Special Needs 1 - Developing an Individualized Plan

In looking at the two Individualized Education Plans, it is obvious that Plan B is the preferred plan.  You can tell almost from the very beginning of the 504 that B is the preferred plan.  Plans A and B both begin with describing the student’s disability, but plan B also gives a short synopsis of what her teachers have reported about her.  It states in addition to the description of her disability that she is a hardworking student who is determined to overcome challenges that she faces.  This extra insight into the student’s work habits is beneficial when determining the appropriate accommodation. 

Plan B gives much more detail about the accommodations that the student needs.  The percent of extended time on tests is specified.  The amount of extended time on assignments is given.  The expectation for reduced coursework is specific.  The check for understanding is specifically laid out as a weekly check in via phone, email or synchronous session.  Also, it is stated that she should be given the option to respond orally so that it is less strain on her eyes.  It is important that any individualized education plan be as specific and detailed as possible. 

For Plan B the only thing that might suggest is to add in how the student/parent should complete the expectation and how often it should occur.  If these things are not specified in the 504, then no one will not the guidelines for how it should be done and there will be no documentation to hold anyone accountable. 

There were several reasons that I did not choose Plan A as the best example of an individualized education plan.  There were not very many details associated with the accommodations that were being requests.  All stakeholders need to know the exact details of how they re to carry out the accommodations.  If things are not specified then chances are, every teacher will handle them differently.  An effective IEP/504 plan will have precise details and give direct guidelines. 

Special Needs 1 - Accommodations in an Online Environment

I had a student with juvenile arthritis a couple of years ago.  It turns out that same year my four-year-old daughter was also diagnosed with juvenile arthritis.  This is a condition that presents itself in many different ways and every kid has different symptoms and joints affected.  Typically, there is a lot of inflammation in the joints that is accompanied by pain.  My student that had the disease was affected mostly in her knees and hands.  She was on medication that was an infusion every six weeks.  This caused her to miss school days to go for her infusions as well as her doctor’s appointments.  She also would miss school on days where it was very cold or we were having a lot of rain because (like we have all heard) the weather does impact how your joints feel, especially when they are already compromised. 

I believe this student would have truly benefitted from the option of taking her high school classes online.  She would have loved to have the ability to not have to be in a face to face classroom for 7 hours a day.  She also would have benefitted from the flexibility of the schedule of assignments.  And lastly, she would have enjoyed the one on one contact she would have had with her online instructors. 

The fact that online students do not have to be in a classroom for hours each day would have helped my former student out tremendously!  She would get so behind from missing classes for doctor’s appointments and infusions.  With online learning, she could have done her lessons when it worked with her schedule.  Also, on the days when she wasn’t feeling well or was in significant pain, she could have taken the day to rest and then get caught up with her assignments when she was feeling better; if her work was completed by the assigned due date.  The one on one contact with her teachers will be invaluable to her. 

As with most high school age students, one challenge would be the self-motivation.  When you have more flexibility to get work done, it is very easy to put it off until the due date or possibly even miss a due date.  This takes intentional planning on scheduling by anyone but especially teenagers.  Also, it takes a bit of adjustment time to get used to reading and following the schedule that is provided.  Switching to online classes is like most new things, there is a learning curve involved.  But if the student is motivated to do well and continue in this educational setting then they will do what it takes to succeed.  For some students this take a little monger to figure out, but once they do it is very rewarding!

Special Needs 1 - Applying Strategies and Best Practices

Kali’s Other Health Impairment

Kali’s diagnosis of Lupus allows her to be served under the diagnosis of Other Health Impairment.  I would have concern after seeing that she has several absent periods with her login history.  I would be impresses that she took the initiative to email me as most teenage students do not take that type of role in this situation.  I would email her back to discuss my expectations but would follow it up with a phone call.  I have learned that oftentimes, phone calls are more personal and give more detail than emails. 

I would offer to meet with Kali in a synchronous session time to go over material that she has missed.  If she cannot attend my regular hours, I would work with her to find a time that would work for both of us.  I would also contact the case manager about seeing if I could reduce her coursework schedule.  There are typically items that are not considered the “meat” of the course and could be eliminated as required assignments for Kali.  Most importantly, I would stay flexible with Kali.  Students who have health issues such as this can have some periods of time where their focus is not on their schoolwork, it is on there health.  And ultimately, that is where is should be!

Hopper’s Dysgraphia

Hopper’s diagnosis of dysgraphia allows him to be served with an individualized education plan.  I would start by checking in with his case manager to see if she has any suggestions on what she thinks would best help Hopper.  I would also suggest giving him the option of submitting audio recordings of his reports or typed reports instead of handwritten reports.  Students with dysgraphia typically struggle so much with their writing that I would need to keep in mind what a challenge that is for him. 

I would also be concerned with Hopper’s confidence in himself.  I would try to encourage him and let him know about all the good things he is doing.  I would let him know I can see what great effort he is putting forth and encourage him that hopefully being able to submit his reports in another method (like I suggested) will help his grade because I want to focus on mastery of the topics. 

Jigsaw 104

Link to Recording

As you can see a screenshot my storyboard is above. 

• In my session I used pane 1 to help my students put a face with a name and turned on my webcam.  I like to do this a few times throughout the semester, just so my students can see me and know that there is a real person behind what is going on in the class!  I would like to add some music to use for future sessions as well. 
• In pane 2, as you can see, I have my Welcome Session Powerpoint.  I use PowerPoint quite often in my sessions.  I like to enlarge the presentation so it is easier to see and I use the follow me pointer a good bit as well.  That is very useful in helping the students know what I am referring to and where I am on the slide.  
• In pane 3, I used a survey.  I do not think it showed up in the recording, but as you can see from the screenshot it was there.  I also used the notes feature and discussed the benefits of using that.  
• In pane 4, I have a fun image loaded.  I like to use these to make the room feel a little more comfortable and also to know that I am present and working in the room also!  I sometimes like to put informational images there in pane 4 as well.  

Reflection:

I have truly learned a good bit from going through these 4 sessions of Jigsaw U.  I have to admit that I was pretty lost in the beginning of last semester, but I feel like I have come a long way with this new program.  I know I still have a good bit to learn and perfect, but I have enjoyed learning about this and trying new things.  I hope I can continue to learn and work to improve my jigsaw sessions.  

Jigsaw 103

PANE 3

For Jigsaw 103, we were to demonstrate the use of pane 3 and pane 4.  Above you can see where I utilized pane 3 to do a survey with my class.  Unfortunately, on this particular evening I did not have any students who up to my session, so I was unable to actually try it out.  But I do look forward to trying it again in the future.  As you can see I survey was going to help me gather information about what day of the week and time would be most convenient for my students to be able to attend.  Obviously, the night I had selected on my own was not most convenient for my students!  I was also trying to see if they would prefer me to preview upcoming material or what they would like me to do in the sessions instead of previewing new material.  I like the fact that we can gather reports/graphs from these surveys.  That makes it much easier to see what most of the responses are and how to move forward with those responses.

I have also used pane 3 for notes in previous sessions.  I would allow students to post questions and ideas in pane 3.  Obviously, the students enjoyed that.  they felt a little more involved in the session that way.  The map feature that is available in pane 3 is also interesting.  I like to keep up with where my students are located in the state.  So that feature is pretty cool.

PANE 4

Pane 4 is useful for adding fun images, like the one above, and for adding informational images, also like the one above.  I have tried using pane 4 with my tablet to be able to write and solve math problems, but that was pretty difficult.  I hope to continue working on that and improve my use of pane 4.  I think this could be a great tool for teachers, especially in math classes.  But it will just take some getting used to and adjustment time!

Jigsaw 102

Demonstrate the use of Pane 1 (your choice: webcam, video, or audio) for instructional purposes and describe your approach.  Demonstrate the use of Pane 2 (your choice:  presentation, document, or screenshare) for instructional purposes and describe your approach.  Reflect upon best practices for utilizing these two panes.

Provide evidence:  Screenshots with explanation; screencast

Provide reflection:  Paragraph

Pane 1

Instructional Video for Accelerated Coordinate Algebra/Geometry A - Solving Exponential Equations:

In my September 25th class, we were going to be working on solving exponential equations with unlike bases.  This can be a tricky concept for some students to grasp so I thought this might be an opportunity to try out a video on this topic.  This is a nice chance for the students (even if they are not live, but listening to the recording) to hear someone else talk or watch someone else solve a problem instead of it always being me!  Once the video had played (it was a fairly short video), then I went over some more examples of solving exponential equations and was sure to work through them the same way the video had shown.  Sometimes when I show various methods to solve the same problem, students get confused.  So, i typically try to do the same method every time, especially when I am introducing a topic for the first time.  Below are several screenshots of the video I used during my session.  

Pane 2

For Pane 2 I decided to use a presentation.  I have been working on this and am much more comfortable with this than any of the other options.  I have also been working on using the annotation tools when my presentation is a PowerPoint.  It is not perfect at all, but it does at least help my students see how I work problems out.  I am still perfecting my writing!  Below is a screenshot of a presentation where we were discussing characteristics of exponential functions.

Reflection

I am slowly becoming more comfortable with the different features in jigsaw.  It is hard to branch out and try different things once I become comfortable with what I have been doing!  But I am trying!  Some best practices that I have tried to work on is to be prepared before it is time for my live session.  This means I have to have my lesson prepared and uploaded into my assets ahead of time.  I also have to keep in mind that little timer that counts down when you are trying to record your session.  There have been several times when I start right away and the beginning of my lesson gets cut off because it hasn't started recording yet!  Also, I use the red dot (follow me button) a lot when going over items.  That helps my students know where I am in the explanation.  And of course, I always have to remember to check my microphone settings so that my students can hear me and remember to push the "push to talk" button!  

Jigsaw 101

Jigsaw 101

Upload a diversified set of 5 assets into your asset library and tag each asset with a desired system of your choosing.  Demonstrate how you have used one of these assets in a session.  Reflect upon best practices for setting yourself up for success prior to synchronous sessions.   

Here are 5 assets that I have uploaded into my asset library.  I have found that presentation is what I use the most and tends to work the best for my and what I am trying to do with my students.  

Here is where I tagged my assets.  

Here is where I used one pf my presentations in a synchronous session.  I used a Powerpoint presentation to teach a lesson on how to solve systems of equations.  


Jigsaw 101 Reflection 

Learning how to used Jigsaw has definitely had its bumps in the road, but I am starting to feel more comfortable with the program.  Once I figured out how to load the assets in and share them in my session, I started to feel like I was getting somewhere.  While I was much more comfortable sharing my screen in adobe connect to teach lessons, I am slowly getting used to this format.  It is going to take some getting used to, but I think I will eventually get there!

As far as using Jigsaw, I have learned that it is much more helpful for me if I have my lesson prepared a couple of days ahead of when my session is.  This makes it easier when the synchronous session time comes and I already have the presentation loaded into my assets and I can just log in and be ready to get started!  I am definitely keeping this simple for now.  But I am looking forward to learning more about Jigsaw and becoming even more comfortable with the program as we move through the semester.