The tips and tools you need to provide high-quality instruction for students with exceptionalities! Teaching is most effective when certain general principles are followed; however, not all students are alike, and not all teaching methods are equally effective. Including a pretest, posttest, and key vocabulary terms, Effective Instruction for Students With Special Needs presents the key components of highly effective instruction and the accommodations and modifications that should be made for special-needs students when: Planning Instruction: deciding what and how to teach while communicating realistic expectations Managing Instruction: preparing for instruction, using time productively, and creating a positive environment Delivering Instruction: presenting content, monitoring student learning, and adjusting instruction Evaluating Instruction: monitoring student understanding and engaged time, recording student progress, using data to make decisions, and making judgments about student performance For cases in which more than slight adaptations may be necessary, this helpful guide also highlights special instructional aids and specific teaching methods proven to enhance the success of students with special needs.
"A great resource for new teachers and veterans . . . full of tips and ideas that any teacher can use to prevent problems from occurring. [It] should be in every special education classroom." -Therese Kwiatkowski, Director of Special Education Cooperative Educational Service Agency "As a former special education teacher, I highly recommend this book for all those who want to be more effective in every aspect of their work. All of the special education teachers at my school will have copies of this practical guide." -Marybeth Sandvig, Principal Manitoba K-8 School, Milwaukee, WI Special help for special education teachers means special success for students! Do you have too many IEPs on your desk? Is it five o'clock and do you still need to contact parents, social workers, and general education co-teachers? Teachers new to special education often feel overwhelmed at the amount of additional planning and information management required. This practical guide shows you how to shape the structure of the teaching day to ensure that learners with special needs experience success. It includes simple teacher-tested, easy-to-implement strategies needing 5 steps or fewer to: Organize students to make the most of the time you have with them Use incentive programs and meaningful consequences to achieve desired behaviors Coordinate with co-teachers, general education teachers, and staff to maximize your efforts When the key paperwork is at your fingertips, the lesson plan is prepared, and the to-do list is written, you will find more time in your day for what's most important-your students!
Improve student achievement by effectively implementing literacy coaching! Fail-safe literacy is defined as listening, viewing, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, and expressing through multiple symbol systems at a developmentally appropriate level. An effective literacy coach, who can inspire extraordinary performance from ordinary people, can be a key to improving literacy schoolwide. Grounded in research and an evidence-based approach, this handbook guides school leaders in successfully implementing literacy coaching, with a systematic process for teachers, administrators, and students. It is designed to improve reading, writing, and content learning through literacy infusion into curricular and instructional practices throughout the school. Classroom strategies, specific teacher leadership practices, and resources used successfully in schools are showcased throughout, along with Background knowledge and an introduction to "fail-safe" literacy Details on the roles and responsibilities of literacy coaches Ideas for building the literacy team Ways to study data and monitor achievement Practical guidance for the literacy coach's continuing success Literacy Coaching supports school leaders in implementing a successful literacy coaching program, and in creating a collaborative professional learning community for literacy, resulting in improved student achievement.
The busy educator's concise guide to the essentials of special education! In The Fundamentals of Special Education, authors Bob Algozzine and Jim Ysseldyke highlight the major concepts in special education, providing readers with a better understanding of the field, from disability categories and statistics to appropriate learning environments. Including a pretest, posttest, and key vocabulary terms, this practical guide answers the many questions educators have about special education, including: What is "special education" exactly, and why do we have it? How many students receive special education services and who are they? How are students identified for special education services? Where are students with disabilities taught? What is an Individualized Education Plan (IEP)? What roles do general and special education teachers play in addressing the needs of students with disabilities, and how do their responsibilities overlap? How does diversity influence special education? What about students who are gifted and/or talented? A Practical Approach to Special Education for Every Teacher: The 13-Book Collection This collection equips educators with practical knowledge and methods that will help them to better engage students in exploring--and meeting--their fullest potential.
"An eye-opening and heart-opening book." -Bonnie Benard, Senior Program Associate, WestEd Identify and promote overlooked strengths to cultivate resilience. Now more than ever, counselors, teachers, community youth workers, and parents are striving to prevent individual and school-wide tragedy before it happens. Critical to the success of their efforts is a deep respect for the adolescent experience. In this book, author and social worker Michael Ungar takes a fresh, hopeful approach to challenging youth by looking beyond the surface of "bad" behaviors to understand them as ways of coping with life's adversities. Strengths-Based Counseling With At-Risk Youth provides the tools both to understand and access strengths buried beneath problem behaviors. It offers specific, effective strategies in working with adolescents to construct positive identities and realistic action plans. Features include Six strategies for youth engagement, covering common problem behaviors such as drug use, violence, delinquency, and promiscuity An entire chapter on bullying An abundance of real-life examples and counseling narratives A Resilient Youth Strengths Inventory to assess resilience and identify areas that need strengthening Sincere application of Ungar's compassionate and open-minded strategies is sure to transform the lives of countless adolescents in need, and the institutions that serve them.
Master the 3 + 3 = 33 equation for successful first days at school-at any grade level! Research shows that time invested during the first three weeks of school to teach Routines, Rubrics, and Rules-the three R's-leads to higher student achievement throughout the remaining 33 weeks of school, or 3 + 3 = 33. This wonderfully practical and effective new book from bestselling author Elaine McEwan will help any teacher through those critical weeks and show how truly "with-it" teachers (WITs) can manage more easily the three critical facets of every teacher's day: classroom management and organization, student engagement, and time management. WITs from K-12 classrooms share their specific personal routines, rubrics and rules to help you survive and thrive in those first three weeks of school, including Designing and organizing your classroom to support learning Teaching routines, rubrics, and rules to maximize learning time Creating organizational, academic, and social routines Choosing rules and rewards to build character and motivation Using the "With-It" teacher list, including attention-getters, noise-breakers, timesavers, routines, and homework helpers With the power of 3 + 3 = 33, and the secrets of WITs, you can chart a sure-footed course for those all-important first weeks of school, and help guide your students successfully through the school year!
"This is an insightful analysis on how to cultivate and empower teachers to become genuine leaders in their schools and classrooms, and an invaluable guide for any school district trying to implement genuine, sustainable reform." -Pedro Noguera, Professor New York University "The beauty of this book is the authenticity of the voices. The fact that struggles and conflicts are included make the teachers' stories believable, fresh, and inspiring." -Pamela S. Hankins, Staff Development Specialist Springfield Public Schools, MO "Krovetz and Arriaza go directly to the source in this insightful look at the challenges, successes, and professional/personal transformations when teachers engage in collaborative leadership roles in the schools. A great read!" -Robert Topf, Principal Parkview Elementary School, San Jose, CA "Reading about the field experiences of other teacher leaders will inspire and guide the reader towards making a positive impact on student achievement. This is a must-have book for any current or future teacher leader." -Mike Greenwood, District Teacher Leader Windsor Public Schools, CT Who better to illustrate the challenges and rewards of teacher leadership than teachers themselves? As the pressure of external accountability has intensified, teachers are being asked to play increasingly important leadership roles. Yet few teachers are prepared to accept this daunting responsibility without first building their leadership capacity. By placing teachers' voices and stories at the center of this book, authors Martin L. Krovetz and Gilberto Arriaza reveal how approaches like collaboration, the use of data, a focus on equity, and job-embedded professional development have been incorporated into real-world settings to lead and manage change successfully. Ideal for group study, this practical resource includes Reflective questions to help apply teacher stories to specific situations Dozens of first-person narratives representing a wide range of voices Strategies for documenting and sustaining growth as a teacher leader Based on the authors' work with hundreds of teacher leaders, this essential guide is ideal for teachers, administrators, leadership teams, and school improvement teams to achieve the goal of every school-maximizing student learning.
A Reading Comprehension Program for Students with Reading Difficulties
Formerly published by Peytral Publications The Power of Visual Imagery: A Reading Comprehension Program for Students with Reading Difficulties combines theory with practice in helping teachers use visual imagery to improve instruction for students with disabilities or other special learning needs. Aligned with the reauthorization of IDEA 2004, this book offers easy-to-use, research-based strategies and lesson plans that can be used independently or with your current language arts program.
"Christa Metzger has provided a heartfelt syllabus for maintaining the all-important connections between mind and body, between physical and psychological experience. Know yourself, she counsels, and then she provides a multitude of tips both large and small to light the way. If a difficult journey begins with a single step, heeding the invaluable counsel of this book is the right first step to take." -Robert W. Cole, Editor and Writer Former Editor-in Chief, Phi Delta Kappa President, Educational Press Association of America Promote strong teaching and learning while maintaining personal leadership development and growth! Do you find yourself looking for a better way to respond to the stresses of your job? Are you asking, "How do I relate my job to my goals and beliefs and achieve a sense of balance between my personal and professional life?" You're not alone. Many school leaders have these questions, but the answers are not always easy to find. After conducting intensive research and observations of school district superintendents, administrators, and school principals, the author offers strategies for achieving a healthy work and life balance, including: Taking care of yourself as well as you do others Defining and applying the six themes of personal growth Nourishing your spirit, finding time for solitude and meditation, and cultivating relationships Fulfilling your purpose as a leader and finding meaning as a person By learning to take of yourself, you not only enhance your own work and life, you also enhance the lives of people you encounter on a daily basis.
