Middle School EF Skill Istruction
Mar 1, 2017 10:16:39 GMT -5
Post by mrsbuttinski on Mar 1, 2017 10:16:39 GMT -5
For spooko
It's ironic, but for DS who has ASD and significant learning differences, his middle school IEP dealt with the ADHD stuff almost exclusively. Yeah, there was a weekly social skills group but his classroom placement and interventions were almost all ADHD stuff. To put this in perspective, in PA there are 12 classifications which can be used on an IEP; as a team we agreed on "Autism" (duh, no brainer), "Specific LD" (dyslexia impacting reading and composition) and "Speech/Language Disability" (pragmatics/social skills as well as comprehension in reading fiction). We declined the "OHI" for ADHD because we felt, as a group, that it painted DS's potential rather lower than it actually was.
There is no "quick fix". What did work was consistent rote instruction and prompts so that he would get used to the positive feelings of being on top of things to support the CBT he had been doing. This required real partnership between us and his teachers at school. We were blessed with his absolutely strongest teacher in 7th and a decent one in 8th.
His IEP included placement in a "learning support resource classroom" which provided mainstream academics with a dually certified teacher. This teacher was certified in Sped as well as the subjects he taught at the secondary level. Math, social studies and science were with his IEP custodian who was also his homeroom teacher. Our middle school has a house system, so the teachers in that house coordinate to ensure an even workload and to teach across the curriculum.
Things that helped-
Communication. The 7th grade teacher and I talked on the phone pretty much weekly. 8th grade teacher emailed a lot. IME, going with the teacher's preferred method of contact is generally best. If you have a communication book- which is kind of hard on kids emotionally- copy the pages at home because sometimes they disappear.
Our high school has an interim report process that allows parents to request each teacher sign a form the student carries with them weekly. The whole school does them mid-marking period, so having to do one weekly is a consequence for not being on top of things. There's also a parent portal to help you stay on top of assignments and grades. Most secondary teachers are pretty good about maintaining their information online.
Organization skills. DS teachers taught how to be organized in rote fashion day to day with prompts to stow materials and also to turn things in. This was built into the class with regular back pack organization checks (2-3 times a week) and locker clean up (every 2 weeks) days.
The teachers also helped kids problem solve around what steps to take if they screwed up. Forget a book? Call a friend. (they exchanged phone numbers first day) Need a worksheet? Download it on the school website. DS was supposed to have a take home set of books. LOLZ. His 7th grade teacher felt he needed the consequence of learning what to do if he messed up, so he talked me into not doing this. DS got better over time with the consequence of calling one of his boy scout buds to borrow the book or have the passage read to him. Plus, the teacher said, it means DS will have the big heavy backpack like all the other kids, get stronger and identify more with his peers by virtue of the shared experience of hauling 25# on his back everyday.
The teacher routinely broke down long term assignments into chunks and offered graphic organizes and rubrics around assignments so DS knew going in the scope of the work expected.
The 7th grade teacher also revived sticker charts so the kids could track how well they were meeting their IEP goals around organization. This made them better able to participate at their own IEP meetings where they could talk about what did and didn't work for them. By middle school, students with IEPs should be attending at least part of the meeting so they can work on skills around advocating for themselves.
behavior strategies for his tendency towards distraction, procrastination and inertia
There is no "quick fix". What did work was consistent rote instruction and prompts so that he would get used to the positive feelings of being on top of things to support the CBT he had been doing. This required real partnership between us and his teachers at school. We were blessed with his absolutely strongest teacher in 7th and a decent one in 8th.
His IEP included placement in a "learning support resource classroom" which provided mainstream academics with a dually certified teacher. This teacher was certified in Sped as well as the subjects he taught at the secondary level. Math, social studies and science were with his IEP custodian who was also his homeroom teacher. Our middle school has a house system, so the teachers in that house coordinate to ensure an even workload and to teach across the curriculum.
Things that helped-
Communication. The 7th grade teacher and I talked on the phone pretty much weekly. 8th grade teacher emailed a lot. IME, going with the teacher's preferred method of contact is generally best. If you have a communication book- which is kind of hard on kids emotionally- copy the pages at home because sometimes they disappear.
Our high school has an interim report process that allows parents to request each teacher sign a form the student carries with them weekly. The whole school does them mid-marking period, so having to do one weekly is a consequence for not being on top of things. There's also a parent portal to help you stay on top of assignments and grades. Most secondary teachers are pretty good about maintaining their information online.
Organization skills. DS teachers taught how to be organized in rote fashion day to day with prompts to stow materials and also to turn things in. This was built into the class with regular back pack organization checks (2-3 times a week) and locker clean up (every 2 weeks) days.
The teachers also helped kids problem solve around what steps to take if they screwed up. Forget a book? Call a friend. (they exchanged phone numbers first day) Need a worksheet? Download it on the school website. DS was supposed to have a take home set of books. LOLZ. His 7th grade teacher felt he needed the consequence of learning what to do if he messed up, so he talked me into not doing this. DS got better over time with the consequence of calling one of his boy scout buds to borrow the book or have the passage read to him. Plus, the teacher said, it means DS will have the big heavy backpack like all the other kids, get stronger and identify more with his peers by virtue of the shared experience of hauling 25# on his back everyday.
The teacher routinely broke down long term assignments into chunks and offered graphic organizes and rubrics around assignments so DS knew going in the scope of the work expected.
The 7th grade teacher also revived sticker charts so the kids could track how well they were meeting their IEP goals around organization. This made them better able to participate at their own IEP meetings where they could talk about what did and didn't work for them. By middle school, students with IEPs should be attending at least part of the meeting so they can work on skills around advocating for themselves.