CONGRATULATIONS Welcome to Utah Virtual Academy! We are so happy that you and your student have come to our school. We are excited about the opportunity that we have to work with you and your student. The real fun is about to begin! At this point, you have a student who currently has an IEP. Your student has some special needs. You as the learning coach know this student better than anyone. You are now the expert that is going to be teaching them. We are here to assist and support you in the education of your child. Before we get started, let’s review a little bit of the organization of traditional brick and mortar schools and UTVA.

In a traditional brick and mortar school, we have… -Teaches whole class -Subject expert -Follows the core curriculum -Writes up and maintains IEP’s -Expert on teaching individual skills. -Teaches what is written on the IEP -Implements the IEP in a general education setting. -Collaborates with the SPED teacher to help the students be successful Click on the arrows to learn more The General Education Teacher Duties The Special Education Teacher Duties The Paraprofessional Duties Take a minute to become familiar with the different roles and duties in a traditional school.

At UTVA, we have…. -Teaches whole class -Subject expert -Follows the core curriculum -Writes up and maintains IEP’s -Expert on teaching individual skills. -Teaches what is written on the IEP -Implements the IEP in a general education setting. -Collaborates with the SPED teacher to help the students be successful Click on the arrows to learn more The General Education Teacher Duties The Special Education Teacher Duties The roles and duties at UTVA are similar, but there are some differences! The Learning Coach Duties What’s the difference?

You, as the learning coach, are the largest predictor of the success of your student. If you are committed to this process, then your students will make progress. Learning coaches responsibilities include: Taking attendancePresenting the lessonsKeep progress up Behavioral problemsAccess the technologySet up schedule Accommodate assignmentsFollow through with assignmentsCollaborate with the teachers Attend outings with studentsSetting goalsK-mailing teachers Helping students attend ElluminateUnderstanding the contentRe-explaining lessons when needed Problem solving learning issuesTroubleshooting technology issuesDealing with a disability All while promoting learning, independence and self confidence for your child. Feeling Overwhelmed? Don’t be! The entire staff at UTVA is here to help. You just need to understand that the process will be carried out with you as an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT.

Special Education Services at UTVA may be carried out a different way than previous schools that you have attended. We use more of a COLLABORATIVE approach to help the student succeed. Think of it like going to see a doctor. You are sick You go to the doctor and get specific instructions for what to do You go and implement the plan to get feeling better. Going to the Doctor You have a struggling student You go to the special education and get specific instructions for what to do You go and implement the plan to help the student succeed. Special Education services at UTVA

Now that you are the expert, you will face many situations every day! You will face many challenges with your students. As the expert, the way you handle these situations will help to determine your success. Here is an example of some situations you would face. Situation #1: You are working with your student on their history assignment. Your student has been working very dutifully all day. You ask them to read the chapter and ask them to answer the questions at the end of the chapter. Your student decides to read the chapter aloud. You listen as you fold a batch of laundry. Your child reads the chapter with ease. Then you give them time to answer the questions. When you come back to check the answers, you see that your student got 1 question out of 5 questions right. When you ask them the questions orally, they are still unable to answer the questions. What would you do??

THE PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS There is a process that you can follow that will help you solve these and other problems that you encounter as you are teaching your student. Here is an overview of the process.

Take note of your results. Contact your SPED teacher and let them know what you tried and how it works. Situation #1: You are working with your student on their history assignment. Your student has been working very dutifully all day. You ask them to read the chapter and ask them to answer the questions at the end of the chapter. Your student decides to read the chapter aloud. You listen as you fold a batch of laundry. Your child reads the chapter with ease. Then you give them time to answer the questions. When you come back to check the answers, you see that your student got 1 question out of 5 questions right. When you ask them the questions orally, they are still unable to answer the questions. To help solve this problem, you can use the following process: Let’s apply this problem solving process to our situation. Step 1: Notice that the student is struggling. A score that is considered as mastery is 80%. Because this student scored a 20%, this indicates that they have not mastered this content. Step 2: Ask, “Is this an academic problem or a behavioral problem?” In this case, there is no behavioral problems that are noted. The student is working hard. This shows that the problem is mostly likely academic. Step 3: Since it is academic, pinpoint the skill area that is struggling. Since you heard the student reading their chapter aloud, you know that this student can read. However, there is an issue with your student understanding what they read. Step 4: Choose an accommodation In this case, you decide that you are going to have the student take notes by writing down one thing from each paragraph that they read. Step 5: Collaborate with SPED teacher

Academic vs. Behavioral

Scenario #1: It is the first day of school. You have prepared for this day. You have all of your lessons ready to present. You start your schooling day. At first things are going alright. Your student finishes his reading and math. You pause to eat lunch. After lunch you call him back to work on science. Your student stops and says, “You can’t make me.” What are you going to do? So now you know the process and the important role that you play at UTVA, let’s begin! What would you do in these scenarios?? Scenario #1 Is this problem, a behavioral problem or an academic problem? BehavioralAcademic Probably!! But how can you really be sure? Proceed to the next slide to learn more. Could be! Maybe the student has an aversion to science and has never learned it. It could be an academic problem. But how can you be sure? Proceed to the next slide to learn more.

Academic vs. Behavioral Scenario #2: After working with your student to complete his reading, you decide that math is next on the schedule. You get through presenting the lesson. But you find that your student is struggling more than you think he should. He is counting out simple math problems on his fingers. A lesson that should have taken minutes, is now taking over an hour. Your student is tired, you are tired and you are starting to question if this is really what you signed up for.

Academic Route…Pinpointing the problem

Appropriate Accommdations

Collaboration

Behavioral Route…define the problem behavior Set up motivators

Set up a contract

FINAL PROBLEM TO SOLVE

It is the second week of school. Your student no longer wants to get out of bed in the morning. When you finally get them out of bed, all they can say is “This is too hard.” They lay their head on the table. Your student finally agrees to attend his Math class via Elluminate. Math class is usually your student’s best class. Today’s math class is about solving word problems. He gets to the computer, and stares at the screen. He does not answer questions, he does not text any messages, or responds in any way. After his Elluminate session is over, you decide to present the lesson that goes along with the Math Class that he just attended. He watches you read through and do a problem. Then you assign the work he needs to do. After 10 minutes you return to see that he hasn’t completed anything. He responds that it is just too hard. You decided to switch subjects, and maybe reading would be a better way to start the day. Your student struggles to read through the assigned stories. He is laboriously sounding out every letter, and many of the words you have to tell him. After reading the whole story, your student answers comprehension questions about the passage with 40% accuracy. What would you do?? AcademicBehavioral Do you think that this problem is academic or behavioral? GREAT!! Although some of these characteristics may be similar to behavior, the fact that the student struggled with the reading in solving math as well as in reading his assignment indicates that his reading may be affecting his performance in all of his classes. Good try! Although a student giving up can be a sign of behavior struggles, in this case there is a clear trigger that reading is setting off the behavior. Let’s address the academic issue first, and see if the behavior improves.

It is the second week of school. Your student no longer wants to get out of bed in the morning. When you finally get them out of bed, all they can say is “This is too hard.” They lay their head on the table. Your student finally agrees to attend his Math class via Elluminate. Math class is usually your student’s best class. Today’s math class is about solving word problems. He gets to the computer, and stares at the screen. He does not answer questions, he does not text any messages, or responds in any way. After his Elluminate session is over, you decide to present the lesson that goes along with the Math Class that he just attended. He watches you read through and do a problem. Then you assign the work he needs to do. After 10 minutes you return to see that he hasn’t completed anything. He responds that it is just too hard. You decided to switch subjects, and maybe reading would be a better way to start the day. Your student struggles to read through the assigned stories. He is laboriously sounding out every letter, and many of the words you have to tell him. After reading the whole story, your student answers comprehension questions about the passage with 40% accuracy. What would you do?? What skill is affecting this student’s performance? Math Computation Reading Comprehension Reading Decoding Although the student struggled with math, he usually does very well, this suggests this may not be the only area of concern today. Although the student struggled to understand, you need to ask why he doesn’t understand. This student can’t read the words and that is affecting his comprehension. CORRECT! The students inability to read is affecting his performance in Math and Reading Comprehension.

What would you do?? What is an appropriate accommodation for a student who is struggling with reading decoding? Read the assignment aloud to the student Reword and summarize the lesson into your own words. Have the student read the assignment aloud and then quietly to himself before preceding with the lesson. Don’t jump the gun! By doing too much, you are taking away too much of the student’s learning. Only accommodate in the area the student is struggling in. CORRECT! This is a great place to start. If the student is struggling with decoding, this should be a great place to start! If a student can’t read it, it doesn’t really matter how many times they read it alone. They need you! They need accommodations. They can’t do it alone.

IT WORKED!! After reading the problems to the student, the student started to do his math problems. As the learning coach, what are you going to do next? Keep reading the text aloud to your student in all areas Let the student start working on his history lesson alone. Contact your child’s SPED teacher and share the results. Just reading to your student will help them get through the curriculum, but it doesn’t address the need that they still don’t know how to read. Contact your SPED teacher to set up a plan of where to go from here. If a student is struggling with reading, reading another subject isn’t going to help. They will need accommodations. Contact your SPED teacher to set up a plan of where to go from here. CORRECT!! Your SPED teacher is equipped with ways to address the problems, and knows when and how to accommodate your students. They can help you find balance in this process. Talk with your teacher to set up a plan.