California State University, Northridge
Gideon Elran
gidgid4u@
310.313-178
628MM Spring 2009
Prof. Kennedy
California State University at Northridge
CSUN
Professional Portfolio
Goal Completion
Education Specialist Level II Credential Programs: Mild/Moderate
A very short Introduction:
Here is a framework for on going review of what I learned and accomplished as an educator in light of professional standards. I will go through what I have done and continue to do to meet student needs in areas specified and provide a description of practices, examples, review and analysis as well as points to look out for and thoughts about moving forward. The order of presentation is by order of standards numbers. I will address:
Focus competency
Why is this an important area for my professional growth?
What will be my goals for this competency area?
What activities will I undertake to meet my goals?
Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future
Standard 13:Data-Based Decision Making
Each candidate demonstrates the ability to continually analyze assessment and performance data to determine whether to maintain, modify or change specific instructional strategies, curricular content or adaptations, behavioral supports and/or daily schedules to facilitate skill acquisition and successful participation for each student.
• Share a system or form that is used by special education teachers in your school to gather information from general education teachers who are including special education students. Describe how this information is used for progress monitoring.
Most of my work revolves around addressing needs of special education students. Even when working with general education population I make decision based upon the same principals.
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I will apply sound interventions based upon valid and reliable data I collect using cultueally responsive, formal and informal assessment tools
Goal completion and reflection:
To review my practices I decided to use various appropriate examples as I go through these two upcoming years. I hereby will reflect upon my work and interventions results.
Here is a discussion of implementing on-going assessment and test scores to work with Axxx. This process represents what I do with my special needs students in general. Axxx presented as a complex case involving various behavioral, academic, environmental and cultural factors interlaced into a knot. When I started working with A he was a 7th grader. He presented as an unstable presence in an ESL class. He had a hard time attending to task, he had difficulty with peers, he would disrupt class by talking and joking with others and he would get very upset when corrected to the point of shutting down and or being defiant and talking back to staff.
I was a relatively new employee at the time but had knowledge and expertise working with special needs children in my previous capacity as an SDC teacher in a non public school. I started collecting info while putting out fires in various classes. Here are the main sources of information I collect and review on a regular basis.
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Productive supports and interventions are the main goal of my job as I see it and such interventions are more likely to succeed if based upon various sources and methods.
Goal completion and reflection: A was failing three of his classes at time and was becoming more angry and defiant as well as resistant to staff assistance within the general education setting. I called an IEP after realizing that the situation was getting out of hand. A was particularly defiant towards myself inside general education classroom but apologetic in private. His next IEP was supposed to be a ‘three year’, meaning it should include formal testing.
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I will observe the student in various situations and during different days and communicating with that student in various situations using formal and informal interviews to listen and understand what the situation is and get an idea what the needs might be.
Goal completion and reflection: In a ‘one on one situation, A was pleasant and joking with me but inside class during instruction he was highly resistant and would react in anger lashing out at times if I approached him. It was becoming clear something had to be done as his grades were poor and several teachers including a sped aid asked me to move him to an SDC. A was a small, skinny kid who would answer to all the ADHD questionnaires in the high to very high but I also knew from talking to him and other available information that he lived without his father, he was not in contact with him and that A lived in grinding poverty. He saw his mother crying in previous IEP and it appeared as though his helplessness and shame in the situation was cutting into his flesh.
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I will get Information from communicating with teachers and other professionals who work with that student.
Goal completion and reflection: School psychologist was not supposed to be involved in this one as the IEP team decided that eligibility does not have to be addressed. The Psychologist was overwhelmed at the time and I doubted the Behavior Support Plan, as good as it may be, would help at that point. He was supposed to get a break to regroup if he experienced difficulty and at times used it to get out of class or activities he did not like. That was something I wanted to check on before making decisions. I observed him in all of the classes which he was passing. His Science teacher said he had no problems with A and the PE teacher just loved him. (A plays soccer well, he is very fast) A came to life in both classes and appeared happy. In fact, during formal testing he asked to attend his science class and continue testing the next day. Quite quickly the picture began to form. The Science teacher was a hands on type teacher with lots of experiments, Vocabulary relevant to lesson posted most days on the “warm-up’ section on the board and he was an animated teacher, all crucial for the success of a kid with auditory processing deficit attention difficulties and a second language learner with limited vocabulary relating to academics.
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I will use formal and informal testing which I conduct as well as test scores from state and federal testing.
Goal completion and reflection: I used both formal and informal assessment measures, I observed in several settings, I used a formal interview as wel as a “learn To Earn” assessment tool. I conducted an academic testing battery knowing it would not be as reliable to to second language and cultural background experience lacking. However, used it to analyze task completion I considered the impact of language and culture issues upon testing performance. Testing revealed A was performing in the low average in both math and language arts and needless say, state testing indicated a “Far Below Basic” in math and english.
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I will review current and previous grades, IEP documents and reports on an on going basis. I will check current and sometimes previous year attendance. It is a good way to find correlations between student’s well being and school performance without having to ask parents tough questions.
Goal completion and reflection: Axxx had difficulties before reflecting in his past grades and IEPs, but not to that extent. It came to a resolution through the non-formal and speculative process that the main issue is that Axxx was becoming a young man, going through puberty and needing to assert himself as such. He was a teen-ager with profound difficulty in placing himself as a young man. He had no resources and very little other than the love of his mother and a good sense of humor to do that. His rebellious attitude had to do with this and with his lack of basic skills, which shamed him and made him feel bad. He reacted badly when help was offered because of the “Machismo” attitude: “I am strong I don’t need help” He was embarrassed when it was offered and felt it was threatening his standing as an independent young man.
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I will continue to cultivate positive relationships with parents and guardians so that I can be talking openly with them and in some cases other family members and or guardians past and present.
Goal completion and reflection: In the IEP I gave A complements stating how hard it is to become a young man, I praised him for the effort during testing and I said that he is willing to work but influenced by others. I asked the mother if how is he at home and she complemented him too on how helpful he was to her. He translated for her as well as helped in the household. I suggested he moved into the learning center with me stating that it “may help him graduate”. The Behavior support was changed to say that when he stars fidgeting or disrupting it should be treated as a hand raise to get teacher’s help. This turned out to be a mistake but the learning center worked well. Mother agreed and no tears were shed this time. A was willing to do anything as a result of praising him with his mother present. Il earned that this is his SR (positive reinforcement) just call to say some realistic truthful compliment to his mother. The BSP was a disaster because it still pointed him out as “needy” and we changed it based upon observation inside gen ed classes. He like working in groups to get help and since lots of kids liked him it was not hard to match him with capable students. I am happy to report here that A did eliminate his fail in English and math and was able to graduate despite some clashes with me in the learning center. I I had to be what he used to define himself as an independent human being I might as well do a fair and balanced job of it.
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I will monitor and adjust the way I spend my time between my various commitments so that I will be able to devote enough time to data collection and evaluation.
Goal completion and reflection: I am not there I have to say…
Still having a hard time on this one. I use my colleagues for advice on this on a regular basis and I still make mistakes in setting and following my priorities. With that said, I am much better in conducting my evaluations testing and data collection faster and more accurately and efficiently.
Standard 14: Advanced Behavioral, Emotional, and Environmental Supports
Each candidate demonstrates advanced knowledge and the ability to implement systems
that assess, plan, and provide academic and social skill instruction to support students
with complex behavioral and emotional needs. Each candidate works with educational,
mental health, and other community resources in the ongoing process of designing,
implementing, evaluating and modifying identified supports to ensure a positive learning
environment.
• What mental health services are available in your school, district and community for K-12 students? Give the names of the contact persons and the kind of services they provide.
Focus competency
Why is this an important area for my professional growth?
What will be my goals for this competency area?
What activities will I undertake to meet my goals?
Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future
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I will collaborate with general education teachers to develop, implement evaluate and modify original lessons and units addressing the specified behavioral and academic needs of special students. Such units will be written in an attempt to set these students for success without pointing them out as subjects of intervention.
Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future:
In the course of the past few years I have developed several lessons and units with general education teachers to support learners exceptionalities within the general education program.
My main focus is scaffolding from the assessed level of students in any content area to enable these students to achieve instructional goals specified in California state standards.
Here is an example of an easy to administer English/social study lesson plan I’ve implemented successfully with a colleague in an 8th grade English class. It’s called “Strategy for Peace”. Kids discuss a fight, analyze it and give suggestions to avoid or handle the conflict peacefully. While it is a simple lesson, it involves personal experience, background knowledge and it addresses some of the most crucial standards in California and most importantly crucial skills for teens or any person going into an independent productive life. It addresses analytic skills synthesizing the analysis to form a strategy. All three are major and kids practiced all willingly and had a good time doing it.
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It is important to me as the general education teachers have a hard time addressing these needs while tending to all students. Another reason its important is that too often special needs students in the general education classes are implicitly pointed out as needy and they don’t like it and feel embarrassed. By helping set up such inclusive lessons, I will increase general education teachers confidence in their ability to meet these students needs, strengthen relationships and acceptance of special needs students. Further, such lessons allow me to go to various students as needed and therefore make it seem natural when I give some “one on one” help to RSP students. As teacher confidence and familiarity with specific goals and needs increase, my hope is that it will have a lasting impact even when not in the classroom
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I will be able to develop and implement at least two units per per school year in each of my classes
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I will discuss students IEP’s with respective general education teachers and problem solve as I offer remediation but mainly suggest ideas for joint lessons applying relevant strategies to address specific needs.
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Goal completion and reflection: I feel like I made good progress on this one and I intend to keep up on it. I have developed several new lesson units to work with RSP students in general education classes The best way for me to check if I am making progress on this goal is to find out if the general education teachers are asking to work with me next year and if they feel more comfortable having RSP students in their classes. I can find it out by talking to my supervisors and to the teachers. I also can actually monitor which lessons and units I was active in planning and delivering and evaluate with general education teachers.
Standard 15: Current and Emerging Research and Practices
Each candidate demonstrates knowledge of and ability to interpret apply and disseminate, current, and emerging research, theory, legislation, policy and practice.
• What legal issues and what curricular and instructional issues is your district focusing on this year? Find a source of reliable, valid, current information on at least two of these issues. Give the full citations for each.
• Issue #1: e.g. math, inclusion, learning lab, behavior support
Current article on this topic (full citation)
Your summary and interpretation of this article
How you might apply the content of this article to your present teaching situation.
Who else in your school/district might benefit from reading this article or website, and why?
• Issue #2: same questions as above
Focus competency
Why is this an important area for my professional growth?
What will be my goals for this competency area?
What activities will I undertake to meet my goals?
Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future
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My focus competency for standard 15 concerning Current and Emerging Research and Practices is to be able to research create and share strategies and lesson units which may improve the academic, social, and emotional achievements of students with special needs within the general education classrooms.
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Research is important to me, and my students because it gives me an opportunity to renew my thinking and implement promising practices resulting from the experience of others in my field. Sharing practices I find very rewarding for myself and I just like to do it.
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My goals for this area will be to evaluate practices using informal input from students, parents and colleagues
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I will follow district publications and suggested program backed by research as well as professional magazines such as American Educator, Eric and the California department of Education. I will look out for suggested implementations and research tested programs.
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Goal completion and reflection:
There is a sound and substantial body of research supporting the effectiveness of students working in groups and for teaching students how to apply comprehension strategies to attain comprehension. Hereby is a lesson unit I added to my portfolio dealing with the Gettysburg Address and how to enable RSP students to positively participate in general education classes based upon that emerging research. It is applying a Collaborative Strategic Reading methodology. It involves group work clearly defined with roles for each participant in each group and it applies a summarizing / paraphrasing strategy for comprehension. It also involves teacher modeling and practice of comprehension strategies. My original analysis and commitment under this standard my focus was lesson development in light of research. I detailed what my district LAUSD is doing to “close the achievement gap” and the Chandra Smith case as it affected special education. I went on to analyze some of the negative effects the NCLB law has upon inner city schools. I will leave only my conclusion in this competency standard but add the lesson in strategic teaching of the Gettysburg Address.
I will continue to add such lessons and to evaluate practices using informal input from students, parents and colleagues as well as reflect upon the effectiveness of interventions and strategies I implemented as a result of emerging research I read and learned.
Here is the lesson:
Gideon Elran
The Gettysburg Address vocabulary study and summarizing activity
624 Professor Cota
4-24-09
This is an 8th grade Lesson lasing two periods or a block of 80-100 minutes. It could also be broken down into two classes in collaboration: one for ESL teacher and the summarizing part with conducted by the history teacher.
Lesson Aim:
This general education lesson is designed to enable Jxxx, a 14 years old Bilingual student with severe reading decoding difficulty to participate positively in general education history class working on the Gettysburg Address. Jxxx is a “field sensitive” student with strengths in listening comprehension and a clear preference for group work. He is assessed (CELDT & Solom) at advanced 4 and he badly needs some positive feedback and scaffolding for word analysis morphemic skills and to reduce distractibility. He also must find ways to work around his disability in general education classes as well as confront his decoding issues. I have made available specific activities to remediate his dyslexia in the learning center using recommendations from my case study. However, since he is currently failing in history I designed this and provided the lesson to his history teacher. Other history teachers were quick to ask for it too and I was happy to provide it. This lesson is a part of a study unit dealing with the Gettysburg Address.
Student will use technology to work around his disability by learning how to use “speech tool” to have a text read back to him by the computer. Student will be able to use thesaurus to paraphrase. Student will be able to use an online dictionary to find roots, cognates and other word parts. Student will learn how to find all words related to the root or word parts using the asterisk after the root in Webster online dictionary search window.
Lesson Objectives Students will be able to work in groups (C.S.R.) to paraphrase/summarize the Gettysburg Address by using on-line dictionary and thesaurus as well as the asterisk dictionary search to find word roots, suffixes and prefixes.
California content standards
Standard 8.9. (History)
“Students analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence”: “Special attention should be paid to Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, including his Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and his inaugural addresses.” Framework p.104
ELA
Listening & speaking: 1.1 Analyze oral interpretations of literature, including language choice and delivery, and the effect of the interpretations on the listener.
1.6 Use appropriate grammar, word choice, enunciation, and pace during formal presentations.
Reading word analysis: 1.2 Use the knowledge of Greek Latin and Anglo-Saxon roots and affixes to understand content area vocabulary.
1.3 Use word meanings within the appropriate context and show ability to verify those meanings by definition, restatement example, comparison, or contrast. (ES)
Writing 1.6 Revise writing word choice; appropriate organization; consistent point of view and transitions between paragraphs, passages, and ideas. (ES)
ELD
Speaking & listening: Early Advanced: Listen attentively to more complex stories and information on new topics across Content-areas and identify the main points and supporting details. (CELDT)
Advanced: Listen attentively to stories and information on topics; identify the main points and supporting details.
Reading cluster 2: Early Intermediate: Use common English morphemes in oral and silent reading. (CELDT)
Apply knowledge of common English morphemes in oral and silent reading to derive meaning from literature and texts in content areas.
Reading word analysis: Early Advanced/Advanced: 2 Apply knowledge of word relationships, such as roots and affixes, to derive meaning from literature and texts in content areas. (CELDT)
Writing: Early advanced: 3 Revise writing for appropriate word choice, organization, consistent point of view, and transitions, with some variation in grammatical forms and spelling. (CELDT)
Equipment Resources
lab with Internet access and headphones teacher computer attached to PROJECTOR and SPEAKERS
Differentiation and scaffolding
Bilingual and special needs students will benefit from listening to text read back to them by the computer and they can apply the technology to any text in the future. They also benefit from learning how to find word roots using online dictionary. Students will benefit from finding all words related to a word root by placing an asterisk after the root in the Webster online dictionary search window. Another support is the Collaborative Strategic Reading class organization using a paraphrasing & summarization strategy for comprehension of the Gettysburg Address.
Homework: Use Google translation tool to translate the Gettysburg Address into Spanish (or other L1, home language) and print it. Take it home and ask you parent to suggest two changes in the translation. Bring it back to class to share.
Gifted students will be able to compare the use of the section of the declaration of independence stating that “all men are created equal” in the MLK I Have A Dream speech and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Homework/extra credit instead of the assigned homework: if you were a feminist activist what word in this phrase would you ask to change? What is the reason for your proposed change?
Lesson evaluation:
Students get evaluated by grading the written restatement submitted and their group oral performance of it as well as their positive group work. They also get a grade for the word study sheets and their homework assignments required.
Staff evaluation is done through reflection writing with focus upon the following:
Did students in general demonstrate understanding of the Address through their restatements? Jxxx?
Did students all complete their work? Jxxx?
Did student use the Asterisk and Word speech tool successfully? Jxxx?
Is Jxxx using the technology he learned in other tasks in the learning center? REVIEW IT WITH HIM
Were the majority students and groups on task and were there any behavior difficulties and why? Jxxx?
What are some changes to apply in the lesson to improve it for future use?
Lesson Sequence
|Time |Teacher |Students |
|Review prior knowledge & | “Yesterday we discussed the Gettysburg battle and we saw the |Students in GROUPS of four with roles: a |
|Introduce: |flash presentation by the US army analyzing the battle and |Leader, Gister, an Announcer, a Klunk |
|5 min. |it’s importance. |(to identify the clicks and the clunks in|
| |Any thoughts or questions about the battle and presentation? |comprehending process) |
| |Teacher leads discussion to: DID YOU EVER HEAR A SPEECH? An |Students RESPONSES may vary |
| |EMOITIONALLY CHARGED SPEECH? Discuss he aftermath of the | |
| |battle and horrendous shock to the local residents who wanted | |
| |to memorize the dead. Lincoln came for the dedication and made| |
| |one of the greatest and shortest speeches in history. It came | |
| |to be known as he Gettysburg Address | |
| | | |
| |“Today you’ll use technology to help you re-write the | |
| |Gettysburg Address in your words. It is called restating or | |
| |paraphrasing and it involves some summarizing skills too. “ | |
| | | |
| |Teacher: “First lets have our computers read the Address for | |
| |us: | |
| |Search for the text of the Gettysburg Address in Google. | |
| |Highlight the text. Go to the Edit section in your commands | |
| |menu and copy the text. Open a word document and place the | |
| |text into it. (Edit and Paste)” |Kids work to find the Gettysburg address |
| |TEACHER DEMONSTRATE by USING A PROJECTOR ATTACHED TO COMPUTER |text in Google and place it in a word |
| |projecting onto screen |document. |
|Present and Demonstrate | |Students assist one another in their |
| |Go to your View menu than to “toolbars” than to “speech” as |groups using the hand out. |
|5min. |shown in your handouts. Click on “speech after you highlighted| |
| |the segment. It will read the address for you. | |
| |TEACHER projector DEMONSTRATE | |
| | | |
| |TEACHER and aid/tech WALK BETWEEN GROUPS TO CHECK AND ASSIST +| |
| |verify understanding | |
| | | |
| |“Now here is the main activity: Go to Google and search the | |
| |word “dictionary” and go to Webster on-line dictionary. Place |Students practice listening with the |
| |the word “score” in the search window. |speech tool |
| |Is it a verb or noun in this SYNTAX/grammar?? | |
| |“Click on noun “ |ching |
|Practice and informally |“Find ETIMOLOGY what’s the ROOT? | |
| |In the search window place “scor and add the ASTERISK (*) | |
|evaluate if students |symbol after the letters. Many words related to the root scor| |
|listen to speech |will appear. | |
|7min. |TEACHER DEMONSTRATE USING PROJECTOR | |
| |“Each group finds three words which include this root. Teacher| |
| |asks for examples to verify all students understand how to use| |
| |the asterisk. | |
| |“Each student has to do this for three words in the speech and| |
| |give three associated words for each root. Write it down to |Students respond: “noun” |
| |turn in with your vocabulary study and restatement of the | |
| |speech”. |“scor” |
| | | |
| |“Now click on “thesaurus” in the Webster website and use | |
|Demonstrate |vocabulary study worksheet to define at least two words from | |
|5 min |each sentence. Start restating the speech in your groups. | |
| |You may shorten, summarize it. Each group will present their |Students use the Asterisk to find words |
| |restatement to the class. You also must turn an individual |associated with roots of words from the |
|Check for understanding/ |restatement using either a word document or handwritten |Gettysburg address. |
|informal assessment |restatement.” |Students WRITE the words, the roots and |
|3min |TEACHER DEMONSTRATE using the projector. |three words associated with each root. |
| |“87 years ago our fathers created a new nation based on the | |
| |idea that all humans have equal rights”…. Now we are engaged | |
| |in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any | |
| |nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. Now we| |
| |are at war to find out if a nation based on this idea of | |
| |equality can survive. | |
|Present: | | |
| |Teacher goes between groups to check on progress | |
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| | | |
| |“Group coach their announcer for the oral presentation of | |
| |their version” | |
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|Demonstrate |Announcers of each group print and present groups | |
|7min. |restatement/summary. | |
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| |POSSIBILITY: VIDEOTAPE to present to class with input and for | |
| |open house | |
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| |Print the best version per group and post on word wall. |Groups work giving input to prepare the |
|Guided practice | |announcer for prosidy, feeling intonation|
|5 min. | |and pronunciation. |
| | | |
|Independent work 15 min |The grades will value performance, quality of written group | |
| |restatement as well as group interactions |Students give input for each group: |
|7 min | |quality and clarity of restatement as |
| |Now lets watch this speech. Teacher go to |well as announcer performance. |
| | |
| |&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=| |
| |firefox-a | |
| | |Students create a word wall with the |
| |if the utube link does not work (LAUSD blocks utube) go to my |original address at center and each |
|Length depends on class |website to view and listen to it: |groups summary / restatement all posted |
|size about 5 min. per | |
|group. |_Address.swf | |
|25 min. | | |
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|12 min. |Place the speech in a language translator (do a search in | |
| |Google) and use one of the on line free translators to | |
| |translate the Gettysburg address. One of them may read back in| |
| |Spanish! | |
| |Tell your parents they can use it! Show them how in the public| |
| |library! | |
| |Print the translation of the Address and read it with your | |
| |parent. Report back 3 improvements by you and your parent. | |
| |Native English speakers take the original and the restated | |
|Summary and homework |Address and get three improvements suggestions by parent child| |
| |agreement. | |
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| |Gifted enrichment: Write a short essay comparing the use of | |
| |the quote “All men are created equal” from the declaration of | |
| |independence in MLK “I have a dream“ speech and Lincoln’s | |
| |Gettysburg Address. | |
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|Guided practice | | |
|15min. | | |
|Teacher evaluate | | |
|demonstrate | | |
|Summary: | | |
|5min | | |
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|Extension/homework | | |
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
|Words |Definitions in your own words (use Webster thesaurus online) |A word that means the opposite (antonym) |
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Optional activity in Collaborative Strategic Reading groups
Or as a test
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in and dedicated to the proposition that men are created equal.
Now we engaged in a great civil war, whether that nation or any nation conceived and so dedicated can long . We are met on a great of that war. We have come dedicate a portion of that field a final resting-place for those here gave their lives that that
might live. It is altogether fitting and that we should do this.
But a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this . The brave men, living and dead struggled here have consecrated it far our poor power to add or . The world will little note nor remember what we say here, but can never forget what they did . It is for us the living to be dedicated here to the work which they who fought here thus far so nobly advanced. It rather for us to be here to the great task remaining before --that from these honored dead we increased devotion to that cause for they gave the last full measure devotion--that we here highly resolve
these dead shall not have died vain, that this nation under god have a new birth of freedom,
that government of the people, by people, for the people shall not from the earth.
so endure are battlefield to as who shall and the perish nation proper in we ground who above detract long it here unfinished all have is dedicated us take which rather of that in liberty testing
Here is a summary of my view of district progress and actions to close the achievement gap and the impact of NCLB upon schools in poor neighborhoods.
To see family factors impact upon test scores in the research in page 4 in this document:
Given the cuts planned by the governor and the much discussed under-funding of NCLB, many ask how is it that a mandate does not carry the financial support along with it. This is just one example of how irresponsible the process is and how unfair it is to the district students and employees in all levels.
Here is whers it all goes. Since funding is lacking and the demands are high and emotionally draining and demoralizing at times, teachers leave the poor functioning schools. Administrators are under the gun and in some cases, caving under the pressure, they make the school environment coercive. This law is coercive. Principals want out of poor functioning schools just as badly as some of us do. The sad part is that many of the better teachers and principals (but not all) find jobs where AYP is not a sword over them and they can work to help student grow other than training them how to jump through standardized hoops; schools which do not threaten their feeling of fulfilling a mission, accomplishment or indirectly reduce their neighborhood property values. Test scores cause that too as we are talking about a coercive law here. Who is left behind? OUR CHILDREN ARE LEFT BEHIND. Needy, poor, and mistreated students are left behind. Those who are forced to take tests, which further their feelings of inadequacy and re-affirm their distrust of authority, are left behind. I think that the unintended consequence of NCLB is to further the social and political isolation and neglect of poor neighborhoods as the flight out has just began. I will follow suggested strategies and mandates and keep my spirit and my student spirit up but the law has to change or be revoked and re written and I believe it will!
Standard 16: Transition and Transition Planning
Each candidate demonstrates knowledge of and the ability to implement factors associated with successful planning and implementation of transitional life experiences for students with mild/moderate/severe disabilities. Each candidate collaborates with personnel from other educational and community agencies to plan for successful transitions by students.
• Using your own transitions as a starting point, what kinds of supports, plans, and information/skills do you think would be most effective and useful for students with MM special needs as they transition through educational stages and on to adult life? You can focus on one stage, e.g. elementary transition to middle school, middle to high school, high school to adult life (postsecondary education, employment, independent living). Incorporate points from State of California Transition guide, to be found at:
and The SpecialEdge
Summer 2004, Volume 17, Number 3. Entire issue: Transition & Workability.
Focus competency
Why is this an important area for my professional growth?
What will be my goals for this competency area?
What activities will I undertake to meet my goals?
How will I evaluate my own growth towards my goals?
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My focus competency for this standard will be to improve my ability to integrate transition related skills into my daily work and make transition skills the driving force behind all my work with students, guardians and colleagues.
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It is important because successful transition into self-reliance is the ultimate goal of education in my mind and I want to do what I can to make a lasting positive impact upon the lives of students I work with. The district (LAUSD) has been moving in that direction for some time and with good reason.
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I will be able to work with families, students and staff on transition goals and long term planning and connect lesson and units I work on to students’ transition goals and related skills.
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I will perform interviews survays, and screenings of various types as needed before all of my IEP’s so that team members and students identify wishes talents and strengths which may turn out possible opportunities.
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Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future:
I start my reporting of “Present Level Of Performance” for each of my students with an overall assessment of their transitional skills and achievements and needs in this area. This simple change to the way I write IEP’s, places focus upon transition skills and results as the main goal of the IEP process and education as a whole. This is the first thing I read and discuss in all of my IEP meetings. Looking at transition first enables parents, myself, and the kids evaluate the long-term picture of it all. and it helps the planning of IEP implementation during the meetings. I intend to continue using this focus in all of my IEP writing and meeting.
Please checkout my Transition resources document. I have worked on it for a long time and I keep adding stuff to it and updating the links. It has INVALUABLE links to many useful websites to help students parents and transition teachers with JOBS PROGRAMS and CONTINUATION OPTIONS.
EMANCIPATION AND TRANSITION RESOURCES
Independent Living Programs is a federal program designed to help present and former foster youth, ages 16-21. prepare and succeed in being on their own Offers living and job skills classes, funding for college or trade school, start up work clothes, uniforms, tools, union dues. Etc.
CALWORKS
Is a welfare program that gives cash aid and services to eligible needy California families.
Regional Occupation Programs: This program offers a combination of school and on the-job training for both high school students and adults. Students can earn credits toward graduation. Most programs offer job placement upon completion Check with the high school counselor or call the local school district office for the nearest location and schedule of classes.
Job Corps: This is the link to Los Angeles Jobcorps center. They also is also have a national website- A program designed to provide job training Offers both residency and non-residency options. They provide assistance with the completion of a high school diploma or the GED. Pays for training plus a monthly stipend (allowance)
California Conservation Corps - - Similar program to Job Corp, but the training options are more focused on outdoor conservation work such as, working in state parks, beaches, or on highways. ALSO INCLUDE SME RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES. There are some clerical positions also available
California Department of Rehabilitation - - Assists Californians with disabilities in obtaining and retaining employment and maximizing their ability to live independently in their community
S5I Social security income - Provides financial assistance to disabled people and others who have little or no income
Disabled people legal rights in U.S and around the world – a wealth of links –
Another useful website with lots of helpful links to assist in getting financial assistance for disabled people is:
One Stop - - Replaced JTP."" these programs provide training
and assist people in job placement.
Employment Development Office - -State Unemployment office workers will help a youth find a job. Be sure to ask for a Youth Counselor Look in the phone book under State of California Employment Development Offices
Financial Aid: Federal money is available to pay for college or trade school tuition, books and living expenses Apply in January for the school year beginning in SeptemberAlthough application are accepted year round, the official deadline is March 2nd; priority
and grants are first given to those who meet the deadline. See a high school college
counselor, colleges financial aid advisor or ILP Coordinator for applications. Infonn the
person assisting you that you are a present or former ward of the court, because your
applications are completed differently.
Foster Youth Help - - provided through the California
Foster Youth Ombudsman program to put present or former foster children in contact
with the resources available to them.
This one is a list with links of ten facts California foster youths should know and use to get settled and treated well.
EOP/EOP&s: - The Educational Opportunity Program and Services is available at all colleges and universities (the title depends on the school). There are many advantages available for emancipating youth, such as tutoring, book vouchers, computer use.
Checking in here can be very financially rewarding. Start the contact early, i.e.: the fall
Year, prior to attending.
Waivers: There are a lot of times when a fee will be required, such as for college applications or SAT exams. You should always read the instructions in your application package to see if a waiver is available. SAT fee waivers are available through your high school counselor, but ask early because they often run out.
Community Colleges: Most people don't know that community colleges were originally
set up to help people trained for jobs. You should check with your local community college to see what certificate programs they offer. If you are not sure what sort of job you want, They might be able to offer you an aptitude/interest test to find out what you are good at and then suggest a career in that area. Most community college also has special services for people with special needs.
Community Colleges are a great place to start your college career. They offer classes in a
more relaxed setting, with affordable tuition. As a foster or probation youth you are
entitled to a fee waiver, which means you do not have to pay any tuition. This funding is
coming from the Board of Governors Grant (BOGG). Ask the EOP&S office or your financial-
aid advisor.
There are several components to discuss and address in a proper IEP document. It is important because successful transition into self-reliance is the ultimate goal of education in my mind and I want to do what I can to make a lasting positive impact upon the lives of students I work with. The district (LAUSD) has been moving in that direction for some time and with good reason.
Standard 17: Development of Specific Emphasis
The curriculum for the Professional Level II Education Specialist program provides
opportunities to build upon the foundation of the Preliminary Level I Education Specialist
Credential program, expanding the scope and depth of study in specific content areas, as well as expertise in performing specialized functions.
• What specialized functions or services are required in your current teaching position? How have you developed or plan to develop expertise in this area?
Focus competency
Why is this an important area for my professional growth?
What will be my goals for this competency area?
What activities will I undertake to meet my goals?
How will I evaluate my own growth towards my goals?
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Focus competency :
My specific area of emphasis is a video and film production class I teach at Marina Del Rey M.S. as a way to help students with special needs improve their ability to work in a group, give and receive constructive criticism and develop self-respect and self-reflection. The ultimate goal of the class I am teaching is to enable students to rearrange their realities through the creative process. In other words: this workshop will hopefully bring about positive growth and change.
Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future
Here are some examples of specific assignments:
I have asked my students to produce a Presidential election commercial this year and the results can be viewed here. I am happy with this class and so is my principal. He gave me an Auxiliary” which means I will get paid for it. Up until now, I have done this without pay. This entailed buying computers on ebay (with principal’s approval and re-imbursement) It also entailed training other staff to use the lab and making sure it works. There is nothing like having a special needs class feel that thing are actually made FOR THEM AND THAT IT ACTUALLY WORK! After two years of doing this, the principal came in to watch some of the student’s projects and he enjoyed it. My students were very proud to show the work to him and it paid…(
Please view some other student work samples Students write and recite a poem of 10 sentences all of which start with the words “I Am” You may find it amongst the student video projects in one of my websites.
We just completed work on “an issue that my generation will have to deal with and hopefully solve”. Several chose global warming. Another chose teen pregnancy but one other student used images from the Internet to put together a spot about child abuse. I spoke to mother to let her know and she said, “I don’t know why she works on something like this. The girl is NOT an identified student with special needs. She wants to become a doctor. Click to watch the spot or go to my website and click on Kyla: my generation challenge assignment.
Students are now working on a “family album” where they talk to an older member of their family or guardian about pictures of their family and friends and show these pictures.
I am also completed a power point in my iDisk download the “video primer” file and use it! You may also download LOADS of goodies I collected over the years and its all free! Use these links to teaching resources I use during the course of my video class instruction. This is a public folder, which I plan to continue to develop as a way to share teaching resources, goodies and fun stuff for other teachers, parents and students. Check out the power point VIDEO PRIMER at the end of the list.
Here are some other skills I continue to develop:
I must be quick on my feet and have resources available to address changing needs and dynamics as I move between 10 environments in a course of a week trying support students in their respective classes. I wish I could do more but I am doing quite well for them and myself.
As said I am developing lessons to address student needs in the general education classes.
The challenge is to provide services to kids with IEP inside the class without making those kids self-conscious. Besides working with all students in that class as they ask for help, I collaborate with the teachers on units and lesson which address specific goals mentioned in IEP documents.
My plan is to further develop additional lessons, adjust those lessons which I have developed based upon input from staff and students, and to conduct post lesson discussions and reflections by taking into considering outcome as well as changing needs.
Standard 18: Assessment of Students
The Level II program provides opportunities for each candidate to acquire skills and
proficiency in identifying, describing, selecting, and administering a variety of standardized and non-standardized, formal and informal assessment procedures, and in using and interpreting these in a manner that is responsive to the cultural, socio-economic, and linguistic characteristics of individual students.
Focus competency
Why is this an important area for my professional growth?
What will be my goals for this competency area?
What activities will I undertake to meet my goals?
How will I evaluate my own growth towards my goals?
Focus competency
I will broaden the assessment tools I am familiar with
Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future:
I am happy to say that I made good progress in the variety of the assessment tool I use as I set up as my goal. Both the Advanced reading class from Sue Searse, and the 624 for ELL with special needs helped more in that. I find the QRI test a particularly useful and reliable tool. Here is an assessment project I completed using it. The end of it is that we were able to avoid an “opportunity transfer for a Bilingual student who has special needs and was involved in some major confrontations between Hispanic and African American students in my school. Her is the project but not before my previous write-up for this section:
I mostly use the Woodcock Johnson test to evaluate the needs of students I work with. I find it to be a useful and fairly accurate test. I also like to review test scores from the state-testing season because it allows focusing on specific skills. My principal had a specialist come and go over these detailed score in specific strands and we develop strategies based upon that. Please see the form for that purpose in the next few pages.
I often use a reading comprehension informal evaluation based upon a close procedure. I have several practice close procedure supplemental workbooks for grade levels from 3rd to 8th. I use those pretest procedures to evaluate what I consider the most important of academic skills along with writing: reading comprehension. Here is a sample at the 6th grade entry level. It does not break down the specific skills but it gives a pretty accurate measure of overall reading comprehension skills. If you observe carefully when the student performs the task you may be able to develop a concept of student specific needs. You can see if they are having a hard time with decoding unfamiliar words, if they use strategies such as root words, or context clues as they get to place the missing words and you can see if they are impulsive or calculated, methodical or intuitive as they go about this.
Case Study
The purpose of this assignment is to collect, analyze, and use data about an ELL student with a disability to inform instruction.
Student
Jxxx is a Bilingual eighth grade student who wants to become a teacher or “to fix things”. J has a learning disability in the area of auditory processing and distractibility per his IEP and is currently is failing most of his classes. J came to the US at the age of 7 and he started his schooling in the US at the middle of first grade. When he first came to Marina Middle School where I work, he was a small, round faced, easy to please six-grader, and he took a Transition to Middle School summer class, which I was teaching. I knew that he had an IEP and I thought I served him well. In hind sight I know that the reason he functioned well in the transition class was the “service learning’ model strategy it was based upon. In the two and a half years since, I kept asking him how he was in passing, never bothering to really find out. He became “my student’ this year and after about two months I realized there was a serious problem. J started running around with a group of Hispanic kids during transition time, intimidating African American students. I had to physically break up dangerous confrontations twice and in both times he was around. We transferred two kids as a result and Jxxx seemed to be the possible next to go. He was at the deans’ office often and I decided to do something about it.
3. First and second Language Proficiency-
J’s CUME states that he is a Spanish speaker. CELDT test scores from 3rd grade to 7th grade are in the cume as well as the original home language survey. Also present in the cume is a request for educational history and documentation and a response from the Mexican school J—attended for a few months in first grade. J moved to the US with both parents in the middle of his first grade. The name of the school and other details of parents and dates are present in the Mexican school’s response but not academic information. It is important however, since it suggest “reading readiness” and associated skills were hopefully developed.
An important piece of information was the historic indication that J always had a difficulty with decoding and writing per his CELDT since 3rd grade onward. His classroom grades reflect the same trend all along. This is important because it supports the QRI test scores conducted about 6 weeks ago, which indicate far stronger comprehension skills, than decoding skills. Especially strong (instructional at a 7th grade passage) were his listening comprehension skills. This is described as a “Dyslexic profile”. It suggests that the learning disability J has may be the main reason to his academic difficulty. Three year IEP test scores and report support that decoding is a major concern. There is no record of academic functioning in Spanish in any area.
The current IEP says that the student language is English!!! This is not true!!! He is Bilingual and his L1 is Spanish. J says that his English is better than his Spanish but that does not justify the mistake. I am the one responsible for this mistake as I wrote the IEP. A possible reason for this misstatement is that the IEP form (page 2) does not provide a check box for L1 rather it implies it by stating language proficiency level. IEP states that he is at Advanced 4 English Language Proficiency level. IEP also state that his home language is Spanish. There is also an “ethnic code” and it indicates he is Hispanic. Present level of performance indicates that is RSP opinion ESL class efficacy is questionable given the ‘far below basic’ score three years in a row, his aversion and avoidance of History and especially his ESL class. In page 12 of the IEP there is a mention that Bilingual coordinator was involved and that RSP asked to change the program of study. Here is the present level of performance in reading from his IEP:
“J--- made some improvement in his reading comprehension skills but his decoding skills continue to delay him and in that he answers to a Dyslexic like profile. His ability to comprehend what he reads silently exceeds his ability to sound out words out of context. This points out to a coping mechanism, which Jxxx use to compensate for his decoding. He most likely uses context clues to figure out meaning of words he has a hard time decoding and thus he is able to understand what he reads even at levels out of reach as far as his reading decoding skills. J----- has scored far below basic on his state testing three years running and this calls for a rethinking of the efficacy of his ESL classes. J----- has identified disability in the area of auditory processing and distractibility. It is likely that since he could not distinguish sounds that he heard at the language acquisition stage, he could not associate sounds with the symbols representing these sounds and therefore his ability to sound out such symbols is far behind his age level peers. In RSP opinion, this is likely a major factor in his academic difficulties. SEE PAGE 12 for CHANGES recommended.”
Page 12 contains a summary of discussion involving mother, Bilingual coordinator, RSP, administrator designee and J. Page 12 also states that translator was present. It was the team’s agreement that based upon discussion of disability, QRI test results indicating a Dyslexic profile, mothers’ request and RSP recommendation that J will move out of his ESL class until the end of the year. The change was done so that J can take an elective in the learning center with RSP and get help specific to his needs in the area of sound symbol relationship, and to assist in work completion in his history and English class. Bilingual coordinator said that he could go back into the ESL program in high school if needed.
IEP page 9 states IEP will be translated into Spanish and that the translated IEP will be translated to Spanish and a copy will be provided to the mother within 45 days.
Solom
While the observation scores matches the level 4 reported in ESL development, it also clearly suggests that J has a better time talking with peers and working in small group than communicating with adults in an academic setting. His rating for adult conversation is 4 for comprehension and fluency and 3 for vocabulary pronunciation and grammar. His peer conversation and small group conversation are 5 for comprehension and fluency and 4 for vocabulary pronunciation and grammar. J may have a hard time in a “teacher center” setting due to his limited academic language and vocabulary. J will benefit from group work such as the Collaborative Strategic Reading group model
4. Reading-
First Language: J speaks Spanish to his mother and he speaks Spanish and English to his father. He says that he speaks mostly English with his older sister. There is very little information in his cume file regarding his skills in Spanish. One important fact is that teacher noted at 2nd grade that J speaks Spanish well. There are no details as to what type of evaluation was conducted if any to substantiate this assertion. All I found was the name and address of the school he attended for first grade until he left with his family for the US. Needless say there is no indication of specific skills in any other academic area in Spanish. In an interview, J said that his father started reading with him in Spanish as they were required to complete a family history project for a police sponsored program which J has to take due to some problems outside of school. J said to RSP that his father asked him to read in Spanish and he (J.) was surprised that he could read “some” and that his father said that he is reading quite well. J says that he can write very little in Spanish but he admits he never really tried. RSP encouraged him to do so, especially to write to family members living in Mexico. Than J said something that was important: He said he couldn’t even say his own name in Spanish. He said that he couldn’t pronounce the R sound the way it is supposed to be in Spanish. I have him trying to say his name in Spanish in an audio recording of the QRI and interview and it is haunting. In my mind it is a clear indication that he has an auditory perception deficit at least in the receptive area. It is likely that he has an articulation issue as a result and a speech evaluation and subsequent services is in line.
One real helpful document I found in J’s cume file was his original pre IEP team report from the beginning of 3rd grade. It stated “writing and reading” as the area of concern and it also states that he “talks too much and that he does not complete homework. I was horrified to find the word “lazy?” at the team questions section. Another fact was that J stuttered in Spanish. Also there is a mention of “severe decoding issues”. I have to say that I did not know of this stuttering and I can only speculate about why it happened. While in the learning center and otherwise talking in Spanish I have not heard him stutter in Spanish. I started asking my learning center students to teach me a phrase or a sentence in Spanish at the beginning of each class and J is one of the most enthusiastic participants in that activity. I have not heard him stutter. His stuttering at second grade may have been a result of anxiety as well as an early expression of his LD in the area of auditory processing and attention/distractibility.
It is likely that J left Mexico before he could read Spanish. It is likely that it eroded his confidence in his ability to learn how to read in English. This, along with teacher’s attitude that J may be “lazy”, can make anyone anxious and certain to exacerbate negative feelings in a child who has a learning disability and can’t hear sounds accurately. Seeing and feeling disapproving faces and reactions from teachers can do serious damage to young learners as it shuts down their natural curiosity and delays their academic progress.
The QRI has several components to it and J was a willing participant after he was told that the purpose of testing is to focus his future instruction to help him in his future high school classes.
J read three sections and it turns that his silent reading instructional level is in 2nd to beginning 3rd grade skill level. His word per minute count was 95 at that level. However, when he was given a listening comprehension test his instructional level turned out to be at the 7th grade level. This points out a serious difficulty in reading decoding and points to a “Dyslexic reader profile”.
A Miscue Analysis of the QRI reading segments reveals that 95% of J reading miscues are Graphophonic in nature. The mistakes he made as he uttered the sounds, did not resemble the words he was trying to read in terms of phonics. For example he said: “concert instead of cactus and he said long instead of large and lilies he read as line. He used the first letter in all of these as well as other words to give a guess as to what the word is. This means that he is making guesses while trying to make out the sounds the letters represent. He relies on his reasoning, mainly context clues, because his ability to identify and sound out printed letters is that of a second to third grade student at the time of the test. Further evidence of this is his ‘word in isolation’ reading score where he had to read words without context. J’s sound symbol relationship identification skills are severely delayed.
An informal test of receptive sound discrimination skills and auditory memory using non sense sounds turned out some difficulty with final blends and vowel digraphs. It also shows some difficulty in repeating a sequence of sounds in an accurate manner. Since this was not a normed test and I am not trained in this type of testing, that alone should not be a basis for decision making. However, since these traits are mentioned in psychologist reports as a factor in his eligibility, it helps isolate the disability from the second language difficulties. In all, a thorough review of records, formal and informal testing and interview provides that J has a serious delay in reading decoding and that the likely reason is his learning disability in auditory processing.
Writing evaluation provides further reason to believe that j has a serious difficulty in identifying and representing sound symbol relationships. This difficulty affects reading decoding as well as orthographic development. If J can’t decode a sound, it makes sense that he can’t encode such a sound using the letters representing it.
The Elementary Spelling Inventory from the book “words Their Way” helps point out student’s stage of orthographic development. It is a list of words in isolation J had to spell. While this test’s primary aim is to reveal the Orthographic development stage of a given student, it also point out specific deficits (or strengths) in a student’s ability to identify sounds represented by letter structures of various types. Decoding and encoding sounds are closely related and rarly varies much unless fine motor skills delay the mechanics of writing and this is not the case for J. His hand writing is in correct form and spacing although her does not use cursive. This test therefore can be used to pin point specific reading decoding problems in specific letter structures. J had difficulty with the following spelling sounds:
U in lump he spelled it limp
Oa as in float he spelled floot
Tr as in train he spelled tain but this may be connected to his difficulty with R sounds he spelled drive as dive in another word down the list.
Gh in bright spelled brite
O in shopping spelled shuping
Oi in spoiled spelled spolled
The sound CH as in chewed (spelled thiud) and marched spelled (macsted)
Ies word endinds
Ew as in chewed
In summary, J orthographic development stage is at the middle of Letter Name Alphabetic Stage to Early Word Pattern stage.
Writing samples from journal and English class as well as answers provided for the comprehension questions of the QRI test points the following:
J has some of the typical difficulties Bilingual Spanish/English speakers has in syntax. He is often confused with pronouns and verb noun agreement. His spelling skills are holding him back and he is likely embarrassed and need much reassurance to even try any writing assignment. His English teacher came to the IEP meeting saying she did not have writing samples worth bringing. J complained to me that the minute he walks into the class she would send him out. I will elaborate on this in the cognitive style section but the IEP and my overall view of this case took a turn in this IEP and I decided not to close it and do some more testing and staff politics. I came to conclude that J’s writing skills were affected by his distractibility and negative writing experience as much if not more than by his disability and decoding issues. He was in a trap. He did not get the practice he needed because writing in English was meaningless at best, and most likely an aversive, humiliating experience. All I can say is that after we got him out of his ESL class and into a regular English class with RSP support as well as provided some remediation in the Learning Center, scaffolding and reassurance, J produced a five-paragraph essay in correct letter form (two weeks ago). Not only that, but he is participating in sustained silent reading 15 minutes a day and he appears to love it.
J’s writing scores has always been behind his speaking and listening but not as low as the reading scores. The reason is his reasoning skills, clearly demonstrated in the listening skills segment of the QRI listening comprehension test and these reasoning skills appear to help him in his writing. Despite delayed vocabulary development, J’s writing has humor, if somewhat inappropriate at times and it reflects a good understanding of human nature and motivations as well as ability to identify with other people’s feelings. These traits are likely the reason J is a very well liked kid in our school. Add to that his quick smile, his optimism and some disregard of spelling and grammar and you may even enjoy his writing. He describes how he and other kids “egg” the houses of people who did not give out candies during Halloween. He states that this way they’ll know to do better next year. He writes of looking forward to possible success in his science test as he studied for it and he describes how he thanks his family and friends “one by one” for the gifts they gave him on his birthday. Contractions and possessives are often missing but given some support and a topic of relevance to J’s life and culture, he can express himself in writing and improve his skills in that area.
Cognitive style
J is a field sensitive person and my self-scoring indicate that I tend to be a field sensitive person as well although not as markedly as he is. I did not ask his former English teacher to fill out the self-scoring sheet, as I was afraid she’d consider this an attack and become defensive. I can say based upon my work with her that she clearly is a task oriented, field independent person. Further, she rarely allows group work and her teaching style is teacher center, lecture type lessons most days. This is NOT what J needs based upon the assessments. With the incompatibility evident, I must also say that J did his part to sour the relationship between himself and the ESL teacher. I saw him put his feet in the way as she walked through between the rows and I witnessed many other passive aggressive and disruptive behaviors toward her. However, my concern is creating the most appropriate instructional environment for him and if I can find a way to do it without undermining the ESL teacher I should try, but if I can’t I should do whatever I can to make sure the law is followed as it states “free and APPROPRIATE public education… to all children”.
Recommendations
The first priority is to get J out of his ESL class and provide explicit, systematic intervention to remediate phonetic and orthographic skills as well as culturally responsive framework and specific strategies to improve academic language, reading and writing skills using topics of relevance to his interests experience and culture.
Reading:
Use word-parts, word sorts and games to address the following specific needs:
U in lump he spelled it limp
Oa as in float he spelled floot
Tr as in train he spelled tain but this may be connected to his difficulty with R sounds he spelled drive as dive in another word down the list.
Gh in bright spelled brite
O in shopping spelled shuping
Oi in spoiled spelled spolled
The sound CH as in chewed (spelled thiud) and marched spelled (macsted)
ies word endingds like carries, varries
Ew as in chewed
Plenty of activities are in the book Words Their Way but could also be created as needed. USE WORD WALLS where J POST THESE WORD PARTS MATCHING GAMES AN FOR FREQUENTLY USED WORDS and increasing vocabulary activities
USE mini lessons to teach word parts and Latin/Greek roots. Use these roots and word parts in Word Walls IN ALL SUBJECT AREAS VIA COLLABORATION WITH GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS and RSP.
PROVIDE student choice of READING MATERIAL IN J INSTRUCTIONAL LEVEL and INVOLVE HIM IN SUSTAINED SILENT READING Discuss with J the reading and offer a chance to share it with peers.
Here is a live link to a useful website with the most common Latin and Greek roots as well as the most common prefixes and suffixes:
Give special focus to COGNATES words in Spanish and English, which have similar roots. Here is a hot link to one of many useful websites dealing with teaching cognates:
USE WORD WALLS FOR J TO POST FREQUENTLY USED WORDS also known as dolche list
USE MINI LESSONS IN ALL CLASSES TO teach grammar and
PRE TEACH VOCABULARY USIN G A VISUAL TACTILE APPROACH
USE GROUP-WORK WHENEVER POSSIBLE. HAVE J SERVE AS REPORTER (announcer) OR COMPREHENSION MONITOR (Gister) BUT NOT AS THE PRIMARY READER.
This is to help J develop his ACADEMIC language in a setting he is comfortable per his cognitive style and RSP observation. It may also reduce distractibility, improve involvement and boost confidence.
ASK ALL TEACHERS TO AVOID CALLING ON J TO READ ALLOUD IN PUBLIC UNLESS HE VOLUNTEERS AND IS PREPARED AND LET J KNOW HE WILL NOT BE CALLED ON SO HE FEELS MORE CONFIDENT IN CLASS due to past issues with stuttering, (anxiety?)
Writing recommendation
Obviously many of the reading recommendation apply here as decoding and encoding are closely related.
One overarching and urgent recommendation to apply is to give topic in writing which are RELEVANT TO J’S PERSONAL INTERESTS (soccer, football, biking,) and relevant to his CULTURE (Hispanic).
CONNECT ACADEMIC WRITING TOPICS WITH STUDENT LIFEINTEREST AND EXPERIENCE WHENEVER POSSIBLE IN ALL SUBJECTS
Due to attention issues BREAK WRITING ASSIGNMENTS TO SMALLER PIECES and give encouragement between stages, USE PEER TUTORING and GROUP INPUT IN STAGES OF WRITING PROCESS.
TEACH THE WRITING PROCESS and provide SCAFFOLDING FOR EACH STAGE TO GUARANTEE J SUCCESS AND CONFIDENCE. DO NOT CORRECT SPELLING, GRAMMAR until the rewriting stage and use peers to help J do that to avoid negative feelings. Teacher relates to content ideas, flow etc but avoid dealing with spelling and grammar for as long as possible review of grammar and spelling is not given before THE final PUBLISHING STAGE.
USE TYPING SOFTWARE WHICH SPEAKS BACK TO J WHAT HE WRITES THROUGH HEADPHONES AND OFFERS SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHANGES.
TypeIt ReadIt (mac) hot link for free download
Also:
Microsoft Word NARRATOR function (Mac and PC)
Use this software in learning center daily to write a journal and to type assignments for other classes. This may help improve sound symbol identification skills crucial for decoding.
Academic and cognitive style recommendations:
J will benefit from RSP support in all areas, especially History but since the system does not provide for it an overarching emphasis upon group learning, literacy oriented approach across the curriculum is strongly recommended. Hands on, visual and tactile strategies should be used whenever possible as it is J’s learning modalities. The CSR approach is of particular benefit in this case. It provides j with a way to work in a group, use his reasoning skills to make positive contributions. It is strongly recommended that J serve as the Gister, the one who oversees the comprehension or the announcer given his relative strengths in oral expression and comprehension. In the group, J can use a peer to help him in decoding the text, and bypass his auditory processing deficit given body language, written text available and re-enforced by the group’s Klunker and motivator. The motivator could also help get J back to task if he is distracted due to his distractibility issues. This format also removes the anxiety and aversive experience J had with regards to his reading and writing skills. CSR approach or other group-based approaches such a Class Wide Peer Tutoring along with a Culturally Responsive learning environment and curriculum may reduce his distractibility as it is replaced with participation and may help him become a more positive and successful learner.
Cognitive style recommendation:
Summary and aftermath of the IEP and some thoughts going forward:
Making the initial changes to J’s program was somewhat complicated but it had to be done. I stated in the IEP meeting that based upon testing, it is likely that the ESL class is not geared to address J’s specific learning disability and that he needs urgently to improve his decoding skills using a different approach than the one used at his ESL class. I stated that in my judgment J is placed in a program that is inappropriate for him. Mother confronted the ESL teacher stating she believed her son when he said that the ESL teacher was talking to him in derogatory terms related to his culture and personal traits. I said that I did not witness such interactions and that I know the ESL teacher to be a caring person with sincere interest in the culture. ESL teacher said that J’s accusations were not true. She left the meeting in anger. Mother broke down crying and said she did not want her child to become a “Chollo’, a gangster. J had his head down but when he took a quick glance at his mother I thought I saw a tear or two.
I left the IEP open so that changes could be made in it and I started working on further testing and on the politics of a possible change. I wanted J to be in my learning center for an elective and it was impossible if he stayed at his dual period ESL 4 class. The Bilingual coordinator, and to my dismay, the counselor serving as administrator designee challenged me in the IEP, with mother present, to the effect that the label of Dyslexia is a Medical Doctor’s domain and if mother wanted to use that label she should get a note from a doctor. I stood my ground politely but moved on without getting into an argument.
In the days following the IEP meeting I asked the ESL coordinator what she thought of such a move. She said she thought it necessary but mother has to formally ask to remove him from the ESL program. She also expressed concern about the ESL teacher’s reaction to such a move. The ESL teacher thanked me in private for my support. I thanked her and told her I believed in what I said and at the same breath asked her what her thoughts were on moving J out of his ESL class. I said we could do it if we have a formal request from mother. The ESL teacher said she thought it was a good idea. I called the mother and reported that a move is possible if she asks for it, which she did. I went to the counselor with it and she said I had to convince an English teacher in a class where I work in collaboration to approve J’s transfer. At that I asked my favorite English teacher who is a field sensitive teacher what can I offer her as a bribe. I said: “what’s the bribe you want?” Since she publishes the school newspaper she often calls on me to help on technical matters and in educational technology issues. After pledging specific assistance in these fields as well as my availability to remove J if he is disruptive, she too agreed. It was done and J moved into her English class and into the learning center elective class I am teaching.
NEEDED INFO
One thing is to monitor progress in the new settings and share and monitor progress in the classes J takes with other teachers. This is especially important for the History class he currently fails but also in the math class where I collaborate twice a week and the science class where I asked my assistant to be twice a week as I do not serve the kids there directly, rather I conference with the teacher occasionally as needed.
I also want to know specific progress in sound symbol relationship skills and the efficacy thereby of the changes we implemented. I also want to monitor any referrals to the dean for disruptive behaviors, especially those out of class, transition period disturbances J was involved with and which threatened his placement at our school. I want to know if his father continue to read Spanish with J.and if J is making progress with regards to his Spanish reading skills.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS
I learned that I must continue to assert myself with staff if I have a strong body of assessment to back up my recommendations. I also learned that the cognitive style assessment is a useful tool to avoid offending staff when I am asking to change classes due to incompatibility.
I learned that there is always something to learn from looking at records in the cume file and that looking at these files with the Bilingual coordinator by my side discussing the files and the child is of particular benefit.
There also was benefit finding that J stuttered in earlier grades. I was surprised at first but it made sense in the context of his behavior difficulties. The review of the CLST and classroom grade was essential in solidifying my resolve to move J. It supported that he has all throughout his years in the school system UNDER-PERFORMED in reading and writing as compared to listening and conversing.
In all it was a worthwhile project for me as I learned how to make a reasonable judgment call on what are issues caused by a disability and what may be more of a second language issue. In a word, I learned how to do my job better than I did in the past and it will benefit the kids I serve.
Last words
I am happy to report that I conducted some observation using the behaviorist form (antecedent; behavior; consequence) and while it suggests that J needs more ‘consequence’ (positive reinforcement) when he does his work and act right, the observation validates the move we’ve made. The English teacher said to me about J that “He is a good boy” and I told J she said it. I made some changes to the learning center routine to accommodate him such as the 2 minutes of ‘teach the teacher’ Spanish act, as well as installing the software for his journal writing. I also involved the administration to enable the 6th period History teacher to have a full time aid consistently in the class and I started working more closely with her. I specifically asked her to try and find RELEVANCE in content to J’s life and interests and culture. The history teacher showed up in my learning center and worked with J for about a half an hour on a project. J was beaming. He knows he now has a chance to improve his F mark in history and he made some inroads with one of the strictest teachers in our school. I am hopeful on the decoding issue too as j reads willingly in the English class and he loves the “talking back” software. During one of the observations J had a bad day and was disruptive and of task. I spoke to him after the English class in private and it turned out he had a bad fight with his sister (older) and his mother who took her side. He slept at a friends’ house and did not have his work as it was at his parents place. It was Friday so I asked him if he thought a good phone call to his mom would be good. He said call my dad. Father was thankful. J was too, and when he came back on Monday, he said he patched it up with his mother and that the call was helpful. In all: so far so good.
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However, I also use several other formal and informal test procedures.
Standard 19: Curriculum and Instruction
The Level II program offers adequate opportunities for each candidate to acquire the
knowledge and skills to teach, adapt, modify and integrate curriculum appropriate to the
educational needs of students with mild/moderate disabilities.
Focus competency
I will find the areas of the most acute needs of students in any of the classes I work in and develop collaborative lessons to address these needs applying strategies to differentiate instruction for them in the body of the lesson and unit plans.
Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future:
I made good progress on this competency. Students with disabilities has an acute need to access curriculum in classes where there is no RSP support such as history and science. One example is the lesson I have completed for an 8th grade history class dealing with the Gettysburg Address which provides the differentiation required for ELL students who has special needs to access the content and participate positively. I have included this lesson in standard 15 because it also demonstrates how to apply sound research into practice. Another lesson demonstrating the use of differentiation is the lesson “strategy for Peace” which I also included previously. All kids had a fight they participated in or remembered. Yet their experience with it varied wildly. One may think it is a call for an eruption in the class but it has not been the case. Children were exceptionally respectful. They intuitively knew the purpose of the lesson and how important it is to all of them. The reason why it was important were different as well as the stories but they all knew it was important or relevant for their lives. They were open to learn how to analyze the fights they described. There was a context to their willingness and openness. They were respected and trusted and they were monitored by their peers and by staff. Better yet, they monitored their behavior because they wanted to know where the lesson might take them. Their written suggestions to both sides in the fights made them feel important, capable and skilled, but their solutions were written in a variety of styles, contents and linguistic sophistication yet it was all accepted. They were all riding the bikes and moving towards their destiny.
Standard 20: Collaboration and Consultation
The Level II program provides opportunities for each candidate to develop skills in
Communication, collaboration and consultation with teachers and other school personnel,
Community-professionals, and parents. Each candidate is able to communicate relevant
social, academic, and behavioral information in the areas of assessment, curriculum,
behavior management, social adjustment, and legal requirements. Each candidate is
prepared to serve in a coordination function before, during and after special education
placement has been made.
• Describe an idea, concept, etc. that you learned about in SPED 611, Consultation and Collaboration in Special Education, that you have applied to your teaching situation.
•
Focus competency
Why is this an important area for my professional growth?
What will be my goals for this competency area?
What activities will I undertake to meet my goals?
How will I evaluate my own growth towards my goals?
Focus competence: developing skills in communicating goals and accommodations to general education teachers
It is the core of my ability to help these kids. If I want to help them I must make sure that the gen ed teacher know what to do with them when I am not around. Having said that I must also ask myself what is the sense of writing great IEP’s if they are not implemented?
I will be my student’s advocate with gen ed teachers and a resource for the gen ed teachers in how to serve these kids as well as enforcer if need be
I will develop systems of information sharing and make sure to establish time to work with gen ed teachers on strategies, lesson planning and problem solving consultation
Goal completion and reflection on moving on to the future:
I reported before that the main problem I encountered in my first years of giving service to children inside of general education classes was that General education teachers can’t read IEP and sometimes do not know the accommodations required and how to implement these. This is especially serious when the topic is history science and P.E where RSP teachers do not often go to support the kids. We mostly go to Math and Science classes.
Here is what I have developed and implemented school wide. A program where I can easily cut and paste goal and accommodations or any other info from the iep into a one page “iep Brief’. It was a great success as I helped all RSP teachers in my school do this and the general education teachers loved it (to the most part): “one page” they said…
The name of the program is OmniForm from Nuance (previously ScanSoft) It is also a powerful OCR (character recognition) scanning software and I have developed many forms which you can see (and adjust if you have the program. You may redesign the forms, add names and topics Etc.
It has been a great success but it cost me several hundred dollars as I bought several of these on eBay. I still technically own the software. This past year I created a database of all of the Briefs for all of the special kids in out school and MADE IT ACCESSIBLE TO ALL TEACHERS WHO NEED TO KNOW IT. How is that for a goal accomplished?!
Here is a sample of the IEP Brief :
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“ÐÙé ê×ê ÒäàÕ ÕêÐàêÕ
A person settles under his vine and fig trees
Old Testament, Book Of Kings, Chapter 5
Read. Restate The Gettysburg Address using the Webster online thesaurus
איש תחת גפנו ותאנתו”
“A person settles under his vine and fig trees”
Old Testament, Book Of Kings, Chapter 5
Read. Restate The Gettysburg Address” using the Webster online thesaurus
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