Transitioning into Special Education Teaching: Use of a Multimedia Resource Module

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Transitioning into Special Education Teaching
Use of a Multimedia Resource Module

• Marie Tejero Hughes
• Michelle Parker-Katz
• Peggie Klekotka
• Diane Chin
• College of Education
• University of Illinois at Chicago

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Support for Novice Teachers

• One way to combat extreme teacher shortages,
  especially in urban centers, is to retain
  teachers by providing induction support (Odell
  Huling-Austin, 2000 Whitaker, 2000, 2001 White
  Mason, 2003.) The retention of teachers could
  provide greater continuity for students learning
  (Sindelar, 2003.)

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From Teachers to Teachers

• To meet this need, we wanted to create an
  authentic resource to help novice teachers reason
  about teaching and learning.
• Artifacts from experienced special educators
  classrooms serve as resources for constructing
  effective teaching
• Artifacts are from diverse learners in urban
  classrooms, and provide new special educators
  with exposure to additional classrooms

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A Multimedia Resource

• The module is web-based, allowing teachers to
  access help any time, anywhere.
• The module is multimedia digital video, audio
  and photography provide a rich and inviting
  environment for users to learn and explore.
• Links between and among different artifacts and
  resources give teachers a multi-faceted view of
  teaching and learning.

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The Modules Organization

• The module is organized around four main
  components
• Serving Students with Disabilities
• Creating Learning Environments
• Planning and Preparation
• Collaboration, Co-teaching and Consulting

• An easy-to-use color scheme helps teachers
  navigate among the different components.

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Serving Students with Disabilities

• This component focuses on the work that is
  specific to special education teachers
• Designing and Implementing IEPs Different
  teachers perspectives on writing goals,
  monitoring progress and meeting required minutes.
• Behavior Management Systems Thoughts on teaching
  students about monitoring their behavior,
  collecting data on behaviors, and creating token
  economies.
• Assisting with Post-Secondary Transitions Ideas
  for writing transition-focused IEP goals,
  preparing families, and helping students think
  about their futures.
• Advice for New Special Education Teachers A
  collection of advice from nine experienced
  special educators.

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Creating Learning Environments

• This component explores how to manipulate the
  physical and social elements in a classroom to
  maximize the effectiveness of instruction
• Centers and Areas and Room Arrangements Examples
  of learning centers and ideas for partitioning a
  classroom.
• Organization and Storage of Materials Different
  teachers systems for staying organized, managing
  paper flow and storing supplies.
• Classroom Environments Ideas for decorating a
  classroom in ways that support instruction.
• Student Interaction for Learning Perspectives on
  collaborative learning and ways to provide
  structure for students.
• Involving Students A variety of ways to get
  student buy-in, and help students learn to make
  choices for themselves.

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Planning and Preparation

• This component considers the thinking and
  reasoning that goes into designing lessons and
  meeting the instructional needs of diverse
  learners
• Crafting and Designing Lessons Artifacts from
  literacy, content-area and life skills lessons.
• Identification of Appropriate Modifications and
  Adaptations Examples of ways to make the
  curriculum more accessible and thoughts on how to
  decide which modifications are appropriate.
• Getting to Know the General Curriculum Serving
  students in general classrooms and incorporating
  general material into self-contained settings.
• Supporting English Language Learners Ways to
  meet the unique needs of English language
  learners with disabilities.

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Collaboration, Co-teaching and Consulting

• This component gathers teachers experiences
  working together with other educational
  professionals and families.
• Facilitating Access to General Education
  Providing services in the general setting and
  exposing students with disabilities to the widest
  possible range of educational experiences.
• Co-teaching Special education teachers recount
  their experiences, successes and challenges as
  co-teachers.
• Working with Paraprofessionals Advice on
  fostering productive working relationships with
  paraprofessionals and problem-solving around
  difficult relationships.
• Working with Family Members Building positive
  relationships and involving family members in
  students education.

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Encouraging Interactivityand Exploration

• A rich, graphical interface provides multiple
  ways for teachers to discover the content of the
  module and navigate through it organically.

Direct links to other artifacts that may be of
interest
Links to other topics
An option to move straight through the module
sequentially
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Interactive Menus

• Attractive, interactive menus allow teachers to
  preview highlighted artifacts and get a sense of
  different teachers unique voices.

An easy-to-use sidebar allows visitors to jump
to other topics.
Menus include a combination of images and text.
Breakout quotes peak visitors interest and
encourage them to explore further.
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Sample Lesson Plans and Forms

• These are resources that teachers can use
  immediately.
• Teachers can print out lesson plans, worksheets
  and forms, and use them as is or modify them to
  fit their students abilities and teachers
  instructional plans.

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Digital Photography

• Pictures of experience teachers classrooms and
  materials inspire novice teachers to experiment
  with their own classroom configurations and
  decorations.

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Video Clips

• Video clips provide direct models of good
  instruction, inviting novice teachers into
  experienced teachers classrooms.

Tumara illustrates a geography game her students
play.
Maria and Bill describe their successful
co-teaching relationship.
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Audio Interviews

• Audio interviews give novice teachers an inside
  view of how teachers think and reason about
  teaching and learning.

Linked artifacts provide a richer context for
teachers
Donn explains how he stays organized when he
co-teaches in other teachers classrooms
Leila teases out her philosophy on meeting
students minutes without singling them out.
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Informational Pages and Additional Resources

• Text-based informational pages provide
  scaffolding and context for artifacts.
• Additional Resource Pages direct visitors to
  web sites, journal articles, books and other
  sources of information and advice.

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Who Is Using the Module?

• Module receives an average of 3928 hits per
  month.
• Demographic information collected from 208 users

User Occupation
Age Group of Interest

• Data collected between October 2006 and April
  2007

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Which Parts Of The Module Are They Using?

• 20 module users completed surveys giving us their
  overall impressions of the module.

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What Are They Using It For?

• The most commonly cited use for the module was to
  find ideas for planning lessons (75 of
  respondents)
• 55 of visitors also used the module as a
  resource, turning to it to get help answering a
  question or to find out more about a topic in
  special education

Which Resources Are Most Useful?
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Overall Visitor Impressions
Sample Comments
What was your opinion of the overall quality of
the Transitioning to Special Education Teaching
module?

• The combination of graphics and videos made the
  site very user-friendly.
• I refer my new teachers to the module to help
  guide them with current practices, lesson plans,
  and class room environment set ups.
• As a new teacher I appreciated the different
  ways the module was divided. It was helpful in
  learning the varied viewpoints of all the
  teachers that were involved in the interviews.