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Inside this issue
Important Upcoming Events/Meetings
December 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities December 6 CTIC in Rochester December 7 DAPE Cohort December 7 School Psych Cohort December 7 MDE Special Education Directors Forum December 11 ASD/DCD Cohort December 12 CAREI Problem Solving PD - Session 1 of 4 December 14 Restrictive Procedures Work Group December 17 Special Education Leadership Team December 19 Superintendent Council |
The Progress, December 2018:
Volume 4, Issue 3 The Progress archive
Click here to view past issues from the current school year. Comments? Suggestions for new articles?
Contact Jillynne Raymond, jraymond@gced.k12.mn.us 
FAST Winter Assessment Window (Option 1)
is open January 2 - 25, 2019. |
Friendly Reminder! GCED's Membership to CAREI extends to Member Districts
The Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvements' (CAREI) mission is to improve the quality of education for all learners. Remember that GCED's membership extends to our member districts. CAREI offers several professional development opportunities to support a district's system, group, and individual level work. We are engaging in the problem solving PD this year. CAREI also offers PD in universal screening, progress monitoring, improving tier 1 instruction, and more. To access GCED's membership rates, please contact Jillynne Raymond.
Restorative Practices in the Schools
"Restorative practice is an emerging social science that studies how to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as social connections within communities." |
by Candis Haekenkamp, Ed.S., NCSP, School Psychologist
Restorative practices are tools and techniques used as a way of building and sustaining relationships among those who are involved in a community. The philosophy behind this approach is that the people in authority, which would be the staff in a school, are doing things with the students rather than to or for them. As you can see in the visual to the left, doing things to the students is punitive (i.e. detention) and for the student is permissive (i.e. apologizing for the student to someone else), but doing things with the student is restorative. You are giving the student a high amount of support with a high amount of limit-setting. Restorative practices has a focus on preventing harm which is what makes it different from restorative justice, which only includes when harm has already been done. There is a lot that school staff can do to prevent harm among those in a community and to engage students in conversations about how their actions affect others. 
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Affective Statements How were you affected by another person?
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Affective Questions Learning how others were affected:
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Small Impromptu Conference
Pull the student aside and ask:
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Group or Circle Preventative process that builds community, teaches curriculum, and addresses social issues:
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Formal Conference
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Restorative practice has a continuum of strategies, from informal to formal, that are all relationship-focused. On the more informal side there are affective statements, affective questions, and impromptu conferences, which can be done on the spot. More formal measures are a circle or a formal conference. An easy place to start would be to focus on the more informal measures and start using them in your classes to let your students know how you feel and how their actions are affecting others. You can also pull students aside when you see there is a problem and ask them what happened and how they feel about what happened. It's a great, easy starting point to using restorative practices. The more formal measures may require reading and training, which can be found in the resources below.
All of these restorative practices can help assist in the social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of our students. They help us to build and sustain relationships among staff and students, repair harm when harm has been done, and move forward as a community. When students feel safe and supported at school, they will have better behavior and be better able to focus on academics in the classroom. I believe through the use of restorative practices that we can help our students become well-rounded citizens who care about others and become leaders in our community.
Additional resources:
All of these restorative practices can help assist in the social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of our students. They help us to build and sustain relationships among staff and students, repair harm when harm has been done, and move forward as a community. When students feel safe and supported at school, they will have better behavior and be better able to focus on academics in the classroom. I believe through the use of restorative practices that we can help our students become well-rounded citizens who care about others and become leaders in our community.
Additional resources:
A Day in the Life of a Special Education Teacher
by Siri Vollan, Lake City Public Schools
Twenty five years later, and I have come full circle. In 1993, I began my foray into the world of education by teaching outside my area of concentration: teaching Spanish I at three different schools including a high school. That first year I thought many things such as I don’t remember learning this, or, huh, this isn’t exactly how I thought this type of situation would develop. Sound familiar? Anyway, it is safe to infer this was a year from which much growth happened, and after that first year I uttered, “I will never teach high school again!”
Well, guess what? Here I am in my second tour of duty, this time teaching 9-12 special education at the high school level. I have traded the ever loved ‘ditto’ machine for a copy machine, an overhead for a Smartboard, and using the standard red grade book for Schoology, assignments for formative assessments, tests for summative assessments, discipline within the classroom for schoolwide discipline, etc. And although the manner in which we share material has changed, much of the curriculum remains the same. Also, students still have their challenges, but with the advances in social media, the types of problems have amplified.
A Day in the Life of a secondary level special education teacher begins upon arrival at 7:15 am, one of the first teachers in the building. I write the assignments on the board for all core classes and most electives in order for my students in grades 9-12 to know what they should be working on during resource instruction throughout the day. Also, the visual schedule for both sections of Transition English is written on the board. This schedule is a reminder that the students are currently reading two different novels with completely different formative assessments. With that, a quick look at the clock reminds me that it is time to head downstairs for a re-evaluation/annual IEP meeting. After a cursory check of my desk I see that I forgot to print the record of a team meeting so I quickly take care of that. Whew, with five minutes to spare, I am still the first to arrive to the meeting. As the meeting starts to wrap up, I am checking the clock with a bit of concern. I know that upstairs my first-period students are hovering around my door waiting for me to arrive to begin the class, which is resource room.
Once back in the classroom, I hustle to search Google docs to find the daily student bulletin to share with my students. Once read, the students and I double check what goal work is happening today. Each day students work on skills per their IEP goals. By this point, you might think it must be at least 9:00, but alas, it is only 8:25. Once their 10-15 minutes of goal work is complete, students use the rest of their time to complete homework with my occasional assistance. This resource instruction is replicated two more times during the day. Immediately following first period is my PREP period. During this time I can be found correcting formative assessments such as journals, DLR’s,comprehension questions and daily edits; working on lesson plans and grades and uploading to Schoology; sending and recording data from bi-weekly student behavior forms which are assigned to teachers; entering data from weekly Moby Max and read theory for both students on my caseload and those in my transition English classes; completing IEPs/three-year re-evals/initial evals; creating IEP agendas; calculating resource room grades; creating goal work lessons for student on my caseload for every resource room for five days a week; communicating with teachers and parents, making necessary copies, and, you get the idea.
It is now 10:02 and the day continues with third period Transition English; this semester is my upperclassman. Students are either in an English class, Basic English (modified within regular education classroom) or Transition English. Scaffolding is also done for students within this class as well. During the course, students work on things such as daily edits. Daily edits include a paragraph about particular people, places, and events that coincide with the current month. Students find and correct ten errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Students also do Daily Language Reviews where they: edit, talk about different types of reference materials, synonyms, and antonyms, making words plural, inferences, etc. Students recently completed persuasive essays with a self-chosen topic. The students also shared these in class as a speech. Currently, students are reading a novel, working on vocabulary, responding to comprehension questions, and completing quizzes. They will have a summative assessment. Another resource section follows transition English followed by lunch time, finally!
Another responsibility I have is being a ninth-grade advisory teacher. On Tuesdays through Thursdays I am responsible for a 30 minute period working on different skills and having kids create portfolios for their spring, student-led conferences. Many of the materials I teach have been created. However, I do need to prep to be ready to deliver these lessons. Also, I have two non-English speaking students for which I need to create translated materials to include them in the lessons effectively. We have a different schedule on these days to accommodate this class, as well as on Monday and Friday we also have a different plan.
After lunch and advisory, it is time for period five at which time I have two groups of reading intervention students; I work with the students on rotating days. So, I prepare five different lesson plans utilizing SONDAY as my reading intervention. Also, I am responsible for the FAST [FastBridge Learning] groups set; I progress monitor weekly on fluency and on comprehension (along with Wednesdays for my caseload). Reading intervention is a new class, which is a new prep. Much problem solving time is devoted to determine entry and exit criteria for regular education seventh and eighth graders. Next, my final third resource period for the day followed by another Transition English class with my freshmen. However, I must closely align what I am doing with third period Transition English because at the end of first semester, the class members will switch so my upperclassmen and 9th graders may be in different classes. It's important that they are prepared for their next course.
Finally, it is 3:19 when the educational part of my day is complete. Before going home, I spend the rest of the afternoon completing paperwork and preparing for the next day, as we will start ALL over again! Although I am in my 25th year of education I have learned that every day has firsts, for which I am grateful. It means I am changing and adapting with the educational times.
Twenty five years later, and I have come full circle. In 1993, I began my foray into the world of education by teaching outside my area of concentration: teaching Spanish I at three different schools including a high school. That first year I thought many things such as I don’t remember learning this, or, huh, this isn’t exactly how I thought this type of situation would develop. Sound familiar? Anyway, it is safe to infer this was a year from which much growth happened, and after that first year I uttered, “I will never teach high school again!”
Well, guess what? Here I am in my second tour of duty, this time teaching 9-12 special education at the high school level. I have traded the ever loved ‘ditto’ machine for a copy machine, an overhead for a Smartboard, and using the standard red grade book for Schoology, assignments for formative assessments, tests for summative assessments, discipline within the classroom for schoolwide discipline, etc. And although the manner in which we share material has changed, much of the curriculum remains the same. Also, students still have their challenges, but with the advances in social media, the types of problems have amplified.
A Day in the Life of a secondary level special education teacher begins upon arrival at 7:15 am, one of the first teachers in the building. I write the assignments on the board for all core classes and most electives in order for my students in grades 9-12 to know what they should be working on during resource instruction throughout the day. Also, the visual schedule for both sections of Transition English is written on the board. This schedule is a reminder that the students are currently reading two different novels with completely different formative assessments. With that, a quick look at the clock reminds me that it is time to head downstairs for a re-evaluation/annual IEP meeting. After a cursory check of my desk I see that I forgot to print the record of a team meeting so I quickly take care of that. Whew, with five minutes to spare, I am still the first to arrive to the meeting. As the meeting starts to wrap up, I am checking the clock with a bit of concern. I know that upstairs my first-period students are hovering around my door waiting for me to arrive to begin the class, which is resource room.
Once back in the classroom, I hustle to search Google docs to find the daily student bulletin to share with my students. Once read, the students and I double check what goal work is happening today. Each day students work on skills per their IEP goals. By this point, you might think it must be at least 9:00, but alas, it is only 8:25. Once their 10-15 minutes of goal work is complete, students use the rest of their time to complete homework with my occasional assistance. This resource instruction is replicated two more times during the day. Immediately following first period is my PREP period. During this time I can be found correcting formative assessments such as journals, DLR’s,comprehension questions and daily edits; working on lesson plans and grades and uploading to Schoology; sending and recording data from bi-weekly student behavior forms which are assigned to teachers; entering data from weekly Moby Max and read theory for both students on my caseload and those in my transition English classes; completing IEPs/three-year re-evals/initial evals; creating IEP agendas; calculating resource room grades; creating goal work lessons for student on my caseload for every resource room for five days a week; communicating with teachers and parents, making necessary copies, and, you get the idea.
It is now 10:02 and the day continues with third period Transition English; this semester is my upperclassman. Students are either in an English class, Basic English (modified within regular education classroom) or Transition English. Scaffolding is also done for students within this class as well. During the course, students work on things such as daily edits. Daily edits include a paragraph about particular people, places, and events that coincide with the current month. Students find and correct ten errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Students also do Daily Language Reviews where they: edit, talk about different types of reference materials, synonyms, and antonyms, making words plural, inferences, etc. Students recently completed persuasive essays with a self-chosen topic. The students also shared these in class as a speech. Currently, students are reading a novel, working on vocabulary, responding to comprehension questions, and completing quizzes. They will have a summative assessment. Another resource section follows transition English followed by lunch time, finally!
Another responsibility I have is being a ninth-grade advisory teacher. On Tuesdays through Thursdays I am responsible for a 30 minute period working on different skills and having kids create portfolios for their spring, student-led conferences. Many of the materials I teach have been created. However, I do need to prep to be ready to deliver these lessons. Also, I have two non-English speaking students for which I need to create translated materials to include them in the lessons effectively. We have a different schedule on these days to accommodate this class, as well as on Monday and Friday we also have a different plan.
After lunch and advisory, it is time for period five at which time I have two groups of reading intervention students; I work with the students on rotating days. So, I prepare five different lesson plans utilizing SONDAY as my reading intervention. Also, I am responsible for the FAST [FastBridge Learning] groups set; I progress monitor weekly on fluency and on comprehension (along with Wednesdays for my caseload). Reading intervention is a new class, which is a new prep. Much problem solving time is devoted to determine entry and exit criteria for regular education seventh and eighth graders. Next, my final third resource period for the day followed by another Transition English class with my freshmen. However, I must closely align what I am doing with third period Transition English because at the end of first semester, the class members will switch so my upperclassmen and 9th graders may be in different classes. It's important that they are prepared for their next course.
Finally, it is 3:19 when the educational part of my day is complete. Before going home, I spend the rest of the afternoon completing paperwork and preparing for the next day, as we will start ALL over again! Although I am in my 25th year of education I have learned that every day has firsts, for which I am grateful. It means I am changing and adapting with the educational times.
Community Transition Interagency Committee (CTIC)
Region 10 supports our staff and students a great deal. One particular area of support is via the Community Transitions Interagency Committee (CTIC). This committee meets quarterly, working to support the state mission, "Minnesota will be a place where people with disabilities are living, learning, working, and enjoying life in the most integrated setting." Their most recent meeting began with a review of the committee's purpose:
Agency updates include:
Vocational Rehab
- To collaborate on implementation plans and changes regarding how to best implement the MN Olmstead Plan ( a groundbreaking, comprehensive plan to provide people with disabilities opportunities to live, learn, work, and enjoy life in integrated settings)
- Provide resources & supports for multi-agency partners
- Bring effective practice from Employment Capacity Building Cohort (ECBC) to the region
- Indicator 13 (the percent of youth with IEPs aged 16 and above that have an IEP which includes appropriate measurable postsecondary goals that are annually updated and transition services that will reasonably enable the student to meet those postsecondary & other IEP goals related to the student's transition services needs)
Agency updates include:
Vocational Rehab
- Focusing on customized employment, which is based on identifying the client's strengths, condition, and interests.
- MN is a “work first” state, which means that vocational rehab providers will be focusing on what it is they need to do to get clients working in a minimum wage community position by identifying & focusing on the client needs.
- For individuals who are unable to succeed in a minimum wage community position, the guardian and county are responsible for placing the client.
- Work with individuals who have multiple barriers to achieving meaningful employment.
- There is a lot of funding for short-term training (2 years or less) for such programs as, but not limited to, welding or child development.
- They are focusing on the Pre-Employment Transition Services (PreETS) training with individuals or small groups.
- Schools are to contact a WDI representative if they have students between the ages of 16 and 24.
- Right now they are struggling to find kids who need work experience and are under spent in this area right now.
- The Youth Intervention Program (YIP) grant can assist with simple barriers such as, but not limited to, getting a driver’s license, public transportation passes, work uniform, etc.. There are no eligibility requirements and the grant is only a 1 page application.
- There are still micro-grants available, statewide, ranging from $500 - $5000 to help individuals and/or families who have transition-related needs achieve person-centered goals specific to competitive employment, affordable/accessible housing, and community integration.
- Projects that are person-centered, innovative, and sustainable will receive priority. For example, an individual who would prefer to hire their own job coach to move from workshop employment to integrated employment.
- Workskills Challenge Days and locations are being worked on but will happen in April 2019; more information will be coming.
- There will be a regional transition conference in August 2019, at Woodlake Meeting Center in Rochester
- It’s goal is to bring in representatives that can share information about due process, best practice, and all areas needed to help students prepare for post-high school success (affordable housing, employment, SSI, job coach support, writing effective IEPs, guardianship, county supports & services, transportation options, etc.
- There have been many changes that have occurred, specifically to health care plans and MNChoices Assessment.
- There are different ways to bill for employment services based on client's current level of functioning and performance:
- Employment Development: Individualized services designed to help a person achieve competitive, integrated employment, become self-employed or establish a micro-enterprise business in his/her community.
- Employment Exploration: Services that help a person gain a better understanding of competitive, integrated employment opportunities in his/her community.
- Employment Support: Individualized services and supports that help people maintain paid employment in community businesses/settings.
- Employment support services occur in integrated community settings.
- Conversations with families, with a student who has high needs and who are struggling to find community-based jobs, are being had.
- The question being posed is “do you want them to earn money or do you want them to be actively engaged in something each day?”
- Most families have been putting importance on having their child actively engaged in something each day vs. making money and have been opting to have their child attend an adult-day program.
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River Bluff Education Center’s returning school nurse this year is Sheri Johnson, not to be confused with Cherie Johnson, our executive director.
Sheri grew up not far from here in Hager City where she could ride bikes or walk with friends to the “chicken place” for yummy treats and casual hang-out time. Sheri graduated from Ellsworth High School knowing that she wanted to help people as a profession. She started and almost finished a cosmetology program before realizing that it wasn’t quite the right fit. Helping others was still her main consideration, which is understandable if you know Sheri; she is on earth to serve her fellow human beings. She started the nursing program here in Red Wing and was hooked. It even ran in the family a bit since she and a sister both completed the same program. After nursing school she married and her then-husband’s military career guided their path across the country. They built their family of two boys and one girl in Florida, South Carolina, Connecticut, and Georgia before returning to Red Wing. Fast forward a “few” years and Sheri serves as the nurse at RBEC. She is also a newlywed again, just celebrating her 2nd wedding anniversary. Her kids have remained the same, plus she gained a stepdaughter. The students and staff members appreciate Sheri’s calm yet strong presence. Her knowledge base and communication skills make her an ideal fit for us. One student’s crisis mid-way through our interview reaffirmed that. Sheri admits that she loves interacting with the kids. Even when her own children were little, she loved volunteering in the schools for that interaction. This role allows her more interactions. One student recently cut her thumb in shop class; Sheri kept her calm as she cleaned up the wound and reassured the student that she did not “nearly take the whole dang thing off.” There are certainly times when an injury looks far worse than it actually is and Sheri is there to help convince the students of that. In addition to taking care of regular meds and minor injuries Sheri has also seen sniffly noses and some coughs with the season change, but no flu symptoms yet. Outside of serving RBEC, Sheri enjoys life as well. She is a knitter and an avid reader and belongs to two book clubs. She loves to cook and entertain, which makes it great that she and her husband enjoy watching cooking shows together. They apply it all while spending time with family and friends. |
Sheri Johnson, RBEC School Nurse
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Remember that you have access to free resources through Infinitec.
AND if you are reading this, send an email to jraymond@gced.k12.mn.us with the words, School is Cool, in the subject line.
The first person to respond wins this month's fabulous prize!
December Webinars from Infinitec:
Full Steam Ahead! - STEM/STEAM Curriculum for Students with Significant Disabilities (Archived)(Beginner/Intermediate)
By Presented By Meghan Cassidy, Special Education Teacher, NSSEO and Joan Obial, Innovative Learning & Autism Coach, NSSEO
-December 4th - 3:30-4:30 - Click here to register
Mental Health Challenges in Autism: Depression and Suicide(Archived)(Beginner/Intermediate)
Presented by Dr. Ruth Aspy, Psychologist, Author & National Speaker
-December 6th - 3:30-4:30 - Click here to register
Positive Strategies for Supporting Self-Regulation: Addressing Anxiety, ADHD & Emotional Processing for Students with Autism (Archived)(Beginner/Intermediate)
Presented by Dr. Ruth Aspy, Psychologist, Author & National Speaker
-December 11th - 3:30-4:30 - Click here to register
Catatonia & Autism: Hidden in Plain Sight (Archived)(Beginner/Intermediate)
Presented by Dr. Ruth Aspy, Psychologist, Author & National Speaker
-December 13th - 3:30-4:30 - Click here to register
Resources for All Learners: A Guided Tour of myinfinitec.org
By Jenn Skalitzky, Assistive Technology Facilitator, Infinitec
-December 17th - 3:30-4:30 - Click here to register