Teacher Candidate Support
We are excited to announce a new cohort for teacher candidates in the last year of their preparation program during the 2024-25 academic year. Please go here to learn more and join the cohort today!
Welcome
Welcome From Dr. Ruby Owiny
Chair of Student Teacher Support Work Group
Need Help Locating a resource on the CEC Website? CLICK HERE for a walkthrough of where to find student resources on the CEC website!
Register Here for Sip & Chat and Office Hours
Teacher Candidates,
The TCSN workgroup, composed of special education professionals with extensive experience in schools, is offering a monthly office hour exclusively for you! Each month’s office hour will be accessible via a zoom link on the third Tuesday of each month (two weeks after the monthly Sip and Chats). This is an opportunity for you to ask questions about anything related to teaching, getting a job, one of the resources provided to you in the network, a strategy you would like to implement, a challenge you are encountering, etc. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity!
For the fall semester, office hours will be offered from 8 - 9 PM Eastern time on the following dates, sign up below!
Register below for our monthly office hours:
September 17th, 8:00pm Eastern Time, With Dr. Jane Strong
October 15th, 8:00pm Eastern Time, With Dr. Bethany McConnell & Dr. Ruby Owiny
November 19th, 8:00pm Eastern Time, With Dr. Jennifer Sears
December 17th, 8:00pm Eastern Time, With Dr. Ruby Owiny
February 18th, 8:00pm Eastern Time, With Dr. Ruby Owiny
March 18th, 8:00pm Eastern Time, With TBD
April 15th, 8:00pm Eastern Time, With TBD
Register below for our monthly meetings:
October 1st at 8:00pm eastern: How are the IEPS, Hosted by Dr. Jane Strong
December 3rd at 8:00pm eastern: HLPs & More: Strategies for Student Success! Hosted by Dr. Ruby Owiny & Dr. Kyena Cornelius
January 7th at 8:00pm eastern: Self-Care Strategies: Let's BREATHE! Hosted by Dr. Jen Walker
February 4th at 8:00pm eastern: Let's talk about transition! Hosted by Dr. Karin Fisher
March 4th at 8:00pm eastern: CEC Month- Planning for a fabulous CEC experience! Hosted by Dr. Jennifer Sears & Dr. Carlos Flores
April 1st at 8:00pm eastern: Landing that Dream Job: Interview skills and more! Hosted by Dr. Bethany McConnell
May 6th at 8:00pm eastern: What to expect in your first year as a NEW teacher! Hosted by Dr. Clara Hauth & Dr. Carlos Flores
July 1st at 8:00pm eastern: Your voice matters! Tell us more, a look back and a peak forward as you finish the TCSN! Hosted by Dr. Ruby Owiny
Weekly Resources
For the first resource read the article linked below. Once you have read the article print out the handout. Sort the handout in the order of what you think is important. This is a great exercise to do with a partner/ with your cooperating teacher and discuss your rankings.
As you are getting started on your student teaching journey, these 10 tips will help you have a great semester! Work Group member Adam Moore reached out to colleagues to get these great trips that you don't want to miss!
This week will support you as you learn more about Executive Functioning Skills. Executive function (EF) skills are the attention-regulation skills that make it possible to sustain attention, keep goals and information in mind, refrain from responding immediately, resist distraction, tolerate frustration, consider the consequences of different behaviors, reflect on past experiences, and plan for the future.
You will want to first read the Q&A Document below to get some ideas about what Executive Functioning is and how it impacts the classroom. Next you will want to read Chapter 6 (page 58) in the Executive Functioning Report linked below.
A very important part of your teaching journey is learning how to manage your caseload. This infographic is a great tool that shows you the top five tips of how to stay on top of everything!
Review the infographic below and think about ways that you can incorporate at least one (if not more) of these tips into your week this week. Evaluate your progress next week to see if it helped you manage your caseload.
IEP Writing is a challenge for many special educators and takes lots of practice to become proficient. It is vital that everyone in the field knows and understands how to create high quality, standards-based, legally defensible IEPs. That is why we chose to create this list of our top 10 resources and top 10 things to remember when developing an IEP. These are books and resources we use in our classrooms and share with others that have been helpful to others in learning to write quality IEPs. We hope you find them just as helpful!
Note for Student Teachers: We recommend discussing the “things to remember” with your cooperating teacher to ensure you are following all state/district guidelines. Also, ask them what other key tips they have to help making writing IEPs more enjoyable, yet attainable!
Note for Cooperating Teachers: We recommend that you review the “things to remember” with the student teacher and discuss how you write and develop high quality IEPs in your school and district.
This self pace module takes 30 minutes
This course is part of a series covering the legal foundations of laws supporting students with disabilities. Those who enroll in this interactive course will be able to do the following:
- Explain the difference between civil rights laws and funding laws.
- Identify where the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, fits within the continuum of federal laws.
- Identify other federal laws that have direct implications for students with disabilities.
- Understand how state laws may expand federal laws impacting students with disabilities
Take advantage of your CEC membership with this complimentary webinar!
Per the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), families of children with disabilities are equal stakeholders in IEP meetings. With the number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds increasing each year, working effectively with diverse families in the IEP process is especially important. Learn how to involve your students and families from diverse backgrounds in the IEP process, and ensure that all your students receive the educational support they need.
After this webinar, you will be able to:
- Identify family characteristics to be aware of when working with diverse students.
- Understand cultural and linguistic challenges to address when working with diverse families at IEP meetings.
- Identify ways to facilitate involvement from diverse families.
- Share strategies to help families of all backgrounds feel welcome and respected at IEP meetings.
Click the two short presentations for the “Top Ten Tips for Successful IEP Meeting Facilitation.” Dr. Jane Strong has been a special education teacher, building administrator and large division director and attended and led many IEP meetings! See and hear some tried and true ways you can use to be a successful special education case manager!
Collecting data on student learning and behavior, as well as their progress towards IEP goals, is a vital part of being an effective special educator. However, it can be challenging to find time to collect effective data. With this in mind, we recommend the following five tips for making your classroom data collection more effective and efficient.
1. Make a plan for data collection. Schedule a day and time for each type of data you must collect. Put this on your calendar and plan your lessons for the day based on the data you need to collect. Then, follow your plan!
2.Use efficient data collection tools. Select or create data collection tools that are designed to track the exact information you need, nothing more and nothing less.
3.Ask for help from colleagues. You are not the only person who can or should collect data on your students’ learning and behavior. Solicit the help of paraprofessionals, general education teachers, instructional coaches, and school volunteers. Just be sure to train them to collect data in the same manner you do so that it is consistent.
4.Use technology as appropriate. Technology tools can simply your classroom data collection. Consider using smartphone applications, Google Forms, and QR codes.
5.Teach students to assist. Your students can assist you in collecting data on their own learning progress and behavior. Teach students to self monitor and graph data. Even the youngest students can learn to do some of their own data collection!
Classroom Management can be a challenging part of your job, but one of the most important aspects. This short PPT provides you with some quick tips and resources to help you prioritize some of the most important aspects of classroom management. In time classroom management will become second nature and you can begin to focus more on the academic part of your job. Never be afraid to ask for help and/or ideas, no matter how long you teach and remember – it is okay to make changes to your classroom management plan as you learn and grow as a teacher!
Note for Student Teachers: We recommend discussing theses ideas with your cooperating teacher to see how they incorporate these ideas into their classroom management system. Also, ask them for additional tips that you might want to incorporate into your own classroom one day! Note for Cooperating Teachers: We recommend that you review this PPT with the student teacher and discuss how you incorporate these and other classroom management tips into your classroom
Constant time delay (CTD) is an evidence-based response prompting strategy that can be effectively implemented with any student who is learning discrete concepts, such as math facts, spelling words, or anything students need to memorize or know with automaticity. This makes it a versatile intervention requiring minimal materials – index cards or paper slips and a data collection sheet. As you become more efficient in your implementation, you can use it with a small group with each student having their own cards. To help you learn how to implement CTD, if you do not already know how, several resources are provided by clicking on the button below.
Transition planning is required under IDEA (2004) for students at least by age 16 and often earlier in many states. Unfortunately, many teacher preparation programs do not include a required course specific to transition in their course of study for future special educators! This practitioner article explores how to support students from a variety of backgrounds through the lens of being a culturally responsive special educator. Most important to note is the work to use culturally responsive/sustaining transition practices must fall on our shoulders as educators. This article includes suggestions to personally reflect and explore your own cultural competence framework as it relates to students you support in the classroom and on your caseload. Thinking about setting goals for ourselves as future educators, what is one post-teacher-preparation-program goal you can write for yourself to incorporate culturally responsive/sustaining transition practices into your future teaching? P.S. Transition doesn’t just begin at the “age” of transition, but these skills and supports can be implemented as early as preschool!
It is important to stay current in best practices to know what up-to-date research says is effective instructions for students with disabilities. The Council for Exceptional Children has a wide array of learning opportunities – webinars, books, journals, and even the CECommunity for members to ask questions and share ideas. Hopefully you have availed yourself of these resources this semester and you will remain a member of CEC even when your complimentary membership expires. Members are knowledgeable, kind, caring, and dedicated to helping one another so we can all advocate for and educate students with disabilities, those who are gifted, and those who are twice exceptional – have a disability and are gifted.
In addition to the plentiful resources available through CEC, another resource for which you can sign up to receive in your inbox, is the T-Care Newsletter. This is a newsletter of the California State University-Northridge Center for Teaching and Learning of which Dr. Wendy Murawski, CEC member and well-known for her research and training in co-teaching, is the director and editor of the newsletter. You will find short, easy-to-read, practitioner-friendly articles to help you hone your skills and gain new ideas for implementation in your classroom. Enjoy the current issue here!
As special educators, we are tasked with ensuring that all students have their needs met in the classroom. We can do this through pairing the use of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for all learners with specially designed instruction (SDI) for students with unique learning needs. UDL is based on brain research and offers students multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression. For students who need further support as outlined in the IEP, we can use SDI. To better understand how these strategies work together, we recommend looking at the Venn diagram and reviewing the following resources about UDL from the Council for Exceptional Children.
CEC webinar "Lesson Planning for All Learners Using Universal Design for Learning"
CEC Webinar "Harnessing the Power of Inclusion Through Universal Design for Learning"
Teaching Exceptional Children Article "Approaching Explicit Instruction Within a Universal Design for Learning Framework"
Teachers are frequently asked to embed technology into what we are doing in the classroom. This week you will learn about some technology tools you can use to enhance your instruction as well as some AI that can help you in planning your lessons.
Participants must register, ( Cost is Free with CEC Membership!) it includes 0.5 CEUs when completed. Please click the link below to register. After you have completed answer the following question: Data collection is a vital component of being a special education teacher. What is your favorite way to collect data and what challenges have you faced in data collection?
Join us for a dynamic session focused on mastering digital data tracking using a variety of online tools. During this webinar, participants will gain proficiency in creating and tailoring Google Forms to efficiently collect data, generate graphs, and compile comprehensive reports. In addition, they will be introduced to other valuable digital resources for data collection. By the session's conclusion, attendees will possess a versatile toolkit empowering them to make data-driven decisions and provide personalized, effective learning experiences for students with diverse needs.
Presenter: AbleSpace
30 minutes
Use the link to view the new HLP Refresh as well as links to videos. Does your school follow HLP? If not, what are some similar competencies that your institution follows? Which competencies are different? Make note of some videos that are good models of teaching practices you would like to work on.
Participants must register, ( Cost is Free with CEC Membership!) it includes 0.5 CEUs when completed. Please click the link below to register. After you have completed answer the following question: Are you tech savvy? How does using technology make the IEP writing process easier? What are some of the challenges you have faced with using assistive technology to write IEPs?
Every IEP asks whether Assistive Technology is necessary to implement this IEP. In this seminar, we will discuss the foundation of AT evaluation and consideration, followed by some of the most common AT tools implemented in our schools and some of the challenges and strategies for effective AT implementation. During the seminar, we will share specific considerations and practices from multiple states across the US as examples. Learning objectives:
1) The participants will gain an understanding of AT evaluation and consideration processes.
2) The participants will discuss ways to include AT considerations during the IEP development.
3) The participants will discuss specific AT implementation strategies from multiple states.
Participants must register, ( Cost is Free with CEC Membership!) it includes 1.0 CEUs when completed. Please click the link below to register. After you have completed answer the following question: As you've perused through these quick takes what is one of the quick takes that you found specifically interesting? Is there a way to incorporate this into your practice either now or in the future?
A collection of Quick Takes focused on innovative instruction practices. Each quick take is less than 9 minutes long and presented by teachers in the field.
Topics Included in this Series:
- How Teachers Influence Preadolescent Twice-Exceptional Student Success
- Remember Conversing with Children with and without Disabilities about Drawings They Create
- Using Music to Teach Math
- Supporting Cultural Diversity in Special Education
- PAUSE for Assessment - Informal Strategies to Capture Student Learning
- Task Box Differentiation Using Universal Design for Learning
- Collaborative Reading Comprehension Strategy for Middle and High School Students
A collection of quick takes focused on teacher well-being. Each quick take is less than 9 minutes long and presented by teachers in the field.
Topics Included in this Series:
- Self-Care for Teachers, Trauma-informed Classroom Practices
- Tips for Taming the Paper Mountain
- Watch Me Grow! Practicing Self-Care Strategies to Cultivate Success in the Classroom
- Promoting Resilience and Protecting Educator Well-Being
What do you do to turn around a particularly stressful day? Are you comfortable with your work-life balance so far? If not, what changes do you need to make?
This series of tip sheets introduce key components of the individualized education program (IEP). They include brief summaries of federal regulations, tips for implementation, and resources. Check with your state for additional requirements.
The Progress Center houses a host of resources for both educators and parents. How do you think you could use these resources for either yourself or your parents?
Sometimes it helps us to hear from others about why they are teachers, we clearly are not doing it to be rich or famous. Rita Pierson shares with us why every child needs one of us, a teacher in their lives that can help them to be a success.
Question: When did you know you wanted to be a teacher? Once you started a career in education describe a moment that helped you to recognize that you were meant to be a teacher?
A Four-Step Method for Developing Measurable, Meaningful, and Legally Sound IEP Goals . Participant must register - includes 1.0 CEU credit ( Free Registration with CEC Membership)
Question: How have you been a part of the IEP process thus far? What measurement tools are you using to track IEP goals? How have you organized adaptations and modifications to make sure you are meeting your students' needs with each lesson plan?
Per the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), families of children with disabilities are equal stakeholders in IEP meetings. With the number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds increasing each year, working effectively with diverse families in the IEP process is especially important. Learn how to involve your students and families from diverse backgrounds in the IEP process, and ensure that all your students receive the educational support they need.
After this webinar, you will be able to: 1) Identify family characteristics to be aware of when working with diverse students. 2) Understand cultural and linguistic challenges to address when working with diverse families at IEP meetings. 3) Identify ways to facilitate involvement from diverse families. 4) Share strategies to help families of all backgrounds feel welcome and respected at IEP meetings.
Presented by Catherine Creighton Thompson, Ph.D. and Clara Hauth, Ph.D.
Participant must register - includes 1.3 CEU credit ( Free Registration with CEC Membership)
Question: How do you define yourself in a cultural sense? Think about your biases. What are you doing to address these biases with your students, colleagues, and peers?
Children with disabilities can have significant strengths and talents that also need developing. These “twice-exceptional” gifted children with disabilities are often confounding because they require strengths-based education that focuses on the development of their abilities while also mediating the impacts of their disabilities. This webinar explores twice-exceptional children from diverse viewpoints: their characteristics and needs, educational strategies, mental health supports, and collaboration approaches. Participants in this webinar will be introduced to practical, evidence-based strategies that allow them to advocate for and support these complex learners.
Participant must register: ( Free Registration with CEC Membership)
Question: How can your twice-exceptional students use their strengths to support their needs areas? What are some evidence-based strategies that you have found effective to use in the classroom? Do you have questions about any evidence-based practices before you implement them in your classroom?
Co-teaching is an instructional model used frequently in schools. This workshop with one of the leaders in the field of co-teaching, Dr. Marilyn Friend goes over establishing relationships, the Special educators role, and models and strategies - Includes CEU Credit - Participant must register : ( Free Registration with CEC Membership)
Question: Do you have opportunities to co-teach with your mentor? Which approaches do you implement? What strengths do you have as a co-teacher/ collaborator? What are some skills areas in which you need to grow?
This session explores how to use High-Leverage Practice (HLP) 13 to support students with disabilities in the general education classroom. HLPs are evidence-based practices that have been shown to be effective in improving student outcomes. The webinar will provide a brief overview of HLP 13 and practical tips for implementing the practice in the classroom.
Question: Which practices are easy for you to implement in a general education classroom? Which practices are harder to implement in the general education classroom? Which HLPs appear to help build an inclusive environment? What skills do you need to work on to make this happen in your classroom?
More than ever before, collaboration is integral to the responsibilities of educators. Not surprisingly, nearly all professionals have found themselves in challenging or awkward interactions, wondering what to say and how to say it to keep the conversation constructive. Are you thinking of your own experiences? Wondering if you could have said something different? This webinar can help! It will discuss real-life examples of difficult interactions that may occur with co-teachers, other colleagues, principals, paraeducators, and parents, focusing on words to choose and ways to respond that will make you into a collaboration superhero. After this webinar, you'll be able to answer these questions:
Questions: Are you able to identify most of the members of your school community? Remember, everyone is important, from the resource officer to the secretary. What are you doing to make connections with your colleagues and staff in your building? Remember, sometimes this can be as simple as eye contact, firm handshakes, and calling someone by their name.
As a new (or experienced) teacher, it can sometimes seem like it's you against the world, including the families you work with. You're the education expert. Why can't they see that? In this webinar, Sean Roy, a longtime parent advocate and national technical assistance provider, and John Waterman, an experienced educator and parent of a child with exceptionalities, will help you understand what it's like on the other side of the table, and what families need and want from teachers to truly be a part of their child's team. This webinar will provide an overview of the information you need, real-life examples of challenging parent/teacher situations and arm you with effective strategies to work with families. The presenters will help you engage your families in the education process with effective communication and common understanding. By communicating with empathy, building strong relationships and encouraging high expectations for your students, great family engagement can be the difference that ultimately helps you best serve your students.
Questions: How are you communicating regularly with families? Which form of communication works best for the hard-to-reach families? Did you make positive connections before you had to have difficult conversations regarding a student? What are you doing to meet families where they are?
7 Reasons Why Differentiated Instruction Works. Read the following article and you can answer the following questions : What materials help you to organize your differentiated? What parts of your lesson are easy to differentiate? What are some of the difficulties you are facing with differentiating your lessons? What are some independent activities you can implement to some groups, so that you can work in small groups?