The INCLUSIVE EDUCATOR · complex skills and concepts. Dr Shanker will talk about the nature of...

INCLUSIVE

Volume 1, Number 1

EDUCATORThe

Meeting the Needs of All ChildrenJune 2015

2 The Inclusive Educator, June 2015

ENHANCE TEACHING PRACTICE FOR STUDENT LEARNING

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INTERACTIVE,

PRACTICAL

WORKSHOPS

www.teachers.ab.ca

What’s Inside President’s Message

Editor’s Message

PEC on SEC

Specialist Council Name Change

Banff Retreat—Strategic Planning

Regional Updates

New from the ATA Library

Inclusion Strategies

Factors That Impact Learning

Creative Minds for a Diverse World

Designing Technology-Enabled Learning Environments

The mission of the Council for Inclusive Education is to advance the education

of individuals with diverse special needs and to improve the practices and resources of persons working on behalf of

such individuals throughout the province of Alberta.

A publication of the Alberta Teachers’ Association.

Cover: The painting on the cover was painted by the students at Bowcroft School, in Calgary, to be part of a mural on a construction site. Their teacher is Jennifer Cairney.

The Inclusive Educator, June 2015 3

ATA Council for Inclusive Education (formerly the Special Education Council)

EVERYONE’S LEARNING, EVERY DAY

New Council Name—Same Great Conference!

The ATA Council for Inclusive Education (formerly the Special Education

Council) is excited to be launching our new name at our annual conference

this fall in Edmonton!

Join us at Fantasyland Hotel West Edmonton Mall, October 15 –17, 2015.

For regularly updated speaker information, conference and hotel rates,

please check our website, www.specialeducation.ab.ca

PreConference • Thursday, October 15, 2015, 8:30 am–4:00 pm

Karen Erickson—Literacy for Students with Significant Disabilities

This presentation will offer an instructional framework and practical approaches to address the literacy

learning needs of students with significant disabilities. The emphasis will be on comprehensive

approaches to emergent and early conventional literacy that move beyond skill acquisition to skill

application in meaningful reading and writing contexts. The presentation will include samples to support

research and evidence that suggests that it is possible for students with significant disabilities to become

readers and writers.Karen Erickson, PhD, is the director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, a professor in the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, and the

Yoder Distinguished Professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences, School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Featured Keynote • Friday, October 16, 2015

Dr Stuart Shanker—Self-Regulation: Enhancing the Capacity to Learn

For some time now it has been apparent that behavioural management techniques that rely heavily on

punishment and reward are relatively ineffective in reducing children’s problematic behaviours, and in

many cases can actually exacerbate the problem. Over the past decade it has also become increasingly

clear that the cause of many of these behaviours lies in poor self-regulation. We now understand that the better a child can self-regulate, the better he or she can rise to the challenge of mastering ever more

complex skills and concepts. Dr Shanker will talk about the nature of self-regulation and what educators

can do to enhance the self-regulation of each and every child.Dr Stuart Shanker is Canada’s leading expert on self-regulation and is the author of Calm, Alert and Learning: Classroom Strategies for Self-Regulation.

ATA Council for Inclusive Education @ATAinclusiveED

For more information please contact Conference Directors [email protected]


President’s Message

Melissa was a close friend of mine in

Grade 1. She had gone to school the year before and attended Grade 1 with my brother. Melissa was held back a year and that is how she ended up in my Grade 1 class as well. Melissa and I

played at recess, we went to each other’s house after school and made playdates for the weekend. We liked playing dolls, we played with Barbies, we had crushes on boys and would chase the boys and try to kiss them. Sometimes the boys chased us too. I invited Melissa to my sixth birthday party. My birthday party was the first friend’s party she was ever invited to. Melissa invited me to celebrate her birthday as well. We loved playing together and being partners in school and in phys ed. At the end of Grade 1, I learned that Melissa would not go on to Grade 2 with me at our neighbourhood school. She would go to the school downtown that all the children with special needs attended. I didn’t understand this. I was told that Melissa had brain damage and it affected how she learned. She needed to go to a special school that could teach Melissa better than our neighbourhood school could. I didn’t understand that, either. As my Grade 2 year went on, Melissa and I got together a few times out of school to play, but this slowly subsided and eventually stopped. Though we grew up in the same neighbourhood, we never grew up together. Years later I learned that Melissa passed away; she never reached adulthood. I think about my friend once in a while and I can’t help but

wonder how our friendship would have been different if we had grown up in current times, more inclusive times. Melissa might not have learned multiplication basic facts, or about possessive nouns and the order of the planets in our solar system, but she would have played with me and other friends at recess, been my partner in science projects and attended all my birthday parties. Who knows what else we would have done, trouble we would have got in to together, boys we would have kissed and the fun we would have had if we could have had the opportunity to attend school together?

Our classrooms have many diverse learners now, and it is challenging for teachers to meet the academic needs of all students. I think we must remember that the academic needs are not always our student’s most important needs. If you have five minutes, check out a video by Megan Bomgaars called Don’t Limit Me, available at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YOwDfnoek6E. Watching the video reminds us of what students really need to know and be able to do when they leave school.

Thank you for all of the important work each of you does to meet the needs of all students in our classrooms. Thank you to the executive of the Council for Inclusive Education and all of your work supporting the needs of teachers in Alberta. As you prepare to wrap up the year and enjoy a much-needed summer break, I urge you to consider what professional development you will participate in next year. Remember that the ATA Educational Trust supports teachers financially to attend professional development. Visit the ATA website to learn more about the ATA Educational Trust. You can always use it to attend the Council for Inclusive Education’s conference, Celebrating the Challenges, in October!

Have a great summer!

Hayley Christen


separated by the use of the word special. Torrie Dunlap’s TEDx Talk, “Isn’t It a Pity? The Real Problem with Special Needs,” can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ7QaCFbizo.

In this issue of the Inclusive Educator, read to find out the reasons behind our name change in an article contributed by our ATA staff officer, Joni Turville. Next, there are updates on the activity of some of our regionals. In the section on inclusion strategies you will find, as well as articles on inclusion strategies, a couple of ways to look at executive functioning in our classrooms.

There are some great articles on addressing the impact of learning for autistic children, how students can be creative, and examples of how to use UDL in the classroom. Look for updated contact information for executive members at the back of our newsletter because there are new members on the executive.

Make sure you register early for our annual Celebrating the Challenges conference, this year at a new location, West Edmonton Mall. We have a great preconference speaker booked—Karen Erickson will speak about how to address literacy of students with significant disabilities. Check out the poster insert on how to register early!

Also included in this edition is our Council for Inclusive Education Awards brochure. Please consider nominating a colleague for outstanding work in the field of inclusive education.

Kelly Huck

Editor’s Message

There is power in the words that we use to

describe and label. Changing the name of our council from using the term special to inclusive is very significant. Not only does it signify a shift in the way that we think

about education, it also signifies a shift in our mindset about how we treat, interact with and empower all of our students.

Torrie Dunlap, an inclusion speaker and founder of Kids Included Together, has a TEDx Talk about students with special needs. In her talk, she comments that the word special has become a euphemism for separate, whereby, instead of including students, we separate them in our schools and our communities by the words that we use to describe them. Her point is for us to consider how we view students who have disabilities by using a different mindset. Instead of assuming that students with disabilities cannot learn or achieve because they are “special,” she challenges us to be mindful of how we view them in an inclusive environment—that we view each student first as a child, and how that child can learn and achieve his or her goals, and not as a student that is


PEC on SEC

As class sizes swell, so does the number

of students who need a higher level of support. Teachers are expected to adapt to very challenging circumstances with inclusive education realities. Expectations are high, and without

sufficient resources, many excellent teachers experience much stress trying to provide everything that their students are entitled to receive in an inclusive classroom. To help teachers cope with and respond to these stresses is the promise of continuous professional learning. Professional development must be provided for teachers to build their knowledge of inclusive practices and instructional skills and, in the spirit of collaboration, support each other.

The Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Inclusive Education in Alberta Schools (Alberta Teachers’ Association 2014) identifies key findings for progress in the implementation of inclusive learning. Recommendation 34 of the report outlines the direct responsibility of the ATA:

Expand professional development and related supports for members in the area of inclusive education.

Setting high standards for the implementation of quality inclusive education will continue with the ATA’s spring symposium, Reaching the Vision: Building Inclusive Education Together, with panel presentations and discussion of current research. This event will bring together a broad spectrum of stakeholders including government, education leaders, classroom teachers and academics. Together, they will be led through an examination of the current state of inclusive education in Alberta, highlighting

current practices, development of school districts’ policies, curriculum redesign initiatives and professional learning opportunities.

Teachers will have an opportunity to share their personal experiences, reflect on their successes and identify barriers to providing instruction for all their students in welcoming, caring environments. What will our teachers tell us about their classrooms and schools to provide instruction for students with diverse learning needs? What professional learning areas continue to be addressed and ensure that teachers are engaged and responsive to their students? We will need to identify opportunities for quality professional learning to ensure that not only are our students successful in their classroom, but also that our teachers have the opportunity to experience professional success and job satisfaction.

Perhaps the symposium will give rise to revision of the Standards for Special Education, (Alberta Education 2004) and more clearly outline the guiding principles of inclusive education or address the requirement for individual program plans. We need to inform school districts and school leaders how to adequately provide the supports and resources necessary for successful implementation, and to ensure that students have the opportunity to reach their full potential. The essential condition for implementation will be the provision of quality professional development and mentoring opportunities. It is important that the other stakeholders attending the symposium champion the identification of the challenges and complexities that teachers currently experience in their classroom, and reinforce the need for everyone to work together to achieve the vision. Through professional development, mentoring and collaboration, teachers must have the opportunity to learn together to create an inclusive education system where everyone is successful.

Christine Harris


What’s in a Name? The Special Education Council Becomes the Council for Inclusive Education

In its strategic planning over the last few years,

the Special Education Council (SEC) discussed a name change; several processes and some time were required to proceed. A notice of motion was provided prior to SEC’s 2014 annual general

meeting (AGM). The motion was passed at the October 2014 AGM, and the council sought and received support from Provincial Executive Council to move forward with renaming and rebranding.

There were several reasons for the name change:

a) A shift in language in research and on the international stage

• A recent, in-depth review of literature in the field was completed in conjunction

with the Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Inclusive Education in Alberta Schools (2014), which revealed that the word inclusion is the predominant term used in related literature.

• This work is inextricably related to larger issues of diversity, equity and human rights, and the word inclusion captures the essence of this larger perspective.

b) A shift in language in the province • Though language in provincial policies

and documents continues to evolve, inclusion is the term most widely used in the province and is familiar to Alberta teachers.

• Inclusion captures not only working with students with special needs, but other issues important to Alberta teachers related to this topic, including support for English language learners, early intervention and mental health issues.

The council is excited about its new name and is working through processes to update the logo and branding on all of its publications and in its social media presence. For further information, please contact Hayley Christen, president of the Council for Inclusive Education.

Joni Turville


The Council for Inclusive Education recently held a strategic planning weekend in Banff,

at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. The purpose of this planning retreat was to reflect and review our council’s goals and participate in long-range planning with a new direction and a name change.

Banff Retreat—Strategic Planning

During this productive time, we used a planning tool called the PATH Process to brainstorm our new direction as an inclusive council, to reflect and modify our belief statements, and to look forward with some new goals. The changes in our goal statements will be reflected on our website and in the fall edition of our newsletter.


Regional Updates

Central This May we hosted a book study on The

Paraprofessional’s Handbook for Effective Behavior Support in Inclusive Classrooms, by Julie Causton-Theoharis. The book is a survival guide for all paraprofessionals and gives guidance, tips and stories to provide effective, respectful services to students in inclusive classrooms. The book study was held in conjunction with our annual general meeting, on May 13, 2015, at the central office of Red Deer Public Schools (4747 53 Street).

In the fall, we plan to host two PD sessions, the first on classroom management and the second on behaviour supports. These are important topics at the present time and we hope that these sessions will assist all teachers that attend.

We look forward to welcoming new members to our region and we welcome new ideas as well. Please contact me at [email protected] for more information.

Judy Windrim, President

North West Last month, the North West Regional put on

a PD event on the Zones of Regulation. This is a program designed to foster self-regulation and emotional control. It integrates best practices from the fields of autism spectrum disorder and attention hyperactive disorder and extensive research from the areas of self-regulation, sensory processing, emotional regulation and executive functioning. It teaches students to identify different states of being (zones) and how they can use techniques to control movement between the zones. Two of our occupational therapists, Morgan Hall and Leigh-Ann Gourlie, came in to present. We had 33 people join us and added 26 new members to our council.

Adrienne Bourree, President

South East The South East Regional has hosted three

professional development opportunities in the new year.

We hosted a dialogue about inclusion at the South East Alberta Teachers’ Convention in February. It was a great opportunity to hear what is working well and to learn from others’ experiences. A few lucky participants took away copies of Paula Kluth’s Don’t We Already Do Inclusion? or a Tim’s card.

In March we explored Chromebooks. Lydia Carrier and Shonna Barth presented “A Beginners’ Guide to Using Apps for Inclusive Education.” Participants had the opportunity to join and create a Google Classroom as well as play with Read and Write Google—the Text to Speech app and the Speech to Text app. The presenters also shared a few other free sites, like Text Compactor and OpenDyslexic. One lucky member was fortunate enough to go home with a Chromebook to continue the learning journey.

On April 23, Greg Goddard, school psychologist, and Janay Gregory, family school liaison worker with Prairie Rose School Division, presented “Anxiety Continues to Be a Concern in Our Classrooms!” This is a topic the membership requested to follow up from the Behavior Learning Series last spring.

The South East Regional is looking for representatives from Grasslands, Prairieland, East Central Alberta CSSRD and Christ the Redeemer. If you are interested in helping out or simply acting as a liaison person for your area, please contact me at [email protected] for more information.

Joanne Stockman, President

Calgary The Calgary Regional hit the ground

running at the start of this year. Regional executive members have been working to bring much-needed professional development to the Calgary region. The new year was to begin with a workshop on facilitating play in the inclusive


early childhood classroom—An Introduction to the Floortime Model as a How-to Guide, but unfortunately we had to cancel the workshop due to a scheduling conflict.

The Calgary Regional executive has planned the remainder of the year. This spring we are focusing on behaviour and how to address these challenges to create successful learning experiences for students. Our Behaviour series began Saturday, April 18, with To Behave or Not to Behave, presented by Darci Fulton and Myka Piekenbrock-Breymann, and continued on Saturday, May 2, with Supporting Positive Behaviours in Alberta Schools, presented by Darci Fulton.

We look forward to meeting you at future workshops and welcome you to our meetings. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions about the Calgary Regional.

Michelle Dow, President

New from the ATA Library

BookHow Do I Teach This Kid to Read? Teaching Literacy Skills to Young Children with Autism, from Phonics to Fluency, Grade Levels K-3

Henry, Kimberly S. 2010. Arlington, Tex: Future Horizons (371.92 H522)

This book presents instructional strategies and adaptable activities to support the development of early literacy skills in young children with autism. A CD of printable visual tools accompanies the book.

DVDSupporting Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education

Chen, Deborah, Michele Haney and Annie Cox. 2011. Baltimore, Md: Brookes. 120 min. (AV SUP 2011)

This practical guide focuses on supporting linguistic and cultural diversity in early childhood settings. It prepares teachers to plan activities and routines that reflect the diversity of children in a class, partner with families to support dual language learning, conduct culturally responsive early intervention, and collaborate with interpreters.

Sandra Anderson


Executive Functioning Skills WorkshopQ: How do we get students to choose to use their executive functioning skills?Q: How do we get students to hand in assignments?Q: How can we help students understand the connection between organization and success?Q: Impulsivity, emotional controlQ: Self-monitoring/awareness/ownership

On March 17, 2015, the Rocky Mountain Regional of the Council for Inclusive

Education sponsored a session with Shawn Crawford, PhD, of S Crawford Consulting. He led us on a pathway to understanding the psychological aspects of executive functioning skills. Taking us through a task of remembering 10-plus words after a verbal recital of the words, Crawford began the session by turning on our executive functioning skills.1

Using all the aspects of executive functioning—initiation, inhibition, flexibility, emotional control, working memory, planning, organization and monitoring—we were still able to remember only a select few of the words.

How do these aspects fit with something as simple as handing in assignments?

Inclusion Strategies

The task of handing in assignments needs to be initiated while at the same time the “fun” tasks (like Xbox and Facebook) need to be inhibited. Students will need to control their emotions over having to plan and organize a task that they may not want to do. This will also involve self-monitoring and holding in their working memory that they have a task to do. Flexibility plays a key role in the completion and submission of the task as well. This is more difficult for young children.

Young children do not yet have the cognitive structure to support executive function skills. Adolescents have the cognitive capacity but tend toward more emotional ways of thinking. The emotional side of executive function can often make it look like they don’t care or are “lazy.” Conflict over why the work is not getting done will not be resolved through discipline if there are challenges with executive functioning. Discipline will only result in students who feel overwhelmed and discouraged. The student may pull away and hide in video games or other feel-good activities.

The Stroop Effect (www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAKAlP1B5WY) was introduced to illustrate that our dominant first response of reading sometimes needs to be inhibited so we can focus on other tasks or demands. In the

1 Task: Turn on your executive functions skills. Have a partner read the words below to you. See how many you remember 15 seconds after the last word. What strategies work for you? What aspects of your executive functioning processes do you use?

apple, dodge, banana, Porsche, orange, dog, grape, cat, Buick, pear, Ford, peach, fish


classroom, we need to ensure that we are not offering students competing information. As a rule, teachers should remember to limit the number of times we offer multiple information feeds when one or more needs to be inhibited.

StrategiesManagement• Use checklists, prioritizing.• Estimate how long something will take

compared to how long it does take.• Always plan for more time than you think

you will need.

Managing Space• How would you like to organize your work

space?• Schedule time to clean out work and storage

space.

Managing Self-Awareness (Teachers must teach or coach this in students.)• How do I know I am doing well?• How do I know I need help?• Who do I ask?• What will I ask them?

Attention Strategies—Review• Visual schedule, calendar, timer• Fidget tools• Preferred seating• Breaking up work—only a few instructions

at a time (offer rewards for completed pieces)

• Positive reinforcement chart• Self-rating scales

Strategies for Organization (Allow time to relate the positive outcomes to the strategies.)• Using an agenda• Using a binder system• Organizing papers• Colour coding• Bins• Binder/locker clean-out• Sharing Google Docs with everyone

Homework Strategies• Time consistent• Space set up and ready to go

• Plan 1. Bring it home. 2. Get it done. 3. Hand it in. • Long-term assignments need to be chunked.

How can we strengthen executive function?• Memorization—acronyms, cartoons, songs

(the more goofy the better)• Prioritizing—can you tell what is important

by the teacher’s intonation? • Highlighting important text • Time estimation practice • Self-monitoring—work checklists (tool to

keep us on track)

Emotional Control• Teach kids an analogy to controlling anger

(how does your engine run?)• Teach kids an analogy to controlling anxiety• Balancing act of emotions

Mediational Language–Encouraging Executive Functioning

The following prompts to encourage executive functioning were provided: • What do you need to do first? Second?

Next? • Tell me how you did that. • What would it look like if …?• What are some ways this could be done? • Have you seen this before? What happened? • What do you think would happen if …? • When have you done something like this

before? • Can you think of another way you could do

this? • Why would this way be better than that

way? • How do you know that it is right? • How can you find out?

(Adapted from Haywood, Brooks and Burns 1993)

Myka J Piekenbrock-Breymann

Myka Piekenbrock-Breymann is president of the Rocky Mountain Regional of the Council for Inclusive Education and a learning support teacher in Banff Community High School, Banff, Alberta. She can be reached at [email protected].


Looking at Executive Function This article is reprinted with permission from the Association for Middle Level Education (www.amle.org). It was originally published in the August 2013 edition of AMLE Magazine. Minor changes have been made to spelling and punctuation in accordance with ATA style.

It was bright orange and boxy. I had used it repeatedly to “catch air,” plowing over snow piles at high speed in school parking lots during the winter. Doing these stunts was safe, I reasoned: it was the family sedan—a Volvo—and at 16 I was invincible.

Sure, my head spun every hour of every day with school assignments, invented worries, real anxieties, fart jokes, satire and politics in my American Civ class—denying my growing zit population, crushing on the girl in fifth-period Trig class, memorizing lyrics to Eagles songs and getting ready for the dance Friday night. I couldn’t really do anything wrong, I was sure.

Late one afternoon, I pulled around the back of our house and up the slope to park in the levelled carport near the back door. I turned off the engine, twisted the keys from the ignition, grabbed my jacket and books from the passenger seat and launched out of the car, slamming the door behind me. Once in the house, I dumped my notebooks in my downstairs bedroom and enjoyed after-school. I was one bite into the second of three molasses cookies when the phone rang. It was Mr Clark, our neighbour.

“Rick,” he said, “you’ll probably want to look out your back window. It’s a quite a sight.” Then he chuckled and hung up. Mid-chew, I raced to the window and stared.

There was my orange Volvo, sitting all by itself in the centre of the tall grass meadow that bordered our back property line. The car had travelled 50 yards, then mauled the 8-foot-high bamboo stand separating our backyard from the meadow. I stared at the deep grooves the car had made, tracing them back up to where I had parked the car only moments ago. Parked. I thought, oh crap! I hadn’t put it in gear or set the parking brake.

Sound familiar? I was having a problem with executive function.

Executive FunctionExecutive function (EF) is the set of mental

processes that help us plan, organize, strategize, pay attention to details and manage time. All of us have issues with EF from time to time, even as adults. Executive function in the prefrontal cortex of the adolescent brain is intermittent at best.

Many of the skills associated with EF are good for all students to learn and practise, not just those with identified EF challenges.

And just what are those EF skills? In their book, Smart but Scattered Teens: The “Executive Skills” Program for Helping Teens Reach Their Potential, Richard Guare, Peg Dawson and Colin Guare cite the following: • Response inhibition• Working memory• Emotional control• Flexibility• Sustained attention• Task initiation• Planning/prioritizing• Organization• Time management• Goal-directed persistence• Metacognition

Students in my classes over the years have blurted out highly inappropriate comments only to have maturity catch up with the front of their brains seconds later. They don’t think it’s cheating to copy others’ homework when they already understand a concept. They think jumping off a one-story building will work just fine if they have an opened umbrella to slow them down. They shoplift a Snickers bar even if they have the cash to pay for it.

Some students swear they can wake up 10 minutes before the bus arrives and be on time for school—and they do arrive on time, but they forget to bring three assignments and one permission slip that are due that day, so they call Mom to see if she can bring those things to school on her way to work, and oh, could she bring some lunch money, too?

Raise your hands if you recognize this student in your classes:• He reasoned well through tricky word

problems last week, but can’t figure out similar ones this week using the same processes.


• When doing an Internet search on the speed of light, she gives up when she inputs light in the search box and gets 2,220,000,000 possible websites.

• He often misjudges how long tasks will take and is perpetually asking for extensions.

• Almost every day, she leaves some vital supply or assignment in her locker and asks permission to go get it.

• He can’t break down large tasks into doable sections and proceed through them in an orderly manner.

• She demonstrates learned helplessness, citing fixable problems as excuses for why she can’t start the assignment, such as she doesn’t have a pen, she doesn’t know which page to use and she can’t find her folder on the computer

Some students’ EF capacities are slower to mature, and they need additional assistance from teachers. Unfortunately, many teachers are not trained in how to help students develop these EF skills, especially students who are identified with challenging learning disabilities or attention deficits.

In addition, when students struggle academically and emotionally, we tend to blame the student. “Come on,” the words tumble out of our mouths, “step it up, get organized, use your time wisely, show respect and get your act together.”

These comments are a little like telling a student who doesn’t speak our language that he is intellectually incapacitated. As Todd Whitaker would say, who’s the slow learner here?

Improving EF SkillsNo single strategy will work with every

student, nor is there one magical strategy that will solve one student’s EF problems. It’s always going to involve multiple strategies implemented in concert. Successful teachers are dynamic in their approach, too, adjusting EF strategies as students mature.

Here are some of the strategies that promote EF success:

• Exercise daily. In her PBS online article, “The Science of Smart: A Surprising Way to Improve Executive Function,” Annie

Murphy Paul, author of the forthcoming book [Brilliant: The New Science of Smart], says, “Aerobic exercise can grease the wheels of executive brain function.” She contends that “regular exercise and overall physical fitness have been linked to academic achievement, as well as to success on specific tasks like safely crossing a busy street while talking on a cell phone.”

• Analyze and break down tasks. Ten-page paper? Forget it. With EF-challenged students, break assignments into smaller chunks so each piece is much more doable. Students can experience a sense of accomplishment and monitor progress more often. Give students struggling with EF issues practice in breaking down tasks such as preparing a bibliography, doing an Internet search, washing their PE uniform, and getting themselves ready for a musical, athletic or theatrical performance.

• Confirm, reconfirm and reconfirm again all directions.

• As often as possible, cue from afar. “Communicate indirectly (for example, note, text message). The idea is to create distance between you and your teen so that the cue can work without the two of you being in the same space at the same time,” according to Guare, Dawson and Guare.

• Announce upcoming events and changes to the regular schedule well in advance and do it repeatedly. No surprises, if possible. If we are actually going to have a surprise visitor to the classroom, we may tell students struggling with EF skills about it ahead of time.

• Practice transitions from one activity to another, both as individuals and in small groups. Yes, this is important, even with middle and high school students.

• Record all due dates at the top of every assignment or the opening page of any electronic file.

• Remove clutter and distractions from the immediate visual area of the student while he works.

• Do a book bag dump and clean-out once a week and on the same day of the week. If everything is on an iPad, do a folder and file


clean-out and confirm that the current organization is helping, not hindering the student’s success.

• Provide effective, constructive and frequent descriptive feedback. Focus on decisions students make, not the quality of the work. It’s specific feedback that motivates and matures, not the label on the performance.

• Make every goal transparent. Provide lots of examples of the final product for every standard. Provide students with ample experience critiquing others’ products and attempts at the learning goals. In doing this, they build a robust internal editor that helps them compare their own work with given exemplars in real time. They monitor their own progress and adjust their efforts without feeling threatened.

• Provide a compelling visual aid for everything students have to learn.

• Help students identify risks involved in their decisions. This is done in many ways, including role-playing; self-talks; ropes course initiatives programs; encouragement to try out for new sports, clubs and programs; and reading short passages about risky behaviour and discussing potential outcomes before reading the final descriptions of what happened. Risk taking can increase dopamine production in adolescents, which creates pleasure, making it very attractive. Helping students connect with their core values as the individuals they want to be [and] the people their families want them to be will provide an effective metric of risk assessment.

• Show progress towards goals visibly and often.

• Create a successful emotional atmosphere. Let all students know that they are accepted as fully valued class members. Operate as an advocate for students, not an adversarial “gotcha” taskmaster. Know that humiliation for EF shortcomings kills motivation and enflames resentment.

• Demonstrate how EF skill success leverages students for what they desire in life. For example, help them make a plan for making enough money to purchase something of value.

Positive MindsetDespite the less-than-stellar development in

EF when I was 16, I’m a successful dad, husband and educator. We all get there. Let’s not hold lack of EF development against students. Instead, let’s use it as a platform for self-awareness and creative problem solving—you know, maturation. The Eagles were right back then, and they’re right for EF-challenged students today: “Take it easy. Don’t let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy.”

Rick Wormeli

Rick Wormeli is a long-time teacher, consultant and writer living in Herndon, Virginia. His newly released book, The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I Learned about Teaching, is available from AMLE at www.amle .org. Rick Wormeli can be reached at [email protected] or @rickwormeli.

Bring Rick Wormeli to your school. Contact AMLE Director of Middle Level Services Dru Tomlin at [email protected] for more information.

Inclusion Principles: Inclusion Strategies That Work

Valuable and Applicable Things to Do in All Classrooms on a Daily Basis This article is reprinted with permission from Inclusion Strategies That Work! Research-Based Methods for the Classroom, 3rd ed, 2015, by Toby Karten. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin. A PDF is available at www.inclusionworkshops .com/inclusion_principles.htm. Minor changes have been made to spelling and punctuation in accordance with ATA style.

1. Establish prior knowledge.2. Preplan lessons with structured objectives,

but also allow for inter/postplanning.3. Proceed from the simple to the complex by

using discrete task analysis, which breaks up the learning into its parts.

4. Use a step-by-step approach, teaching in small bites, with much practice and repetition.

5. Reinforce abstract concepts with concrete examples, such as looking at a map while


learning compass directions or walking around a neighbourhood to read street signs.

6. Think about possible accommodations and modifications that might be needed, such as using a digital recorder for notes, reducing the amount of spelling words and having enrichment assignments prepared.

7. Incorporate sensory elements: visual, auditory and kinesthetic ones, like writing letters in salt trays or creating acute, right and obtuse angles with chopsticks.

8. Teach to strengths to help students compensate for weaknesses—such as hopping [in time] to math facts, if a child loves to move about but hates numbers.

9. Concentrate on individual children, not syndromes.

10. Provide opportunities for success to build self-esteem.

11. Give positives before negatives.12. Use modelling with both teachers and peers.

13. Vary types of instruction and assessment, with multiple intelligences and cooperative learning.

14. Relate learning to children’s lives using interest inventories.

15. Remember the basics, such as teaching students proper hygiene, social skills, respecting others, effectively listening or reading directions on a worksheet, in addition to the 3Rs: Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic.

16. Establish a pleasant classroom environment that encourages students to ask questions and become actively involved in their learning.

17. Increase students’ self-awareness of levels and progress.

18. Effectively communicate and collaborate with families, students and colleagues while smiling; it’s contagious.

Toby Karten


Factors That Impact Learning

Teaching students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be both puzzling and

challenging. The question most teachers ask is how to create a meaningful curriculum for our students. Before we even think about planning a curriculum, we have to look at factors that affect the learning of a student who has ASD. Understanding these factors will help teachers effectively accommodate students and set the stage for optimal learning.

AnxietyAnxiety affects most students who have

ASD. High states of anxiety can reduce the capacity to learn. Anxiety can be caused by a number of things—socializing, making friends, homework, or not understanding instructions or expectations. Social anxiety—a fear of new people or social situations—is common in people who have ASD.

Some signs of anxiety can be a racing heart, shortness of breath, cold or sweaty palms and feet, irritability, trouble concentrating, fatigue and stomach upset. Some students may yawn excessively.

There are a number of anxiety disorders to be aware of—phobias, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder. The Canadian Mental Health Association has excellent information on these disorders and how to treat them. Also be aware of selective mutism, which is a childhood anxiety disorder that results in a failure to speak in select social settings.

To help students alleviate anxiety, develop a relaxation plan that eases feelings of anxiousness. Guide students to recognize and develop tools manage their anxiety. There are a number of excellent resources such as When My Worries Get Too Big (Dunn Buron 2006); Helping Children Cope with Stress, Change and Anxiety (Plummer 2010); What to Do when You Worry Too Much (Huebner 2006); and Starving the Anxiety Gremlin (Collins-Donnelly 2013).

Sensory IssuesSensory processing involves seven systems:

tactile (touch), vestibular (balance), proprioception (where your body is in a space), visual, auditory, gustatory (taste) and olfactory (smell). An under- or overreaction to stimuli occurs when these systems don’t work together. Think about what occurs daily in a classroom and the senses involved in learning and coping in the classroom environment. If a student is struggling with sensory processing, increased stress levels can affect learning and possibly result in challenging behaviour.

Sensory problems can look very different, depending on the student. A good book to start with if you wish to identify specific areas of sensory need is Answers to Questions Teachers Ask About Sensory Integration (Kranowitz 2001). Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration (Yack, Aquila and Sutton 2002) is another excellent resource for identifying sensory difficulties, developing a sensory diet and creating strategies to deal with sensory challenges. You can also look at helping students to self-regulate. The Zones of Regulation (see Kuypers 2011) is a great program to teach this concept.

Physiological FactorsMany students on the autism spectrum suffer

from sleep disturbances (night waking, difficulty falling asleep, waking up too early in the morning), a limited or restricted diet, a lack of exercise due to difficulties with motor planning, and toileting issues (withholding, constipation or diarrhea). Think about having any one of these problems and how it has affected your day in the past. If these problems are chronic and ongoing, they are going to affect a student’s day.

Talk to parents and see if your student suffers from any of these problems. Sometimes making an accommodation for a student can make all the difference in having a good day. Think about offering quiet time, a body break, bathroom time (many students won’t ask to go even if they have to) or trips to the water fountain. Because many students with ASD have impairment in the area of interoception (the


physiological condition of the body), they may not know they are thirsty or hungry, need to go to the bathroom, or are in pain, but they are physically experiencing these states.

ComorbidityComorbidity is the presence of more than one

disorder along with the primary disorder. This could be autism and depression, ADHD, dyspraxia, bipolar disorder—the list goes on. Educators need to be aware of comorbid conditions because it may not be enough to think about autism but also these other conditions that will affect learning and daily planning. Mental health issues are still being overlooked and unaddressed in this population. To learn more, have a look at A Practical Guide to Mental Health Problems in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder: It’s Not Just Their Autism! (Karim 2013).

General Intellectual DifficultiesThe statistic for intellectual difficulties

among people with ASD is that 80 per cent are below normal intelligence and 20 per cent are above. Now, be careful of this statistic, because in Canada we use standardized norms testing, which means that results are based on how the “normal” population scores. Test results are not based on the results garnered from a specialized population such as people with autism. Standardized testing does not give a clear picture of what these students can actually achieve or what their intelligence levels are, since it is the neurotypical population that determines what is a measure of intelligence.

Look at what the student can accomplish with modifications or accommodations in place, rather than just the IQ score. If a student is not being challenged in any way because a program is being based on an IQ score, more than likely

you’ll have behaviour problems and an unhappy student. How often is a nonverbal student deemed to have limited intelligence when this is often not the case?

Before planning any curriculum or lessons, keep these factors that affect learning in the forefront of your mind. Be prepared to change the game plan if what you’ve created is not working. Parents, students, teachers and educational assistants need to work as a team to set the stage for learning. It may be easier than you think!

Bibliography Collins-Donnelly, K. 2013. Starving the Anxiety Gremlin.

London, UK: Kingsley.

Dunn Buron, K. 2006. When My Worries Get Too Big! Shawnee Mission, Kansas: Autism Asperger Publishing.

Endow, J. 2010. Practical Solutions for Stabilizing Students with Classic Autism: Getting to Go. Shawnee Mission, Kansas: Autism Asperger Publishing.

Huebner, D. 2006. What to Do when You Worry Too Much. Washington, DC: Magination.

Karim, K. 2013. A Practical Guide to Mental Health Problems in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder: It’s Not Just Their Autism! London, UK: Kingsley.

Kranowitz, C S. 2001 Answers to Questions Teachers Ask About Sensory Integration. 2nd ed. Sensory Resources LLC (www.sensoryresources.com).

Kuypers, L. 2011. The Zones of Regulation. San Jose, Calif: Think Social.

Plummer, D M. 2010. Helping Children Cope with Stress, Change and Anxiety. London, UK: Kingsley.

Yack, E, P Aquila and S Sutton. 2002. Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration. Arlington, Tex: Future Horizons.

Maureen Bennie

Maureen Bennie is director of Autism Awareness Centre Inc (www.autismawarenesscentre.com), Calgary, Alberta.


Creative Minds for a Diverse World

Diverse learners and their educators are often inundated with myriad theorems, approaches

and methodologies to teach their students. These teachers are often the last to attain and implement the latest innovation in teaching techniques, due to mountains of paper work, unyielding time schedules, and lack of funding and support, yet they are teaching the spectrum of students that could most benefit.

Diverse learning educators (DLE) need to be integrated and exposed to what is happening in

all divisions. Alberta Education’s Curriculum Development Prototyping Guide (2013) outlines 19 standards for curriculum, the cross-curricular competencies and indicators, and the literacy and numeracy benchmarks. These are grand ideals and have merit, yet who has innumerable hours to work through and create a plan that would encompass all students? Placing templates, models and graphic organizers for teachers to use would greatly support our diverse teachers. Here is a five-step process that allows students to be in the forefront of their education with opportunities to design, have curious minds, and experience serendipity while allowing DLE to see their students’ capacity grow.

Brainstorm PrototypeEngagement Focal Point Model

The ability for students to become active within the first five minutes of class with their knowledge.

Students work together to

come up with ideas

Multiple attempts are encouraged to

reach outcome. Failure is where learning occurs.

Templates on achieving outcome are brought forth

by students.

Specific subject or concept is now decided

upon together.

Model Traditional Teacher Directed Creative Student-Driven Model

Engagement—Grade 3 LA

Teacher tells students they will read a novel on boats.

Teacher asks students what they know about boats and see if any can build a replica at their desk. (Eg, one student turned her desk upside down and sat inside it.)

Focal Point—Grade 3 LA

Teacher has decided what aspect of boats she is interested in covering (eg, making a boat).

Students decide with teacher what they are going to learn about boats together and outline one or two areas.

Below is a table that compares the traditional route and what could be a creative student-driven model. It recognizes that not all activities are or have to be student led, yet students have opportunity to engage, brainstorm, model and create prototypes.

Brainstorm—Grade 3 LA

Teacher asks students about what she has just read, focusing on only one aspect.

Students are asked to brainstorm on the board about the outlined area that interests them. Movement and discussion are key.

Model Teacher gives them handout on boats to duplicate her model of making a boat.

Students come up with ideas of how to achieve outcome, eg, build their own boat, through designs or queries or research.

Prototype Teacher has designed the template she wants students to use.

Students come up with unique designs and test them out; some work, some don’t, but they learn why.


What should be noted is that the creative student model can be modified and adapted to yield to an individual student’s needs, the classroom environment and the teacher’s capacity. Our present model, regardless of how inclusive and innovative, still demands that the teacher is in control.

Today’s students are being thrust into a world in which they are being asked to come up with ideas and questions to probe solutions. Where are they learning these techniques? This holds even more true for our diverse learners, who are continuously being placed into programs, given strategies to work from and being regimented every step of the way. Where is the opportunity for their ideas to flourish and their dedicated teachers to have input into creating ingenious lessons? Time is of the essence; our job is to provide our students with valuable and critical resources they will need.

Below are a few simple ideas for getting the morning going in our class that are engaging for all. Here are some great ways to get students involved quickly:

Post-it Notes—Who doesn’t love them? Set out some brainstorming ideas, questions or debate topics, or simply allow students to write what their concern is, what their

Model Traditional Teacher Directed Creative Student-Driven Model

Engagement—Grade 7 Science

Teacher decides on what heat and temperature labs they will do. Discusses ideas.

Teacher asks students about concept and listens to response; teacher and students design lab together to determine if it works.

Focal Point—Grade 7 Science

Teacher decides on questions to be answered through experiment.

Students and teacher gain insights into what they want to learn and plan questions together.

Brainstorm—Grade 7 Science

Teacher asks students about what they think about a predetermined topic.

Students brainstorm in groups or individually on a variety of aspects within a query.

Model Teacher has designed lab to test theory.

Students get to try different theories to determine which one works best. There is no one solution! This is important to note.

Prototype Students demonstrate whether the experiment worked or not and answer questions.

Students work on finding out through repeated demonstration if it worked or not. They are given time and space to recreate a new theory and test it.

love is or what they want to accomplish today. Think of how many ways you can use them—they are tactile and have finite room to write, or you can simply make a check mark and place it in a box you have created on their desk or board. Use them to make designs, like a picture with different colours, or have the students come up with a list of their successes when days are rough. Use them as rewards.

Markers—This is another tool for individual self-expression. Ask the students to draw what they think God looks like and be surprised at what they design; use them for expression of how they are feeling or what is happening in their day; have them write full paragraphs, or simply a word.

Posters—A picture expresses myriad emotions; use posters when words aren’t necessary (which can be often). Ask students to bring in photos they love and put them up—students are more engaged when they see their work on the wall. Use them for English language acquisition or behavioural gestures when teaching respect and manners.


Open Spaces—Students love change, even kids with autism, as long as they know they are safe. Move around the school even for a five-minute break. Have a class discussion in the hallway, the library or the gym when these aren’t scheduled visits. Change brings out creative modalities.

Short movies (one- to two-minute)—Begin class with a short film that students can immediately discuss. Go wild with your topics; show tiny snippets of video games, the world soccer final, someone receiving the Nobel Peace Prize—the more out of their subject matter the better. Cross-pollination allows us to see how we can relate subjects that are vastly different. You can also use websites such as SoulPancake, Skit Guys and Live Unbound.

Reference Alberta Education. 2013. Curriculum Development

Prototyping Guide. Edmonton, Alta: Alberta Education. Available at http://education.alberta.ca/media/7779143/curriculum%20development%20protoypting%20guide.pdf (accessed May 12, 2015).

Kathryn Soby

Kathryn Soby is a high school teacher with the Calgary Board of Education, Calgary, Alberta. She is the former president of the Calgary Regional.

Felt Boards—Felt boards allow students to create, tell full stories, discuss difficult issues and even show you their favourite path through

the forest. Encourage students to design something rather than copy. The possibilities for teaching are endless.


Designing Technology-Enabled Learning Environments

The digital milieu of the 21st century is creating new opportunities as well as new

challenges for educators. In Alberta and across North America, the convergence of an ever-increasing net of WiFi and the rapid adoption of mobile technologies has affected the ways that educators can support the diverse learners in their classrooms. Over the last decade there has been a shift in schools from technology integration to technology-enhanced learning environments. More recently, there has been a shift towards technology-enabled learning environments. This transition has been affected by 1:1 and BYOD [bring your own device] initiatives. A framework that may help educators leverage this increased access to devices such as Chromebooks and iPads, as well as cloud-based resources and digital materials, is Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

UDL is an educational framework that guides the proactive design of flexible learning environments to give all students equal opportunities to learn. The three primary principles of UDL are multiple means of representation, multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement. Providing students with curricular content through multiple modalities (images, video and text) helps create a more flexible and accessible learning environment. Providing options for the how of learning acknowledges that learners differ in the ways they can navigate a learning environment and express what they know (CAST 2011). When offered choices of

representation and expression, students are more motivated and engaged in their learning. For more information on UDL, you can explore a web-based version of the guidelines at www .udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/aboutrepresentation.

Checkpoint 4.2 of the UDL guidelines stresses the importance of optimizing access to tools and assistive technologies. Alberta Education defines assistive technology for learning (ATL) as the devices, media and services used in learning environments to overcome barriers for students with physical, sensory, cognitive, speech, learning or behavioural special needs to actively engage in learning and to achieve their individual learning goals (Alberta Education 2006, 1). Appropriately chosen and implemented ATL provides compensatory supports that allow students to bypass barriers to authentically

participating in learning events and building knowledge (Edyburn 2002, 2003). For example, ATL that provides compensatory supports such as text-to-speech, embedded dictionaries and high-contrast displays allows students with reading difficulties to access information housed in text-based resources.

As students progress from kindergarten to Grade 12, resources and materials tend to become more print based. Therefore, the barrier to accessing curricular content housed in traditional print-based resources for knowledge building will continue to widen for students with reading difficulties unless teachers move from traditional print to digital resources and

proactively design a technology-enabled learning environment. Through UDL and ATL, educators can leverage the technology in today’s classrooms and design technology-enhanced learning environments. Although classroom teachers can incorporate ATL into their proactive design, it is important to acknowledge that, for students with moderate to severe special needs, ATL decision making often requires a multidisciplinary team. One common framework

For some students with disabilities, the printed text of instructional materials is a barrier to their participation in the general education curriculum that is provided to students without disabilities.

—Karger, The Right of Students with Disabilities Who Need Accessible Instructional Materials to Receive These Materials in a Timely Manner, 2012


for collaborative decision making regarding ATL is the SETT [student, environments, tasks, and tools] framework, developed by Joy Zabala. For more information on the SETT framework, explore her website, www.joyzabala.com.

That said, there are many compensatory supports readily available in the current digital milieu that teachers may consider in their proactive design. One way teachers can proactively design for the diversity of learners in today’s classrooms is through the UDL framework, as well as leveraging the compensatory supports embedded into many tools currently in classrooms.

References Alberta Education. 2006. “Chapter 9: Infusing Assistive

Technology for Learning into the IPP Process.” In Individualized Program Planning (IPP): ECS to Grade 12. Edmonton, Alta: Alberta Education.

CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology). 2011. Universal Design for Learning Guidelines Version 2.0. Wakefield, Mass: CAST.

Edyburn, D L. 2002. “Remediation vs. Compensation: A Critical Decision Point in Assistive Technology Consideration.” Available at http://people.uwm.edu/edyburn/Edyburn_RvsC.pdf (accessed April 24, 2015).

———. 2003. “Learning from Text.” Special Education Technology Practice 5, no 2: 16–27.

Zabala, J S. 2005. “Ready, SETT, Go! Getting Started with the SETT Framework.” Closing the Gap 23, no 6: 1–3.

Belina Caissie and Lindsay Ballance

Belina Cassie is a consultant with Edmonton Public Schools, Edmonton, Alberta, currently on secondment to Alberta Education. Lindsay Ballance is an ATL consultant in inclusive learning with Edmonton Public Schools.

Technology can support much of the effort toward curriculum access, participation and progress. Technology increases independence, personal productivity and empowerment.

—Jackson, Technologies Supporting Curriculum Access for Students with Disabilities, 2009

A student with a print disability is one who is unable to [effectively] gain information from printed materials.

—Dell, Newton and Petroff, Assistive Technology in the Classroom, 2012


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