There are several reasons why many schools have begun to adopt a co-teaching model in their classrooms. Class size laws in many states require a lower student to teacher ratio as do many individualized education plans. Co-teaching can even result in a better teaching experience for the teachers and the students, as long as the teachers get along.

Class Size

From an administrative perspective co-teaching is extremely attractive. Many states consider two teachers in one classroom of 40 adequate for a 20 classroom size limit. This is great for schools which don’t have enough the physical space or monetary means to add extra classrooms to reduce class sizes. For teachers it means not having to face the task of supervising, teaching, and grading work for 40 students in five to six classes each day. However, there are still 40 children crammed into that one classroom. The ability to have those larger numbers may make administrative staff more inclined to push the upper boundaries of the class size. Having that many children in one class is going to be more difficult to teach and control, even with two teachers.

Special Education

Many individualized education plans, or IEPs, require that a student have access to a special education teacher during specific classes. By making one of the teachers in a co-teaching team a special education teacher, a school can accommodate more students in each class than if the teacher had to move between classes. For example, five students who have an additional assistance accommodation in math could all be scheduled together in the same math class where the special education teacher could co-teach with the math teacher. That special education teacher could then go to an English class and co-teach to meet the IEP specifications of another set of students the following period. The danger with this is that those special education students would be grouped together, which does not fully honor the spirit of an inclusive classroom experience.

Personalities

Many teachers have strong personalities and almost every teacher has his or her own preferred way of doing classroom management, teaching, testing, grading, and even decorating. Co-teaching offers the opportunity for great success and great failure. If the teaching styles of the two teachers mesh well together they may find the experience more relaxing and more effective for themselves and their students. If the two have completely different teaching styles and preferences it could turn into a nightmare for the staff and the students.

Have you been a member of a co-teaching team? How did it affect your overall happiness with your job and how did the children react to having two teachers in a room? Do you think this is an effective solution to classroom size regulations or IEP accommodations?

Pros and Cons of Co-Teaching is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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1. Problems with Inclusion in the Classroom
2. A Special Education Teacher’s Role in an Inclusive Classroom
3. New Students: Starting the School Year Right

As soon as Thanksgiving begins to peek around the corner at the beginning of November, students begin dreaming of their long awaited winter holiday. Two to three weeks away from school to play with toys, watch television and hang out with friends sounds like a dream after the months of slaving away in a classroom. Once December arrives, it can be almost impossible to keep students grounded in school work. One way to do this is to explore the winter holidays from an academic and cultural point of view. This is especially useful in helping to take the mystery out of holidays or holiday traditions of some of the ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages) students in the school.

Decorate

Use any large bulletin boards in the office, hallways, or library to depict the history of some of the more well-known December holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza. If there is space, separate the three holidays on one board, or put each holiday on its own. Show students that even countries that all celebrate Christmas do so differently. Make on bulletin board that shows Christmas traditions around the world. La Befana in Italy, Father Christmas in England, and Joulupukki in Finland are all believed to deliver gifts to children much like Santa in the United States.

Celebrate

Have a winter carnival for the students or for the entire neighborhood. Assign each classroom a different country to research. Have them make food, create a classroom bulletin board, hang decorations, and play music that reflects the traditions of that country. Be sure to give children from another country their country if possible to help bring authenticity to the project. Plan a day where children are able to go from one country to another to explore the traditions. In elementary schools perhaps have the highest grade level complete the project and let the younger classes visit.

While there are many important winter holidays most children in America think only of the holiday they celebrate at home. Even if all of the children in the school celebrate Christmas, this is still an exciting opportunity to open them up to cultural exploration by showing them that the same holiday is embraced and celebrated around the world in a variety of ways. Showing children a friendly and somewhat familiar celebration allows them to learn more about other cultures, and possible other students in their school.

How have you brought multiculturalism into your school? Do you utilize the opportunity that winter break offers, or have you found the children to be too distracted at this time of year?

Winter Holidays in the Classroom is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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1. Gratitude in the Classroom
2. The Role of Holiday Decorations in Education
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During our fast paced lives, it is easy to forget that we all have something to be grateful for. Not simply the material possessions we enjoy, but the little things we may not even consider on a daily basis such as being able to see the leaves changing colors, listening to the holiday music, smelling pumpkin pies baking, or enjoying a Thanksgiving meal with our friends and family. Students especially need to be reminded how privileged they are simply to be able to attend schools and have the ability to learn.

Special education teachers have a unique perspective on gratitude because they work daily with children who have to struggle simply to learn and often to be accepted by a community of their peers. The Thanksgiving season is a great time to remind these special children, and all of the children in the school, of just how amazing their lives really are and all that they have to be grateful for.

Many schools decorate for the seasonal changes and various holidays. This year recommend that your school decorate with a theme of gratitude.

Doors

Instead of having children create large turkey decorations for classroom doors as students in each homeroom to make a gratitude door. Let them use their imaginations to show what they are grateful for or to make a visual representation of gratitude for everyone to enjoy. One idea is to have the children write what they are grateful for on construction paper feathers to decorate a larger paper turkey.

Bulletin Boards

Ask teachers to create bulletin boards around the theme of thankfulness. Let the adults create this without student participation so the children get a different perspective. History teachers may want to focus on how different life is now from the past and what people now have to be thankful for. Literature teachers could highlight famous literary characters that were always positive in the face of adversity such as the sisters in Little Women or the family in the Little House series. Math teachers may want to make graphs showing world poverty by country or homelessness by state to bring the children’s attention to the plights of others.

Speakers

Ask students to make a list of ten things they are grateful for. To put their lives into perspective, invite speakers who have disabilities, who have lived in impoverished countries, or lived in war zones to come speak to the student population. Let them tell the children about their lives and what they have overcome. Afterwards ask the students to imagine living in the same circumstances and to write a new list of ten things they are grateful for. Compare the lists and discuss what changes they made and why. What things are they newly appreciative of?

 How will you help your students realize all they have to be grateful for this year?

Gratitude in the Classroom is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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CAS, or childhood apraxia of speech, may also be known as verbal apraxia. This speech disorder is not fully understood, however, it causes the patient to be unable to fully perform the movements required to create speech. While it may be called by a variety of names, the important connection is the child has difficulty planning and following through with the actions required to speak.

A school speech therapist or speech pathologist may be called in to consult with the child and school to develop an Individual Education Plan, or IEP, to address the speech disorder.

Symptoms

 The signs for a very young child are different than those for an older child. However, the signs a school employed speech pathologist should look for in a school age child include:

• Inconsistent errors in creating a sound that are not due to the child’s age.
• The child understands language far better than he or she can speak.
• The child has difficulty repeating words, but words that are repeated are clearer than those created spontaneously.
• Child may visibly struggle when trying to form sounds or words.
• The child may have more difficulty with longer phrases or words than with those that are shorter.
• Speech may be more difficult when the child is anxious or upset.
• The child may be difficult to understand for anyone not familiar with his or her speech patterns.
• Words may be delivered in a monotonous or choppy rhythm and the wrong syllables may be stressed on individual words.

 Treatment

 Treatment for children with apraxia of speech is much more intense than other forms of speech therapy. Typically, a school speech pathologist will see a student once a week. Children with apraxia of speech need more frequent sessions, usually a minimum of three sessions per week. At first, the child will require individual sessions, and as improvement begins, he or she may be able to receive fewer sessions per week or be placed in group therapy for some sessions.

 In treatment, the focus is on improving the child’s ability to plan and sequence sounds as well as their ability to control the muscles needed for the production of speech. Specific exercises to strengthen these muscles are not necessary as the disorder is a result of a lack of coordination not strength. Multi-sensory feedback may be utilized to help children receive the feedback they need when attempting speech. For severe cases, the child may need to be taught sign language in order to more effectively communicate until speech improves.

 Finally, family involvement will be critical to the success of the student. They will need to be given specific instructions on how to help the child practice at home.

 How do you get the family involved with the treatment plan?

Apraxia of Speech is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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Suicide in children is rare, but it does happen. Suicide is possible in children who have yet to hit puberty, and even more likely after the onset of puberty. As infrequently as it does occur, and as tragic as it is, it is possible that one of your students will commit suicide. Depending on the age of your student population, the warning signs can be very difficult to detect. The effect a student suicide can have on the other students, as well as the faculty, can be tremendous – and the response of the school can play a tremendous role in the recovery of those left behind.

Warning Signs

Traumatic events can trigger suicidal tendencies in children. These events may include exposure to violence or a sudden or traumatic loss. Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, violent attacks on themselves or a family member, or a personal crisis may become a trigger for a student. Specific warning signs include:

• Change in behavior – becoming withdrawn, increased absenteeism, lack of interest in activities, and isolation from peers.
• Change in conduct – the student’s grades and work effort may begin to drop or drop suddenly.
• Depression – when a child feels helpless or that a specific situation is hopeless.
• Final arrangements –children and adolescents may begin giving away treasured possessions rather than making a will.
• Physical changes – changes in appearance, appetite, weight, hygiene, and sleep patterns.
• Prior attempts – previous attempts of committing suicide or of hurting oneself.
• Risk-taking – actions that are excessively dangerous or aggressive and the use of alcohol and drugs can all be used to mask depression.
• Suicide notes – these can include notes meant to be left behind after the event, diary entries, letters to friends or journal writing entries at school
• Threats – verbal threats or comments indicating a desire to die, to be dead, or that others would benefit from the death of the student.

For children under the age of 10, it is very hard to detect warning signs because it is most often an impulsive act. However, there does seem to be a connection between higher rates and children who have difficulty with impulse control or children with a mood or conduct disorder.

Effect on other Students

The loss of a fellow student can be devastating for classmates, regardless of the reason. When it is an accident, it may be easier to find something to rally around such as bike safety, cancer awareness, or drunk driving prevention. When a student chooses to take his or her own life, it can be more difficult for students to cope with because they may feel personally responsible for not preventing the act. These feelings may lead other students to become depressed and even suicidal as well.

School Response

 Schools need to have a plan in place for how to contact students, staff, and parents in case there is a student suicide. This will help control rumors and increase the odds that students will be in a safe and loving environment when they receive the news. Trauma and grief counselors should be brought in for the staff, parents, and students. The adults will not only need counseling for their own loss, they will also need training on how to interact with the grieving students. A memorial service should be planned for the students at the school to give them closure and a safe place to grieve. After the initial tragedy, continue to make students aware that the school therapist is available to talk with them at any time and what outside sources are available for them in the community.

Student Suicide is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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World Mental Health Day is celebrated annually on October 10. The holiday is supported by the World Health Organization and the United Nations, and is designed to increase the public’s awareness and understanding of mental health issues around the world.

School

It can be very hard to discuss mental health in a school setting. Teachers often feel there is a stigma associated with mental health issues such as depression or anxiety and choose not to share any personal struggles for fear of professional disciplinary consequences. Students will often self-medicate with drugs or alcohol in order to deal with depression, anxiety, bullying, or social awkwardness. School therapists can utilize this day as an opportunity to bring in speakers to discuss depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and healthy ways to improve one’s mental health. Be sure to offer faculty members workshops and speakers during planning periods, lunch, and before and after school so they have a chance to meet with speakers as well. Partner with local mental health professionals that accept the school’s medical insurance and create a brochure listing them and their specialties to place in the teacher’s mail boxes.

Pharmacy

Unfortunately, mental illness is still seen as taboo. People suffering from depression, anxiety disorders, and even chemical imbalances often do not seek help because they feel they should be able to “figure it out on their own.” One way pharmacists can raise awareness of the importance of mental health is to discuss the various medications and the conditions they are intended to treat. By creating a public dialogue about mental health, pharmacists may be able to encourage individuals to be more conscious of their own mental health status and become aware of options designed to improve their mental health. Contact manufacturers of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications for displays about their product and the conditions they treat. Include a display with contact information for local therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and support groups. Put the display up on the 10^th and leave it up for the entire week to reach a greater audience.

Health Professionals

 If you are a nurse of a physical therapist you too can help raise awareness about mental health issues. Both professions often work with people who are suffering from chronic pain or who have had a severe trauma or accident. While these clients may be receiving the medical care they need to treat their physical injuries they may not even be aware that their mental health needs to be addressed as well. Put a display in the waiting room that proclaims the importance of mental health as well as physical health and the warning signs that chronic pain may be negatively affecting their mental health. Include the names and phone numbers of pain management groups, support groups, and mental health professionals in the area.

World Mental Health Day is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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An eating disorder is a condition which causes irregularities in the daily diet of the patient. This could include severe limitations of caloric intake or an excessive increase in consumption followed by ritualized purging. These disorders can effect men as well as women and typically develop during the teens or early adulthood. However, any of these disorders could develop at any point. There are several types of eating disorders; however, the most prevalent are anorexia and bulimia.

Symptoms

People with anorexia nervosa are obsessed with the food they eat and their weight. They believe themselves to be overweight even when they are dangerously underweight. They will attempt to achieve and maintain a weight far below what is healthy for their height and age. To lose weight, or prevent gaining weight, they may exercise excessively or starve themselves. Some patients will use both methods to maintain control over their weight.

Patients with bulimia nervosa eat large amounts of food and then attempt to rid their body of the excessive calories through purging. Patients may purge by inducing vomiting or diarrhea or may engage in excessive exercise rituals. As with anorexic patients, bulimics have an altered body image.

Treatment

These disorders must be treated both medically and psychologically. The disorder can cause dehydration, destabilization of electrolytes, muscle loss, low blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and a variety of other problems. Treatment of the disease begins with proper nutrition and hydration, possibly via a feeding tube and intravenous fluids.

Medications may be used to reduce the symptoms of these eating disorders. Antidepressants such as fluoxetine may be used to treat bulimia. Unfortunately, no medications have been specifically proven to help patients suffering with anorexia, although a variety of antidepressants may provide some benefit. 

The psychological components of the treatment will be more long lasting. Individual, family, and group therapy are often indicated in patients with anorexia. Individual therapy helps the patient identify the destructive behaviors contributing to the disorder and find healthier ways of dealing with those impulses and behaviors. Family therapy can teach family members how to help the patient care for herself and how to identify symptoms that may indicate a relapse. Group therapy allows the patient to meet with and identify with others who are currently living with the disorders as well as those who are in recovery.

Therapists are arguably the most important component in treating patients with eating disorders. While it is certainly true that the medical damage can be immense, it can be treated in a finite period of time. Patients with eating disorders will often need years, if not lifelong, counseling.

As a therapist, how long do you typically see a patient with an eating disorder? Which form of therapy have you found to be most beneficial for your patients?

How Much Do You Know about Eating Disorders? is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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There was a time when bullying in school was very clear cut. A child was teased on the playground, pushed in the locker room, or tripped in the lunchroom. With the myriad forms of new technology available to students, however, it is becoming increasingly easy for students to bully one another without speaking, touching, looking, or even being in the same room with each other. Smart phones, tablets, laptops, and school computers give students ample opportunity to bully each other through blogs, social networks, email, and text messages. What can schools do to stop students from participating in, or being a victim of, cyberbullying?

At School

Make your computer use policy as strict as possible within your school. Don’t allow cellular phones in the school, or if they are in the school, they should not be allowed to be on or in the classrooms. Students using electronic devices, whether their own or the school’s, to engage in cyberbullying should be banned from further use for a predetermined period of time. Explain the rules and expectations of the school to the students at the beginning of the year and reinforce them throughout the year. As with most disruptive behaviors, clear consequences within the school setting will deter most students from engaging in those behaviors.

At Home

One of the most difficult problems schools face in cyberbullying cases is that some cases of cyberbullying will be carried out completely away from the school. If the student who is accused of bullying is doing so away from campus and without the aid of any school technology, there may be very little the school can do, as legislation regarding the issue varies by state and is constantly evolving along with the technology used to perpetrate the offense. Because of this, it is very important that parents are informed immediately when a student is feeling threatened. If a teacher or school therapist has been informed that a child is being bullied, the parents of both students need to be informed. Parental involvement can be key in resolving the issue.

In the Community

It may not surprise teachers or school psychologists to know that cyberbullying is a completely foreign concept to people without children or people who have limited access to the wonders of the online word. Engage the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) at your school and request their assistance in setting up community outreach programs. Pass out brochures about cyberbullying at your local stores, partner with community businesses to bring in speakers for open house nights at the school, and invite community leaders to come in and discuss problems they have had with cyberbullying or other forms of online intimidation. Bring in authority figures who are outside the student’s social network to give them a fresh perspective on the issue.

As a teacher or school therapist what have you done to increase awareness and decrease the incidents of cyberbullying in your school?

Cyberbullying and School is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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Every year, new students and teachers must learn to work together in the classroom. A special education teacher must coordinate with numerous people to make sure their new students receive the help and services they need to succeed in school.

Students

At the start of the school year, you will simply focus on the students you have been assigned. You will not begin scanning for new students who may need to be tested for several weeks. During the week or so before students arrive; review the files of all new students. If possible, visit the classroom teachers from the previous year to learn more about what the student likes and dislikes as well as their biggest challenges and past successes.

Classroom Teachers

Once you are familiar with the students you will be assisting, visit the classroom teachers they will be with this school year. Provide a print out of accommodations for individual students to make sure they are receiving assistance from the very beginning. This will be an invaluable service for the classroom teachers, especially new teachers who have limited exposure to special needs children and may not be sure what they should do in regards to helping them feel accepted and successful from the first day.

Special Education Team

Some students will have a larger educational team than others. Students may have an occupational therapist, speech therapist, counselor, or assistant who will be helping them throughout the week in addition to you and the classroom teacher. Coordinate a meeting with all parties as early into the school year as possible so everyone will be aware of how they can assist the child with all areas. Overlapping services are almost as bad as a lack of services. If everyone is able to work together skills can be reinforced without becoming boring and no skill set or knowledge area will be overlooked.

Parents

Parents are possibly the most important member of a student’s educational team. If the framework that is set up for the child is not reinforced at home it can lead to set backs or further academic struggles. Don’t wait for the annual review to get to know the parents of your students. Call them within the first week of getting back to school and find out how the child did over the summer. If there were major changes in the family dynamic or if the child attended a camp and has shown improvements since the last school year, this should be taken into consideration as soon as possible. Exchange contact information with the parents and encourage them to become active participants in their child’s education.

What tips and tricks do you have for special education teachers who want to make sure their students start the school year right? Do you have games, routines, or methods you have found to be especially useful?

New Students: Starting the School Year Right is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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Most people like to talk about the benefits of an inclusion classroom. Those are numerous, popular, and easy to list. But what about the problems with inclusive classrooms? It is almost as if it is taboo to even suggest there are problems with creating an inclusive classroom. However, as any mainstream or special education teacher can tell you, there are indeed problems.

Problems for Classroom Teachers

A classroom teacher is expected to select educational methodology to best suit each student. This is a challenging goal for one teacher who potentially has more than 30 students in each of five to seven classes. Most students can be grouped with other students whose educational needs are similar. This may reduce the planning required to two or three groups. If you add special needs students who have severe learning delays, developmental issues, or who speak little or no English, this task can feel almost insurmountable – especially if the inclusive classroom does not include a co-teacher.

Problems for Special Education Teachers

The biggest problem for special education teachers who have students in inclusive classrooms is being available to every student. For example, if an ESE teacher has 50 students who are distributed through 15 classes during any given period there is no way to assist every student every day. Students may have to be pulled out of class a few times a week for additional services, which also impacts the ability of the child and classroom teacher to maintain pace. If the ESE teacher rotates into different classes on different days, they are not able to get the full educational picture of the class and may not be there when the student needs them most.

Problems for Students

Special education and mainstream students both benefit from being in a classroom together. After all, work and life are not segregated by intelligence or ability. However, there are still some problems that need to be recognized. In a classroom of 30, with one or two special education students, it can be difficult for the classroom teacher to give the individual time and attention the students require and deserve. If the teacher is focusing on the special needs students, the students who need a more challenging environment may be overlooked because they are able to succeed with minimal assistance. While the students will likely succeed in the class, they may not feel challenged and may become bored and disinterested in the class. If the teacher tries to make the class more challenging for the mainstream students, the special education students may feel singled out when their IEP exceptions become more noticeable in areas such as presentations, projects, and homework requirements. Being in every class together may actually alienate the students more than if they were separated for specific classes.

As an ESE teacher, what do you find to be the biggest drawback of inclusive classrooms? Do you think the positives outweigh the negatives?

Problems with Inclusion in the Classroom is a post from: Sunbelt Staffing

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