1. EnVISION a Collaborative Approach to Service a Student with Vision and Complex/Comprehensive Need Sammi Zauner Tracy Parent Charyn Beaumont

2. Consider This: For students who have vision issues, the Vision and/or the Orientation/Mobility teachers will be the most consistent teachers that a child will see throughout their school career, often years in succession…..

3. Consider this: Yet they are often not considered or are an after thought during the common or central planning times to collaborate with other teachers.

4. Question One What challenges have you overcome to provide inclusive education and materials for your students?

5. Question Two What are some example of ways you have found to communicate effectively with teachers/teams?

6. Question Three How do you collaborate/co-plan with teachers for using paraprofessionals, materials and resources in your students’ classrooms?

7. Question Four What are some examples of materials/differentiated strategies that you use? For example: -tactile object schedule, modified activities, etc.

8. Steps to Promoting Collaboration ● Create a culture for collaborative and cooperative conversations. -Structure and streamline consistent planning and communication methods -Discuss Shared Leadership and Responsibilities -Common goals, values and mission -Equality and Role Release (sharing the load) -Shared IEP goals/lesson plans/accommodations/modification ●Create ways to support educational team so they see you as valuable and accessible resource!

9. Scheduling Collaborative Meetings ● Nothing breeds collaboration as much as being present during planning! ● Find a common time! SCHEDULE that time in! ● Relationships will develop given time and lots of practice ● Meetings need to be well organized, orderly, productive. ● Set an agenda prior to the meeting to maintain focus ● Ongoing log should be maintained to see what has been done and where the next meeting needs to start

10. Collaboration and Cooperation Questions ● Who are team members? Who is lead administrator on team? ● When/where/how will we meet? ● How can team work collaboratively ? ● How will roles and responsibilities shift? ● Discuss wh? of communication: What to add? When/How often to update? Schedule out important times (IEP, SRC)

11. Communication and Planning Methods ● Discuss/set up options to open up lines of communication. -Google Docs & Google student website -SAT team meetings/Grade level -Lunch meetings -Dialog notebook -”Stolen” meetings (back of room/on the spot) -Make and Takes -Lesson plan binders (or electric versions - live binders, website, etc.) -Comprehensive Classroom (mini team) -Email & Electronic Discussion tools

12. Informal Planning and Evaluation Tools: Survey: On a scale of 1-10 o How well do you think IEP objectives are being met? o How well do you think you are meeting needs of all students? o How do you feel about the amount of para support student receiving? o How is support for materials, instructional strategies? Questionnaire: o Details of gains made by student? o What is working? o What is not working? o What are your needs? o What is the priority ?

13. Sharing Responsibilities for Students Teachers may feel they “Own” certain students “Yours” and “Mine” language Working together and sharing responsibilities can change language to “Us” and “Ours” Image says keep calm because we are a team with color swirls

14. Shared Leadership: Distributed Functions -Change task and relationship of traditional “lone leader” and spread among all group members -Team members can rotate completing certain tasks -All participate in discussion & decision: shared expertise -Facilitate transition -Delegate specific roles to members -Systematically switch roles

15. Sharing Responsibilities for Students Show how you can help and make it better!!! Help increase expertise and awareness for all: -Academy 39 classes for teacher training -Para trainings (Planned and on the spot) -Appy hour- Family/team all invited! -Promote student involvement (show how) -Team members can co-create activities/materials, co-treat, co-plan, co-observe -Shared Lesson Plans and provide materials, etc.

16. Ways to Share Roles/Work Together Resource Provider- share instructional resources Switch off who is being the lead and who is doing the supporting Data Coach- How to use the data collected, explain the data you take for the student and what the outcome will look like for the students. (Kluth and Caffero)

17. The Team: Student Involvement Families often marginalized or feel intimidated. Get their input!!! Don’t forget importance of student! Students in Wilmette are formally/informally involved in participation of IEP meeting

18. Paraprofessionals: Keys to Success ● Resources: Para handbook ● Include in meetings when possible ● Train and provide them access to all info, adaptations,lessons, etc. ● Meet with them weekly ● Keep in “Loop” ● Solicit their info, feedback, suggestions ● Show appreciation and validate their work! Image is of handout provided to Paraprofessionals

19. Paraprofessionals: Keys to Success ● Teach paras to fade support!!! ● Key is to teach independence ● Hovering paras can have negative effect o (Giangreco et.al 1997)  Decreased peer interaction  Interference with instruction  Dependence on adults ● Answer: Create a FADING plan! Image of the word communication and picture of a key

20. Fading Adult Support Work together to get ideas from team on areas to fade. -Presume Competence -USE PEERS!!!!! ie: walk with peer to class, Sit with peers at lunch, have peers help problem-solve -Provide adapted materials promoting Independence -Teach student to ask teacher to clarify directions -Others?

21. Lesson Plan Ideas to Collaborate On

22. Functional and Community-Based Objectives in General Education -Create co-teaching opportunities -Teacher and Vision Itinerate/O&M, - LBS and Vision, Related Services and Vision. Paras! -Identify IEP Objectives -Identify Curriculum Content, Environment -Create activities that support both curriculum and IEP objectives to support student with visual needs -Shared lesson plan with grid of accommodations, modifications, tools, materials, environment, teacher support, peer interaction. -SETT

23. Working Together: Integrating Functional or Community based Objectives into General Education Examples: -Will follow a schedule using tactile objects/ braille/modified visuals/auditory device -Will initiate a conversation with a peer -Will increase time-on-task -Will initiate, sustain and complete a task -Will ask for a break when over stimulated -Will use guided reach -Will explore tactually to prepare for pre-braille skills Image of a sensory activity that has red and white balls to demonstrate blood cells

24. Functional Cooking Curriculum Mixed With Vision Instruction Expanded Core Curriculum anyone? Explain to the team the adaptions your student needs so that they can implement and teach the proper vision accommodations inside of their already planned lesson. -Provide or inform the team about the variety of cooking utensils that would be beneficial to make the student more independent. Image of ScrapTrapper and Nylon Knife

25. Full Team Approach On Communication Collaborating with your student’s speech pathologist and classroom teacher to learn how the student’s uses his/her communication system or device. This could include a variety of different communication modes. -Provide your expertise to customize their speech output device to make sure it is visually appropriate Image of PEC binder, PEC symbols and audio choice board as communication devices

26. Social Stories Supply ideas for tactile images to enhance social stories. Provide information on how the child’s visual impairment may affect social situations and how to best address these concerns with the child and family. Two images of colorful social stories with tactile graphics

27. Orientation & Mobility Collaboration Image of man with white cane

28. Open Line Of Communication Inform team of any changes in students vision Take note of errors that are observed during the school day to inform O&M to be addressed in next lesson Image of Cell phone with contacts with text opening the lines of communication

29. Combined Lessons Field trips can often be mixed with ECC instruction General Education Many lessons can link to social studies, math and science curriculums Comprehensive Field Trips ECC and Life skills field trips go hand in hand Image of student working on orientation and mobility skills walking down a nature path.

30. Professional Development Combined lessons to teach to general education staff For example: Sighted Guide Safety and Environmental Awareness Classroom Modifications

31. Transportation Issues Combined effort to ensure proper transportation needs and accommodations are addressed Such as: - Contrasting bus signs -Communication with bus company -Communication with teachers that provide bus duty -Parent communication -Routes to and from school, in and out of buildings -Crossing Guards Image of yellow school bus

32. Team Approach-United Front! Always support each others decisions in front of student and parents When communicating possible changes in vision or needs: Collaborate on message to be sent to parents Send message or hold meeting together

33. Collaborating with Behavior Specialist -Work together to figure out whether lack of progress because of behavior or vision -Create vision lessons that also take into considerations best behavioral instructional strategies that mesh with vision teaching.

34. Collaboration With Technology Specialist SETT Figure out best apps, devices, educational technology that is being used across districts