NJCIE Tips and Resources
Welcome to NJCIE's Tips and Resources!
In this section you will find helpful information for use in supporting individuals with disabilities in inclusive environments.
Out of District Placements: Issues for Parents to Consider
Determining where your child will receive their educational programming can be a daunting process. Parents find themselves considering out of district placements for a variety of reasons, e.g., school recommendation, lack of supports in their public schools, concern re: their child's acceptance by other children, etc.
NJCIE Newsletter
Fall 2008 - Social Stories
Many children with disabilities have difficulty with changes in their schedule and with transitions, e.g., from the school day to home activities, from one grade to the next, from school to school, etc. Social stories are very useful in preparing children for changes in schedules and transitions.
Click here for information about Social Stories.
Establishing a Class Management System
"Back to School" can be an exciting if not intimidating time for teachers as well as students and parents. Using these practical ideas for starting the year off right can help prevent some of the classroom behavioral problems that may occur at the onset of the school year.
- Select Class-Wide Behavioral Expectations:
Avoid misunderstandings and confusion by identifying what behaviors are expected of all students (with students' input). Based on this create a set of no more than 3-5 positively stated class-wide behavioral expectations (like rules). Be sure to tell students what you want them to do instead of giving them a list of what not to do. An example is "Be Safe, Be Respectful, and Solve Problems Responsibly."
Next decide exactly what each of these rules / expectations will "look like" during each daily routine and in different environments. What does "solving problems responsibly" look like in your classroom? What does "being respectful" look like when students go to the cafeteria? Identifying specific examples of what students can do to meet the set of expectations you have selected can greatly increase the likelihood that students will be successful in meeting them.
The same can be done at home. Choose a set of positive stated home expectations and then determine who they would look across various home routines (getting ready for bed, going to the store, getting ready for school, etc).
- Actively Teach and Reteach the Behavioral Expectations:
Research shows than investing the necessary time in teaching clear, consistent, predictable expectations to all students can really pay off. Do your students understand exactly what you mean by saying that you expect them to "be respectful"? Similarly, it is assumed that "John" knows not to hit other students but does know what he should do when he feels frustrated? Help students understand exactly how the expectations "look" during your class routines and activities as well as in a variety of environments (bus, cafeteria, hallway, bathroom, etc) through practice sessions, modeling, role play, etc. It is also essential to visually display the class expectations so all students (even new ones) can refer back to them.
This logic can apply at home as well. You've asked "Chris" to clean his room several times and he answers "But I DID clean it". What does a clean room look like to Chris? Is his idea of what it means to clean up the same as yours? Before having the "clean your room" argument that inevitably seems to follow, try to start by making sure you both are on the same page. Is it that all shoes should be in the closet, all clothes off the floor and the bed should be made? Or do have other requirements? Whether it's cleaning your room or turning in your homework, teaching expectations across daily routines sets the stage for our kids to be more successful.
Can about 80% of your students tell you what the expectations are and give you specific examples of them? If not, reteaching may be necessary. Use "booster sessions" after long breaks or as needed.
- Frequently Recognize Students Who Meet the Expectations:
Acknowledge when students follow the behavioral expectations throughout the day and give very specific feedback when recognizing their successes. Often we find ourselves frequently recognizing a particular student's inappropriate behavior. Research shows that maintaining a ratio of at least 5 positive teacher/student interactions for every 1 negative interaction eliminates a great deal of inappropriate behavior.
So whether at school or at home, make you "catch them being good" with a high enough frequency, or at the very least more often than you address their misbehavior.
- Don't Be Afraid to Use Incentives to Motivate Students (if necessary):
The assertion that using incentives or reinforcement is detrimental to students is not supported in the research literature. As stated by Cameron and colleagues, "after conducting a series of reviews and analyses of (the reward) literature, our conclusion is that there is no inherent negative property of reward. Our analyses indicate that the argument against the use of rewards is an overgeneralization based on a narrow set of circumstances" (Cameron, 2002, Cameron & Pierce, 1994, 2002, Cameron, Banko & Pierce, 2001).
If you decide to use incentives with your students, be sure that students understand exactly why they are receiving the reward/privilege. If students cannot tell you specifically what they did to earn something, then what is the likelihood that they will keep doing that good thing?
Basing your incentive system on how well students meet the class-wide behavior expectations you have set forth (see #1-2) will help students remember what they need to do to earn. Students may enjoy having class-wide celebrations when these expectations are met (according to whatever criteria you have determined). This could involve placing marbles in a jar when you intermittently "catch" students following one of the 3-5 rules/expectations and then rewarding the class when the jar is full.
- Coordination is the Key:
You probably have heard of these types of ideas before and may even have been implementing many of them with your students for years. Often it is the case that teachers are doing great things for their students, but doing so independently or in isolation. Implementing these types of positive behavior supports on a school-wide level with all students greatly increases the efficiency and effectiveness of interventions by producing a truly connected and coordinated continuum of support for all students. For more information on school-wide positive behavior supports, contact NJCIE.
Click here for some teacher strategies and tips
Books and Other Resources
There are many excellent resources on inclusive practices. Those on NJCIE's list have been suggested by presenters at NJCIE's conferences and experts across the country.
How Can NJCIE Help Bring PBS to Your District/School/Class/Student?
For information on obtaining training, consultative support and technical assistance from NJCIE, please read our services page.
