From The White House: Hello Everyone, In order to help keep you more informed, we host monthly calls to update you on various disability issues as well as to introduce you to persons who work on disability issues in the Federal government. This call is open to everyone, and we strongly urge and ask that you distribute this email broadly to your networks and listservs so that everyone has the opportunity to learn this valuable information. I would encourage you to call in about five minutes early due to the large volume of callers. The conference call information is below. Date of Call: 4/30/2012 Start Time: 2:00 p.m. EDT (dial in 5 minutes early) Dial in: (800) 553-5275 Code: "Disability Conference Call" For live captioning, at the start time of the event, please login by clicking on the link below. Please only use this feature if you are deaf or hard of hearing. http://www.fedrcc.us//Enter.aspx?EventID=1936760&CustomerID=321 This call is off the record and not for press purposes.  If you received this email as a forward but would like to be added to the White House Disability Group email distribution list, please visit our website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/disability-issues-contact and fill out the "contact us" form in the disabilities section, or you can email us at disability@who.eop.gov and provide your full name, city, state, and organization.

Greetings: The Top 10 Ways Not to Greet Your Child

How do you like to be greeted?  Doesn't it make you feel good and secure when someone gives you their full attention and an enthusiastic greeting?  Well think about how your children feel when they see you in the morning, after school, or when you pick them up from an activity.  At these times, loving communication is key. 

So, here are the top 10 ways not to greet your child:

• You're on the phone
• You're texting
• You're on your computer
• You're checking your calendar
• Asking what homework they have
• Correcting them as soon as you see them 
• Bringing up something they recently did wrong
• Not making eye contact with them
• Not smiling at them
• Letting your bad mood make you grouchy with them

 © 2010 iMOM. All Rights Reserved. Family First, All Pro Dad, iMOM, and Family Minute with Mark Merrill are registered trademarks.

Strategies for Meeting All Students' Needs

By Laurie Wasserman

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Whether you're a special education teacher or not, you likely teach students who are on the autism spectrum or who have learning disabilities, dyslexia, ADHD, anxiety disorders, or emotional disabilities.

Differentiating instruction for such students can be challenging. But as an urban middle school teacher with more than 30 years of experience, I've identified some strategies that increase the chances that we're meeting all students' needs on a daily basis.

Collaborate with colleagues. I currently work with a teacher team that is well-synchronized when it comes to serving diverse learners.

As a learning disabilities teacher, I ensure that, from day one, all teachers are familiar with our 6th grade students' individualized education plans (IEPs) and necessary modifications.

Two sections of students in our grade are co-taught by special education faculty and content-specific teachers. Our paraprofessional and I alternate each day between the two sections. We move from class to class alongside our students, carrying binders with copies of all student materials so that we can co-teach alongside our colleagues.

Throughout the year, I co-plan with teachers, discussing tests, quizzes, projects and just day-to-day routines. We work on progress reports, reflect on our teaching strategies, and share concerns about students who may be struggling.

Cultivate consistency. For some of our 6th grade students, the shift to middle school is their first experience with "changing classes" throughout the day. Some consistency across classes can be helpful for students who have IEPs and those who simply need familiar routines and structure.

In each class, the general education teacher posts an agenda for the day on the board. And all classes begin with some kind of opportunity for students to review material or make the bridge to a new topic. A "science starter," for example, might require students to describe what phase of the moon occurs during a solar eclipse, or math class may begin with a quick problem that asks students to translate fractions into decimals. This provides all students with the opportunity to connect the class with previous learning.

The homework, posted on the board, is always explained verbally and accompanied by reminders to "take out your agendas and copy this down." Co-teachers circulate the classroom to ensure each student is copying information correctly.

We use common policies and procedures across classes. For example, if students forget to turn in major projects or take tests when they are absent, they'll find an "IOU" task listed on the blackboard.

Develop a student-centered mindset. Our efforts to boost learning are most effective when we share the same philosophy: It's about the kids, not us.

From the English/language arts teacher to the art teacher, all of us know about students' modifications: "who needs what" for tests, quizzes, classwork, and homework. Most students with learning disabilities (along with many of our English-language learners) use word banks when completing homework, classwork, and tests. For students who have difficulty copying, teachers provide printed copies of all notes, although they expect the students to try note-taking (often a goal in their IEPs). Some readers have access to novels on CDs. In math class, some use math reference sheets, a multiplication chart, and calculator—even on tests.

But a "student-centered mindset" goes beyond initial modifications: We pay close attention to individual students' progress and adjust our approaches throughout the year. If a student is struggling, our response isn't, "Well, that doesn't surprise me!" or "I've done my part—oh well." Instead, it's, "Why is this student struggling and what can we do to help?"

For example, sometimes it turns out that a student hasn't done her work because she needs a less distracting environment or additional guidance in understanding the project. We respond by offering opportunities for her to get an early start on projects and long-term assignments, both during and after school.

Our 6th grade team also made this decision: If any student performs poorly on a test, we analyze the data, then work with him or her individually or in a small group to re-teach the skills and concepts. Then students have the opportunity to retake the test after school or at lunchtime.

Set aside time to focus on study skills and extra support. Most students with IEPs attend a class that focuses on development of organizational and study skills. We also use this time to review concepts and guide students in understanding homework assignments. Because our paraprofessional and I have been observing and supporting students in all of their classes, we can make strategic decisions about how to structure this time.

Use multiple forms of assessment. Tests are never more than 35 to 40 percent of a child's grade (which also includes consideration of classwork, homework, participation/preparation, and projects). This ensures multiple opportunities to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in a variety of ways.

Draw on other professionals' expertise. Serving all students effectively requires us to pull in others promptly when students need specialized assistance. We have to be aware of when it's time to do so—and whom to contact. Our team regularly calls on our speech and language therapist, reading teachers, occupational therapist, school psychologist, and guidance counselors to advise us or to work with students on specific issues.

Partner with families. Last, but certainly not least, it's critical to involve families in the process of reaching all students, as some of my Teacher Leaders Network colleagues have been discussing this month at Teaching Ahead. Our 6th grade team's weekly common planning time provides an opportunity for families to meet with us as a group. We're flexible—if a parent or guardian is unable to come into the school, we set up phone meetings, check-ins with the team over email, and/or weekly progress reports.

I work with a great team this year—and I shudder to think that some of you may be reading this and thinking, "Yeah, this would be useful, if I had different (fill in the blank: administrators, colleagues, support staff, planning time)."

I know what you mean—I've been there—but I also think that you can, as Gandhi put it, "be the change you wish to see in the world." Be the one to push for common planning time (and to use it well). Be a dissenting voice when others say a particular student is a failure. Be the one who inspires colleagues to think outside the box about how to support that student. Be a teacher who is committed to helping all students succeed. You are not alone.

Laurie Wasserman has been a special education teacher for the past 31 years. She is a National Board-certified teacher, new teacher mentor, member of The National Writing Project, and a Teacher Leaders Network member. She is also a co-author ofTEACHING 2030: What We Must Do for Our Students and Our Public Schools, Now and in the Future. Her passions include teaching, collaborating with fellow educators, and helping new teachers.

Don’t Call Me At Home: Effective Communication with your child’s special educators

Communicating with your child’s teacher is a must for every parent. For parents of a child with special needs it is critical. So the big question is how and when do I speak to my child’s teacher? The answer is not so simple: Phone Calls Managing the time between when the kids come home from school until when they go to bed requires all my skills. This is when my three children need to complete their homework, eat dinner, attend their after school activities, negotiate getting out of their chores, and finagle a few extra minutes before bedtime. One year a teacher decided to donate some of “her time” to call me about 7 p.m. to discuss school. In the middle of our evening, the phone would ring and I would suddenly find myself in an impromptu parent-teacher meeting. Leaving my husband to manage the last of the homework assignments and the bedtime routines, I sat and spoke with the teacher. I never felt like the conversations made much of an impact on my daughter’s school day. In addition, by the time our conversation was done, I felt annoyed that I had missed the precious time with my family. My husband felt annoyed that he was left to attend to everyone’s needs without any advance warning. Email In my efforts to avoid surprise phone calls, I switched my mode of communication to emailing. This proved to be more of a disaster than the surprise phone calls. Within emails there is no room for interpretation and tone. Messages read without knowledge of the intent of the sender can result in hostility. In addition, there just isn’t enough space to describe and explain the complexities of educating a child with special needs. I have learned that teachers do not like reading long emails. I now have reserved email for simple clarification of assignments and procedural messages.

Smiley Face Chart As a teacher for the past 23 years I am guilty of sending daily behavior charts home. It wasn’t until I started receiving them (as a parent) that my opinion of them greatly changed! I believe that the daily behavior chart should only be used for shaping one targeted behavior that you want to develop. It should be paired with a positive behavioral support plan that is developed to support the child. When a child has greater needs, this plan is a formal document that is signed by the parent. Positive reinforcements are developed to reward the behavior you want to shape. In addition, for a child that has an IEP, this should also be linked to a specific goal in the IEP. When my daughter was young, she wouldn’t leave her shoes on in school. I was receiving a daily smiley face chart. It had a smiley face, a straight face, and a frown face. Most every day I opened her folder to see the sad face was circled on the chart. In the context of my evening with my family, how did this help us? I had no power to influence what was going on at school. Every time I saw the sad face I felt annoyed and helpless.

Paraprofessional Rather than daily written reports, we switched to having my daughter’s paraprofessional speak to me after school daily. However, paraprofessionals are not in charge of educational decisions. So after talking to me, the paraprofessional had to translate my information to the teacher. We have all played the game “Telephone” as children–as we learned the end message is never the same. Just Talk to Me After nine years of trying new communication methods, I have finally decided to talk with the teacher directly. Since my daughter is in middle school, the teacher and I have arranged for me to pick up my daughter a few minutes early and while I am putting my daughter in the car, the resource room teacher tells me a little about her day and assignments. Since my daughter is non-verbal, this information is priceless! In addition, I have an immediate opportunity to ask clarifying questions. If a concern arises, I know I will be seeing the teacher after school. They key is to honor the teacher’s time and while it is tempting on most days, I try not to talk to her more than 5 minutes.

Meetings In addition to short, daily contact, once a month I schedule a 30-minute meeting to discuss my daughter’s access to the general education curriculum. I bring samples of her work that I enjoy seeing and things I have questions about. In middle school, the resource room teacher coordinates all the support staff so I only need to talk to her. It feels organized and effective. It has been my experience that the more needs a child has, the more need there is to effectively communicate with people at school. I have three children. Other than parent-teacher conferences they haven’t heard much from me regarding the education of our sons! However, my oldest daughter has special needs and requires much more communication to effectively monitor her IEP goals and her daily happiness. I now feel free from daily phone calls and charts. I am now free to attend to the needs of my family without wondering if the phone will ring. So… How do you communicate with your child’s teachers?

10 Tips for Making Middle School Work for Kids With Autism

Hi everyone, I am reaching out to autism organizations, parents and advocates to share my latest article :-) 10 Tips for Making Middle School Work for Kids With Autism A positive experience...a time of maturity, growth, and independence http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/autism-in-real-life/201204/10-tips-making-middle-school-work-kids-autism Thanks! ~Kym

Tip 12: Professionally “Publish” a Personalized Book // Paula Kluth: Toward Inclusive Classrooms and Communities

Tip 12: Professionally “Publish” a Personalized Book // Paula Kluth: Toward Inclusive Classrooms and Communities:

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Wrightslaw Special Education & Advocacy Conference, Charlotte, NC (May 3, 2012)

If you haven't attended one of Pete Wright's conferences, please consider attending....the information is invaluable.

Wrightslaw Special Education & Advocacy Conference, Charlotte, NC (May 3, 2012)