Education-Caitlin

Education Week reporter Nirvi Shah tracks news and trends of interest to the special education community, including administrators, teachers, and parents.

"So-called "daily report cards" appear to improve the behavior of students with ADHD, a new What Works Clearinghouse review of a study concludes."

Formative assessment for the win!

Our guest blogger, Joann Wasik, is a regular columnist at TheGateway.org
 
Each May, the nation celebrates National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.

"Regular physical exercise is vital to student learning. Studies show that students are able to concentrate better and stay focused for longer periods of time when they’ve participated in exercise. Exposure to endurance-type of exercise, such as running or skipping, appears to be the most effective, with test subjects’ scores all increasing by a wide margin after such exercise."
Get that exercise in! 

Last June, I wrote Seven Ways to Go From On-Task to Engaged, which turned out to be one of the most popular topics of the year. In it I spoke about the possibility that students could technically be on-task but...

"While time on task is important, as is focus and attention, true engagement in learning involves more than external behaviors as measured by time on-task. True engagement involves the mind, the body, and the soul."

Good advice.

Cindi Rigsbee thinks her students' grades should reflect their knowledge rather than behavior, so she gives cheaters and those who are late with assignments a second chance.

"I realized that I really do want grades to reflect what my students know, not what behavioral choices they make. So I began to change my philosophy on assessment."

"I now respond by reassigning the work or re-administering the test by making it different and, if possible, more rigorous. For example, what was at first a multiple-choice quiz may become an essay when I retest the student. Yes, it's more time-consuming than ripping up the original work and giving a zero—but it's worth it to me to actually be able to assess whether or not my students have met my learning goals. I can't determine that if they never do the work."

LOVE her philosophy.

In an excerpt from their upcoming book, Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski highlight student reflection as an important tool in assessing the progress of English-language learners.

My favorite: "Involve students in assessment. Involving students in the assessment process can be powerful, resulting in increased motivation and learning."

Special education teacher Laurie Wasserman says collaboration, diligence, and compassion can help schools better support students with learning difficulties.

"But a "student-centered mindset" goes beyond initial modifications: We pay close attention to individual students' progress and adjust our approaches throughout the year."

Good tips for inclusion and differentiation.

Recess is a valuable component of a child's time in school, a time when students can collect themselves, recharge their batteries, and challenge themselves in a different setting.

"The decision to limit or eliminate the unstructured play afforded by a recess period may detract from students' ability to focus on the very subjects we use to measure success. Several thoughtful researchers have proved that creative thought, which is a large part of recess and play, can be viewed as an important aspect of problem-solving."

I love recess!

Music teacher Kevin Mixon offers tips on adopting a classroom-management style that reinforces learning goals and expectations instead of simply punishing bad behavior.

"You can still incorporate classroom-management levers that are tied directly to learning goals and that reinforce expectations, rather than simply punishing so-called "bad" behavior. In doing so, you can foster inclusiveness rather than divisive competition in the classroom."

Very good tips for classroom management.

When our team was at SXSW Edu in March, we caught ed tech fever as we were exposed to amazing new ed apps , devices and technology strategies. But— and there's always a but, isn't there?

Great advice!

Good resource!