Untitled Document

Integration of Technology in the Classroom Standards
General Standards [In Accordance with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards]
G1	Recognizes and plans for student diversity and achievement based on observations and knowledge. As an Inclusion teacher with a Master of Education in Special Education and certification in both teaching and as an Educational Diagnostician, I deal with the diverse concerns of about 20 students with special needs every day. I work primarily with 6th Grade Math teachers, but have an additional case load of about 20 students for whom I am responsible but do not observe directly. I have to collaborate with their teachers and my Instructional Assistant in order to maintain continuity over their respective situations. As a minimum, I monitor their progress at three week intervals ensuring grades and behavior are maintained in accordance with their Individual Education Plan (IEP) criteria. Students with special needs do not fit an orderly cookie cutter average; they fall significantly to the left on the bell curve and require individualized consideration in terms of curriculum modification and/or classroom accommodation. For over 5 years, I taught Local Curriculum Math to students with Learning Deficits in Math calculation and reasoning. An average class, in that environment may have from 15 to 25 students, in grades 6 through 8, with ability levels ranging from Kindergarten to about 6th grade. I was a member of the Local Curriculum - Middle School Math task force who wrote that curriculum over a three year period. All lesson plans were modeled after Dr. Bernice McCarthy's 4-MAT plan. Additionally, I taught Content Mastery Center 6th through 8th grade for 8 years, and have been doing Inclusion for the past two years. Recognizing and planning for diversity is routine practice for teachers of students with special needs. Artifacts: Universal Design for Learning \| Learning Styles Profile \|Lesson Plan Worksheets \| Instructional Models and Strategies
G2	Plans and designs developmentally appropriate and subject accurate learning experiences to support diverse needs of learners. There is no one way nor any particular right way to provide learning experiences for students with special and diverse needs. Every student with special needs requires individualized attention in accordance with his or her IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Those instructional practices are based upon batteries of tests and evaluations, classroom observations, and results from district benchmark and state developed assessments; as agreed upon by a committee, which in secondary school includes that certain student and his or her parent(s). Throughout this program we have been introduced to myriad innovative strategies for addressing students' immediate academic experiences with a view towards developing long-term learning successes. Realizing that even the more astute middle school students struggle with relating fractions, ratios, decimals, and percents, I created a WebQuest which reinforces these developmental math concepts and requires students to associate data in a variety of ways. We have been introduced to learning styles, and learning preferences, and habits of mind, as well as a number of strategies designed to address learning through a variety of models. Close monitoring of grades and classroom performance coupled with collaboration between teachers in respect to perceived student strengths and weaknesses facilitates appropriate lesson planning and assessment practices. Artifacts: Habits of Mind Planning Tool \| Jigsaw Activity \| Formative Assessment \| Problem-Solving Meeting \|Peer Practice-Reciprocal Learning
G3	Implements curriculum plans to facilitate standards-based learning. Even students with special learning concerns have to follow state and district standards and be assessed at year's end based upon those criteria. Careful attention is made to student IEPs and goals and objectives are developed annually to address learning growth and expected progress against Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) levels appropriate for any given student with diverse needs. As an Inclusion teacher, I follow the scripts planned and practiced by the classroom teachers I support. In accordance with particular modifications and/or accommodations prescribed by a student's ARD committee, I tweak their instruction and assessment accordingly. My personal view is that students need to be provided successive successful learning experiences and then challenged to stretch beyond their personally defined comfort levels. As their confidence grows and ability levels improve, students with diverse special concerns need to get as close as possible to their grade level TEKS and experience assessments appropriate to their abilities approximating of equaling that of their grade level peers. Artifacts: Habits of Mind Planning Tool \|Instructional Models & Strategies \| Mystery Strategy
G4	Adjusts teaching strategies and techniques based on reflective thought. As students respond to instruction, teachers need to be aware of fluctuations in grades and changes in behavior. Either could be indication of frustration and lack of understanding on the one hand, or maturation and academic success on the other. Some students may welcome additional practice and appreciate an occasional challenge; others may balk at everyday assignments when they can not fathom the basic concept(s) necessary to complete a given task. It is important to put instruction into terms students can readily identify with - making it relate to real life concrete situations rather than abstract examples. No one strategy is going to work for all children, nor will some strategies work for any students in a given class. This is particularly true when dealing with students who have learning deficits or an emotional disturbance. Having a sense of rigid flexibility helps deal with such situations. Artifacts: Peer Practice-Reciprocal Learning \| Mystery Strategy
G5	Uses professional resources, including collegial sharing, for continued professional development. Education is a process. One's learning is never genuinely complete, because there is always something new to learn. Educators who focus on students with special needs especially never have a handle on what they are doing. Legal issues surface all the time changing the way we need to do business. New innovative training is developed, adopted by district, and forced upon teachers through staff development programs. Students transition from one developmental stage to another changing the parameters under which he or she is taught modified curriculum. New technologies are devised, but not funded requiring one to generate grant proposals seeking materials needed to implement the new program. Change happens - 24/7. No one can hope to assimilate all the information that pours through the system. Emails, post, phone messages, notes from meetings, and one staff development building upon another; or simply the teacher next door stopping by on the way down the hall to share a thought. What ever the exchange, it affects our thinking and leads to new ideas and the need for more staff- of self-development. Artifacts: Project Funding \| Technology Goals \| Professional Growth \| Collaborative Research
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Integration of Technology in the Classroom Standards

General Standards

[In Accordance with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards]

Recognizes and plans for student diversity and achievement based on observations and knowledge.

As an Inclusion teacher with a Master of Education in Special Education and certification in both teaching and as an Educational Diagnostician, I deal with the diverse concerns of about 20 students with special needs every day. I work primarily with 6th Grade Math teachers, but have an additional case load of about 20 students for whom I am responsible but do not observe directly. I have to collaborate with their teachers and my Instructional Assistant in order to maintain continuity over their respective situations. As a minimum, I monitor their progress at three week intervals ensuring grades and behavior are maintained in accordance with their Individual Education Plan (IEP) criteria.

Students with special needs do not fit an orderly cookie cutter average; they fall significantly to the left on the bell curve and require individualized consideration in terms of curriculum modification and/or classroom accommodation. For over 5 years, I taught Local Curriculum Math to students with Learning Deficits in Math calculation and reasoning. An average class, in that environment may have from 15 to 25 students, in grades 6 through 8, with ability levels ranging from Kindergarten to about 6th grade. I was a member of the Local Curriculum - Middle School Math task force who wrote that curriculum over a three year period. All lesson plans were modeled after Dr. Bernice McCarthy's 4-MAT plan. Additionally, I taught Content Mastery Center 6th through 8th grade for 8 years, and have been doing Inclusion for the past two years. Recognizing and planning for diversity is routine practice for teachers of students with special needs.

Artifacts: Universal Design for Learning | Learning Styles Profile |Lesson Plan Worksheets | Instructional Models and Strategies

Plans and designs developmentally appropriate and subject accurate learning experiences to support diverse needs of learners.

There is no one way nor any particular right way to provide learning experiences for students with special and diverse needs. Every student with special needs requires individualized attention in accordance with his or her IEP (Individualized Education Plan). Those instructional practices are based upon batteries of tests and evaluations, classroom observations, and results from district benchmark and state developed assessments; as agreed upon by a committee, which in secondary school includes that certain student and his or her parent(s).

Throughout this program we have been introduced to myriad innovative strategies for addressing students' immediate academic experiences with a view towards developing long-term learning successes. Realizing that even the more astute middle school students struggle with relating fractions, ratios, decimals, and percents, I created a WebQuest which reinforces these developmental math concepts and requires students to associate data in a variety of ways. We have been introduced to learning styles, and learning preferences, and habits of mind, as well as a number of strategies designed to address learning through a variety of models. Close monitoring of grades and classroom performance coupled with collaboration between teachers in respect to perceived student strengths and weaknesses facilitates appropriate lesson planning and assessment practices.

Artifacts: Habits of Mind Planning Tool | Jigsaw Activity | Formative Assessment | Problem-Solving Meeting |Peer Practice-Reciprocal Learning

Implements curriculum plans to facilitate standards-based learning.

Even students with special learning concerns have to follow state and district standards and be assessed at year's end based upon those criteria. Careful attention is made to student IEPs and goals and objectives are developed annually to address learning growth and expected progress against Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) levels appropriate for any given student with diverse needs.

As an Inclusion teacher, I follow the scripts planned and practiced by the classroom teachers I support. In accordance with particular modifications and/or accommodations prescribed by a student's ARD committee, I tweak their instruction and assessment accordingly. My personal view is that students need to be provided successive successful learning experiences and then challenged to stretch beyond their personally defined comfort levels. As their confidence grows and ability levels improve, students with diverse special concerns need to get as close as possible to their grade level TEKS and experience assessments appropriate to their abilities approximating of equaling that of their grade level peers.

Artifacts: Habits of Mind Planning Tool |Instructional Models & Strategies | Mystery Strategy

Adjusts teaching strategies and techniques based on reflective thought.

As students respond to instruction, teachers need to be aware of fluctuations in grades and changes in behavior. Either could be indication of frustration and lack of understanding on the one hand, or maturation and academic success on the other. Some students may welcome additional practice and appreciate an occasional challenge; others may balk at everyday assignments when they can not fathom the basic concept(s) necessary to complete a given task. It is important to put instruction into terms students can readily identify with - making it relate to real life concrete situations rather than abstract examples.

No one strategy is going to work for all children, nor will some strategies work for any students in a given class. This is particularly true when dealing with students who have learning deficits or an emotional disturbance. Having a sense of rigid flexibility helps deal with such situations.

Artifacts: Peer Practice-Reciprocal Learning | Mystery Strategy

Uses professional resources, including collegial sharing, for continued professional development.

Education is a process. One's learning is never genuinely complete, because there is always something new to learn. Educators who focus on students with special needs especially never have a handle on what they are doing. Legal issues surface all the time changing the way we need to do business. New innovative training is developed, adopted by district, and forced upon teachers through staff development programs. Students transition from one developmental stage to another changing the parameters under which he or she is taught modified curriculum. New technologies are devised, but not funded requiring one to generate grant proposals seeking materials needed to implement the new program. Change happens - 24/7. No one can hope to assimilate all the information that pours through the system. Emails, post, phone messages, notes from meetings, and one staff development building upon another; or simply the teacher next door stopping by on the way down the hall to share a thought. What ever the exchange, it affects our thinking and leads to new ideas and the need for more staff- of self-development.

Artifacts: Project Funding | Technology Goals | Professional Growth | Collaborative Research

Return to Portfolio Home

Return to Meet the Teacher