engage all learners
Teaching students is not effective if the students are not engaged during instruction. It can be hard to have everyone engaged but this class has given me some techniques to use. These things are used to prevent the students from being distracted. One of the ways is to continually build rapport with the students. Students listen to people they like and respect. If you show an appreciation and respect towards them they will give you that in return. General education teachers and special education teachers continually work with all different types of learners. As teachers we need to understand that everyone does not learn the same. We need to be willing to teach differently to everyone. The skills that I have learned to break down assignments for students who are in special education can be applied in the general education field.
Another way to make sure students are engaged is setting a routine so that they know what to expect. Routines are needed for everyone and especially for certain individuals in special education. In my classroom we will have a daily routine of going through the daily schedule. Then students will have the opportunity to ask questions about the schedule. Depending on my students I could create a daily schedule for each student that they would be able to follow.
Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder tend to struggle with attention skills. I will do the best I can in my classroom to create a distraction free zone. This way if the student is overwhelmed with the class or needs no distractions he/she can go to that space and focus on their work and/or cool down. Hopefully in my classroom I will have different objects for the students to use to ease their distraction like fidget toys, different chairs to sit in, and noise canceling headphones.
Another thing that I can do class wide for student is give them brain breaks throughout the day. If we have kids sitting for too long and talk for too long their brains begin to disconnect and they check out. By giving brain breaks and having the kids move throughout the day this will help kids focus more when we are doing instruction. These breaks will be put into the schedule so that the students know when they are and they do not have to keep asking me. The breaks will consist of students being able to read, play, close their eyes, dance to a song, etc.
prevent inappropriate behavior
To help prevent misbehaviors in my classroom there are a couple precautionary steps I would take at the beginning of the year and throughout the year. On the first day of school we will go through all of the classroom rules and throughly discuss them. I would present them through modeling and getting the student involved. The rules will also be referenced throughout the year and we will explicitly review them as a class whenever I feel like the students are forgetting to follow them. Another thing that I will do to try and prevent inappropriate behaviors is to everyday go through a feeling chart with the students at the beginning of the day to check-in with them and see how they are. If any of the students say that they are mad/sad/embarrassed/etc I will pull them aside later in the morning to ask them more about it. Hopefully by confronting their emotions head on we can prevent inappropriate behavior.
evidence-Based instructional strategies
Explained below are three types of instructional strategies that I researched throughout this semester. Through research it was found that these instructional strategies are evidence-based. If you would like to learn more about my research and how I could see myself implementing them into my classroom please read more below.
check-in/check-out
"The purpose of this study was to address the value of implementing a check-in/check-out system as part of a larger school system and guidelines for increasing the likelihood the intervention is matched to students most likely to benefit. The study did this by evaluating effects of a school’s implementation of check-in/check-out with two typically developing students in the school. The students were a 10-year-old Caucasian male and a 10-year-old African American male who received all instruction in a general education classroom. Both of the boys attended the same public elementary school. Their classroom teacher, who reported several problem behaviors, referred them both to their school’s behavior support team. The initial intervention did not produce significant effects so the authors modified the intervention slightly based on the FBAs that were done prior to the intervention. After they changed the intervention the results were positive for both of the students. The results showed the value of considering the function of a problem behavior prior to trying to implement any targeted interventions. This is important for us because in class we are constantly going back to the function of the behavior and this study shows us why we need to do that. When they did not look at the function of the behavior prior to implementing the check-in/check-out system it did not work but it worked when they changed the check-in/check-out system to align with the function of the problem behavior."
Campbell, A. & Anderson, C. (2011). Check-in/check-out: a systematic evaluation and component analysis. Journal Of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(2), 315-326.
using antecedent strategies
"The article talks about why one should use antecedent strategies and it provides literature-based examples of applications within the school setting. Instead of trial and error with interventions, the article talks about using functional assessments to isolate variables associated with problem behaviors. Antecedent intervention approaches focus on structuring the classroom and environment to be proactive and prevent problems. These approaches change things within the classroom that could create problem behaviors. Appling antecedent interventions class-wide can create a structured and orderly environment. If problem behaviors continue, these interventions can be placed on an individualized level. The article goes through four reasons why antecedent interventions work better than waiting and using reactive approaches. The reasons are as follows: 1. They can prevent problem behaviors from occurring. 2. They tend to be quick acting. 3. It has the ability to correct an environment that is contributing to problem behaviors. 4. They can enhance the instructional environment. In the article, they also provide an overview of empirically derived applications of antecedent intervention strategies in classroom settings for the whole class and for individuals. Some of the antecedent interventions that they cover are clear rules and expectations, increasing predictability, praise, task difficulty, opportunities to respond, and classroom seating arrangements. A few of the individual antecedent interventions that they cover are work difficulty, mode of task completion, incorporating student interests, and choice. This article matters because antecedent strategies represent powerful class intervention approaches that can prevent problem behaviors. It is better for your classroom and students, in the long run, to be proactive about problem behaviors instead of being reactive."
Kern, L. & Clemens, N. (2006). Antecedent strategies to promote appropriate classroom behavior. Psychology In The Schools, 44(1), 65-75.
classroom structure: token economy vs. contingency contract vs. control
"The purpose of this student was to see how classroom structure influenced student achievement goal orientation for math. Three elementary school classes were randomly assigned to one classroom structure, token economy, contingency contract, or control. Two classes were fifth grade, and the third class was fourth grade. 25 fifth grade students were assigned to the token economy structure, 18 fourth graders were assigned to the contingency contract structure and 28 fifth grade students were assigned to the control condition. The students in each class had to create and set individual achievement goals on a weekly basis. It was determined by other studies that most goals are broken up into two categories: learning goals and performance goals. According to the model, students who set performance goals are focused on demonstrating their abilities to outside observers such as teachers, whereas students who set learning goals seek to increase their competence regardless of the presence of outside observers (Kaplan & Migdley, 1997). The study assessed the differences in goal orientation by comparing the number of students versus the performance or learning goals that the students set within the classroom structures. The findings of this study indicated that students in the contingency contract structure set significantly more learning goals than the students in the other classroom structures. Though the study did not find a significant difference in the performance goals within the difference classroom structures. It also found that students in the contingency contract classroom set significantly more learning goals than performance goals and students in the token economy classroom set significantly more performance goals than learning goals. This study is important because we have talked about both of those structures and this study showed some of the positives and negatives of each relating to goal setting. This can help us in the future if we are trying to decide between the two to implement in out the classroom."
Self-Brown, S., & Mathews, S.,II. (2003). Effects of classroom structure on student achievement goal orientation. The Journal of Educational Research, 97(2), 106-111.