Blog #3 Webinar 4

Prompt #3:  Regular Education - “What are you doing to meet the needs of your special education students?   If you do not have special education students, how are you meeting the needs of your low students?  Have you met with your school’s pre-referral group about these students?”

In my block class, where I have the most SPED students, I have various accommodations in place. They get extra time, not only on quizzes and tests, but with instruction and practice. I basically give them twice as much practice than my regular students. They also have extra time to take quizzes and tests. I essentially give them as much time as they need. I give them substantial review for all quizzes and tests as well. I try to give example problems that basically mirror the problems they will see on the assessments. I also give them open notes and open study guides for the assessments. One thing I do not do however, is modify the assessments. As far as I know, they will be responsible for the same EOCAs as all the other students. Therefore, I want to expose them to the same level of questions that my regular students get.

I have not met with any specific group about my SPED students. I have had a few IEP meetings and in general have been working with a couple colleagues concerning how to approach SPED instruction. There are a couple of math teachers who deal with a lot of SPED students. I try to reach out to them for advice as much as I can.