Spring Problem of Practice – Teaching Independence

Many teenagers struggle to do academic work independently; this is a skill they must be taught. Executive functioning, a necessary component for independent work, encompasses a wide range of skills including organization, planning, working memory, sustained focus and...

SETSS

by Nora Madsen

SETSS is a uniquely useful setting to support students with developing independence. Students with disabilities at our school often receive SETSS because of a lack of executive functioning skills. It is my job as the SETSS provider to help identify the barriers in place preventing students from working independently and then scaffold tasks in a […]

ICT

by Alex Zaugg

We as teachers are often left with more questions than answers when students with disabilities are not able to produce what is expected during project work time. In an ideal world, high school students should be able to use all available resources, tools, and accommodations provided by their teachers to persist through project work time […]

Speech

by Alex Schmerge

As the speech-language provider, I am often working to increase student independence in the writing process. There are, of course, many components to be addressed – brainstorming, outlining, drafting, etc. – yet I invariably find myself having to take the lead when it comes to proofreading. Many of my students have spent their entire educational[…]

Fall Solution: Evidence Based Practices for Students with Severe Disabilities

As a special education department we chose the Problem of Practice: How might we authentically include students with severe disabilities so they are academically engaged in their classes and socially engaged in the school community? For the first time at our school...

SETSS

by Nora Madsen

A lot of the reading that I was doing about students with intellectual disabilities was around the importance of developing life skills. One of my fears is that they are not learning those skills explicitly at our school. I’ve also been speaking with our liaison at DOE central about the alternative placements for our students […]

ICT

by Alex Zaugg

The words “data analysis” probably don’t evoke much excitement in our high school students, but having the ability to closely examining data sets, graphs, and statistics can be an extremely useful life tool. Throughout our semester together in Microbiology, my students and I have been discovering ways to navigate various types of data.  We have […]

Speech

by Alex Schmerge

For this post, I focused on the work that I do with our students with Autism at ESA. As the speech-language pathologist (SLP), I have the opportunity to see these students both in the classroom (for “push-in” sessions) and in small groups outside of the classroom (for “pull-out” sessions). This provides me with a unique […]

Fall SpEd Problem of Practice

In recent years, our school has been receiving more students with more severe disabilities, in particular students with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities (previously Mental Retardation). Our special education team and instructional staff are unaccustomed to...

SETSS

by Nora Madsen

PoP: How might we authentically include students with severe disabilities so they are academically engaged in their classes and socially engaged in the school community through my role in SETSS? Most of the students with Autism and ID in our school experience a level of isolation related to their disability. Two of our students with […]

ICT

by Alex Zaugg

PoP: How might we authentically include students with severe disabilities so they are academically engaged in their classes and socially engaged in the school community through my role in ICT? In the world of education, the biggest challenge is ensuring all students are given equal opportunities to access content and adequately build new skill sets. […]

Speech

by Alex Schmerge

PoP: How might we authentically include students with severe disabilities so they are academically engaged in their classes and socially engaged in the school community through my role in Speech? ESA strives to be a community inclusive of all people, and in many ways we are successful. However, over the past few years, with the […]