Week+4



When they are planning their activities they look at the lessons and the requirements and think about how they can get that participation from all their students by making the information and lesson relative to their individual lives. Like how they talked about using AIDS and how much that affects a lot of families and then connecting that to the black plague. Once you can help a student make a personal connection to a topic they better remember and understand the material. Planning activities ahead of time gives them the opportunity to think things through, including activities and material for all ability levels in each one of their classes. I would really like students to be able to sit in more of a group like setting. I think it would be ideal to have tables in the classroom; however that’s not always a very likely set up. If I had desks in my classroom I would still have them in straight lines so that nobody had their backs to the front but so that they were in groups of 2 or 3. Grouping it like this would allow them to be individual when they needed to be but easily a group also when group projects were assigned. I chose this set up because I believe in having students talk things over with each other. Students can learn a lot from what another student might know and it allows everyone to be a leader at some point. This special education classroom has a lot of things going on at one time. There are a lot of different centers and places for the children to be working on their assignments. I think the variety of reward systems and levels that they have established for the classroom encourage the students to work independently and to stay on task. I also think that the way the desks are arranged allows students to work independently. A lot of special education classrooms I have been in consist of tables so that everyone is working together or others are waiting while the teaching is working one-on-one with another student. I really liked the “motivator” because it can sometimes get chaotic in the classroom and you can forget that it has been awhile since you checked who was on task or gave a positive reward. I also liked all of the reward systems, whether it was points or the classroom store. All students like to work hard for something, and these multiple reward choices allow them to work for something they personally would enjoy. Having a morning routine is a great benefit for classrooms of all ages. I really like the idea of a morning routine because it gets students ready to start their day at learning. It gives them a chance to transition from home, recess, and being on the bus to being ready to learn. It allows them to be independent and know exactly what to do when they walk in the door each morning. This allows you to be flexible and moving throughout the classroom helping individual students. It really helps students focus and stay on task. After watching the video having something for them to do as they got to class showed how easily of a transition it makes the morning. I think having a written version of the morning routine is very helpful. Sometimes students forget what order they are supposed to do certain things or every single step so having a written version posted on the wall helps students be independent without having to ask the teacher what to do. You could see a couple of the students in the video go to the sheet to remember what to do next. I could especially see this helpful after a weekend or holiday break because students might forget what exactly they are to do and in what order. Having a written version on the wall makes things easier for the teacher; they are not constantly having students ask them what to do next. Overall it’s a great idea.
 * Question 1**** : The teachers shown in the video clip appear to be preparing a history unit for secondary students. As they are planning the topics and activities for the unit, they refer to the standards and benchmarks required by their state. How do the planned activities encourage participation by all students, including those with exceptional learning needs? **
 * Question 2**** : Listen to the suggestions about room arrangement from the teachers in the video clip. There are times for both individual and group activities in classes. Some teachers keep desks or tables in group formations during individual work. Others revert back to more **
 * traditional rows. Reflect on the type of room arrangement that you would probably be most comfortable with? Why did you choose this arrangement? **
 * Question 3**** : As you become familiar with Mrs. Rich and her classroom, what kinds of strategies do you observe that will encourage student independence, allow evaluation of on-task behavior (by the teacher and by the student), and reward achievement? **
 * Question 4**** : What are some of the benefits of a morning routine? **
 * Question 5**** : In the video, a written version of the morning routine is prominently displayed. What are some of the benefits of this, as shown in the video? **

Pocket: pockets usually hold some type of answer key
=== Holes: problems are written on one side of a card or sheet, and hole is punched beside or underneath each item. The answer to each problem is written on the back of the card next to or under the hole ===

Strips on Folder: strips are cut in one side of the manila folder, then its laminated. worksheets containing problems and answers are inserted into the folder so that only the problem is presented.
== Simple Board Game: a task is placed on a card and can be performed in a few seconds. The student reads the question and then the answer. If the answer is questioned by any of the other players it is challenged and looked up.==

Mystery Detective: an easy game that helps with a students reading comprehension.
__**Self Correcting Activities**__ media type="file" key="SelfCorrecting.wmv" width="300" height="300" __ Large Group Instruction: __ When the teacher uses effective presentation strategies such as demonstration, modeling, and guided practice and supplements them with cooperative learning

*Questions may go unanswered.
__Small Group Instruction:__ Attempt to group students who have similar instructional needs in a specific academic area.

Teachers must do more planning.
__One Student with Teacher:__ used to help student with learning problems learn a new skill. Appropriate for students who are learning skills that are different from rest of the class 