Tuesday, March 13, 2012

RR 30 10 best practices for conducting an IEP



  1. Provide clear, reliable data and information about the student’s achievement, socialization, and behavior in your classroom.
  2. Always display a positive attitude towards the parent and student
  3. Allow the parent to have full input regarding their thoughts and desires
  4. Allow the student to have full input regarding their thoughts and desires
  5. Assure that all participants are introduced
  6. Assure that all school personnel are seated on time.
  7. Be sure to address only the aspects of the student's academic and behavioral responses related to the disability. 
  8. Review previous IEP goals with everyone present. 
  9. Be sure everyone knows who is responsible for what before ending the meeting. 
  10. Do not use teacher speak, speak using language that is easily understood by the parents and student

RR 28 Describe 3 differentiation strategies for Mwajabu

Differentiation Strategies:

  1. Process: Do not have her speak spontaneously as she struggles with this skill. Give her time to formulate answers and express them when she is ready.
  2. Process: Keep information strings short, less than 3 minutes
  3. Process: Use a variety visual aids to assist her understanding of material
  4. Product: allow her time to compete assessments without interruption
  5. Content, Process, Product: allow her to draw within all of these areas
  6. Process: Allow her to pick the students she works with or in proximity to.

RR 27 Identify key information for Mwajabu to inform ed goals/supports for IEP




Key information that will inform educational goals and supports for her IEP.

1. Didn't attend school for 1st 18-months in U.S.
2. Has potential hearing loss (never recieved educational supports)
3. Speaks Swahili and a tribal language.
4. Knows math facts and simple division problems. Math is her strength.
5. Great Visual memorizer
6. Very rigid, task- orientated work ethic
7. Has to start and finish a task, uninterrupted. (Starts from beginning if interrupted)
8. Enjoys drawing/ communicating through drawing pictures (comic strip- like sequences)
9. Received vocab level score of 11 years 5 months (she's 14)
10. Scored at 10 years 3 months level on one-word picture vocabulary test
11. Shows delays on all subjects except grammatical completion (84th percentile)
12. Cooks with mom, knows equlivances with measuring cups but not decimals and fractions.
13 She has a significant delay in expressive vocabulary
14. She may not realize that what she says and does has an effect on her environment
15. Cannot read sentences longer than three words.
16. Difficulty with abstract concepts.
17. Strong support at home.
18. Is willing to work at problems she is presented if done on overhead
19. Does better with visual aids, such as acting out things or having them drawn

Monday, March 12, 2012

RR 26 Differentiation for Leanna

I would use some of these strategies to differentiate for Leanna


  1. Process: I would assure that she is working in a group with other young women that will be kind to her and may have similar backgrounds or interest in an attempt to help her develop socially and connect with some of her peers.
  2. Product: When doing short answer work/assessments I would provide her with model sentences to guide her in the writing process. 
  3. Content: I would differentiate the content related reading by providing her with material that covers the same information but in a manner that would be more accessible for her.
  4. Process: to help her organize her thoughts prior to writing I would have her use a graphic organizer.
  5. Content: I would provide her with a key vocabulary terms sheet for every chapter. 
  6. Process: I would give her time to organize and think about her writing before turning it in.

RR 25 Identify key information for Leanna goals/supports


Key information that will inform educational goals and supports for her IEP.
  1. She is Hardworking
  2. shy with other students and staff
  3. Oral reading is good
  4. Comprehension is low
  5. Vocabulary is low in writing
  6. Organizational skills in writing are low
  7. Spelling is a strength
  8. Difficulty in math
  9. Test Results
  10. Self reported that current services are beneficial
  11. Mild level of cognitive impairment
  12. She is weak at tasks requiring her to remember numbers and letters presented orally
  13. Current academic skills are in the 6th percentile
  14. She can perform basic math skills
  15. Difficulty with multi-digit multiplication, long division, common fractions.
  16. Reading at 4.0-4.5 level / literal comprehension is 70% / Vocab @ 50%
  17. Difficulty using decoding strategies. 
  18. Can answer comprehension questions about details, sequential events and drawing conclusions.
  19. Does not make generalizations or inferences accurately
  20. Writes complete sentences when given a model to follow.
  21. Can write series of simple sentences without a model
  22. Spontaneous writing is not well organized.
  23. Can write paragraphs but they are more like grouped sentences not paragraphs.

Monday, February 27, 2012

RR22: PROVIDE peer feedback for each Peer Group ITU.

RR21: IDENTIFY how you can use these assessment strategies in TPA Tasks.

I actually used all of the strategies mentioned in RR19 on my TPA. I felt that these were valid and useful differentiation strategies and will continue to incorporate them when appropriate.

RR 20 IDENTIFY 2-3 assessment strategies you can use in your unit.



One of the major assessment strategies that I will use in my ITU plan is that I am giving the students the option of choosing a style of assessment that they prefer. This is a valuable strategy in that it gives students a voice in the assessment process and gives them a sense of ownership. The predominate assessment strategy used in my ITU will be that of the informal formative. I want my students to really engage with the content, with a focus on empathy and understanding the plight that minorities have endured and continue to endure so I will have them write numerous reflective pieces focused on these ideas. 

RR 19 IDENTIFY strategies to differentiate assessment.

There are many ways to differentiate assessment. For my language learners I always try to give them formal tests/quizzes in L1, this seems to make a real difference especially for learners with lower literacy skills related to reading. As a by product, these students also get visual and real cue that you are going to try and make a difference for them. Especially if they have not had this before and then you take over a class and all of a sudden here is a test that they can read and understand much easier. I also differentiate on written assignments. For example, on one particular assessment the class was to write a five paragraph essay. My student was unable to complete this task because of his level of writing proficiency, so I had him answer short answer prompts that related to the same content.  Another way I have differentiated assessment is for my SpEd students, on multiple choice tests I reduce the number of distractors for them if they have a reading or comprehension related issue.

RR 18 Identify how you will use cooperative learning in your ITU. Be specific and describe the strategies you will use for each component.

I will use cooperative lerning in the final project of the ITU. The final project is a poster based project, however, some students may opt for alternative projects.


  1.  Positive Interdependence - In this project each student will be required to research a different topic related to the a local Native American tribe. They will then have to make sure that the other two members of the group learn the material.
  2.  Individual & Group Accountability - They will be held individually accountable for the section of the project that they are to research. Each day the role of checker will change so that everyone plays the role for one full day.
  3.  Group Processing - As a group at the end of the day they will have to write a summative reflection about how well they are making progress towards the goal.
  4.  Social Skills - As the role checker they will have to practice their leadership. The group will also have to develop decision-making and possibly conflict-management skills because it the group that has to decide which students research which topics. 
  5.  Face-to-Face Interactions - They will have to teach each other the information that they have learned about their specific topic.

RR 17 Identify the 5 different components of Cooperative Learning.



  1.  Positive Interdependence
  2.  Individual & Group Accountability
  3.  Group Processing
  4.  Social Skills
  5.  Face-to-Face Interactions

RR 16

Completed in class.

RR 15

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

RR 14

Allia and I will use a supportive co-teaching method for the three classes we will co-teach. During these classes we will switch roles as needed.

RR 13

As I was not present for most of the presentation I cannot say what was modeled. However, in talking to my classmates trying to get caught up to speed I asked about the Co-teaching and they all said that all four of the styles were modeled.

RR 12

After looking at the samples there are many things that are usable in my ITU. I really liked the format used in the Great Oak ITU and think I may use something similar. Furthermore, for us some of the information in that ITU is still relevant and it gave us a starting point for some of our school information.

RR 11 Complete Strategy Matix

See ITU for complete information on strategies.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Reading Response #8

While viewing these cluster maps I found many ideas and resources that may be useful in my ITU. For my part of the ITU on Native Americans it will be helpful for my students to look at government agencies and how they have responded to Native Americans. Also, based on our community I feel that it would be beneficial for my students to routinely look for current events involving the local tribes. Another great idea would be to role play or simulate various situations involving Native Americans throughout history. I also saw an idea about voter registration and thought it would be a good idea to have my students research the idea or possibility that Native Americans are underrepresented as voters and if so my students could do a voter registration drive on the reservation.