It can be challenging to select instructional materials and methods, which will enrich student learning.

The key is first understanding the needs of every student. In particular, all teachers need to understand
how to provide for students with special needs.

There are an estimated 6.6 million special needs students in our schools today, making up 13% of our
school population. How can we make sure that all teachers are prepared for special needs students,
especially when the majority of teachers are not certified special education teachers, nor may engage in
regular training related to special education.

I recently attended a session on “inclusion” at EdCamp Pittsburgh which was a very informative, open
discussion, where two special education teachers responded to the questions and concerns expressed in
regard to special needs students. There were three main questions with some really helpful ideas
shared.

Common Questions

How can teachers create a supportive learning environment for students?

Start with the relationships. Create opportunities for students to interact by designing some relationship
building activities. For example, one teacher mentioned taking three minutes in class to have students
group themselves according to animals or foods they like, or their birthdays. When students see what
they have in common with one another, they begin to build trust and relationships. Realizing that they
might have a lot in common, that someone else in the class is “just like me”, can be used as a
springboard to ongoing relationship building.

What do you do when having a mix of auditory, visual, and IEPs in a regular classroom?

Offer opportunities for students to engage in reading together. Place students into mixed ability groups
and have time to interact with each group. Students need to hear fluent reading and have practice, so by
pairing students with fluent readers, students can build their skills. In these activities, both students get
practice modeling good reading and working together. Some tools used for this are Lexia and Alphabet
Prosody.

How do teachers learn strategies, what are tools to use, what works best for students in your classroom
environment?
When possible, co-teaching is a great way to provide additional support in the classroom. It opens up
the opportunity to work with small groups or to design independent learning centers, which focus on
specific skills. One EdCamp attendee shared that in her classroom, two learning centers may be focused
on the same skill but delivered in a different format, or offer adaptations to help students become more
independent. Making time to work with the special education teachers and share strategies is key.

Start with the Right Resources

It can be difficult to find enough tools or instructional strategies to use, but with the right resources and
connections, it becomes easier to find something for each student. We also need to be prepared to
provide additional support for the families of our special needs students.

Special Education Teachers: When I took my graduate courses in special education, I developed a much
greater understanding and appreciation of the work done by special education teachers. There was so
much that I did not know, and it is critical that teachers have time to work with one another and build
relationships. The phrase “I wish that general education teachers knew…about special education” would
be a great way to start a conversation, as there is so much to know and it can be confusing to a general
education teacher. Making time to collaborate and even co-teach will have a great impact on student-
teacher/teacher-teacher relationships. With technology, connecting can be done through tools such as
Twitter (follow #specialneeds, #spedchat, #inclusion) or create a group to talk using a tool like Voxer.

Supporting Families: Families need advice, assistance and advocates. Finding the time can be difficult, so
it makes sense to share the resources which enable families to access information when they need it.
There are books focused on special needs, that can help families to better understand and explain
special needs. There are local, state and national organizations which focus on special needs as a whole,
or that are specific to a disability or serve as an advocacy organization. Educators and families can
connect in a Google Community to learn about AT (Assistive Technology) which includes many Chrome
extensions. The use of a messaging app such as BloomzApp or Remind enables families to reach out with
questions when needed.