askIST
February 01, 2011
IST's Books of the Month
Seven Habits of Highly Effective IEP Teams
Often times, teachers and parents are overwhelmed with meetings and schedules and more meetings. Making appropriate use of time is an increasingly important element of life. This month’s ASK IST page features an article written by Eileen Hammar & Anne Malatchi, inspired by the book by Stephen R. Covey entitled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”.
Hammer and Malatchi speak about using the 7 habits written by Covey to help teams help our schools’ students. These 7 steps outline a team’s ability to not only continuously strive to be better, but also to create better relationships with parents as well as teachers. Reading this article provides insight to becoming a “highly effective” IEP team. Hammer and Malatchi speak of working together, understanding the desired dreams for the student and parents, as well as taking proactive steps to get there. This article is thought provoking for both parents and educators.
SMART but SCATTERED
By
Dawson and Guare
There is nothing more frustrating than watching your child or student struggle with the typical tasks and functions of everyday life. You can't talk children into using skills they don't have any more than the right incentive could get them safely down a black diamond run when they can't even ski the bunny hill!
Scientists who study child development and the brain have discovered that most children who are smart but scattered simply lack certain habits of the mind called executive skills. These are the fundamental brain-based skills required to execute foundational tasks such as organizing, planning, initiating work, staying on task, controlling impulses, regulating emotions, being adaptable and showing resilience.
Smart but Scattered is filled with real-world examples and solutions and translates cutting edge research into meaningful, practical, well-organized, and easy-to-implement strategies that parents and teachers can use to enhance a child's natural executive abilities.
Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention
By Peg Dawson and Richard Guare (Guilford Press, 2010)
This concise, practitioner-friendly guide explains how critical cognitive processes develop and why they play such a key role in children's behavior and school performance.
It provides step-by-step guidelines and many practical tools to promote executive skill development by implementing environmental modifications, individualized instruction, coaching, and whole-class interventions. Included are reproducible assessments, checklists, planning sheets and a response-to intervention framework.
Strategy of the Month
POSITIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT EASY AS A B C
A. Many teachers make the mistake of starting the school year with a poor discipline plan. Students quickly assess the situation and realize what they will be allowed to "get away" with. Once you set a precedent of allowing disruption, it is harder to teach classroom rules and expected behaviors.
B. So BEFORE you teach ANY content this year, teach your students the rules of the classroom. Get their attention by making the teaching fun and active using students to model and practice the "correct" behavior. NEVER have students model the incorrect behavior. Remember to explain to the students what good things happen when they follow the rules and the natural consequences that happen if they don't!
C. PRACTICE EVERY DAY the first week of school and have REVIEW practices EVERY WEEK after. Remember that, just as with academics, some kids take longer to learn. The first, second, and third responses to misbehavior is to RETEACH the correct behavior(s). Having the kids help to decide as a group some of the rules really creates a community and helps with ownership and pride of their own positive behaviors. HAPPY NEW SCHOOL YEAR EVERYONE!
