CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2012
CHURCHILL EDUCATION
Educa+on Support
Profile
Robyn Heit (leB), Tara Heit (right)
This month we’re ge/ng a glimpse into the special needs of suppor7ng a child with Down Syndrome. These 7ps are shared by Robyn Heit, based on her experience as a mother to Tara Emily Rose Heit. Tara was born with Down syndrome and despite a degree of intellectual impairment and delayed developmental milestones, showed us that she could and would learn, proudly gradua7ng from High School. Robyn became a teacher aide aBer spending many years volunteering in the classroom to support Tara’s learning. Robyn has shared these strategies for suppor7ng a student with Down syndrome:
Tara & her sister Danika
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Insist on eye to eye contact to ensure instruc7ons have been heard.
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Use clear, simple language.
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FM transmiHer may be used in classroom (to drown out classroom noise).
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Year 7
Seat student where they can see and hear and away from distrac7ons. Low muscle tone can affect both gross and fine motor skills causing 7redness therefore allow regular breaks. Allow wait/take up 7me for instruc7ons. Ask that they follow what is expected of them.
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Use clear, precise instruc7ons, not complex – one at a 7me.
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Ensure repe77on of tasks.
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Break tasks into smaller manageable steps.
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2012
Resources for
Teacher Aides’... Introduction •
Use visuals – 7metables, pictorial support, and self management tasks (e.g. a 7ck sheet for completed tasks).
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Give constant praise.
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Expect and model respecUul behaviour.
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Establish and adhere to rou7nes.
A person with Down syndrome is an individual first and foremost. Use people first language-‐ emphasis should be on the person, not the disability.
Welcome to the first edi7on of Teacher Aides’ Support for 2012, I hope the craziness of the first few weeks at school is star7ng to die down and you are energized and ready for the year ahead. We are very excited to present a new format of our newsleHer and as always -‐ it is a space designed with teacher aides in mind! The theme for this newsleHer is how we learn best and crea7ng opportuni7es for all learners to succeed. In the last edi7on I talked about the idea that one size does not fit all ... not always and it is fi/ng to start the New Year reflec7ng on this. You will find a new Insights and Informa+on sec7on, which is presented as an insert that you can copy and share. It is designed to be
More informa+on can be found at:
hole -‐ punched, ready to be put into a
Down Syndrome Associa7on -‐ www.dsaq.org.au
Resource folder – just for you. This will
CDSS Informa7on Series: Students with Down syndrome -‐
www.cdss.ca .
be a regular feature and in each edi7on we will present a new insight for teacher aides. This month we look at learning styles and strategies to engage, support and scaffold effec7ve student learning.
Hold winning mee+ngs with parents ... every +me. Parents are a wonderful source of knowledge and like you are focused on the best interests of the child. March sees the changing of the seasons and the diary is jam packed with ideas including the celebra7ons of St Patrick’s Day and World Down Syndrome Day to inspire you. Planning is already underway for the 2012 Retreat – circle Monday, October 22 in your diary! It is our privilege to introduce you to some amazing teacher aides in our new Profiles sec7on in 2012. This month we revisit Robyn Heit, a teacher aide at Albany Creek Sate School in QLD, and proud mother of Tara, who was born with Down syndrome. So grab a cuppa, a space to relax and make 7me for you.......Un7l next month...Ruth P.S If you have some ques7ons or would like some content covered in the future, please give me a call or send me an email.
Our Ac+vity Space will give you ideas to excite your students and in you will also find quick +ps for your tool box and classroom support.
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Ruth Kirkby Education Support Specialist Email: ruth@churchilleducation.edu.au
IN THE DIARY 1 March World Maths Day World Maths Day allows students to play at home & at school against other students around the world in live games of mental arithmetic. http:// www.worldmathsday.com/Default.aspx 4 March Clean up Australia Day Schools can be involved in Clean up Australia Day on Friday March 2 with Schools Clean up Day http:// www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au/about/aboutthe-event/clean-up-for-schools 16 March National Say NO to Bullying Day
Schools throughout Australia will celebrate the annual National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence.http:// www.bullyingnoway.com.au/talkout/ nationalday.shtml 17 March St Patrick’s Day Australia turns green on this day to celebrate Irish culture. www.stpatricksday.org.au 20 March World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling. On World Storytelling Day, as many people as possible tell and listen to stories in as many languages and at as many places as possible, during the same day and night. The theme for 2012 is Trees which links nicely to us! http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Storytelling_Day 21 March World Down Syndrome Day This date (21/3) represents the 3 copies of chromosome 21 which is unique with Down syndrome. http://www.ds-int.org/events/wdsd
The popular Paren+ng ideas by Michael Grose has returned although I have selected a Teacher Professional Development ar7cle for this edi7on –
21 March World Harmony Day In 2012 the Harmony theme Sport recognises the positive influence that sport can have in our multicultural nation. www.harmony.gov.au
© Churchill Educa+on Pty Ltd 2012
CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2012
Learning Modali+es
CHURCHILL EDUCATION
EDUCATION SUPPORT NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2012
Professional Development
Ac5vity Space
Hold winning mee5ngs with parents...every 5me! by Michael Grose-‐Australia’s No. 1 paren7ng educator
A great li=le idea from Pinterest kindly posted by Miss Kindergarten. Introducing...the “I’M DONE JAR” Wri5ng some ac5vi5es on paddlepop s5cks, adding a picture on the back for my students who need a li=le more help reading, & glued gems on the top just for fun. Normally, during group lessons you’ll have students who just ‘get it’ and finish their work waaaay before some other students have. Rather then tell those students to look at a book, this will assist them in being more crea5ve and give them a chance to figure out what to do without even having to ask the teacher. You can set up the rules as they suit you, but usually I’d tell them it’s a random pick and they have to take first pick. One day they might get to colour, another day read, write a le=er or draw a picture.
It doesn’t maHer what level or posi7on you hold in a school you’ll be required to work with parents on a one-‐to-‐one basis at some stage. Here are some general principles & ideas to make it easier to work with parents. 1. Always work from the premise of ‘what’s in the best interests of the child.’ This is the star7ng premise towork from and should become the guiding principle in all mee7ngs with parents. This is a par7cularly useful premisewhen a parent’s personal issues or rela7onship issues get in the way and clouds their judgment. It’s best to establish this premise at the start of a mee7ng. ‘Thanks for coming along to this mee7ng. As you know we both want what’s best for your child and that will be the basis of our mee7ng today.’ 2. Always take notes. Seek permission if you think it wise. Always explain to parents that you are taking notes as a record of the mee7ng. This sends a strong message that you value parental input, and it also shows that you are listening to what they say. Records of mee7ngs are also useful to refer back to in the future. 3. Always have a plan. Having a plan is difficult when you are ambushed by a parent but as much as possible go into a mee7ng with a plan of ac7on. This means bringing along work samples, and supplying proof of poor behaviour if that is the purpose of your mee7ng.
SIMPLE STEPS
4. You set the agenda. Some7mes difficult parents can steer the agenda their way, bring in kids when it is inappropriate or try to bully less experienced teachers. Be firm at the start and set the rules and aims for the mee7ng.
1. Take a jar or 5n 2. Decorate/Label “I’m Done” 3. Use Paddlepop s5cks (last longer)
* Tip to Remember: We have more in
4. Write a series of tasks on s5cks
common than we are dissimilar Find
5. Consider 2 jars colour coded with
the common ground to build a
varying degrees of challenging tasks.
rela+onship
Steps to follow DIY GAMES Encourage students to create their own games, based on a topic of learning. It will test their logic skills, engage their learning style & they’ll have a lot of fun. Visual & Kinaesthe5c learners will enjoy the use of colour & the ‘hands on’ approach while auditory learning styles will enjoy the opportunity for self talk & interac5on with others. WikiHow has 5ps on how to create games at h=p://www.wikihow.com/Make-‐Your-‐Own-‐Board-‐Game All you need is cardboard, dice, art supplies & imagina5on.
Memory Pops
Don’t forget!... To book your Free Tool Box Training Workshop (1 hour), delivered on site and Free of Charge. Like St Ambrose’s Catholic Primary School, you can have a free professional development workshop delivered at your school for up to 12 of your school officers. The earlier Tool Box Training Workshops that I released were very popular and received great feedback from par7cipants and principals... To avoid missing out, simply call now to book in your school for a workshop -‐ 1300 793 002 -‐ or send me an email.
1. Check the background of parents. Do your homework first by talking with other teachers, referring to notes or checking school records. This informa7on can be invaluable as you work towards posi7ve outcomes for kids. 2. Assess who should be present. Assess whether you should meet with parents alone, have a colleague present or have a senior teacher or school psychologist present. Similarly decide whether it’s best to have the child present for some or all of a mee7ng. 3. ASend to comfort and calm. Consider how you can make people feel relaxed and at ease. If a parent is obviously angry then acknowledge the emo7on and work at ways at reducing anger so that you can focus on the issues as ra7onally as possible. 4. Establish what parents know. Avoid assuming that a parent knows what’s going on with their child. Check with the parent first about what they know about a situa7on or the issue you are about to discuss. Take this knowledge into account when proceeding. 5. Focus on issues, not posi+on. Many mee7ngs are doomed before they start as one or either party takes a posi7on and spends most of the 7me defending their posi7on. Help parents iden7fy the key issues and manage discussion around those. Priori7ze issues according to levels of importance & long term impact. 6. Maintain control. Generate a variety of possibili7es and op7ons before deciding what needs to be done. Work toward an outcome. Use objec7ve criteria, procedures and reasoning to underpin the thinking that leads to decisions. 7. Be prepared to stop the mee+ng if it gets out of control. If you feel threatened or a person won’t calm down then politely and firmly adjourn for another 7me. Agree to an interim decision, if necessary, or make a considered decision yourself. 8. Follow-‐up. If no follow-‐up mee7ng has been arranged make a note in your diary to follow up the parents at some stage. Assess whether the follow-‐up needs to be done by phone, through a face-‐to-‐face mee7ng or an informal type of mee7ng. Published by Michael Grose Presenta:ons. All rights reserved www.paren:ngideas.com.au
LEARNING STYLES
Learning Style research has shown that many at risk or poorly achieving students have tacJle/kinaestheJc learning strengths. When their individual learning needs are not met they may oLen disengage due to a lack of relevancy, repeated failure or a feeling of alienaJon.
INSIGHTS & INFORMATION How do we learn best? At the beginning of a new school year it is important to make time to get to know your students, their interests, individual needs and how they learn best. Once a successful relationship is established, effective teaching and learning can occur! The idea of learning styles is that each person learns best if information is presented to them in a particular way. Once you know a student’s learning style, you can facilitate new learning so they will grasp it quickly and easily.
Research has shown consistently that when students are taught according to their individual learning style, their academic achievement increases as does their abtude, self esteem, discipline and outlook toward the future. VermeKa & Sheehan Niagra University !
SomeJmes this means that, you have to present informaJon to a student in a way that will engage them but is not the way you learn best. However, if you do not aKempt to accommodate a student’s preferred learning style, you make it harder to get the message across, oLen leading to frustraJon on your part and lack of commitment from the student. A number of different ways of learning are recognised and auditory, visual and kinaestheJc learning styles are just three of them. There are many resources that you can explore to idenJfy your own learning style and help you to understand how a student learns best. These include: hKp://www.googobits.com/arJcles/719-‐understanding-‐ learning-‐styles.html hKp://www.child-‐central.com/learning-‐styles-‐children.html To find out a student's preferred style, you can also observe how, when given a choice, a student presents an assignment. Do they make an oral presentaJon? Act it out? Build a model? Draw something? Write something? Use a power point presentaJon? Once you idenJfy a child’s learning style, you can nourish the best his/her style.
Lecture!
Reading!
!
! !
Audio! visual!
Demonstration!
Discussion!Group! ! Practice!by!doing! !
Teach!others/Immediate! use!of!learning! !
Average' retentio n'rate' ! ! 5%! ! ! ! 10%! ! ! 20%! ! ! 30%! ! ! 50%! ! ! ! 75%! ! ! ! 90%! ! !
Where our leL hemisphere sees the parts to the whole, our right hemisphere understands the whole, big picture. Neither PerspecJve is wrong or less important but only the leL has been rewarded in classrooms & on standardized tests. Allie Golan hKp://www.visual-‐learners.com/books-‐visual-‐spaJal-‐ learners.html
Schools oLen make use of methods that favour auditory and visual learners. Auditory students learn best through speaking and listening and enjoy group work in drama, music and debates. Visual students learn best by seeing. They remember page layouts when recalling informaJon. KinaestheJc learners are more doers that thinkers. They are “hands on” learners who need to be directly or physically involved. The Learning ModaliJes diagram illustrates the benefits of this approach for all learners. KinaestheJc learners can find it difficult to sit sJll and wait for informaJon to be given. They love to explore, are quite acJve and are oLen mistaken as rowdy and undisciplined as schools try to limit their movement.
© Churchill Educa,on Pty Ltd 2012
Ge#ng started -‐ student profiles... Here are some quick Jps for gebng to know more about the students you support. So very important in your role to have this understanding, allowing you to match your teaching with their individual learning needs.
1. Use items from your tool box, such as fidget toys, modelling clay, soL balls or bubble blowing that are fun and engaging, to implement acJviJes that will develop safe, posiJve, relaJonships with students.
2. Create a profile on each student or group. Note their background, interests, family members, friends, learning style, special needs, strengths, weaknesses, triggers, etc. Keep post it notes handy and add to this profile as you discover new things ...
3. “Roam the know” – just like Reading Recovery, find out what a student can do and work with what knowledge they have to build up their confidence and self esteem. This creates a wonderful opportunity for praise as well as highlighJng what the student needs to know and where they need to head.
4. Take a photo of your class, group or the student you support at the beginning of the year and collect and date work samples to add to your profile. Revisit these throughout the year to highlight growth and learning. (Make these photos fun by making weird & wonderful faces, poses or by dressing up)
5. Set learning or behaviour goals for a week, month, term or year. (e.g. mastering the tricky ‘e’ when wriJng my name or being able to write an informaJon report on my own) Record these and place in an envelope, (stored in the profile) so they can be opened at a later date for review.
6. NegoJate an agreement with each student to: a. outline expectaJons of both the student and the teacher aide b. encourage posiJve behaviour c. develop rules for the use of a fidget toy, such as a troll. This could take the form of a contract, agreement or cerJficate and once signed, stored in the profile.
© Churchill Educa,on Pty Ltd 2012