teacher created skills checklists

Teacher Created Skills Checklists: Finding Each Child’s Success

Teacher Created Skills Checklists have many purposes. In a classroom, assessments are used to measure a students strengths and/or weakness. They can help a teacher pinpoint what a student needs to learn next and what skills they have already accomplished. As a parent, the same strategy can be used. Here are some ways to use skill checklists:

  • Informal evaluation of student academic abilities
  • The checklist involves a specific standard of performance related to an academic area (reading, writing, mathematics reasoning, homework/class work completion, note taking, organization etc)
  • Information gathered from checklists can be used to determine academic goals for the student.

teacher created skills checklists

There are many ways to carry out teacher created skills checklists, like:

  • Data based on observation to determine a baseline for mastery a certain academic skill.
  • A checklist of sub skills that a student must master in order to accomplish the targeted skill.
  • Determine how frequently a child should be assessed on the targeted skill. This should be determined on an individual basis based on their own strengths and weaknesses.
  • Use data and information gathered from checklists to create and set academic goals for the child.

The data collected from skills checklists is used to identify areas of weakness a student may have. In order to determine progress over a certain period of time, the teacher will continue to collect data based on observation and re assess throughout the school year on an individual basis. For educational interventions, students may need accommodations in order to be successful on the Teacher Created Skills Checklist. So think about:

  • Extended time
  • Redirection to work
  • Scribe
  • Pace of instruction
  • Assignment length
  • Organizational assistance
  • Study guides
  • Seating to minimize distractions
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technology in the classroom

Technology in the Classroom: the Use of Smartphones

In the current technological age, technology in the classroom is often a leading force in education, but how can a smartphone be used to further a students success. Here is a info graphic on just that topic: Do Smartphones Make Smart Students…

technology in the classroom

As technology takes over the classroom, it is important to keep it researched based. In order to maximize the students benefits, keep in mind what truly benefits the student. As the info graphic states, in 2011 over 85% of handsets could access the web. With such readily easy access to grand information, students have the power of a grand TI calculator and a massively extensive encyclopedia plus more in one little device. How times have changed. With this potentially grand education that can fit in your pocket, how is it being used? Is it more than just a way for teens to be on the cutting edge in number of texts sent?

technology in the classroom

As this graphic demonstrates, not only are teens the highest percent of smartphone users, they are also mostly college achieved individuals. With this in mind, at the time of this info graphic iPhone was the best geared toward education. With so many apps out there, the possibility for learning is limitless, but how do you keep kids engaged in learning and not getting into trouble with things like snap chat?technology in the classroom

Perhaps as the teacher or parent, it is our job to challenge students within the confines of not only their technology but also their interest. Think about ways in which to apply the students interests into the education instead of the other way around. In other words, technology in the classroom is a possible way toward a successful education if applied to bigger projects and ideas. For example, photography, video recording, GPS, and even social networking could be used toward educational goals through projects and other manipulations of things that already excite the child.

Screen Shot 2013-04-17 at 2.49.05 PM Screen Shot 2013-04-17 at 2.48.46 PM technology in the classroom

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special education

Special Education Infographic for the United States

Here is a great info-graphic on Special Education in the United States. According to it’s information, Special Education is defined as “specifically designed instruction to meet unique needs of a child with a disability.” It also shows the variety of special needs including: specific learning disability, language/speech impairment, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, visual impairment, multiple disabilities, deaf-blindness, autism, traumatic brain injury, and developmental delay. It illustrates how these are represented among those 13% in special education. It also examines the Individual Education Program, IEP, and the Committee for Special Education, CSE. This wording may change slightly across the US, but the same basic principle holds true. The IEP and CSE are there to individually support the child and make sure they truly reach their goals.

This info-graphic on Special Education, shows how the number of students enrolled in special education is growing, while those with specific learning disabilities is declining. These students needs are met in a variety of settings from main-stream (full-inclusion) to pull-out (inclusion) to self-contained. The important part of the IEP and CSE teams are to make sure that the child is in the right environment for them with minimal interference to mainstream as the goal. This is all defined as Least Restrictive Environment. According to this info-graphic, more than 50% of students with disabilities spend 80% of their time in a general education classroom. This is a number that has grown over the years as the idea and technics for mainstreaming have grown more popular. This not only keeps children with their peers but also helps cut costs. According to the U.S. k-12, the general education student ratio is 1:15.5 (something much higher in way too many regions of the US) while the average special education classroom is 1:7 (a ratio lower to meet the kids needs). The U.S. spends 16.5% or $11.5 billion on Special Education. At the bottom, the info-graphic talks about becoming a special education teacher. A job that is constantly needing more people to reach this special population.

Special Education 101 Infographic

USC Rossier Online

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educating special needs children

Educating Special Needs Children: How to Truly Help

Educating special needs children provides it own challenges and rewards. Children with mental retardation, autism, severe disabilities, and multiple disabilities need special education that focuses on their current developmental levels. By focusing on their current levels, instead of the information normally provided in their chronological age/grade level, the children can be given goals that they can obtain, which can lead to more successful accomplishments. Here are some ideas to help children with special needs succeed in school:

educating special needs children

Educating Special Needs Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Intellectual disabilities include a disability characterized by significant limitation in both intellectual functioning and conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. It is also characterized by people at or below the IQ range of 70 to 75.  There are more than 250 identified causes of intellectual disabilities. They include prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors that may be influenced biologically and/or environmentally. Children with intellectual disabilities may have complications learning because they can have difficulties differentiating important issues/material from unimportant issues/material. They may also have problems generalizing experiences from one setting to a universal application. Because of this, it maybe helpful for teachers to stimulate real world experiences into the children’s classroom education.

The strategy of picking curriculum should include:

  • being team-oriented
  • set curricular goals
  • being socially valid and practical
  • reflecting priorities from ecological assessment
  • requiring active student participation in learning
  • fostering self-determination
  • be individualized so that the curriculum can achieve increased priority skills related to ecological assessment
  • expanded relationships with schoolmates
  • foster membership in the school and community
  • real world experiences that help them generalize information
  • By coming up with an individualized plan and strategy, the teacher can get the most out of the child’s learning experience.
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