Richard D. Solomon's Blog on Mentoring Jewish Students and Teachers

Our hope is that this blog will become a forum in which people can exchange ideas on how to recruit, develop and retain exceptional Jewish educators through mentoring and e-mentoring students, teaching candidates, and teachers in our day and supplemental schools. The present focus of this blog is to empower Jewish teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, consultants, and staff developers to integrate web technology (i.e. web tools and apps) into their teaching and teacher training.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Individualized Instruction for Students with Special Needs Through Modifying the Classroom Environment

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices. Accordingly, our mentees should know how to individualize instruction.

Below you will find the second of four ways to individualize instruction for students with special needs by modifying the classroom environment.

*Chart of Individualized Modifications for Students with Special Needs

Special Education Modifications

Sample Modifications for Individualized Instruction

Modify the classroom environment

· Reduce distractions.

· Use checklists, and visual schedules in addition to oral instructions.

· Establish, teach, and implement a daily routine.

· Make clear, consistent rules that are in force at all times.

*This is taken, with permission, from the website of the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ), special needs menu, http://urj.org/educate/specialneeds/. Retrieved January 30, 2009.

On the next post we will examine the third of four different types of instructional modifications, modifying the time demands.