Yesterday, I attended and presented at The School District of Philadelphia's Professional Development for Teachers of Autistic Support, Life Skills Support and Multiple Disabilities Support. It was a very informative event.
A portion of the agenda focused on several Best Practices in Action throughout the district, including my own Best Practice: Using Technology to Raise Expectations and Outcomes. My presentation featured my students' award-winning project from Philadelphia's 2010 Regional Computer Fair Competition. I also discussed several ways to utilize blogging as an effective assessment tool in the classroom. Some of these resources can be downloaded on my website.
During a break-out session, many educators shared some of their own Best Practices. Here are a few from our group:
1. Using T-A-G to develop comprehension and writing skills.
T-Turn the question into a topic sentence.
A-Answer the question
G-Give supporting detail
2. Using highlighters to identify important information in reading.
3. Educational Websites such as www.learningupgrade.com & BBC Education
4. Strategies for Replacing Stimulatory Behaviors: An example was given for a student who would pace back and forth during their community training activities. The therapist suggested having the student replace the behavior with something more acceptable such as taping their leg.
5. Strategies for Replacing Disruptive/Impulsive Behaviors: An example was given for a student who habitually called out during class. The teacher had him write down his thoughts and assess whether the comment was appropriate or relevant to the classroom instruction.
6. In conjunction with specific behavior modification strategies, many agreed that point systems, that are implemented consistently, are very effective.
7. Using bodily-kinesthetic strategies to deliver concepts: One educator specially spoke of using musical rhythms and patterns to teach students concepts such as counting by 2's.
8. Many teachers working with non-verbal students noted that using PECS cards had been very effective. In addition, many noted that they were using PECS for task accomplishment. For example, a card might demonstrate the concept of, "Work now. Computer after."
It was truly wonderful to be exchange ideas and successful strategies. While these are only a few of the Best Practices shared from the workshop, I hope you can find at least one to be useful and/or perhaps share these with others.
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