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ASD Classroom Strategies: Home Base

7/21/2017

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Home Base is a strategy or an environmental structure that is used to provide support to an ASD child to help them to deal with their anxiety and or stress.  Home Base is a location that is used to prepare or review events, to take a break, to regain control during or after a meltdown, to recover from a meltdown, or to cope with unpredictable situations.  The Home Base location can be anywhere that the child feels comfortable and safe.  The location needs to provide consistency, structure and supervision.  One example that was used was for a child that liked small enclosed spaces, so they setup a tent in the classroom with pillows, low-lighting and a weighted blanket to allow for this child to feel comfortable. Other ideas for Home Base might be an office, a corner in the classroom, a rocking chair, etc. 

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The time spent at Home Base is not meant to be an avoidance technique because students still need to complete work, but this allows them to do the work in an environment where the student is comfortable.  Home Base should also never be used as a punishment.  A different space needs to be utilized for punishment because the Home Base needs to be a safe place.  
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There are several reasons for a student to go to Home Base.  First, staff can choose to have the student go to their Home Base if they see anxiety and or stress beginning to escalate.  Next, Home Base could be used as a check-in and out location where students meet with a support person to go over the day and any challenges the student may face during the day (e.g. A substitute teacher).  The final way is for the student to determine that Home Base is where they need to be.  The ultimate goal is for the ASD student to be able to self-regulate their emotions and notice when they need there break. 

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This would have been a wonderful strategy to utilize when I had an ASD student who would shutdown several times during class.  He would curl up into a ball and disrupt the entire class by making noises as he rocked.  If I would have had the Home Base strategy in my teaching toolbox I could have headed off some of his meltdowns.  I could have implemented the Home Base strategy for him by creating a space in the classroom for him to go to when he was feeling stressed or anxious and he would have been more willing to do his assignment when in that space.  This would have also given him time to refocus and given him control of his own behavior.  It would have also solved some of the disruptions in the classroom.
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I would know that this intervention was working if he would have been able to make the decision to go to Home Base when he was beginning to have a meltdown.  Another indicator could be if the classroom teacher’s suggestion that Home Base would be a good place for them at the moment and they go there without an argument.

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Evidence-Based Practices Observation

7/11/2017

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Evidence-Based Practices

Mrs. Parker used a number of Evidence-Based Practices effectively. She started the lesson by stating her objective verbally as well as having it written on the whiteboard.  This provides both a visual and an auditory experience.  She referred to work that they did the previous Friday, and then set the purpose. This allowed for the students to know what was expected of them and made a connection to their prior learning.  This gradually builds their knowledge base of the subject.

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She did very well at reviewing the vocabulary for the lesson.  Mrs. Parker recapped what they did in class the previous Friday by pointing to vocabulary as she says the words and asks them to repeat them.  She teaches them how they are going to respond to each other when they are in their groups and how the students need to use the specific vocabulary in their responses. She utilized word strips with the vocabulary words on them.

Mrs. Parker used small groups discussion and pair-share in the lesson. Her small group discussion was well organized because she set clear expectations. It appears that the rules were written (it was hard to see for sure) and she reviews each group objective during whole-class instruction.  This provided very clear expectations for the students.  She walked around to observe each group and to keep them on task.  Small group work is followed up with pair-share after the students moved to the carpeted area. This gave the students an opportunity what they liked/learned with their partner.  It was another way to reinforce learning. 

What is Missing? & Suggestions

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​Mrs. Parker really missed an opportunity to make real-world connections in this lesson.  She could have done this by utilizing multiple means of engagement.  She could have brought in objects that represented each of the three-dimensional geometric shapes that were covered during the lesson. e.g. a party hat for a cone, a can for a cylinder, a ball for a sphere, etc.  She could have also provided the students with a tactile learning activity by giving each student a hunk of clay and having them form the shapes.  In addition, she did activate prior knowledge from the previous Friday’s lesson, but she missed the opportunity to elicit prior experiences directly from the students.  She could have asked each small group to list three objects they know represent each shape and list them in a chart with the shapes noted across the top.  Students would have to discuss and agree whether or not the objects are a good representation of each of the shapes before listing them. 


Data

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​Mrs. Parker did not collect any data to determine the effects of her instruction.  She could have provided the class with a pretest riddle prior to providing any instruction.  After the instruction, the students could be given the same riddle to solve.  This would show student progress and how they were able to transfer knowledge from the lesson to this riddle.  Of course, the particular riddle used in these pre- & post-assessments would not be covered during the lesson. This formative assessment would show individual progress. She could also utilize a check list as she observes the small groups working.  She could look for things such as the correct use of vocabulary and that students are justifying their answers during discussion. 

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

7/2/2017

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As you view Mr. Sowell’s Science class in the video below, notice the various teaching methodologies that he incorporates in the lesson.

In the short three-minute video clip, Mr. Sowell uses multiple ways of representing the concept of force from a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) perspective.  He utilizes verbal, visual and demonstrative ways of explaining the topic.  He demonstrated force by pushing on the wall, having the students pull on the stapler, by pushing and pulling on the students’ chair, and by blowing on the walkie talkie. He also used recall and repetition revisiting the previous day’s lesson, and repeated the two overriding concepts of force and movement multiple times, including at the very end of the lesson. He made sure to respond positively even when answers were not complete or exactly what he was looking for. In addition, he wrote the concepts on the board after pulling the ideas out of the students instead of simply giving them the answer. 

While Mr. Sowell utilized large group discussion, he could have improved in the area of Multiple Means of Action and Expression. For example, students could have been more actively involved in the demonstrations and/or had the students write the statements about force on the board.  Two small groups could have each been assigned a concept and been given the responsibility of teaching the concept to the rest of the class. 

The multiple methodologies that he used, in addition to including activities that are more active and engage all learners would likely reach all students (including students with disabilities).


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The Video Clip Would Go Here
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Assistive Technologies

7/2/2017

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What is technology? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Technology is “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry” Therefore when we speak of Assistive Technologies or AT we are looking at any type of technological device, place, and/or equipment that benefits a person with a disability that helps them work around their challenges. Assistive Technologies can help people read, write, spell, move from palace to palace, etc. Assistive Technologies come in all shapes, sizes and forms.  AT could be a piece of paper with darker lines for a student with a visual impairment to a device that allows a student that does not have the use of his arms to play an instrument, or even a grip corrector on a pencil.

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​In my ideal classroom, I would have one-to-one technology utilizing iPads.  Having an iPad assigned to every student for classroom and home use would be beneficial. In the classroom iPads could be customized each semester with applications that would meet the needs of the special education students, but would also help all students in the classroom.  Students could utilize apps such as Notability, Dragon, and many more to help with note taking and writing skills.  IPads would allow for anonymity for the students with needs because all students would have the same apps.  Students could have eTextbooks loaded on the iPad and which would allow students to use apps like K3000 by Kurzweil to provide an audio version of the text.  It would also students to follow along with the text while listening which enhances learning.

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IPads would also be beneficial for the student at home especially for students without internet access. They could download information to the iPad at school and then study and work with it at home.  They could also do their homework offline.
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While it is an older technology and might be considered simple it would be extremely beneficial for every student to have their own set of headphones equipped with microphones.  Students with speech difficulties could speak into the microphone and then they can be critiqued.  Students would be able to play recorded teacher instructions over and over again as many times as needed.  Students with reading difficulties could have the text read to them, not just an assignment but for research materials as well. Utilizing the headphones would prevent disruption to another students’ learning.

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Some applications that I have found to be helpful in the classroom and at home are Linxy by EvenPixel and Newsela. Linxy is a dictionary app which allows you to use the camera to take a picture of the word and the app with give you the dictionary meaning or you can manually enter the word.  This app can also give you interesting facts, so it works as an encyclopedia as well.  This app is able to work offline, there are more than 400,000 definitions, utilizing Wiktionary and Wikipedia.  This is a great app when students are doing research and rather than them coming and asking the teacher or parent for the meaning of a word they can look it up by themselves because looking something up in the dictionary takes so much extra time—just kidding, but students need the instant gratification in today’s world of technology. 

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Another great app for Social Studies and/or English classes is Newsela because it is often hard to find high-interest, non-fiction current events for social studies.  This not only allows for high-interest current events, but has adjustable reading levels. Newsela is a resource for teachers to assign high-interest non-fictional text and current event articles.  The text is available in five different reading comprehension levels. Newsela also has Common Core aligned quizzes that cover the following types of questions: What the Text Says, Central Idea, People, Events & Ideas, Word Meaning & Choice, Text Structure, Point of View/Purpose, Multimedia, Arguments & Claims. The free version of this site allows teachers to track when student complete articles and quizzes, shows class-wide results, allows teachers to compare their students to other Newsela users, and has many of the articles in Spanish. Newsela is accessible at school and at home where the student has access to assigned readings and quizzes.

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    Blog Posts

    *ASD Classroom Strategies: Home Base
    *Evidence-Based Practices
    * Universal Design for Learning
    * Assistive Technology 

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