New Trend in Education

Has the One Room Schoolhouse returned?

With the NO Child Left Behind law passed by President Bush in 2001 our education system has become an ever changing spinning wheel with administrators, teachers, parents and students hoping the wheel stops at the best strategy. This law states that every child must pass statewide exams and not be retained . This includes children with special academic needs, English Language Learners and any other disability.

  Through my 30 years in the education field I have seen many attempts to help ALL  students pass statewide exams. There is the one school of thought that all students with disabilities should remain all day in their classroom.  The other thought is that children with special needs should be pulled out  of their class and be taught in smaller groups with specialized teachers.  I would have to say that at the present  moment  schools are doing a little of both.

  I have compiled the best strategies that are proven to help students learn. They can be  used in one to one teaching, smaller groups  and in an all inclusion class.

Websites and online resources:

 Brainpop has fun and interesting animated lessons  on practically every subject including holidays. Each lesson has a quiz that follows. Age appropriate for high school students.

National geographic website–

Large range of topics. Some have film footage of the actual event or subject.

• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company

This website gives you a 40 day free trial. They have online books for: reading/Language arts, spelling, science, social studies and math. It also includes assessments ,intervention and professional development.

Classroom Connect

Classroom Connect is an award-winning provider of high-quality professional development programs and online instructional materials that meet the changing needs of K–12 school districts nationwide. Classroom Connect joined Harcourt in 2001.http://www.hmhco.com/about-us.html

Strategies:

1. Type notes, vocabulary, stories etc. on a Word doc(,or worksheet) and open up doc into the screen. . New words are highlighted  within the context. Read and point to each highlighted word to help student recognize /hear pronunciation of each word.
2. While on the computer, read to students or take turns reading(depending on student’ability) and then have the same written paragraph(s) placed  below the original one but delete words and insert spaces. Ex. community: the ________ part of the ecosystem
3. Have the missing words printed in red on the side of the doc .
4. Do the first missing word with the student to show/model  how to use context clues to define new words. Student finish and teacher is there for support.
5. This lowers the frustration level of those special education students that struggle to keep up. It works great!!]

When independent work is presented, try to give it to the student in small "segments". For example, a test or worksheet(on screen) could be divided in half. The student could be asked to do the first half and then ask for further directions. This prevents the student from feeling rushed or overwhelmed with the amount of work given.’

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Look at the students IEP (Individualized Education Plan) so that you know what objectives need to be covered. For example: The whole class might be expected to write a paragraph about something they learned. A student with mild mental retardation in your class might be expected to write 3 facts she/he learned. A student with fine motor problems could write some and you  could take dictation on the rest   or write it for him/her.  *Often the IEP, for  a student with fine motor difficulties, will state that all written work  should be done on the computer.

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Use story maps and other graphic organizers to assist students with writing tasks. Advance organizers (outlines) can help students search for meaning when they read. Make up a chapter outline and give it to all the students. It teaches them to attend to the important points in a chapter.

I have listed resources and strategies that DO work with students to help them achieve academically.