Saturday, March 8, 2014

MzTeachuh: Check Out NCLD Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/8...

MzTeachuh: Check Out NCLD Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/8...: http://www.ncld.org/ This site is such a rich resource, very clearly stated with current research and helpful hints for parents ...

Check Out NCLD Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/8/14

http://www.ncld.org/

This site is such a rich resource, very clearly stated with current research and helpful hints for parents and teachers. You must check this out and keep current with their input whether you teach Special Ed., General Ed., or are a parent of a Special Needs child or not. It is just very wise to be aware of these topics.

Here are some samples:

LEARNING DISABILITIES 101

What are the different types of learning disabilities, and what effect does LD have an on individual? Find answers

EDUCATION ISSUES AND LD

Our team in Washington, D.C., explains what's happening with legislation that affects people with LD. Find out what's happening on the Hill. > Where President Obama Stands > What Is a 504 Plan, Anyway? > How to Stand Up for Your Child > Video: Dyslexia Accommodations

10 DYSLEXIA RESOURCES

LD.org offers an array of basic dyslexia info, but where else can you seek assistance and find help? Check out these 10 dyslexia resources. > Video: How Do I Request an Evaluation
> Scholarships and Financial Aid
> Checklist: Is It LD?

Browse by Stage
Browse by Age

My child is struggling
in school with learning.
What should I do?
Now that my child has
been identified with LD,
what's next?
How do I ensure my
child's success and
plan for the future?

MzTeachuh: Check Out Edudemic Ed Tech and STEM Tweets of the ...

MzTeachuh: Check Out Edudemic Ed Tech and STEM Tweets of the ...: This site appeals to ed tech folks and the rest of us. There are so many interesting variations on the same theme: tech in the classroo...

Check Out Edudemic Ed Tech and STEM Tweets of the Day 3/8/14

This site appeals to ed tech folks and the rest of us. There are so many interesting variations on the same theme: tech in the classroom.

Here is a little sample:

100 Words High School Students Should Know

http://edudemic.com/2012/12/100-words-high-school-students-should-know/

24 Multimedia Tools That Support The Common Core

http://edudemic.com/2012/12/24-multimedia-tools-that-support-the-common-core/comment-page-1/#comment-59522

5 Big Education Technology Trends of 2013

http://edudemic.com/2012/12/the-5-big-education-technology-trends-of-2013/

35 Digital Tools That Work With Bloom’s Taxonomy

http://edudemic.com/2012/11/35-digital-tools-that-work-with-blooms-taxonomy/

Home

Ed tech is not new to the kids.

MzTeachuh: Next Week's Lesson Plans Tweets of the Day 3/8/14

MzTeachuh: Next Week's Lesson Plans Tweets of the Day 3/8/14: This link may help you develop plans for current events. Kiev in Chaos: Teaching About the Crisis in Ukraine http://learning.bl...

Next Week's Lesson Plans Tweets of the Day 3/8/14

This link may help you develop plans for current events.

Kiev in Chaos: Teaching About the Crisis in Ukraine

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/kiev-in-chaos-teaching-about-the-crisis-in-ukraine/

News for Students and Teacher Resources
7–12 Grade Level

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/

This link can bring depth to your lesson plans:

How Technology Trends Have Influenced the Classroom

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/03/how-real-world-technology-use-has-inflitrated-change-classrooms/

This link will help you keep your class moving along.

Classroom Management

http://www.edutopia.org/groups/classroom-management

This link will help you keep organized (and sane):

Ultimate? Let's maybe aim for a little better.

The Ultimate Organized Classroom

https://www.teachervision.com/classroom-management/school/4731.html

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2013/09/teaching-is-being-organized-within.html

MzTeachuh: Teaching Is Understanding Child Development

MzTeachuh: Teaching Is Understanding Child Development: 1. Child Development Tracker Use the Child Development Tracker to get insights on the stages of growth. http://www.pbs.or...

Teaching Is Understanding Child Development

1. Child Development Tracker

Use the Child Development Tracker to get insights on the stages of growth.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/child-development

2. Child Development

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/index.html

3. T. Berry Brazelton, M.D.

http://www.brazelton-institute.com/berrybio.html

4. Middle Childhood Development

http://www.childdevelopmentmedia.com/middle-childhood-development.html

5. Developmental Issues With Pre-Adolescents

6. Adolescent Stages of Development

http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/teens_stages.shtml

7. Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2000/Piaget/stages.htm

I like Piaget and his beret.

MzTeachuh: Good Morning, Spring, Time To Get Up

MzTeachuh: Good Morning, Spring, Time To Get Up: Spring, just waking up from a dreamy winter's sleep Morning by Edvard Grieg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUKRBeG-sGQ&...

Good Morning, Spring, Time To Get Up


Spring, just waking up from a dreamy winter's sleep

Morning by Edvard Grieg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUKRBeG-sGQ&feature=related

Written for the play Peer Gynt by Ibsen, who thought this music was too cheerful for his play. Oh well, morning is like that.

MzTeachuh: Cheesy Jokes and Serious Thoughts for St. Patrick'...

MzTeachuh: Cheesy Jokes and Serious Thoughts for St. Patrick'...: We're all Irish on St. Patrick's Day--and since the Irish diaspora was over 600 years long, and the Irish lived long and ...

Cheesy Jokes and Serious Thoughts for St. Patrick's Day

We're all Irish on St. Patrick's Day--and since the Irish diaspora was over 600 years long, and the Irish lived long and prospered wherever there was a Catholic church worldwide--it's probably true we're all Irish. Geneticists say that Genghis Khan was the foremost contributor to Y chromosomes worldwide, followed by O' Neill of the Nine Hostages (Irish).

My grandmother was completely Irish, her mother immigrating from the Old Sod, so I have been successfully indoctrinated about the Isle of Saints and Scholars. Trust me, no demeaning stereotypical jokes about the Irish in my growing up. Sister Francis Eileen, O.P., was the principal of St. Louis Bertrand's School in Oakland, California, and her lilting Irish brogue came over the P.A. system every morning. She was cool, all the nuns I had were cool; I never had a negative experience in parochial school. Many were from Ireland, many were Irish Americans like my sainted grandmother. And I was in that school both when John F. Kennedy ran for president, was elected, and was assassinated. Powerful stuff.

I am so thankful I didn't have to unlearn prejudice and bias--my Oakland elementary school was perfect. The only almost-bias I had to unlearn was that not everyone was from my church.

http://www.tolerance.org/hiddenbias

I was stunned when I heard my first negative joke about the Irish. Didn't they realize we saved western civilization?
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/cahill/irish.html

The Isle of Saints and Scholars-to be sure

And I didn't even say, "Pog Mo Thoin." Which shows a lot of maturity and restraint.

Ethnic jokes and teasing are a form of bullying--so kids and adults really need to knock it off. Are we that desperate to feel superior? The quiet kid in the back of the room won't be able to stand up for herself in the midst of biased-based laughter. Bullying includes those jokes about physical appearance, churches, where you're from, and let's throw in sports teams since kids are so sensitive about them. Kids should have the right to be in school without bullying or humiliation of any type. Grown-ups, too.

So, anyway, here are the jokes. (That's pretty Irish of me: stick up for the underdog and then tell jokes.)

Green, and Garfield provides the orange

How did the leprechaun get to the moon?

In a shamrocket.

Why is Ireland like a bottle of wine?

Because it has a Cork in it.

What would you get if you crossed a leprechaun with a Texan?

A pot of chili at the end of the rainbow.

No relation to Bono. Or the Edge.

What kind of music does a leprechaun band play?
Shamrock and roll.

What do you call a leprechaun's vacation home in Fort Lauderdale?

A lepre-condo.

Love Irish music. O'Sullivan's March, The Chieftans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vffqnYUyFVQ
My gggrandmother (later immigrated to Kansas) was a Sullivan leaving from Cork in 1844, and who survived a coffin ship to Grosse Isle Quebec.

Top o the mornin' to ya, from Betty O'Boop

Friday, March 7, 2014

MzTeachuh: MzTeachuh's Top Posts of the Week 3/7/14

MzTeachuh: MzTeachuh's Top Posts of the Week 3/7/14: 1. Ed Tech and STEM Tweets of the Day 3/1/14 http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/ed-tech-and-stem-tweets-of-day-3114_1.html?spref=bl ...

MzTeachuh's Top Posts of the Week 3/7/14

1. Ed Tech and STEM Tweets of the Day 3/1/14

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/ed-tech-and-stem-tweets-of-day-3114_1.html?spref=bl

2. Best Articles for Educators Week of 2/9/14

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/02/best-articles-for-educators-week-of-2914.html

3. Teachable Moment: Brian Boru in the Irish (Brian Bóramha in Gaeilge)

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/teachable-moment-brian-boru-in-irish.html

4. Do I Have to Go to the IEP meeting? I'm Not Special Ed. Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/3/14

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/do-i-have-to-go-to-iep-meeting-im-not.html

5. Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/1/14

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/ed-tech-and-stem-tweets-of-day-3114.html

6. Festival of Irish Arts and Music Day 3

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/festival-of-irish-arts-and-music-day-3.html

7. Common Core Literacy Strategies Tweets of the Day 3/5/14

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/common-core-literacy-strategies-tweets.html

8. Las Vegas Color Run

http://mzteachuh.blogspot.com/2014/03/las-vegas-color-run.html

Many thanks to our international audience. It is a privilege to serve you. USA, Canada, France, UK, Germany, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, China, Indonesia.

MzTeachuh: ePLNs for Teachers –Getting Connected Ed Tech and ...

MzTeachuh: ePLNs for Teachers –Getting Connected Ed Tech and ...: Teachers can find professional networking online. Educational sites afford convenience, privacy, and expertise in a variety ...

ePLNs for Teachers –Getting Connected Ed Tech and STEM Tweets of the Day 3/7/14

Teachers can find professional networking online. Educational sites afford convenience, privacy, and expertise in a variety of educational areas. There are also interactive activities for teachers joining an online community. Here are a few advantages to connecting online:

· Current educational topics discussed by experts and educators in a timely, thorough manner. For example, the latest input on educational technology use in the class, special education innovations, and school-wide interventions such as social and emotional interventions are hot topics currently inspiring teachers in their professional pursuits.

· Convenience and privacy comes with networking online. Professional development is generally limited to scheduled on-campus staff or team meetings, conferences, or District trainings. A teacher may have a question or comment on a topic with no opportunity during these gatherings, or the teacher feels the question or comment is too basic or too sophisticated for the discussion. Educational sites can provide a responsive venue through articles, group discussions, webcasts, videos or a search by a teacher using key words at the teacher’s convenience.

· Opportunities to investigate new teaching areas and/or extend teaching expertise abound through sites that are specific to educational technology, special education, or improved teaching methods. A teacher may want more information about learning disabilities, for personal or professional reasons, and find helpful information and professionals online. Maybe a video demonstrating a specific lesson would be very helpful. There is an abundance of sites to enhance a teacher’s knowledge and methods.

Here are well-established educational sites excellent for teacher connections.

http://www.edutopia.org/

Edutopia This is an attractive, vast website that is has numerous educational topics: experts and educators writing articles, groups to join, videos, classroom guides. Edutopia is a great support for teachers.

https://www.teachingchannel.org/

The Teaching Channel provides specific video demonstrations in K-12 classrooms and lesson plan points on basic curriculum areas, as well as information on implementing the Common Core. There are also articles and blogs. The Teaching Channel provides a ‘Teaching Team’ feature for professional development.

http://www.ncld.org/

The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) This site offers connections for parents and teachers in the complex, challenging area of Special Education. There is a diversity of articles that are thorough, clear, and understandable for those not trained in Special Education. The site offers ebooks, podcasts, videos and current news about the IEP process, IDEA, funding, and interventions. NCLD is a tremendous asset for teachers and parents.

http://www.edudemic.com/

Edudemic is a clear, concise, and thorough guide to educational technology, blended and flipped learning, and educational innovation using technology. There are many guidelines on a wide variety of topics that a teacher may not even have enough background in ed tech to ask about. For a teacher wishing to deepen knowledge of ed tech, or a beginner hoping to catch up--Edudemic is very effective.

MzTeachuh: Do Behavior Support Plans Work? Special Needs Twee...

MzTeachuh: Do Behavior Support Plans Work? Special Needs Twee...: I don't know how many BSPs I have written, probably an average of five a year for fifteen years. This is a pretty way to pict...

Do Behavior Support Plans Work? Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/7/14

I don't know how many BSPs I have written, probably an average of five a year for fifteen years.

This is a pretty way to picture it.

The effectiveness of the BSP lays mostly on the adults involved and actually less on the students. Here are very general guidelines beginning with the most complicated student needs.

1. My experience in Special Education included directing a Non-Public School (that's a separate facility for kids with extreme behavior problems due to behavior dysfunctions or emotional disturbance who have been expelled from their home public school.) At the small school I directed, we had students who had been expelled from the larger non-public schools. It follows that the Behavior Support Plans added to the IEPs (Individualized Educational Programs) for these students were written with input from medical doctors, educational psychologists, counselors, and frequently psychiatrists as well as District personnel and myself as the case carrier.

These were precision directives, much like a medical prescription or a protocol for physical therapy. There was nothing haphazard about this. With a carefully administrated system of positive reinforcement, interesting curriculum, and above all, parent buy-in, we saw progress. This was the elite level of teaching. Only the few, the proud and the thoroughly trained can maintain.

2. Behavior Support Plans are also written for students in other areas of Special Education. Many students on a public school are classified as Moderately Handicapped, and mostly learn in one classroom separate from general education. The handicaps are not the same, and could include OHI (Other Health Impaired), autistic, SLD (Specific Learning Disability) or a variety of disabilities identified as Moderate by special testing done by the District psychologist. In our state, for many years this was called Special Day Class requiring more specialized instruction for the students to succeed. There are separate Special Day Classes for Emotional Disturbed students because the regimen required is differently structured than other classes. The BSPs for these students are similar to the ones in a non-public school, addressing specific behaviors that can be modified by positive intervention.

Finger pointing is not considered a positive support.

In a typical SDC (Special Day Class) the students could mainstream for a class or two, lunch and breaks. If a student in such a class exhibits disruptive behavior out of the norm, then a BSP will be added to the existing IEP. The Special Education teacher schedules an addendum IEP meeting to discuss the Behavior Support Plan, and following discussion and collaboration from parents, the teaching team, administration and District Psychologist, the BSP is added to the IEP. Generally, the BSP includes the homeroom teacher (case carrier) noting improvement, and a tangible reward will be offered. The consequences for inappropriate behavior are noted in the BSP, can be mild and administered in the classroom unless it has a larger scope and needs a school consequence from an administrator. If all the adults are consistent, this works well.

3. A student identified as Mildly Handicapped may also need a BSP. Students in this category may have only one class taught by a Special Education teacher, mainstreaming the remainder of the day. If a student exhibits behavior that merits certain discipline interventions from administration, then the Special Education teacher schedules an addendum IEP meeting, prepares a BSP to support the student to begin showing positive improvement. The whole IEP team includes the student, the parents, all teachers, administration and District Psychologist. This is the team that will help the student replace the inappropriate behavior with appropriate behavior. Again, the BSP is only as effective as the adults administering it. And this is a challenge.

IEP meetings are really, really important.

4. Most Districts have a district level expert (maybe called Behavior Analyst or Positive Behavior Intervention Specialist) who helps administer a program such as this when the students are having a tougher time. Or when the Special Education teacher bothers to ask for help. I have found these professionals to be supremely helpful and awesome experts. They may do a student study called a Functional Behavior Analysis that takes the guesswork out of why the student is behaving this way and what can be done to help. Kids are complicated and may need medical, psychiatric evaluation or more simple interventions like counseling. This input is crucial.

If you are reading this, you are an educator, a parent, or a concerned friend. Maybe you're the student. If you have a concern, check with a professional more trained than yourself to answer questions about your child or student's behavior.

I would also check out (and this advice is for teachers, too) to see how organized the school site is--are the rules consistent? Is the work appropriate for your child's developmental stage? (For example, is there recess? Does your child or class have creative opportunities? Are bullies under control? Is there enough supervision?) Teachers and administrators need to constantly self-evaluate the soundness of a school's program--the entire school. When kids' needs are met, there is less disruptive behavior.

But sometimes there are other forces in a child's experience. That's when a parent or teacher checks out what a psychologist or doctor has to say.

Here are some resources on the topic of Behavior Support Plans.

1. Behavior Support Plans

What is a Behavior Support Plan (BSP)? http://www.pent.ca.gov/beh/bsp/bsp.htm

2. Behavior Assessment, Plans, and Positive Supports

http://nichcy.org/schoolage/behavior/behavassess

3. What to Do When Challenging Behavior Persists

http://www.pbs.org/parents/inclusivecommunities/challenging_behavior5.html

4. Write Your Own Behavior Plan

http://specialchildren.about.com/od/specialeducation/qt/behaviorplan.htm

This last link is for teachers. Don't forget to check with families, other teachers, administration, and/or a Special Education teacher if a student it giving you a tough time. Maybe you don't know the whole story!

Here's another platitude that may also help: This, too, shall pass.

5. Keep Your Cool: Tips for Handling Difficult Students

http://busyteacher.org/6064-keep-your-cool-tips-handling-difficult-students.html

MzTeachuh: Festival of Irish Arts and Music Day 5

MzTeachuh: Festival of Irish Arts and Music Day 5: I also like the one that says, 'May you be in Heaven a half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.' Cousins? That...

Festival of Irish Arts and Music Day 5


I also like the one that says, 'May you be in Heaven a half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.'

Cousins?

That's some pot of gold.

Here's some fun with Irish folklore, film, mirth, music and lively dance.

'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' includes a rundown of many well-known Irish superstitions from leprechauns to banshees, as well as a very young Sean Connery.

'The Secret of Roan Inish' is another film that also reveal lovely Irish landscapes as well as the legend of the silkies.

Numerous fantasy and faerie stories. These are old timey ones by
W.B. Yeats. Read them first yourself before reading them aloud to children; some are rather creepy.

Oh no, not a changling!

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/fip/

Here's more on the gift of gab (remember our Irish American presidents?

Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan

Reagan and Kennedy? They inherited the joke telling and the charm.)

Irish Quotations, Irish Blessings, Irish Proverbs and Irish Toasts

http://tacomaweekly.tripod.com/Irish-Quotations.html

Here is live Irish music from a pub in County Clare--great fun even if you're just drinking O'Douhl's.

Traditional Irish Music - Brogan's Bar - Ennis, Ireland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z_TheGgFWI&list=HL1394432606

Irish dance has worldwide participants and audiences.

Irish dance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance

I don't know if this happens every day at the Dublin Airport, but how cool if it did.

TAKE THE FLOOR Flashmob Dublin Airport

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ff_uLoEBEo

Love the sentiment.

MzTeachuh: Reflets dans l'eau--Reflections in the Water

MzTeachuh: Reflets dans l'eau--Reflections in the Water: Water Lilies, Monet There's more than one kind of reflection: thoughtful reflections are dynamic, too. Debussy, Reflets d...

Reflets dans l'eau--Reflections in the Water

Water Lilies, Monet

There's more than one kind of reflection: thoughtful reflections are dynamic, too.

Debussy, Reflets dans l'eau -- Reflections in Water (James Boyk, solo piano) and smalin's graphics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDlqCX8Qrk

Thursday, March 6, 2014

MzTeachuh: Broadening Learning Horizons Tweets of the Day 3/6...

MzTeachuh: Broadening Learning Horizons Tweets of the Day 3/6...: 1. Cultivating Imagination http://www.edutopia.org/blog/cultivating-imagination-ainissa-ramirez?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post...

Broadening Learning Horizons Tweets of the Day 3/6/14

1. Cultivating Imagination

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/cultivating-imagination-ainissa-ramirez?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-cultivate-imagination-image

2. 5 (Recent) Historical Events You Should Discuss with Your Students

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/recent-historical-events-student-discussion-josh-work?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-recent-historical-events-link

3. Responding to Tragedy: Resources for Educators

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/tragedy-grief-resources-education

4. The 3 E's of Literacy: Strategies to Nurture A Love of Reading

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/3es-nurturing-love-reading-abbie-kopf?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-3-Es-of-lieracy-link

5. 8 Ways to Liven Up the Museum Field Trip

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/liven-up-museum-field-trip-stacey-goodman?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-museum-field-trip-link

6. Sounds & Symbols

http://www.readingrockets.org/shows/launching/sounds?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Hootsuite&utm_campaign=RRSocialMedia

7. First-Grade Close Reading

http://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/2014/02/first-grade-close-reading.html?utm_source=ReadingRockets.org&utm_medium=Twitter

MzTeachuh: Where I Get My Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/6...

MzTeachuh: Where I Get My Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/6...: Special Needs Digest 1. http://www.specialneedsdigest.com/ 2. http://www.disabilityscoop.com/ 3. http://www.ncl...

Where I Get My Special Needs Tweets of the Day 3/6/14

Special Needs Digest

1. http://www.specialneedsdigest.com/

2. http://www.disabilityscoop.com/

3. http://www.ncld.org/

4. http://www.autismspeaks.org/

5. http://www.wrightslaw.com/

Special Education & IEP Advisor

6. http://www.specialeducationadvisor.com/

7. http://www.snagglebox.com/