Attention
Enrolled Students:
The official syllabus for this class will be distributed in class
Course Overview
This course will help prospective teachers and other educators to develop an initial repertoire of skills for teaching students with disabilities that impact their education. Successful students will have familiarity and competence with a variety of teaching approaches and specific practices. The primary emphasis of the course will be on the education of students with mild disabilities in secondary inclusive classroom contexts. Class sessions will routinely include time to practice skills being learned.
Class participants will be
able to:
·formulate a comprehensive instructional plan for a student
with an educational disability
·utilize an IEP to plan and guide instruction
·formulate adaptations and modifications appropriate to
individual students and curriculum
·design individual, small, and large group instruction
·match instruction to the individual learning needs of
students
·evaluate various service delivery options for educating
students with special needs
Themes
Programs in the Teacher Education,
Special Education, and Curriculum & Instruction Department have five
unifying themes. In this course we
address the five themes in the following ways:
Promoting social justice:
Throughout the class students will be challenged to reflect on the
social justice aspects of special education.
The teaching and learning practices they learn will all have
applicability to working to promote social justice in schools, particularly as
it concerns students with educational disabilities.
Constructing knowledge:
Students will learn a variety of teaching and learning practices in this
class. Learning about these practices
will include learning to be able to apply the practices in ways that will most
benefit individual students. This will
necessarily involve learning how the practices relate to beliefs about effective
practice.
Inquiring into practice:
Students will actively participate in investigating the pedagogical
soundness of the practices they learn.
Students will actively investigate how to incorporate what they learn
within the reality of daily teaching.
Accommodating diversity:
Students will learn how to take into account the unique academic and
social needs of their students. All of
the practices learned over the semester will have particular applicability to
students with educational disabilities or who are at-risk.
Collaborating with others:
Significant aspects of educating students with special needs call for
collaboration. Students will learn
procedures for effective collaboration.
During class sessions students will collaborate with each other to learn
and investigate specific practices.
Assignments, etc.
Those
students with documented disabilities who have special learning needs are
invited to inform the instructor, so that special arrangements can be
made. They should also be aware that
assistance is available from the
Required
Texts:
Miller, S. P. (2002). Validated
Practices for Teaching Students with Diverse Needs and Abilities.
Developing
Quality IEPs: A Case-based Tutorial (2001).
A few additional readings will
be required, as noted on the semester schedule.
In Class Assignments
Several short in class and “homework”
assignments will be given across the semester.
Lesson Plans
Across the semester two lesson plans
will be developed. These plans will
feature concepts and practices studied in this class, and will pertain to a
curriculum of the student’s choosing (both should come from the same
curriculum, but multiple curricula may be used with the instructor’s
permission). Each lesson plan will address
a typical classroom and include specific plans for one of the students (other
than Marty) featured on the CD Developing
Quality IEPs. Students who would
prefer to develop plans for a student with an IEP whom they are currently
teaching must consult with the instructor.
Guidelines on how to develop each
lesson plan will be presented in class.
All lesson plans will be annotated to explain why specific activities
and content are included and how they relate to curricular objectives and
student needs.
Tests
Two tests will be given across the semester. Each test will be a culminating activity. On the tests students will demonstrate their ability to apply what they have learned from their readings and class. The second test will serve as the "final exam" for the class.
Missed assignments
·Each week an assignment is late will result in a loss of 10
points.
·Tests that are missed without advance permission may not be made up unless a darned good excuse is given.
Grading
points 500
Class participation 50* 450 -- A
Tests
(2) 100
each 435 -- A-
Lesson
plans (2) 125
each 420 -- B+
___ 400 -- B
500 380 -- B-
365 -- C
344
-- F
*Based
on attendance,
active participation, and
in-class assignments.
Students who do not complete
all assignments will receive a letter grade of “F” or an incomplete, at the
instructor’s discretion.
week 1: January 26
· Introductions
· Overview of course; connections to you and your other
courses
· Assignments and policies
Background Knowledge
“What’s So Special About Special
Education?” (A Review)
¨
Special Education Quiz
· What special education is:
· purpose
· who participates
· how provided
· role of the general educator
Diverse Learners (A Review)
· Who “diverse” includes
· Why unique individuals might have unique needs
· Schools’ responsibilities to diversity
Chp. 1;
pp. 314 - 323
*
start looking for your
curriculum to bring to week 3
week 2: February 2
How Special Education is Done
·
The referral process
· detecting a disability
·
how to read & use an IEP
· how to participate on an IEP team
CD: Developing Quality IEPs
I. Understanding IEPs
II. Tutorial: Present Level
of Performance (Marty)
pp. 399 - 401
week 3: February 9
¨ Bring
Your Curriculum To Class
· Standards and Frameworks
·
requirements for special
education students
·
curricular options
· Standards for Educators of Students with Special Needs
· Task analysis
· “Appropriate” goals &
objectives, benchmarks
· Using assessment data
week 4: February 16
(Yes, BC is in session)
Effective Teaching
· Task analysis
· “Appropriate” goals &
objectives, benchmarks
· Using assessment data
Course & Unit Planning
· Planning in relation to the
curriculum
· Planning for inclusive
classrooms
Chp. 2
week 5: February 23
Lesson Planning
· Planning in relation to the
curriculum
· Planning for inclusive
classrooms
Chp. 2
March 1– BC Spring Break, no
class
week 6: March 8
¨ test
#1
Major Approaches to Instruction (Part I)
· The
concept of “Best Practices”
Chp. 5
week 7: March 15
Major Approaches to Instruction
(Part II)
· Explicit
Instruction
· Direct
Instruction
pp. 137 - 153
Major Approaches to Instruction
(Part II), con’t
· Strategy
Instruction
pp. 156 - 183
week 8: March 22
Major Approaches to Instruction
(Part II), con’t
· Curriculum-Based
Measurement
pp. 342-357;
handout
week 9: March 29
¨ lesson
plan #1 due (Option 1)
Major Approaches to Instruction
(Part II), con’t
· Constructivism
handout
Major Approaches to Instruction
(Part III)
· Learning
Styles, Multiple Intelligences, and other bunk (?)
pp.
287 – 313, 326 - 327
week 10: April 5
¨ lesson
plan #1 due (Option 2)
Major Approaches to Instruction
(Part IV)
· Accommodations, Adaptations and Modifications
pp.
287 – 313, 326 - 327
Assessment
Chp. 8
week 11: April 12
The Instructional Environment
Chp. 3
Major Instructional
Configurations (Part I)
· Content
Enhancement
pp. 163 – 164, 165;
handout
April 19 Patriot's Day no class
week 12: April 26
Major Instructional
Configurations (Part II)
· Co-teaching
· Peer
tutoring, Cooperative learning, Collaborative learning
Chp. 6;
handout
Major Instructional Configurations (Part III)
· Universal
Design
handout
week 13: May 3
¨ lesson
plan #2 due (Option 1)
Skills & Content
Content-area Skills (Part I)
· Supporting Reading
& Writing in the Classroom
handout
week 14: May 10
¨ lesson
plan #2 due (Option 2)
Content-area Skills (Part II)
· Supporting
Study Skills in the Classroom
handout
week 15: May 17
¨ Final Exam: test #3