The Exceptional Times...The Exceptional Times A publication for Exceptional Children’s personnel...
Transcript of The Exceptional Times...The Exceptional Times A publication for Exceptional Children’s personnel...
May 2015 / 1
The Exceptional Times
A publication for Exceptional Children’s personnel in
Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools
2015 Special Olympics
Inside This Issue
Special Olympics 1
Behavior Support 2-3
Brain Workout 4
TeachED—Got TED? 5-6
Professional Dev. 7
Autism 8
Grant Info 9
Easy IEP 10
Process 11
Parent Survey 12
May 2015
May 2015 / 2
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of individuals with disa-bilities and/or gifts and talents. There are many benefits to joining. You will gain access to evidence-based articles to broaden your knowledge. You will receive news and information to keep you up-to-date. You will have the opportunity to engage in conversations that will stimulate your
thinking. You will have the advantage of discounts to save you money. Most importantly, you will be able to make connections to expand your relationships. To learn more about CEC membership, click here. For more information about how to join and the benefits of joining CEC, you can contact Mary Todd-Allen at [email protected] or Amanda White at [email protected].
Visit the CEC website at www.cec.sped.org!
In March, the NC DPI PRC-29 consultant conducted a validation visit with the Behavior Sup-
port Team (BST). The state consultant referred to our district as being a “model for the
state.” The consultant said, “This is the only visit I have made where I could offer no sugges-
tions for improvement, only praise what has been done.” In fact, the team was asked to pre-
sent at regional meetings about progress monitoring, data collection, and parent involvement.
Congratulations to the Behavior Support Team for all of your hard work!
Behavior Support Team
BST Help Sessions:
May 28, 2015 3:00-5:00
Validation Tool Success!
Remaining NCI Training:
May 4 Refresher Special Services
May 11-12 Initial Gathering Place
June 10 Refresher Gathering Place & CC
Join the
Council for Exceptional Children
TODAY!
Submitted by Shannon Dobson
May 2015 / 3
The Behavior Support Team and the PBIS Coaches frequently refer to The Tough Kid Book for practical class-
room management strategies. This book contains proactive, positive techniques to manage and motivate the
Tough Kids in your classroom. One example from this book is called The Chance Jar strategy, which uses a
group contingency and could be effective if peer encouragement would have a positive effect on specific
behaviors.
How to use Chance Jars…
The Chance jar strategy is a mixed group contingency that incorporates dependent, interdependent, and inde-
pendent group contingencies to reduce disruptive behavior and improve classroom rule-following. Variations
of the program have been used in both elementary and secondary classrooms. The steps to setting up and im-
plementing the program are as follows:
Step 1: Classroom rules must be in place
Step 2: Create three Jars and label them Group Jar, Student Jar, and Mystery Motivator Jar;
The Group Jar contains slips of paper with one of four group contingencies on them; Whole class, One
student, All who meet it, and Wild Card.
The Student Jar contains a slip of paper with the name of each student in the class.
The Mystery Motivator Jar holds slips of paper with various reinforcers (i.e. free time, homework pass,
or class game). You can ask students for suggestions of rewards that do not take a lot of time or
cost a lot of money.
Step 3: Create a Rule-Following Log with the names of all students and spaces to record/tally all rule infrac
tions.
Step 4: Explain that the class can earn rewards by complying with the classroom rules.
Step 5: Tell students that each time they break a rule you will place a tally mark next to their name in the Rule-
Following Log. Determine the criterion level for reinforcement – for example, three or fewer marks for
rule breaking.
Step 6: At the end of the day or class period, randomly draw a slip of paper from the Group Jar. If the slip
drawn says:
Whole class – the whole class has to meet the criterion for reinforcement to occur.
One Student – then you draw a name from the Student Jar and if that student met the criterion, the
whole class gets the reward. Note: this is a dependent group contingency. The name of the student
drawn should remain anonymous. The student’s name does not need to be revealed.
All who met it – Only those students who met the criterion will get the reward.
Wild Card – All students receive the reward!! This is used to help students who have had a bad day re-
main motivated.
Step 7: Randomly select a slip of paper from the Mystery Motivator to determine the reward.
The Tough Kid Book, 2nd
Edition by Ginger Rhode, William R Jenson, and H. Keaton Reavis
Submitted by Laura Camp
Behavior Support Team - The Chance Jar Strategy
Group
Jar
Student
Jar
Mystery
Motivator
May 2015 / 4
May Brain Teaser
Kindness is the language
which the deaf can hear
and the blind can
see……
Mark Twain
Quote of the
Month
The most difficult tongue twister in the
English language is:
“sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick”
Approximately one new word is added to the English language every two hours and around 4,000 new words are added to the English dictionary every year
There is no word in the English language that rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple
The word ‘hundrath’ in Old Norse (old lan-guage from where English language origi-nated), from which word ‘hundred’ de-rives, meant not 100 but 120.
Different names for the number 0 include zero, nought, naught, nil, zilch and zip
1. Each of the following groups of
letters can be anagrammed into
at least two words. Unscramble
the letters.
EFIRSSU---EEMPRSU---EENPRST
2. One word among the following is
the odd man out. Which one, and
why?
CORSET--COSTER--SECTOR--
ESCORT--COURTS
Email submissions to:
Due to the high number of submissions, we
need to make some changes to our guide-
lines. Entries will be accepted through the
second Friday of each publication month.
All submissions will be entered into a draw-
ing whereas three winners will be randomly
selected! These winners will receive recogni-
tion in the EC Times as well as a special
prize! Good luck to all!
Do we all have “attention deficits”? Or is there some-thing else going on?
Let’s try this little experiment, conceived by Si-mons and Chabris for their clas-sic study on sus-tained in-attentional blind-ness (1999).
Click picture to the right to watch a brief video clip, and your chal-lenge is to count the total num-ber of times that the bas-ket-balls change hands OR go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo
May Brain Teaser Did You Know…..
Test Your Attention
May 2015 / 5
LaRhona Williams and Ms. Lovell Sims’
readiness class at Caleb’s Creek Elemen-
tary School is an exciting and fun place to
be. On this particular day, the students
were completing some subtraction prob-
lems using Touch Math. Mrs. Williams
taught the numbers and the touch points to
mastery. Now, students will draw touch
points on numbers as needed to add or
subtract then fade them as they no longer
need them. The students are excited and
are learning! Please take a moment to
view this short video.
Alicia Clement, EC Resource Teacher at Walk-
ertown High School, is an amazing asset to the
students, families, and staff. She goes above and
beyond every day. Ms. Clement is willing to
help students and co-workers in any way possi-
ble. If asked to help, there is no doubt it will be
done and done well! Ms. Clement spends hours
outside of work continuing to share her passion
for educational excellence. She has an uncanny
ability to help her students understand academic
concepts and apply them to their schoolwork
and post-secondary goals. Her enthusiasm and
energy are infectious and help keep the atmos-
phere at Walkertown High positive. Both stu-
dents and staff know, without a doubt, that Ali-
cia is always ready to lend a helping hand and
offer support. We are so grateful to have Ms.
Clement at WHS!!
LaRhonda Williams and
Lovelle Sims Love
Touch Math
Walkertown HS is Grateful
for Alicia Clement
TeachED– Growing One Idea and One Story at a Time!
WS/FCS VI Staff: Donna Hunt,
Jessica Eichfeld, Shannon Pruitt
Submitted by Tracy Pittman
May 2015 / 6
Margarita Murden is an EC Teacher Assis-
tant at Hanes Middle School. Her duties include but are not limited to: Resource
Para Professional (Science, Trans Math, ELA and Social Studies), support students
(social /academic / behavior), maintain daily documentation, asssist EC teacher with
guided practice teaching, trained Trans Math and Corrective Reading, teaches 2 Cor-
rective Classes Daily, provide General Ed support (Science) and assist with bus du-
ties afterschool etc.
Margarita Murden aka “Mama Murden’s” impact is amazing as she has a special, nat-
ural gift that makes the difference not only among EC students and teachers but the
Hanes community as well. She wears many hats and her willingness and dedication
are unconditional, regardless of the need and people involved. Her calm nurturing
mannerism in dealing with students’ academic, social, and/or at-risk behaviors is
astonishing. Her experience encompasses various disabilities and ability levels in-
cluding the MAP program. Her quality time with students and adults leaves a golden imprint which is unforgetta-
ble. One person can make a difference, and Margarita Murden “Mama Murden” does!
TeachED– Growing One Idea and One Story at a Time!
Pizza = Motivation! Submitted by Diane Sperber
One incentive I use to keep the Re-source students on track and moti-vated, is as they complete a level in
Corrective Reading or Number Worlds we have a pizza party!
It is time for celebration this week!
3 students completed Number Worlds level C
1 student completed Number Worlds level D
3 students completed Corrective Reading level A
Allison Wilson
Cash ES
Sandra Johnson
Carter High
School
Aaron
Snyder
KMS
Talib Free-
man with
Dr. Cone!
An EC Stu-
dent from
Paisley was
another
March
Brain Tease
Winner!
Jay Jones
Walkertown
HS Carter
Our very own Sherry Stancliff has received her school specialty
certification from the American Occupational Therapy Associa-
tion (AOTA). She is one of a few distinguished Occupational
Therapists in the country, actually one of twelve. She is the
very first OT in our state to receive the school specialty certification. This certification was initiated
by the AOTA in the Fall of 2013. This is a very rigorous process of self-examination along with sub-
mission of writings to show your knowledge and interpretation of assessments and treatments of
students. Congratulations to Sherry!!! She can now add these credentials to her professional signa-
ture, SCSS. Submitted by Loretta Bumgarner
National OT School
Specialty Certification
“Mama Murden”
@ Hanes Middle A
pril W
inn
ers!
May 2015 / 7
Professional Development Team
Submitted by Doria Sullivan
End of Year Procedures
It’s that time of the year again! As we prepare to close out another successful school year,
please look over the following list. We want to make sure our students’ instructional needs
are taken care!
Students in Fifth Grade: Please fill out an instructional profile card noting their strengths,
weaknesses, suggestions and/or concerns as it pertains to program implementation. Then
write the students’ name on the front, top-right corner of their workbook. Please send
these to the case manager at the Middle School they will be attending 2015-2016. If you
are not sure which middle school they plan to attend, contact your case manager and/or
guidance counselor for this information. Please have the IP card and workbook in the in-
ner-office mail by June 15th. (Your instructional coach will provide IP cards to you soon!)
Students in Eighth Grade: Please fill out an instructional profile card noting their
strengths, weaknesses, suggestions and/or concerns as it pertains to program implementa-
tion. Then write the students’ name on the front, top-right corner of their workbooks.
Please send these to your case manager. They will send these on to their middle school
case manager. Case Managers– Please have the IP card and workbook in the inner-office
mail by June 15th. ( Your instructional coach will provide IP cards to you soon!)
Inventory– Our EC Inventory System is up and running! In an effort to barcode and enter
all EC Materials into this database, we need your help! If you have materials YOU DO
NOT NEED, please box these items up and send to : Bookroom / Special Services Center.
For all other materials, we are asking our teachers to fill out an Inventory Sheet. This
sheet should include ALL EC MATERIALS IN YOUR POSSESSION! We are finalizing
next steps and will communicate our plan to you soon! This is a GREAT time to clean out
those cabinets and get rid of materials you don’t use. Remember, one man’s trash is an-
other man’s treasure! We look forward to restocking our bookroom with materials that
another EC teacher will use next year! ( Your instructional coach will provide Inventory
Sheets to you soon!)
Teaching and Testing– Steve Oates, Assistant Superintendent over Elementary Schools
recently send an email to all principals that said, “ Just a reminder that we can’t ask EC
teachers to cancel services to assist with testing ”. We thank him for his support!
May 2015 / 8
Impacts 1 in 68 children
5 times more common in boys than in girls
Commonly co-occurs with other developmental, psychiatric, neurologic, chromosomal and genetic diagnoses
About half of children with ASD have above to above average intellectual ability
Occurs in all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups
Local Resources for Families impacted by ASD:
Forsyth Chapter of the Autism Society of North Carolina
http://chapters.autismsociety-nc.org/forsythcounty
iCanHouse of Winston-Salem
http://www.icanhouse.org/about/
Celebrating Autism Awareness!
Submitted by AU Team
Statistics about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from the CDC:
AU Teachers at Southwest Elementary School Go Above and Beyond! Submitted by Anne Parra
Awareness of children with Autism Spectrum
Disorder was certainly increased during the
month of April at Southwest Elementary
School due to the efforts of Beth Dodson,
Claire Bonin (speech pathologists), Courtney
Fischer (PreK teacher) and the entire EC staff.
Each week during April, Beth, Claire and
Courtney introduced a theme and provided
presentations and handouts to the faculty that
centered on the challenges that ASD children
present and effective classroom strategies.
These weekly themes included Sensory/
Behavior Challenges, Communication Chal-
lenges, Academic Challenges, and Social Inter-
action Challenges. Thanks to the entire EC
staff at Southwest Elementary for increasing
Autism Awareness! Click the link below!
Local WS/FCS Elementary Teachers Celebrate Autism Awareness Month http://www.camelcitydispatch.com/local-elementary-
May 2015 / 9
1. Carrie Anazia - Ibraham Elementary School - $2,090 to attend the Singapore Math Grade Level
Workshop Series
2. Cynthia Greer - Parkland High School - $1,390 to attend the Wired Differently national conference
3. Nela Hawley – Union Cross Elementary School - $2,265 to attend workshops through Jensen
Learning
4. Miranda Jones – Hanes Middle School - $1,500 for the International Literacy Association confer-
ence
5. Robert Oaster – Paisley Middle School - $1,285 to attend the Council for Exceptional Children Na-
tional Conference
6. Angela Penny – Walkertown Middle School - $1,074.49 for training in working with students who
need social and behavioral skill training
7. Cassie Robacker – Middle Fork Elementary School - $2,200 to attend the International Conference
on Learning Disabilities
8. Elia Spencer – The Special Children’s School - $2,280 for the TEACCH professional certification
program
9. Alisha Taylor – Diggs-Latham Elementary School - $1,325 for a workshop on project-based learning
10. Oneica Westmoreland – Hospital Homebound Education Center - $1,000 to attend the Council for
Children with Behavioral Disorders conference
11. Amanda White – Lowrance Middle School - $1,530 for the TEACCH professional certification
program
So are you ready to write your first (or second or third etc.) grant proposal? The NC Bright Ideas
Grant program is sponsored by North Carolina's Energy Cooperatives and provides grant funds
for innovative classroom ideas. Energy United in Statesville is the sponsoring cooperative for
the WSFCS. Teachers in K-12 may apply for grants of up to $2,000 for their classroom projects.
You may apply online and must do so before the deadline of September 30, 2015. But don’t wait
until the fall, because the early bird gets the worm. You may begin submitting your grant appli-
cations now by visiting their web site at http://www.ncbrightideas.com and click under "apply
now" and then the link you need to get your process started. The site has a sample application
for you to view as well. This is an example of a funder with a focus on general classroom ideas.
EC Grant Winners & More Grant Opportunities!
Submitted by Program Managers
May 2015 / 10
Child Count
Thanks for your assistance with April Child Count.
Remember to continue to let Ginger Haynes or Lynise Birch know when a student withdraws
to go to another state or district.
Cleaning Up Records
If you finalize something by mistake, please email Ginger Haynes with the student name, ID #
and the Doc ID for the document that is incorrect.
The Doc ID is listed to the left of the document on the student’s Documents screen.
Finalizing Documents
Remember to finalize all documents for a meeting within a day or two of the date the meeting
was held.
The information in EasyIEP for all final documents should match what is on the hard copy
placed in the student’s folder.
Contact the EC Division if you have questions regarding this.
Related Services
For therapists to be able to document screenings, evaluations and/or services, the related
service must be added to the Service Delivery screen.
After documentation has been completed, the service may be removed from the service deliv-
ery screen if the student will not be receiving services in that area.
The related services provider will enter the sessions and time, if the student will be getting
services.
Contact the EC Division if you have questions regarding this.
Additional Modules
As additional modules are rolled out, you may see some screen changes.
Continue to complete all EC work under the EC Process as usual.
Submitted by Ginger Haynes
EASY IEP UPDATES
May 2015 / 11
Process: The Life of a Goal!
IEP Goals: Things You Know
The IEP goal page is the most essential component of an IEP.
IEP present levels and goals should be easy to understand
If you can’t understand a goal in the first reading…………..neither will anyone else.
IEP goals should be attainable.
IEP goals should be realistic.
IEP goals must be measurable so that parents and school personnel can establish how much progress has
been made on reaching the goal.
So, Are your IEP goals ‘Smart goals’?
Have you ever heard of the ‘Smart goal’? It originated in 1981 (and by the way…nothing to do with special education). The ‘s.m.a.r.t’ goals concept was liked and soon became very popular. As with many things that become “catchy”, there were those that began to share their thoughts and ideas. As a result, each letter began to mean different things to different types of groups but always centered around the means and madness of attaining a specific GOAL.
The definition of the acronym that has been the most popular is:
S. - Specific
M. - Measurable
A. – Achievable
R. - Realistic
T. – Time based
Well as you can imagine, it didn’t stop there ………someone just had to go and add more letters.
‘Smart’ goals grew into ‘S.M.A.R.T.E.R.’ goals by adding ‘E’ and ‘R’:
E - Evaluate
R - Re-evaluate
So, now we have the ‘Smarter’ goals (sounds like a special educator came sneaking in):
S. - Specific
M. - Measurable
A. – Achievable
R. – Realistic
T. – Time based
E. – Evaluate
R. - Reevaluate
But what does all this mean for us? Businesses and motivational speakers continue to use this because it works: focused and results oriented. With the growing emphasis on progress monitoring, IEP Teams need to be reminded to stick to basics of the simple version of ‘s.m.a.r.t.’ goals. If the IEP goals are really ‘smart’ goals, the progress monitoring (evaluate/reevaluate) will flow from annual to annual.
Specific
Measurable: Identifies evidence/data
Achievable: Action Oriented / Identifies outcomes
Realistic: Rigorous, and Results-Focused
Timed and Tracked: Timelines clearly defined
Submitted by Donna Weisner
May 2015 / 12
Exceptional Children Parent Survey
Each year, as required by the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs
(OSEP), the NC Department of Public Instruction, Exceptional Children Division, (NC DPI) reports
on the status of NC students with disabilities. Using twenty different indicators set by OSEP, the re-
port addresses a variety of areas such as achievement toward academic standards, graduation
rates, meeting timelines, transitioning to life after high school, parent participation, etc. An annual
Parent Survey is used to collect data on Indicator 8, which addresses parent participation.
Indicator 8: Percent of parents with a child receiving special education services who report
that schools facilitated parent involvement as a means of improving services and results for chil-
dren with disabilities.
The Parent Survey was sent at the end of April to a number of parents of students with disabilities
in selected schools asking questions about whether the school encourages parent involvement as a
means of improving services and results for their child. The majority of the Parent Surveys should
have been sent home with students. Please encourage parents to complete the survey and mail
them in the stamped return envelope.
Some students may no longer be at your school, but they can still participate. You can forward their
survey to them if you know which school they transferred to or if you have a home address on file. If
you do not know where to forward the survey of a student no longer at your school, please return it
to Heather Surratt with the EC Division at the Admin. Center.
The results from the Parent Survey will provide valuable feedback and recommendations will be
made to improve services to children and youth with disabilities.
Parent Survey
May 2015 / 13
Submitted by Donna Weisner