fun math games!!!

 http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/index.html
Find clips from movies dealing with math.

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/mathgames.htm
Great math games that actually are very fun!

http://www.kidsnumbers.com/
More math games

http://www.worksheetworks.com/
Great worksheets for homework.

http://www.math-drills.com/
Great worksheets for homework.

http://www.kidsnumbers.com/
Math games for students.


Survey Creatorhttp://www.surveymonkey.com/
Create your own survey and see the data on this free website.

http://www.zoomerang.com/
Create your own survey.

http://doodle.com/
AWESOME for scheduling SPED meetings :)







 
Photoshttp://www.photl.com/en/
Free high-quality photos online.

http://www.picnik.com/app#/home/welcome
Design Scrapbooks and Edit Pictures Online


http://www.picaboo.com/
Design Scrapbooks and Edit Pictures Online


Gameshttp://www.fitbrains.com/
Fun games to flex your brain muscles.

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/mathgames.htm
Great math games that actually are very fun!

http://www.kidsknowit.com/
Lots of games and activities in a variety of stubjects.

http://www.funbrain.com/
Many activities for children to do on their own.

http://www.primarygames.com/
Games for students to play during free time.

http://www.studyisland.com/
Games the correspond to state standards.

Communication/Networking

http://twitter.com/
Let friends and family know what you are up to.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php
Stay in touch with friends and create events.

http://editurepd.com/

Facebook for teachers.

Technology Informationhttp://www.teachingmatters.org/index.asp
A website for using technology to improve teaching.

http://www.sc.edu/scatp/ATclassroom.htm
Assistive Technology Resources

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/
Technology Ideas for Teachers

http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/dl/fave/
Video Field Trips

http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0
Smart Board Lessons

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-us/
Promethean Board Lessons


Virtual Instruction

http://www.hippocampus.org/

Has instructional videos on a variety of topics for middle and high school students.

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

Virtual college classes for free.

http://www.brainpop.com/
Brain Pop.  Short videos on a variety of topics. 

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/
United Streaming.  Videos on many topics of various lengths.

Michigan Teachershttp://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-28753---,00.html
Curriculum and Standards

http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-28753_33232---,00.html
GLCE

Teachers Everywhere!

http://www.corestandards.org/

Common core standards.

http://login.clihome.com/

Curriculum Mapper.

Blogs for Educators

http://www.techsavvyed.net/
A blog on integrating technology in the classroom.

http://planetesme.blogspot.com/
A blog on only the best children's lit from the official expert in readiology!


Activities to Teach Kids About Disabilities (Middle School)
Inequity Quiz

Design a Cell Phone that is Universally Designed

Virtual Field Trip Back in Time to Look at Life Before Universal Design in Architecture

Learning about Difficulties with Auditory Directions

Step in the Shoes of Someone with Attention Difficulties

Autism Article with Audio Option

Article on Deaf Culture

Disability Social History Project

LD Article with Reading Support

Article About a Man Who Designs Unique Wheelchairs

Horse Leads the Blind Article

NPR Story Written a Read by a Student with Asperger's

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

Interesting points from:

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain
By Maryanne Wolf

We come into the world with the ability to change our brain and the way it works- we are "genetically poised for breakthroughs".

So much of who we are and what we think comes from what we read. "We are what we read."

Children with a large vocabulary will experience texts much differently than children who have not be exposed to as many words.

Children need instructional environments that support with paths that need to be dug out in the brain for reading to occur. School is like a construction zone.

There is a "reciprocal relationship between emotional development and reading."

Phonemic awareness is one of the best predictors of a child's success in learning to read.

George O. Cureton has his students act out the sounds in words. For example if you told 3 students that you wanted them to act out the word "hat". One student would say /h/ and bump into the next student who would say /a/. Then the last student would say /t/ and together they would all say "hat".

Visual reversals of letters are actually due to difficulty retrieving the correct verbal labels for the sounds. They know the letter sounds they just have difficulty naming them.

Joseph Torgesen and Richard Wagner from Florida State University found that explicit phonemic awareness programs are far more successful in dealing with reading disabilities than other programs.

Children with dyslexia often are slower at naming objects and letters.

Students with dyslexia learn to compensate and are often amazing at finding patterns. Many successful people with dyslexia are in careers where finding patterns are important such as in finance or radiology.

In most people the planum temporale is larger on the left hemisphere than on the right however, in people with dyslexia they are symmetrical. This is currently being researched further.

People with dyslexia may learn differently but the CAN and WILL learn to read. "It's our job, not theirs, to find out how best to teach them."

Educational research informed by neuroscience can help teachers identify what works best for a student.

Research Based Activities

Check out:

http://www.meadowscenter.org/vgc/

MAP- Reading Fluency

MAP is a fluency procedure designed by Raskinski and stands for:

1. MODEL fluent reading for our students.
2. ASSISTED READING- reading with a student at the same time
3. PRACTICE- repeated reading of the same piece over and over. This increases the fluency of that piece but also improves future reading.
   

These are all things Raskinski has found increase the fluency in children as measured by reading CBMs.

He also designed the Fluency Development Lesson that follows:

1. Provide students with a copy of a text that is around 200 words. Each student gets two copies and a copy is also displayed on a Smart Board.

2. The teacher reads this text 3 times.

3. The piece is then discussed.

4. The teacher then asks the students to read the piece with him/her 3 times.

5. Students will then pair up with a partner and will practice 3 times each.

6. Students then get a chance to read the piece aloud as a performance on a podcast to be emailed to their parents (not daily- at least not in my case).

7. A word wall is created with interesting or difficult words (Smartboard).

8 Students are sent home with a copy of the piece to read 3 times to their parents.

9. The next day the piece was re-read once more before another piece of writing was introduced.

10. The copy used at school is put into a binder and a reading slam will take place every Friday.

Crazy Professor Game

Last year I gave a presentation on Power Teaching at Western Michigan University to a group of administrators and intern coordinators. It was my first big presentation as I had never presented to 100 people before! Since my presentation, Power Teaching has been changed to Whole Brain Teaching. The name is different- idea is the same. Here is one of my favorite Whole Brain Teaching activities:

Crazy Professor Game

RTI Success

RTI Success

by Elizabeth Whitten, Ph.D., Dr. Kelli Esteves, Ed.D., and Alice Woodrow Ed.D.