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In recent months, schools across the country have reported an increase in office discipline referrals. The referred behaviors range from classroom disruptions to safety concerns for the school community (Chapman, 2021). The increase in office discipline referrals requires educators to identify ways to prevent challenging behaviors from occurring and to effectively respond to behaviors when they occur. Here are a few resources to consider for preventing and responding to challenging behaviors:

• Explicitly teach students the expected behaviors and acknowledge them when they display the desired expectations. Pbis.org offers a presentation slide deck on Teaching Expectations and Reinforcement Systems which guides teachers through the importance of having expectations, teaching the expectations explicitly, and reinforcing positive behaviors.
• View the Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Student Services modules on Defusing Disruptive Behavior. These modules provide strategies throughout the stages of the escalation cycle including both preventative and intervening strategies for educators.
• Explore Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) Learning Media. It has a series of videos related to intervening with specific behaviors of concern. The videos in their Managing Challenging Behaviors series provide non-examples of responding to challenging behaviors followed by explanations of effective strategies for responding to those behaviors.
• Consider teaching the social-emotional competencies. Virginia Commonwealth University’s Technical Training and Assistance Center (TTAC at VCU) held a Communities and Conversations Professional Development Series which explored the five competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making. Activities to support teaching each competency were also included. Recordings and the activity slides are available at the VCU TTAC website under Virtual Learning Opportunities. By teaching social-emotional competencies to students, educators provide students with skills to identify how they are feeling and strategies for coping with difficult emotions and situations. While these skills are necessary for the success of all students and staff, they are particularly helpful for individuals experiencing stress and/or mental health challenges.
• Learn more about the impacts of mental health and intervening strategies. The course Youth Mental Health First Aid helps individuals understand the signs and symptoms of mental health concerns and what to do when a youth is displaying these signs and symptoms.



Repeated problem behaviors can disrupt the learning of students and, at times, present safety risks. These resources are a few ways educators can work toward addressing the behavioral needs of their students.

Reference

Chapman, B. (2021, December 9). Schools confront a wave of misbehavior, driven by months of remote learning. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/schools-student-misbehavior-remote-learning-covid-11639061247

For more information, contact Whitney Shotwell (wlshotwell@vcu.edu), Program Specialist, T/TAC at VCU.

Specially designed instruction (SDI) is an essential part of addressing the unique needs of students with disabilities (SWD). As outlined by the federal regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA), SDI is not optional and is the very definition of special education for students who qualify for services (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004a). IDEA goes on to further explain that SDI is an adaptation of “content, methodology or delivery of instruction,” but beyond this explanation, there is a lot of room to interpret how to provide SDI (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004b, para. 1).

One way to better understand how to provide SDI is to define its key components: the adaptation of content, methodology, and delivery. Adapting content refers to what is being taught or the grade-level standards that the student is supposed to learn (Friend & Barron, 2021). While students with significant intellectual disabilities qualify for modifications of the standards, the majority of students will be required to learn the same standards as their same-aged peers. One example of adapting content is teaching prerequisite skills that are missing or lacking in addition to the teaching the standard itself. When it comes to methodology, adaptations occur in how the content is taught such as the use of direct, explicit instruction or other learning strategies like a multi-sensory approach in reading instruction (Friend & Barron, 2021). The delivery of instruction (i.e., the time and place in which the instruction is delivered) can be adapted by adding additional time to learn a new skill or standard, changing the setting where instruction takes place, or using small-group instead of whole-group instruction (Friend & Barron, 2021). 

In the general education setting, co-teaching approaches are a vehicle to deliver SDI. The three approaches that are best suited for small group instruction to deliver SDI include parallel teaching, station teaching, and alternative teaching. Successfully providing SDI required for SWD involves planning, creativity, and resources. What new strategy for adapting content, methodology, or delivery are you willing to try this new year?

To learn more about SDI and coteaching, Dr. Marilyn Friend and Dr. Tammy Barron (2021) provide an in-depth look in their book Specially Designed Instruction for Co-Teaching which is available for check out in the T/TAC library at VCU. Resources on SDI and co-teaching are provided by the Virginia Department of Education's Special Education webpage and through the Excellence in Co-Teaching initiative webpage. In addition, stay up-to-date on new resources and events provided by the T/TAC at VCU and follow us on Facebook by searching “VCU T/TAC” or on Twitter at “vcu_ttac.”

References

Friend, M., & Barron, T. (2021). Specially Designed Instruction for Co-Teaching. Marilyn Friend.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1401 (29) (2004a). https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter-i/1401/29

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 34 C.F.R.§ 300.39(b)(3) (2004b). https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/a/300.39/b/3

For more information, contact Crystal Bell (bellcr@vcu.edu), Program Specialist, T/TAC at VCU.

To become math problem solvers, students need a range of strategies and skills. They must be able to apply math concepts and understand relationships to solve complex problems. There is a large base of research supporting word-problem instruction that involves explicitly teaching word problem schemas along with an attack strategy. “Schema instruction facilitates mathematical reasoning by helping students understand the underlying structures within word problems that will be used across grade levels with whole and rational numbers” (Powell & Fuchs, 2018, p. 41).

Attack strategies are a series of steps that students can use to structure their thinking when solving word problems. They are often mnemonic devices and span across schemas and grade levels. It is essential that the teacher models and explains the strategy while scaffolding student learning through decreasing levels of support until its use becomes automatic. This requires giving students many practice opportunities in using the strategy. The attack strategy should be used consistently for a variety of word problems.

One effective attack strategy is the mnemonic UPS Check (VDOE, 2020). This strategy involves explicitly teaching students to “Understand” by reading the problem, “Plan” by focusing on the schema of the problem, “Solve” by using a computational strategy, and “Check” the answer by asking if the answer makes sense.

Schema instruction promotes stronger word-problem performance for students across grade levels (Powell & Fuchs, 2018). Additive and multiplicative schemas are useful for solving word problems from kindergarten to eighth grade. The schemas are taught in a cumulative sequence. Each schema has an associated graphic organizer and equation which are depicted in VDOE’s Evidence-Based Specially Designed Instruction in Mathematics Resource Guide (VDOE, 2020). Gestures can also be paired with each schema to reinforce the concepts and to give a kinesthetic aspect to the lesson. The Resource Project STAIR provides demonstrations of suggested schema gestures (Powell, 2019).

Three major additive schemas are total or combine (part-part-whole), compare or difference, and change or join. These three schemas can be used to solve any additive word problem. There are three multiplicative schemas involving multiplication and division: equal groups, comparison, and ratios or proportions. The six schemas are defined, explained, and illustrated in VDOE’s Evidence-Based Specially Designed Instruction in Mathematics Resource Guide (VDOE, 2020).

There are several recommendations for word problem solving instruction. Teachers should not link operations to key words in word problems or define word problems by an operation. Students need to use reasoning to determine what operation is needed to solve the problem. There are often several ways to solve a problem and it undermines conceptual understanding to define a problem by its operation. Teachers should promote mathematical reasoning by teaching attack strategies and schema instruction explicitly and using graphic organizers and equations to organize thinking. Teach multi step problems that mix schemas and provide cumulative review as well as explicitly teaching word-problem language.

References

Consortium on Reaching Excellence in Education. (2021). Word problems? No problem! — Effective strategies for solving math word problems. [Webinar]. (Publisher). https://www.corelearn.com/ondemand-webinar-word-problems/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=core&utm_term=word-problems-math&utm_campaign=20211110-webinar&utm_content=math

Powell, S. R., & Fuchs, L. S. (2018). Effective word-problem instruction: Using schemas to facilitate mathematical reasoning. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 51(1), 31–42.

Powell, S. (2019). Schema gestures, word problems: Grades K-8, Project STAIR. www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siPbBJ2NyZk

Virginia Department of Education. (2020). Evidence-based specially designed instruction in mathematics resource guide. https://www.doe.virginia.gov/special_ed/disabilities/learning_disability/swd-mathematics-resources.p

For more information, contact Jennifer Askue-Collins (askuecollij@vcu.edu), Program Specialist, T/TAC at VCU.

As teachers return to the classroom from virtual and hybrid learning or even extended breaks, many may feel that they need help to reconnect with students. Anderson (2021) shares six intrinsic motivators to power up your teaching: autonomy, belonging, competence, purpose, fun, and curiosity as ways to improve student learning and engagement.

Autonomy

The first motivator is autonomy; students need to be self-motivating be excited about learning! Autonomy in the classroom could incorporate providing students with a choice. Choice boards can be used to allow students the ability to choose activities that they prefer over others. Students can choose which activities to complete to show mastery and understanding. They are encouraged to become self-directed and self-determined, an intrinsic motivator. Teachers need to nurture the skills needed to work independently (Anderson, 2021).

Belonging

The second motivator is belonging; educators must create a safe and inclusive environment where all students belong (Anderson, 2021). Providing opportunities in the classroom for students to build relationships by having them work in small groups, partners, and clubs creates a collaborative learning culture. Students can work together and foster meaningful and productive classroom experiences that build social connections and relationships (Anderson, 2021). 

Competence

Competence is the third motivator. When students are given assignments that challenge them academically and are attainable, they become motivated. Have you ever thought something was impossible and then you mastered it? What an incredible feeling of accomplishment! Anderson (2021) shares why differentiation is important in allowing students to push themselves further and facilitate cognitive growth.

Purpose

Students need to know why learning is essential. Answering questions like, “Why are we doing this assignment?’ and, “How will we apply this knowledge in real life?” are essential to the next motivator: purpose. Knowing the purpose behind the learning allows students to connect the theories and practices between content areas. Anderson (2021) shares that project-based and service-learning are loaded with meaning.

Fun

Anderson (2021) suggests creating lessons with some element of fun to teach the content. When students can engage in a preferred activity, learning is accelerated. Students can build literacy skills, self-regulation, and language development by playing a few games during instruction and having fun.

Curiosity

Make them curious, which is the last motivator. In a world of technology and applications, allow students to explore various ways to connect to the curriculum. Allow students to explore their interests through independent research or non-fiction reading and writing (Anderson, 2021).

When planning your lessons, reflect on the six intrinsic motivators: autonomy, belonging, competence, purpose, fun, and curiosity as ways to engage and further the learning for your students.

Reference

Anderson, M. (2021). Six intrinsic motivators to power up your teaching. Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/6-intrinsic-motivators-to-power-up-your-teaching

For more information, contact LaTonja Wright (wrightly@vcu.edu), Program Specialist, T/TAC at VCU.