In this week's post, I'm going to take a look at three factors that can influence how teachers create a high-performance learning environment: Norms and Procedures in the classroom, Behavior Expectations, and Academic Expectations.
Example #1: "Roller Coaster" Physics project in a 5th grade classroom:
Norms & Procedures:
In order for this type of Performance to be achieved, the norms and procedures of the classroom have to be well-established. In this case, the teacher takes great care to create specific groups roles for students, and construct the means by which the group have to control their actions (for examples, budgeting for supplies used to construct their designs). She also intently structures the time students have to develop work individually before placing them in a discussion setting where they must reach a consensus before moving forward. I think these actions reflect the norms and procedures of individual work, group work, and collaboration already established in this classroom.
Academic Expectations:
At every turn, the teacher is eliciting student response and defense of their designs and modifications using academic terminology, and the key concepts she has taught in order for the project to take shape. She places inquiries to the students designed to get them to think critically about their actions as a group, and challenges them to explain their thinking behind modifications. Additionally, she checks for a thought-process behind groups' use of materials, and how and why they are selecting specific materials, always guiding the responses back to something based in the academic material.
Behavior Expectations:
It is clear that the students here are used to operating under the expectation that they will function and work together as a group. Additionally, their behavior in the round-table discussion where they share individual insights and guiding purposes behind their designs shows that they operate under an expectation that they will not only complete the task set before them, but bring their very best to the task.
Example #2: 3rd Grade Chinese Math Class
Norms & Procedures
The very evident classroom norm displayed here is that student will speak and engage with their teacher in Chinese, despite very probably not being native speakers of the language. Another norm that we see in this video is that of participation--students are comfortable volunteering and processing academic subject matter in another language, and doing so is encouraged by the instructor. A procedure that is present is reflected by the students' transition responses from rote memorization of the multiplication rhyme to the instructor-led example of doing a new mathematical process, which is reminiscent of the Whole Brain Teaching method "Eyes and Hands."
Academic Expectations:
In this video, the teacher not only expects students to use the Chinese language, but also expects the new (or perhaps revised) concept to be easily understood.
Behavior Expectations:
Here again the teacher uses a physical call and answer transition method to call attention to a shift in activity from the practice of the math rhyme to the practice of the math concept. She has the full attention and participation of her language learners.
Example #3: Whole-Brain Teaching
Norms & Procedures:
In order to get whole brain teaching lessons to flow as nicely as they do in this example, a teacher very clearly has to establish the Norms and Procedures in the classroom. The WBT elements of "Mirror Words" and "Hands and Eyes" have been thoroughly practiced so that the students understand the expectations and cues these strategies are meant to deliver.
Academic Expectations:
Among the Academic Expectations in the Whole Brain Teaching method are the students' ability to paraphrase and re-teach a brief lesson, either whole or in part, to their peers. As demonstrated in the video, the students are placed with the responsibility to digest and re-phrase the material for their learning partners. The video would be a stronger example if it spent more time examining how exactly the students here are demonstrating that, though we do see them engaging in the work.
Behavioral Expectations:
Once again, classroom norms and procedures are silently reinforcing some underlying behavioral expectations of the students: Being at attention when lessons begin and during focused instructional periods, and displaying elements of collaboration to fully participate in the cooperative learning elements of the lesson.
Summary:
Each of these techniques demonstrates very powerful and meaningful ways to engage students and keep them excited about learning. It is very clear to see that each instructor has demonstrated control over her environment, as well as set forth very high expectations for all her students to meet.
Being an English subject teacher, I think I would choose very carefully from all three of these methods which pieces and parts would best fit the style of my classroom, and the age and tolerance of my learners. What interested me is that the teacher demonstrating the Whole Brain Teaching Method seemed to be working with middle/junior high-aged students, whereas I felt such an intense method would maybe put some of my junior-high level students off.
However, it's never a very good approach to just assume something won't work. I live and work in an Asian country--not China, but reminiscent of some of the same styles and modes of learning as the Math video--where students fundamentally do expect a higher level of involvement and authority from their teachers. Something like Mirror Words and Hands and Eyes, or rhyming and chanting and memorization, might very well be a successful mode of instruction in my classroom to help promote a positive environment of high performance.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Monday, September 5, 2016
Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate
We've all been in negative situations. In my opinion, I can't say that anyone could truthfully claim that they have enjoyed those situations. Negativity contributes to stress, pressure, feelings of low self-esteem, and anxiety. It's hardly logical to assume that such a situation or environment could contribute meaningfully to successful learning.
Taking ownership of your classroom can be an incredibly overwhelming thing. You may have many personal objectives you want to accomplish: Stylish decorations/design, ongoing collaborative spaces, and hundreds of other things you've picked up from Pinterest but perhaps lack the focus, or inherent crafty talent, to execute. I've struggled with simply putting my classroom rules on the wall because I can't cut paper in a straight line, even after I've drawn on it with a ruler, or post things to the wall without constantly assessing my crooked scissor-craft and general inability to make things totally perfectly level.
At the end of the day, these things don't really matter. What you want to get on the wall, the things you want to put into motion, will get done. What is perhaps more crucial in the first few days of class with new students, is establishing things that aren't exactly visible.
For example: A positive classroom climate. Like the neat colored paper accents you wanted to attach to each of your classroom rule posters, it's not necessary to demand a positive climate all at once. It is an ongoing, consistently demonstrated concept that takes shape with a few guiding practices.
Thoughtful Classroom Setup and Structure
My school discourages table/desk arrangement in rows, except for tests. I myself find it hard to manage a classroom of 35 students in this arrangement as well. Because teaching English requires a lot of communication and collaboration, a project-type setup was where I eventually landed with my classroom design. Dividing a class into groups of six makes classroom activities more manageable, and puts students in a position where they can direct their own work.
This year, I decided to cash in a bunch of Amazon credit by purchasing educational "manipulatives." Additionally, I inherited a lot of books and literature readers from former colleagues, and decided to create activity stations in my classroom with all my new-ish materials.
This has been working really well. The first day of class, when our activities ended a few minutes early, rather than have students pull out their electronics and kill time before the bell rang, I told them to explore their classroom space-- The Reading Center, the Art Center, the Game Center (little puzzles and travel games), and -- my personal favorite-- the Doodle Center. This is what I did with an extra white board that usually sat blank for the school year--now it's full of student artwork, magnetic poetry creations (some needing the inevitable censorship), and a weekly Brain Bender/Riddle that my students have begun racing to decipher. Furthermore, setting up my classroom will self-directed activities available to students in their down-time silently reinforces my no-electronics-for-personal-purposes rule.
Values-Based Behavior Management
Using my school's own mission and values as a springboard, I have developed something of a thread between what we might consider ethical buzzwords-- "Honesty," "Responsibility," etc.-- to my classroom rules and policies. I reworked classroom rules from previous years to simply each one that related to a School Core Value. When it was time to discuss rewards and consequences with each of my classes, I generated a student-led team (called the "Classroom Conduct Committee") to create a list of examples of unacceptable behavior, and their attendant consequences. Additionally, the Committee was asked to create a list of rewards the class could enjoy after completing a period of time of showing excellent behavior and creating strong work. The results have been mixed--I'm already evaluating what I can do to strengthen the activity in the coming years--but I have noticed right away how much handing over this responsibility to a student-led "organization" eased tensions in the classroom regarding these issues. For one, I believe the students value having their voices heard, and are interested in being part of a classroom that takes their input and ideas into consideration-- or even a classroom that requires their ideas specifically in order to work.
As a safeguard, I created a student-teacher contract that outlined the school's standard policies of behavior and consequences, to be reviewed and signed by each student, and their parents. This same contract was developed and given to all students, putting them at a level of equal expectation. For my part, it also showed that I was aware of and understood the school policies, which is something not many students expect from foreign teachers in my situation. Even though it may sound harsh (it certainly did when I was writing it)--I think the effect this contract has had on how students approach my classroom and our activities in it has been largely positive. They see I have the same standards and expectations as their native Vietnamese teachers, placing myself on an equal level in that regard. Once the heavy stuff is taken care of, they can decide specifically what types of conduct and behavior or intolerable for their class, and how they would like to be rewarded for positive behavior.
Honoring Student Experience
As I have mentioned, an English classroom--especially an ESL/EFL classroom--relies heavily on student input, sharing, and collaboration. There is nothing that scares me more as an educator than having a silent classroom during my lessons; it reflects to me disinterest/ disengagement on the students' part with the course material, and my inability as a teacher to design a lesson that appeals to them.
In this instance, I am the foreigner, I am the person in a country not my own, among a culture not my own. I rely very heavily on my students to help me understand some of the inner-workings of the culture I live in, what is appropriate/rude, what this or that facial expression means, and so on. Their experiences are part of my education. As such, I absolutely want them to share anything and everything they can--I want them to be able to express themselves and to think more deeply and critically about important issues and topics. The well of student experience, from talented artists to budding app-designers to the academic-types, and the literary-types, is what I need to get my classroom up and running.
What I can do to strengthen this aspect of creating positive classroom climate is try to find more classroom-reflective texts, and integrate more cultural knowledge of Vietnamese history, as well as present-day issues and topics, to create relevance in our activities.
Self-Awareness, Cultural Competency, and Ongoing Reflection and Assessment
This segues nicely into what I lack as a Caucasian-Secular-Democratic-American living, working, and teaching students of a, Asian-Buddhist-Atheistic-Socialist-Vietnam. Cultural practices and behaviors can often be very bewildering to me, especially in the realm of my rights as a foreign citizen under Vietnamese law. The interpersonal politics one can experience as a foreigner in another country can be enough to draw a negative view of that culture and people into your existence--and that is a place you really, really don't want to be. I see people lose themselves to it all the time, and admittedly, I've been there too once or twice.
Self-awareness becomes of importance in this regard when considering how little about the surrounding country, people, culture, and language I actually understand. Vietnam is famous for a very singular reason--and that reason is completely culturally-centric, to me. What Vietnam actually is is something far different than what's in our history books.
A good example of showing my ongoing learning about this place I'm living in is working with students who have a basic or below-proficiency skill in English. They still study from academic-centered textbooks, and they're often lost. So we do language exchange. Rather than tell them over and over what a "gerund" means, I instead try to find the way to explain, or at least write meta-language of grammatical terms. I've found this brings me closer to the students' level in two ways: 1) Even though they know their English skill isn't so great, they can see they are way ahead of my Vietnamese skills, and; 2) It shows them that I'm interested in helping them understand, and interested in their language, and by extension culture.
In regards to working exclusively with students of different cultures, I can consider myself as a person who values diversity, but I cannot deny that I always have something to learn when working with people and students of other races, creeds, and cultures. Inherently, and honestly, I find it extremely fascinating, but I'm also aware that my fascination might seem like tokenism or that I'm taking someone else's identity as novel. This is why it's very important to me to own my mistakes, turn over voices to the students themselves, and try to align lesson materials with the interests in my classroom.
These are only some examples of what I can do to create a positive classroom climate--in many ways, I feel as though I am helping myself shape a better climate this year. I think a big key for me has been handing over responsibility, voice, and action to the students themselves, and removing myself from the position of absolute authority. Though dominance and control do by some measure have to be asserted upon students, day-to-day reinforcement of their ideas and interests helps them find the benefit of their knowledge and relax into an environment that they can trust. This is the type of place in which I genuinely believe the best kind of learning takes place.
Taking ownership of your classroom can be an incredibly overwhelming thing. You may have many personal objectives you want to accomplish: Stylish decorations/design, ongoing collaborative spaces, and hundreds of other things you've picked up from Pinterest but perhaps lack the focus, or inherent crafty talent, to execute. I've struggled with simply putting my classroom rules on the wall because I can't cut paper in a straight line, even after I've drawn on it with a ruler, or post things to the wall without constantly assessing my crooked scissor-craft and general inability to make things totally perfectly level.
At the end of the day, these things don't really matter. What you want to get on the wall, the things you want to put into motion, will get done. What is perhaps more crucial in the first few days of class with new students, is establishing things that aren't exactly visible.
For example: A positive classroom climate. Like the neat colored paper accents you wanted to attach to each of your classroom rule posters, it's not necessary to demand a positive climate all at once. It is an ongoing, consistently demonstrated concept that takes shape with a few guiding practices.
Thoughtful Classroom Setup and Structure
My school discourages table/desk arrangement in rows, except for tests. I myself find it hard to manage a classroom of 35 students in this arrangement as well. Because teaching English requires a lot of communication and collaboration, a project-type setup was where I eventually landed with my classroom design. Dividing a class into groups of six makes classroom activities more manageable, and puts students in a position where they can direct their own work.
This year, I decided to cash in a bunch of Amazon credit by purchasing educational "manipulatives." Additionally, I inherited a lot of books and literature readers from former colleagues, and decided to create activity stations in my classroom with all my new-ish materials.
This has been working really well. The first day of class, when our activities ended a few minutes early, rather than have students pull out their electronics and kill time before the bell rang, I told them to explore their classroom space-- The Reading Center, the Art Center, the Game Center (little puzzles and travel games), and -- my personal favorite-- the Doodle Center. This is what I did with an extra white board that usually sat blank for the school year--now it's full of student artwork, magnetic poetry creations (some needing the inevitable censorship), and a weekly Brain Bender/Riddle that my students have begun racing to decipher. Furthermore, setting up my classroom will self-directed activities available to students in their down-time silently reinforces my no-electronics-for-personal-purposes rule.
Values-Based Behavior Management
Using my school's own mission and values as a springboard, I have developed something of a thread between what we might consider ethical buzzwords-- "Honesty," "Responsibility," etc.-- to my classroom rules and policies. I reworked classroom rules from previous years to simply each one that related to a School Core Value. When it was time to discuss rewards and consequences with each of my classes, I generated a student-led team (called the "Classroom Conduct Committee") to create a list of examples of unacceptable behavior, and their attendant consequences. Additionally, the Committee was asked to create a list of rewards the class could enjoy after completing a period of time of showing excellent behavior and creating strong work. The results have been mixed--I'm already evaluating what I can do to strengthen the activity in the coming years--but I have noticed right away how much handing over this responsibility to a student-led "organization" eased tensions in the classroom regarding these issues. For one, I believe the students value having their voices heard, and are interested in being part of a classroom that takes their input and ideas into consideration-- or even a classroom that requires their ideas specifically in order to work.
As a safeguard, I created a student-teacher contract that outlined the school's standard policies of behavior and consequences, to be reviewed and signed by each student, and their parents. This same contract was developed and given to all students, putting them at a level of equal expectation. For my part, it also showed that I was aware of and understood the school policies, which is something not many students expect from foreign teachers in my situation. Even though it may sound harsh (it certainly did when I was writing it)--I think the effect this contract has had on how students approach my classroom and our activities in it has been largely positive. They see I have the same standards and expectations as their native Vietnamese teachers, placing myself on an equal level in that regard. Once the heavy stuff is taken care of, they can decide specifically what types of conduct and behavior or intolerable for their class, and how they would like to be rewarded for positive behavior.
Honoring Student Experience
As I have mentioned, an English classroom--especially an ESL/EFL classroom--relies heavily on student input, sharing, and collaboration. There is nothing that scares me more as an educator than having a silent classroom during my lessons; it reflects to me disinterest/ disengagement on the students' part with the course material, and my inability as a teacher to design a lesson that appeals to them.
In this instance, I am the foreigner, I am the person in a country not my own, among a culture not my own. I rely very heavily on my students to help me understand some of the inner-workings of the culture I live in, what is appropriate/rude, what this or that facial expression means, and so on. Their experiences are part of my education. As such, I absolutely want them to share anything and everything they can--I want them to be able to express themselves and to think more deeply and critically about important issues and topics. The well of student experience, from talented artists to budding app-designers to the academic-types, and the literary-types, is what I need to get my classroom up and running.
What I can do to strengthen this aspect of creating positive classroom climate is try to find more classroom-reflective texts, and integrate more cultural knowledge of Vietnamese history, as well as present-day issues and topics, to create relevance in our activities.
Self-Awareness, Cultural Competency, and Ongoing Reflection and Assessment
This segues nicely into what I lack as a Caucasian-Secular-Democratic-American living, working, and teaching students of a, Asian-Buddhist-Atheistic-Socialist-Vietnam. Cultural practices and behaviors can often be very bewildering to me, especially in the realm of my rights as a foreign citizen under Vietnamese law. The interpersonal politics one can experience as a foreigner in another country can be enough to draw a negative view of that culture and people into your existence--and that is a place you really, really don't want to be. I see people lose themselves to it all the time, and admittedly, I've been there too once or twice.
Self-awareness becomes of importance in this regard when considering how little about the surrounding country, people, culture, and language I actually understand. Vietnam is famous for a very singular reason--and that reason is completely culturally-centric, to me. What Vietnam actually is is something far different than what's in our history books.
A good example of showing my ongoing learning about this place I'm living in is working with students who have a basic or below-proficiency skill in English. They still study from academic-centered textbooks, and they're often lost. So we do language exchange. Rather than tell them over and over what a "gerund" means, I instead try to find the way to explain, or at least write meta-language of grammatical terms. I've found this brings me closer to the students' level in two ways: 1) Even though they know their English skill isn't so great, they can see they are way ahead of my Vietnamese skills, and; 2) It shows them that I'm interested in helping them understand, and interested in their language, and by extension culture.
In regards to working exclusively with students of different cultures, I can consider myself as a person who values diversity, but I cannot deny that I always have something to learn when working with people and students of other races, creeds, and cultures. Inherently, and honestly, I find it extremely fascinating, but I'm also aware that my fascination might seem like tokenism or that I'm taking someone else's identity as novel. This is why it's very important to me to own my mistakes, turn over voices to the students themselves, and try to align lesson materials with the interests in my classroom.
These are only some examples of what I can do to create a positive classroom climate--in many ways, I feel as though I am helping myself shape a better climate this year. I think a big key for me has been handing over responsibility, voice, and action to the students themselves, and removing myself from the position of absolute authority. Though dominance and control do by some measure have to be asserted upon students, day-to-day reinforcement of their ideas and interests helps them find the benefit of their knowledge and relax into an environment that they can trust. This is the type of place in which I genuinely believe the best kind of learning takes place.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Mobile Learning
Using technology and coping with the fast-moving pace of information in today's world can be extremely overwhelming. As an educator, I remember when and how I first decided to open the floodgates, as it were, and let mobile devices be used in my classroom (though with a very firm set of guidelines and limitations).
Perhaps the chief factor in making this decision was recognizing that resisting technology and the use of mobile devices was an extremely inefficient use of my time and energy. Enacting a no-internet policy in a classroom fully equipped with Wifi and a student body totally plugged in to their devices and social media profiles was nothing but an uphill battle. The more I resisted the use of technology in my classroom, the more I had to fight to keep it on lockdown.
It was, and is, an outmoded approach. There's no use teaching grammar points of a foreign language from a 10-year old textbook with faded pictures, rudimentary graphic design, and tedious subject matter. While we may always have to learn from or focus our courses around some piece of text, teaching a foreign language or foreign literature to young students is never going to have an educational appeal without a link to the world outside. In other words, refusing technology and internet in the classroom is resigning yourself to the same old, same old in teaching--hardly innovative, hardly interesting, and hardly appealing to the student that is already aware and completely immersed in an active virtual world.
As such, I folded. I started scouring online video sites, educational resources, and extra exercises and practices for engaging real-world applications of language. I began relaxing and letting my students use the types of technology they had learned in other classes, or on their own-- the types of programs, apps, and websites that interested them, or had platforms they easily understood and were good at manipulating. I began integrating technology-based options into assignments, mini-presentations, and projects--and then I sat back and observed as my students became more engaged, and more prolific. I learned at least half a dozen new programs and technologies that were out there for users to access and create things with.
This has led me to what I feel is a very important conclusion in my professional development: A teacher needs to be prepared to integrate and use technology in his or her classroom.
That being said, using technology and mobile devices in a classroom isn't a catch-all. What follows are some principles I've created for myself when integrating technology in my classroom:
1. Utilize information wisely.
Information and resources available through the internet or digital apps shouldn't replace teaching, or what you are doing in the classroom. Rather, the availability of this information is a priceless tool you as an educator can use to guide your students to new ideas and ways of understanding material. In an ESL classroom, access to this kind of information provides an endless source of authentic English material, and can link important skills and concepts from lessons and curriculum to real-world applications.
A good way I've found to "dip" students into using online resources in my classroom is by getting them as involved as possible on a Learning Management System platform. There are hundreds of such platforms out there, but what my school is using currently has an appeal to class/course design, and not just a virtual quiz-maker and gradebook. When I created my courses this year, I did it with using this system to create an online enclave for my classes in mind. Since then, I've been able to link to my lesson materials, link to additional resources that reinforce the lesson materials, create assignments and monitor submissions, and also create class discussions as quick assessments of lesson material. Encouraging students to communicate with me and each other in a safe online space is a potentially great springboard for teaching responsible online behavior, as well.
2. Make mobile learning activities relevant & meaningful.
The power that you have a teacher to access and utilize this information is great, and with it comes great responsibility. Information should be relevant, useful, and appropriate for the classroom, not a source of empty entertainment or pop-culture fluff that will keep students interested, no doubt, but not exactly demonstrate a teaching point accurately.
When using online content, or using specific apps or online tools for lessons and learning outcomes, you always have to know what you are doing. Is the online tool/content/app appropriate for the activity--is it a good fit?
For example, I plan to give students the option of using an online infographic creation tool for an upcoming assignment to create and present a poster with interesting facts about a World City. IN order to do this, I have to locate and provide a list of resources they can use to complete the activity--resources with free, user-friendly tools, not subscription-based or designed for advanced users. I also have to decide how to guide student decision towards using this resource--is it convenient for use on a tablet? Across Mac/Windows platforms? Will it be easy and cost-efficient to export and print for display purposes? And, I expect I will always have to explain why they can't create such materials using their smart phones.
These are all very important considerations for the success of the activity.
3. Make activities measurable.
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges in using technology and mobile devices regularly in your classroom is that you have to put some time and effort in to re-think your assessment scheme. How cna you measure the student's use of their devices, or the technological tool you have guided them toward? How can you account for a digital divide in classrooms where technology is BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)--is it a group ro partner-based activity? How can you assessment all group members' involvement?
As we connect our classrooms to online worlds, extensions, and applications, we also have to be able to connect them back to the classroom. It isn't enough to create an online set of Vocabulary flashcards and then say to students, "OK, go do this." The measurement of a student's ability to access the flashcards and complete the exercise has to come back to a hands-on application of skills in some way.
Perhaps the chief factor in making this decision was recognizing that resisting technology and the use of mobile devices was an extremely inefficient use of my time and energy. Enacting a no-internet policy in a classroom fully equipped with Wifi and a student body totally plugged in to their devices and social media profiles was nothing but an uphill battle. The more I resisted the use of technology in my classroom, the more I had to fight to keep it on lockdown.
It was, and is, an outmoded approach. There's no use teaching grammar points of a foreign language from a 10-year old textbook with faded pictures, rudimentary graphic design, and tedious subject matter. While we may always have to learn from or focus our courses around some piece of text, teaching a foreign language or foreign literature to young students is never going to have an educational appeal without a link to the world outside. In other words, refusing technology and internet in the classroom is resigning yourself to the same old, same old in teaching--hardly innovative, hardly interesting, and hardly appealing to the student that is already aware and completely immersed in an active virtual world.
As such, I folded. I started scouring online video sites, educational resources, and extra exercises and practices for engaging real-world applications of language. I began relaxing and letting my students use the types of technology they had learned in other classes, or on their own-- the types of programs, apps, and websites that interested them, or had platforms they easily understood and were good at manipulating. I began integrating technology-based options into assignments, mini-presentations, and projects--and then I sat back and observed as my students became more engaged, and more prolific. I learned at least half a dozen new programs and technologies that were out there for users to access and create things with.
This has led me to what I feel is a very important conclusion in my professional development: A teacher needs to be prepared to integrate and use technology in his or her classroom.
That being said, using technology and mobile devices in a classroom isn't a catch-all. What follows are some principles I've created for myself when integrating technology in my classroom:
1. Utilize information wisely.
Information and resources available through the internet or digital apps shouldn't replace teaching, or what you are doing in the classroom. Rather, the availability of this information is a priceless tool you as an educator can use to guide your students to new ideas and ways of understanding material. In an ESL classroom, access to this kind of information provides an endless source of authentic English material, and can link important skills and concepts from lessons and curriculum to real-world applications.
A good way I've found to "dip" students into using online resources in my classroom is by getting them as involved as possible on a Learning Management System platform. There are hundreds of such platforms out there, but what my school is using currently has an appeal to class/course design, and not just a virtual quiz-maker and gradebook. When I created my courses this year, I did it with using this system to create an online enclave for my classes in mind. Since then, I've been able to link to my lesson materials, link to additional resources that reinforce the lesson materials, create assignments and monitor submissions, and also create class discussions as quick assessments of lesson material. Encouraging students to communicate with me and each other in a safe online space is a potentially great springboard for teaching responsible online behavior, as well.
2. Make mobile learning activities relevant & meaningful.
The power that you have a teacher to access and utilize this information is great, and with it comes great responsibility. Information should be relevant, useful, and appropriate for the classroom, not a source of empty entertainment or pop-culture fluff that will keep students interested, no doubt, but not exactly demonstrate a teaching point accurately.
When using online content, or using specific apps or online tools for lessons and learning outcomes, you always have to know what you are doing. Is the online tool/content/app appropriate for the activity--is it a good fit?
For example, I plan to give students the option of using an online infographic creation tool for an upcoming assignment to create and present a poster with interesting facts about a World City. IN order to do this, I have to locate and provide a list of resources they can use to complete the activity--resources with free, user-friendly tools, not subscription-based or designed for advanced users. I also have to decide how to guide student decision towards using this resource--is it convenient for use on a tablet? Across Mac/Windows platforms? Will it be easy and cost-efficient to export and print for display purposes? And, I expect I will always have to explain why they can't create such materials using their smart phones.
These are all very important considerations for the success of the activity.
3. Make activities measurable.
Perhaps one of the greatest challenges in using technology and mobile devices regularly in your classroom is that you have to put some time and effort in to re-think your assessment scheme. How cna you measure the student's use of their devices, or the technological tool you have guided them toward? How can you account for a digital divide in classrooms where technology is BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)--is it a group ro partner-based activity? How can you assessment all group members' involvement?
As we connect our classrooms to online worlds, extensions, and applications, we also have to be able to connect them back to the classroom. It isn't enough to create an online set of Vocabulary flashcards and then say to students, "OK, go do this." The measurement of a student's ability to access the flashcards and complete the exercise has to come back to a hands-on application of skills in some way.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Reflection on Cognitive Flow
It's safe to say that I have experienced cognitive flow before. Prior to recent, more targeted studies of what cognitive flow, I've always chalked this concept up to being "In the Zone"--but of course, I've never thought about the Hows or the Whys. Usually, I feel as thought it's just been a really great day or I'm in the right mood. Sometimes these factor dictates whether or not this flow can happen.
That has changed somewhat after taking a closer look at what cognitive flow actually means. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly shared several quotes from people attempting to quantify, in language at least, what this flow is to them--and he routinely cycles back to this idea of "ecstasy"--a sort of uncontrolled departure from reality wherein we achieve exactly our best in the throes of this kind of flow. This is a state human beings can reach which is controlled, which is automatic, and not always flailing and spontaneous.
I've chosen to examine a time when cognitive flow happened to me by describing my experience as a piano player.
I have been an avid piano player for many years. Granted, when I was younger and slogging through Bach and scale exercises and always getting things technically wrong or playing them too fast, I found the challenges of playing the instrument frustrating and not really personally rewarding. But as I grew older, my knowledge and training of this instrument opened doors for me to begin playing many other instruments, always with frustrations and challenges, but now with a framework of fundamental skills that had been hammered into me and had begun manifesting themselves as something more like musical resonance.
Though I never developed my musical skills as much as I would have liked, being able to play and learn new pieces on my own has been a very rewarding pursuit of my adult life. All that complaining about practicing the same thing over and over when I was younger has now given me an outlet for personal achievement that I very highly value. I now refer to my piano as 'my therapist,' and the biggest challenge I face in playing piano now is simply having one at my disposal. (And understanding that at this point, I'm probably not going to just spontaneously churn out Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2)
So how does cognitive flow happen when I engage in this activity? As an example I'd like to describe how I learned to play my absolute favorite piece of piano, "Au Clair de Lune."
For one, it took a long time. I plodded through an intense key change, tried my best interpret a strange time signature, but mostly I relied on "my ear"--that is, I listened to the song being played hundreds of times, sometimes while reading the music and imagining what my hands had to do to successfully play whatever passage. Eventually, I got to a workable rendition of it, but it was still a difficult piece to memorize--to famously quote Amadeus, it had "too many notes."
But I began to notice this--I actually had the piece memorized, physically. I was worried about playing it consciously, and if I ever actually tried to consciously remember what exact notes came next, I'd lose track and the playing would break down. When I sat down to play it, and not think about it--these are the times when I realized that I knew what to do, and at times I could execute the more difficult passages of the piece without much trouble.
That may seem like a strange explanation, but I think it fits the realm of cognitive flow. As Benjamin Zander said in his TED talk I have examined earlier, an important breakthrough in learning relies on knowing where the "impulses" are. A beginner will create impulses for every single change in motion, key, or chord--to help themselves learn that motion. But, true mastery comes when you remove those impulses, or rather start looking at the bigger picture and prioritizing the impulses, operating on more sense, skill, and trust.
I have, for all intents and purposes, learned how to play "Au Clair de Lune." But, some days if I'm tired or worried or don't have a good level of focus, I won't play it to my liking. Others, when I'm more relaxed and able to ease into the practice, I can play a piece of music that is instantly gratifying -- as Csikszentmihaly said-- I get that "feedback" immediately and it is wonderfully soothing--I could play it several times in a row and not be bothered one bit.
It's those days that I think true flow is actually reached, calling to mind this visual presented by Csikszentmihaly:
The act of practicing piano in itself requires the right amount of challenge and skill, for me--but it's when I have relaxation, control, and arousal that I find myself producing the most interesting music. While this remains a largely solitary exercise, I find it interesting the links between music, education and learning--at the moment, my PLN doesn't have many resources in this area, but it's definitely something I would wish to explore in the future.
Sources:
1. Flow, the Secret to Happiness [Video File] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks
2. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Motivating People to Learn [2002, Feb] Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org
3. The Transformative Power of Classical Music [Video File] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks
That has changed somewhat after taking a closer look at what cognitive flow actually means. Mihaly Csikszentmihaly shared several quotes from people attempting to quantify, in language at least, what this flow is to them--and he routinely cycles back to this idea of "ecstasy"--a sort of uncontrolled departure from reality wherein we achieve exactly our best in the throes of this kind of flow. This is a state human beings can reach which is controlled, which is automatic, and not always flailing and spontaneous.
I've chosen to examine a time when cognitive flow happened to me by describing my experience as a piano player.
I have been an avid piano player for many years. Granted, when I was younger and slogging through Bach and scale exercises and always getting things technically wrong or playing them too fast, I found the challenges of playing the instrument frustrating and not really personally rewarding. But as I grew older, my knowledge and training of this instrument opened doors for me to begin playing many other instruments, always with frustrations and challenges, but now with a framework of fundamental skills that had been hammered into me and had begun manifesting themselves as something more like musical resonance.
Though I never developed my musical skills as much as I would have liked, being able to play and learn new pieces on my own has been a very rewarding pursuit of my adult life. All that complaining about practicing the same thing over and over when I was younger has now given me an outlet for personal achievement that I very highly value. I now refer to my piano as 'my therapist,' and the biggest challenge I face in playing piano now is simply having one at my disposal. (And understanding that at this point, I'm probably not going to just spontaneously churn out Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2)
So how does cognitive flow happen when I engage in this activity? As an example I'd like to describe how I learned to play my absolute favorite piece of piano, "Au Clair de Lune."
For one, it took a long time. I plodded through an intense key change, tried my best interpret a strange time signature, but mostly I relied on "my ear"--that is, I listened to the song being played hundreds of times, sometimes while reading the music and imagining what my hands had to do to successfully play whatever passage. Eventually, I got to a workable rendition of it, but it was still a difficult piece to memorize--to famously quote Amadeus, it had "too many notes."
But I began to notice this--I actually had the piece memorized, physically. I was worried about playing it consciously, and if I ever actually tried to consciously remember what exact notes came next, I'd lose track and the playing would break down. When I sat down to play it, and not think about it--these are the times when I realized that I knew what to do, and at times I could execute the more difficult passages of the piece without much trouble.
That may seem like a strange explanation, but I think it fits the realm of cognitive flow. As Benjamin Zander said in his TED talk I have examined earlier, an important breakthrough in learning relies on knowing where the "impulses" are. A beginner will create impulses for every single change in motion, key, or chord--to help themselves learn that motion. But, true mastery comes when you remove those impulses, or rather start looking at the bigger picture and prioritizing the impulses, operating on more sense, skill, and trust.
I have, for all intents and purposes, learned how to play "Au Clair de Lune." But, some days if I'm tired or worried or don't have a good level of focus, I won't play it to my liking. Others, when I'm more relaxed and able to ease into the practice, I can play a piece of music that is instantly gratifying -- as Csikszentmihaly said-- I get that "feedback" immediately and it is wonderfully soothing--I could play it several times in a row and not be bothered one bit.
It's those days that I think true flow is actually reached, calling to mind this visual presented by Csikszentmihaly:
 |
| Source: Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi On Flow |
The act of practicing piano in itself requires the right amount of challenge and skill, for me--but it's when I have relaxation, control, and arousal that I find myself producing the most interesting music. While this remains a largely solitary exercise, I find it interesting the links between music, education and learning--at the moment, my PLN doesn't have many resources in this area, but it's definitely something I would wish to explore in the future.
Sources:
1. Flow, the Secret to Happiness [Video File] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks
2. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Motivating People to Learn [2002, Feb] Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org
3. The Transformative Power of Classical Music [Video File] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Planning for English Language Learners
Among my class assignments at my school this year is a 9th grade class that contains the students with the lowest levels of English in the grade. In fact, the class became notorious last year--their 8th grade year-- for having very undeveloped English skills, and some academic concerns across all areas of study.
Despite these claims and the class' reputation, I am looking forward to seeing what we can do this year. 9th grade is the year classes switch English Language tracks, from mostly acquisition and BICS (Basic InterCommunication Skills) English to a more academic focus or CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) focus--no doubt, we'll have some big challenges. It is highly possible many students in this class will not be ready for the challenges of the material.
I expect to teach a unit this semester about HOME--which contains lessons about nomadic cultures, as well as home design and automation. The unit will culminate in a mini-project wherein students will design their dream home and present the home design to their classmates in a casual show and tell type of setting.
Because of the class' projected skills, I will expect to have students mostly in the following stages of Acquisition: Early Production, Speech Emergent, and Beginning Fluency. I doubt many students will actually be in the Pre-Production Acquisition stage, but may appear to be as they will not readily produce spoken or written materials for fear of being incorrect, as it is highly likely these students are aware of their language deficiencies as compared to their peers.
As the teacher, I will have to make sure I am scaffolding my language at all times and speaking in simple terms, clearly and slowly. There may emerge students with more advanced receptive skills than others, which I will strive to put in supportive roles assisting their classmates in understanding material and making applications (if it fits the student's disposition).
Let's examine the Reading lesson which describes futuristic technology people can use to automate their homes. Some objectives we have in this lesson include learning how to read and annotate, that is, make notes within the text to help us understand/demarcate what we consider important or requiring further investigation. Additionally, I hope to tie in content ideas from the reading into the Dream House mini-project at the end of the unit.
For the PreProduction learner: Reinforce vocabulary by creating picture/word matching cards. For selected vocabulary from the unit and the reading, offer a corresponding phonetic display and picture. The students then determine which pictures correspond to each word, and can practice using the phonetic display. This task can be made paperless and time-saving by using online flashcard creators such as Quizlet. The student then identifies each new word in the reading by using annotation methods, such as underlining or highlighting. The student reads silently or to himself/herself, reading aloud if comfortable.
For the Early Production learner: This student will still need vocabulary practice using flashcard activity from above. but they may be more confident in their speaking when learning the new words. A good activity may be to have them gauge their pronunciation using online tools, and paired with a PreProduction learner. They will go on to identify and annotate the text.
For the Speech Emergent learner: They will complete the vocabulary and annotation tasks. They will be asked to read sentences/chunks of text aloud that contain the target vocabulary. They will access prior knowledge by creating simple sentences from a prompt.
For the Beginning Fluency learner: They will recall equipment or terminology regarding home automation to access prior knowledge. They will create simple sentences from a prompt and share them with their group, or with the class. They will participate in the vocabulary activity, or be asked to develop their own vocabulary activity for their classmates. They will demonstrate annotation methods for the class and will be asked to expand on the topic as they are able.
Despite these claims and the class' reputation, I am looking forward to seeing what we can do this year. 9th grade is the year classes switch English Language tracks, from mostly acquisition and BICS (Basic InterCommunication Skills) English to a more academic focus or CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) focus--no doubt, we'll have some big challenges. It is highly possible many students in this class will not be ready for the challenges of the material.
I expect to teach a unit this semester about HOME--which contains lessons about nomadic cultures, as well as home design and automation. The unit will culminate in a mini-project wherein students will design their dream home and present the home design to their classmates in a casual show and tell type of setting.
Because of the class' projected skills, I will expect to have students mostly in the following stages of Acquisition: Early Production, Speech Emergent, and Beginning Fluency. I doubt many students will actually be in the Pre-Production Acquisition stage, but may appear to be as they will not readily produce spoken or written materials for fear of being incorrect, as it is highly likely these students are aware of their language deficiencies as compared to their peers.
As the teacher, I will have to make sure I am scaffolding my language at all times and speaking in simple terms, clearly and slowly. There may emerge students with more advanced receptive skills than others, which I will strive to put in supportive roles assisting their classmates in understanding material and making applications (if it fits the student's disposition).
Let's examine the Reading lesson which describes futuristic technology people can use to automate their homes. Some objectives we have in this lesson include learning how to read and annotate, that is, make notes within the text to help us understand/demarcate what we consider important or requiring further investigation. Additionally, I hope to tie in content ideas from the reading into the Dream House mini-project at the end of the unit.
For the PreProduction learner: Reinforce vocabulary by creating picture/word matching cards. For selected vocabulary from the unit and the reading, offer a corresponding phonetic display and picture. The students then determine which pictures correspond to each word, and can practice using the phonetic display. This task can be made paperless and time-saving by using online flashcard creators such as Quizlet. The student then identifies each new word in the reading by using annotation methods, such as underlining or highlighting. The student reads silently or to himself/herself, reading aloud if comfortable.
For the Early Production learner: This student will still need vocabulary practice using flashcard activity from above. but they may be more confident in their speaking when learning the new words. A good activity may be to have them gauge their pronunciation using online tools, and paired with a PreProduction learner. They will go on to identify and annotate the text.
For the Speech Emergent learner: They will complete the vocabulary and annotation tasks. They will be asked to read sentences/chunks of text aloud that contain the target vocabulary. They will access prior knowledge by creating simple sentences from a prompt.
For the Beginning Fluency learner: They will recall equipment or terminology regarding home automation to access prior knowledge. They will create simple sentences from a prompt and share them with their group, or with the class. They will participate in the vocabulary activity, or be asked to develop their own vocabulary activity for their classmates. They will demonstrate annotation methods for the class and will be asked to expand on the topic as they are able.
Saturday, July 16, 2016
Special Education Referral, International Edition
My next participant in my interviews comes from Taiwan and gives an international perspective to handling Special Education in systems outside of the United States.
As a general educator, I learnt a lot from professional developments workshops and frequent connection with my co-workers on how to tell a student is probably suffering from disabilities but wasn't obvious enough to be assigned to a special class. Subtle observation is highly required on every single individuals in my class. There are some aspects to look into, for example, their learning abilities comparing to others, interaction with their classmates, test results, handwriting in their assignments, and interpersonal interaction with the teachers, etc. A decent amount of observation will help to exclude the possibilites of the fact that they are just acting out or reacting weird because of emotional unstability.
Can you please introduce yourself and describe your professional involvement with education? How do you specifically interact with special education programs?
I am Josephine from Taiwan. My career as an English teacher began with 1 year teaching at Taiwan Matsu Dong Ying Junior High School. ... During my stay at Dong Ying Junior High School, I was engaged with few cases of "special kids" at school. Limited by its geographical isolation to the mainland Taiwan and comparatively small population of the school, the school failed to reach the minimum requirement of setting up a special education department. We were desperate for special education specialists to help us with some tough cases. And it turned out that teachers from other subjects had no choice but to cover for those special needs, which took away a lot of advantages of early treatments for the kids.
How do schools in Taiwan handle students with learning difficulties or other disabilities? Does the system have programs for special education? If yes, how are students identified for special education referral/recommendation?
Fortunately, Taiwanese government has been promoting the importance of special education by all means, specifically to say, for both the disabled and also gifted. The ministry of education has been holding events, seminars and teacher development workshops to improve educators' skills, ensure parental participation, provide medical assessments and medical care.
What are the signs of a struggling student?
As a general educator, I learnt a lot from professional developments workshops and frequent connection with my co-workers on how to tell a student is probably suffering from disabilities but wasn't obvious enough to be assigned to a special class. Subtle observation is highly required on every single individuals in my class. There are some aspects to look into, for example, their learning abilities comparing to others, interaction with their classmates, test results, handwriting in their assignments, and interpersonal interaction with the teachers, etc. A decent amount of observation will help to exclude the possibilites of the fact that they are just acting out or reacting weird because of emotional unstability.
One of my 5-year-old student has surprisingly low level of speaking ability. He talks like a 3 year-old boy. He couldn't give proper answers to simple questions and failed to focus on the person who is talking to him. When he wanted to draw people's attention, he would always talk to people with very limited sentence patterns repeatingly, like, what's the color of it? Is it red? Is it black?
Another student in my grade 8 class seemed to suffer from emotional disorders and ADHD, he couldn't help himself from swearing nonstop for 2 hours, attacking classmates and teachers, and always bombing his father with filthy statements, which sounds just like what a normal punky self-centered teenager will do, but he is a bit too much and it doesn't really look like it's just because of hormones.
Are there alternate methods of instruction tried out before referring the student to special education? If yes, what are they?
I believe there are. But I have to admit that it's a little bit of out of my reach.
Are there any other things you would like to add about the education system in Taiwan, and how it handles students with disabilities and special needs?
Despite the overall efforts of the government, private institutions and social resources, we are encountering the shortage crisis of educators and specialists that are willing to devote themselves into special care areas. According to the ministry of education, in the year 2013, there were 258 special educators vacancies waiting to be filled in. Ridiculous ratio of special educator to disabilities is indicated as 1:38.
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Josephine's answers provide a good perspective into the handling of Special Education students and programs in other countries. It seems refreshing to be made familiar with Taiwan's programs for special education, as we have seen in discussions with the TN Cohort this week, not all Asian countries/societies have the same progressive ideas about serving individuals with disabilities and other barriers to education.
In addition to her personal insights, Josephine was able to direct my attention to the Ministry's Profile on Special Education, found here: Ministry of Education, Republic of China (Taiwan)
----------------------------------
Josephine's answers provide a good perspective into the handling of Special Education students and programs in other countries. It seems refreshing to be made familiar with Taiwan's programs for special education, as we have seen in discussions with the TN Cohort this week, not all Asian countries/societies have the same progressive ideas about serving individuals with disabilities and other barriers to education.
In addition to her personal insights, Josephine was able to direct my attention to the Ministry's Profile on Special Education, found here: Ministry of Education, Republic of China (Taiwan)
The Special Education Referral Process
Special Education in the United States has many benefits for parents and children--educator/school system interventions, which can occur at any stage in a child's development, combined with systemic support and a solid policy for developing solutions to a child's barriers to education, ensure that children in the US education system receive the best possible care and involvement throughout their school years. While not perfect--controversies attached to over-diagnoses of certain conditions in early childhood come to mind--at the core of these practices is an overarching directive of civic responsibility to publicly provide education for all children despite the presence of many barriers.
With such policy in place, it stands to reason that there is a thorough and transparent process through which a student is identified and referred for Special Education services. I had the benefit of speaking to a friend and colleague and current professional in the field who will be identified as AM.
So let's take a look at the process: how do students get referred for Special Education services? Many times, barriers to learning, particularly developmental, sensory, or motor impairments are identified quickly in the early childhood developmental stage. Older children who have already been in school for a few years are most likely to be referred by their parents for Special Education Services. Once the referral is made, a case management team usually consisting of a general and special educator, possible attendant evaluators, administrator, parent, and in some cases where age appropriate, the child/student themselves completes an evaluation stage, wherein a child's eligibility for Special Education Services is determined.
It is very important at this stage that the child's symptoms of a disability or learning barrier/condition be shown to tangibly and adversely affect the child's learning. If this determination is made, the team meets again to develop an IEP (Individualized Education Program). After an IEP is developed, it is the team's responsibility to implement the plan and put modifications and/or accommodations in place to help the student succeed in their education. IEP teams have regular meetings to tracks the progress, and are reviewed/updated at least once annually. IEP meetings can take place at any time, especially if the parent requests one.
Through my exploration of the topic of Personalized Education and its role in Special Education, to the Special Education Referral Process, the functional advantage for the Special Education student to be given a personalized approach to meeting their learning objectives is clear. Both Educators that spoke highly emphasized the importance of parental involvement in all stages of developing intervention strategies, being active in determining IEP goals, learning environment modifications/accommodations, and getting connected with extra services.
But how are Special Educators supported in their works with students? AM states administrative directives for Special Education have differed for her depending on the location in which she's been teaching:
"The rhetoric is always around “closing the gap.” ... In New York, there was a huge emphasis placed on test scores. Special educations students had to pass the same regents exams at the end of high school if they wanted a diploma. Otherwise they were given an “IEP diploma” which pretty much meant they couldn’t go on to any higher ed and limited job options. We definitely pushed our sped kids to test well.
In WI, I’m finding that the directives for special ed are more lax [sic] when it comes to academic performance. A student with an IEP will get a high school diploma if they attend school until graduation, regardless of grades or performance. When we look at standardized test scores here, special ed scores are looked at as a data point but my principal doesn’t pressure me to meet outrageous growth goals. However, [the School District] is in the process of redefining how they manage student behaviors. We talk a lot about how minority students, especially those with IEPs, are suspended more frequently than their peers. [School District] also pushes for full inclusion, meaning students with profound autism and/or an emotional/behavioral disturbance are placed in general education settings ... In summary, [School District] places more of an emphasis on inclusion and managing behaviors. "
Taking this into account, administrative directives for special education can play a huge part in how a Special Educator might approach her job. You might even argue that administrative directives are the "objective zero" of a possible personalized learning approach, inasmuch as they have already "personalized," in a sense, their district or institution's Special Education priorities.
From there, the customization of education continues with a child's IEP and the implementation of what are known as SMART-- Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Relevant, and Time-Bound-- goals.
AM provides an example of a goal she has written for an IEP: "...with support from his teacher, G will learn and apply math problem solving strategies in order to solve whole number, mixed number and fractional math problems using the four operations with 80% accuracy." This goal (applied to this student's plan in the area of Math) asks for measurable progress in specific areas that are appropriate for the student, relevant to the student's specific troubles at school (math scores), and can be time-bound in terms of the greater IEP's time frame for achieving objective such as these--perhaps in a 3-month period, an academic quarter, or semester.
AM remarks that the implementation and achievement of IEP goals is easier to obtain when general and special educators work together to develop the student's learning and coping mechanisms.
"Co-teaching works really great when it is done well. Ideally the gen. ed teacher is the content specialist and will determine what needs to be taught and the sped [sic] teacher is the learning specialist and will work on different ways to convey the information. This works well for me in the Math class that I co-teach, for example. I’m not an expert on the subject but I am good at figuring out different projects or methods for students who learn differently to use to grasp the same concept."
We can see the specialty in the profession emerge at this point, as the educator will further personalize a child's education experience by pinpointing the most successful methods for the student to process, store, retain and produce information related to subject curriculum.
And personalization of learning still doesn't quite stop there, at least when taken on a case basis. When asked to recount an example of what she would consider a "success story" in her particular category of education specialty, AM says:
"Honestly I prefer to focus on small victories when working in special education. Things like a student finishing their classwork independently or being proud of an essay they completed really make my day. I helped a student write an essay about a passion of his and we showed it to his mom at an IEP meeting. He was so proud and that was awesome. I feel like a lot of special education is about consistent support and positive reinforcement. "
General outcomes and success can be achieved and celebrated and can still remain valuable milestones in a person's education or career--but the cases and situations specific to your success and learning, in any role or at any stage, is perhaps the more meaningful outcome we're searching for in striving to achieve a personalized approach to education.
Finally, how does the process look to a general education teacher? My next post will examine general education approaches to classroom interventions, and the special education process.
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