Instructional Adaptation for Special Education – EDSP 410

Course Description

Rationale

It is inevitable that within every classroom there will be individuals with disabilities that limit their potential to achieve academic success through traditional approaches. Therefore, it is extremely important for the teacher to know first how to determine the needs of such individuals and then know what modifications or instructional approaches to incorporate to help disabled students to be successful. The intent of this course is to provide beginning teachers and others interested in working with disabled students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and address specific educational needs of learners with disabilities throughout the school setting.

Course Assignment

Textbook Readings and Presentations

(CLO: A, B, E)

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

There are three Discussions throughout the course. Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. The purpose of Discussions is to generate interaction among candidate in regard to relevant current course topics. Therefore, the student is required to post one thread of 400 words. The student will post two substantive replies of 150 words. Each reply must incorporate at least one scholarly citation(s) in current APA format. Incorporate scripture and biblical experience as you consider how these topics would impact you as a teacher. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include scholarly articles, textbook, and the Bible. (CLO: A, C)

Differentiated Instruction Assignment

Research has supported the use of differentiated instruction when lesson planning to provide support for the diverse students you will find in your classroom.  The IRIS module, Differentiated Instruction:  Maximizing the Learning of All Students, will provide you with a solid foundation of what you need to know to use differentiated instruction in your future classroom.  The module consists of five sections:  Challenge, Initial Thoughts, Perspectives and Resources, Wrap Up, and Assessment.  The module provides information on differentiated instruction, including videos, interactive challenges, short videos from researchers, along with other information that is practical for your classroom.  This module and assignment will be vital to your Unit Plan that will be developed during this course. CLO: A, C, D, E)

Individualized Educational Plan Assignments (2)

The candidate will complete, on the provided template, a long-term goal and three short-term objectives for each of the six areas subjects: math, reading, writing, social studies, and social/emotional. The candidate will be provided a sample to review. Careful consideration of students present levels of performance (PLOP), as well as their cognitive and academic deficits will be given in the development of these goals and objectives. (CLO: A, B, E)

Unit Plan: Classroom and Accommodated Reading Assignment

In this first of three parts of the Unit Plan, the candidate will write a fictitious class description, create a seating chart, and complete the provided Unit Plan Template. The candidate will also rewrite one page of a chapter in a book for a lower readability level. (CLO: A, D, E)

Unit Plan: Accommodations for Diverse Student Populations Assignment

One of the most important aspects of lesson planning is accommodating the diverse populations in one's classroom.  Accommodations are for supporting diverse populations for each student to learn the material being taught. Accommodations are alterations to the learning environment (seated close to the teaching, extended time), to the curriculum format (larger font, less words on the page), or the use of equipment (pencil grip, text-to-speech), which is different than differentiation.  Continuing with the Unit Plan Template begun with the previous Unit Plan Assignment, candidates will complete the accommodations section for every population listed on the template. Although all ten listed populations may not be represented in the candidate's mock classroom, the goal of this section is to determine what accommodations the candidate would provide if each of these populations were represented in the classroom. (CLO: A, D, E)

Unit Plan: Differentiated Lesson Plans Assignment

The candidate will complete this final part of the Unit Plan, using the provided template. This part of the Unit Plan will have five fully developed lesson plans, with at least ten instructional accommodations and will include all of the materials, forms, worksheets, and assessments used in the lesson plans. (CLO: A, D, E)

Read & Interact Textbook Assignments (14)

Within this course, students will be required to to read and interact with the textbook within the third party platform, Smartbook. Students must complete each reading and item in the textbook in order to earn the points associated with the assigned reading. (CLO: A, B)