CEC - Reconsidering the Preparation of Special Education Teachers: Why a Background in General and Special Education is Necessary By Mary T. Brownell http://tinyurl.com/ykw9kao
I Keep Safe.org
We want our children to be safe and responsible while using technology. We will have succeeded when each child can recognize and minimize the three main risks associated with all connected technology.
Elementary
William A. Diggs – Hawks Rule! Lesson Plan for First Week
Dundalk Elementary
General John Stricker – “Lessons for Procedures” (all see Action Plan)
The Maine Department of Education awarded the Maine Partnership of Partnerships (POP) a professional development project in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) that builds upon long standing collaborative efforts of Syntiro and POP. This exciting project will create and support vibrant teaching and learning environments by providing professional development and direct services to SAUs in four regions of the state (Aroostook, Washington, and northern and southern Penobscot counties). It is designed to enhance the capacity of schools and programs to adopt and sustain the use of PBIS for all children and children with disabilities (birth-20) in their natural environments and educational programs. The project’s activities will promote educational competency for educators, and community and service providers, and improve, enhance, and support student learning, engagement, and school completion by improving the delivery of services to young children and students with challenging behavior. By integrating best practice, innovative distance technology, and face-to-face local and regional activities based on a comprehensive needs assessment, this project assures that learning opportunities will be readily available, accessible, and valuable to educators, including early childhood providers, across the regions that comprise this collaborative effort. It is anticipated that the Downeast and Midcoast partnerships will join in year 2.
Project Goal and Objectives
Project Goal: Maine POP will provide professional development through four regional collaboratives designed to build effective systems approaches to enhance the capacity of schools and programs to adopt and sustain the use of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) for all children and children with disabilities, in their natural environment or educational programs.
Deliver a wide range of professional development and technical assistance in PBIS, including Ross Greene’s Collaborative Problem Solving model, based on B-20 needs assessment of parents, providers, educators, and other pertinent stakeholders at the local and regional levels.
Each POP member will prepare and implement an evidence-based, comprehensive systems-change initiative designed to create a seamless web of PBIS and mental health services that “wrap around” children with disabilities, and their families, based upon local and regional needs assessments to be conducted by September 2009.
Educators will work together and differentiate between behavioral and academic practices in order to reinforce holistic child well-being throughout the school day.
Individualized Education Program (IEP) or Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) teams will be supported, upon request, to develop an Individualized Behavior Intervention Plan that will result in fewer negative behavioral interventions, so that children with disabilities will participate in more instructional time.
Training will be provided for educators and providers in non-violent interventions, and the proper use of restraints and time-out rooms.
Professional development and technical assistance will be provided to enhance understanding of mental health diagnoses and their impact on children’s behavior.
Timelines
The project’s activities got under way this August with local needs assessments and the development of district and regional technical assistance plans. Regional leadership teams have begun participating in professional development activities led by Dr. Jim Artesani of the UMaine College of Education and Human Development. Additional professional development and technical assistance is being coordinated by the Maine Support Network, based upon the findings of the needs assessments.
Newsletters
The online (and print version) journal “Better: Evidence-based Education” is published 3x/year by Johns Hopkins University (Center for Research and Reform in Education)
This month’s issue just came out…its focus is “Social Emotional Learning—How to embed social-emotional learning into school culture.” http://betterevidence.org/us-edition/
The Helping Hand Newsletter (pdf) Includes: Resources for RtI, Calendar of Events for Hancock County Children's Council, On-line courses and more!
Volume 20, Issue 3, November 2009
The Helping Hand Newsletter (pdf) Includes: Resources regarding your child's behavioral health, teaching responsibility, helping your child cope with a move, and more!
Volume 20, Issue 6, February 2010
Nings
PBIS in Maine
Created by Susan Smith
This Ning is an online community for school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) in Maine. http://pbisme.ning.com/
SOS: Helping Students Become Independent Learners This module describes how teachers can help students stay on task by learning to regulate their behavior. The four strategies discussed are self-monitoring, self-instruction, goal-setting, and self-reinforcement.
Blog: Restraint and Seclusion: Info for Maine Educators http://pbisrestraint.blogspot.com/
This blog is designed to share information and resources regarding Maine law on restraint and seclusion.
RSU #24 (Ellsworth and beyond) is offering grants to teachers to further the work on implementing PBIS in all their schools. They have shared all their forms and rubric in case other schools would like to see their idea!
Integrated Services Service Tapestry is a user-friendly, searchable database of resources for youth, family members, educators and service providers to locate supports and services within their area.
School-Wide Information System (SWIS) www.swis.org
Aa web-based information system designed to help school personnel to use office referral data to design school-wide and individual student interventions.
