Target Audience: Teachers of elementary aged students with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) who are demonstrating significant behavioral challenges in the school environment.

Course Objective: Participants will gain an introductory level of understanding of how improving thought patterns can improve a teacher’s work life in the classroom and student behavior.

Course Format: This is a 1.5 hour online session offered through Adobe Connect

Course Description: Teachers often feel overwhelmed by student behavior, paperwork, and various district, school, and parent expectations. It may seem impossible to juggle these expectations and still maintain a sense of confidence and happiness when working with students who have challenging behavior. This stress from school (and possibly life outside of school) may cause cognitive distortions that may lead to pessimism and doubt, which indirectly affects students. Cognitive distortions are exaggerated/irrational thought patterns that can lead to changes in behavior. Research shows that pessimism is the leading factor when predicting a child’s challenging behavior. When educators change their thought patterns, they gain confidence and happiness and hence, improve student behavior. The goal of this session is not to point out that negative thought patterns predict challenging behavior, but to show and encourage teachers that something so small as improving thought patterns can improve a teacher’s work life in the classroom and student behavior.

Objectives:

A. Learn strategies on how to become happier in the classroom

B. Learn to identify cognitive distortions and how they impact teacher and student behavior

C. Learn strategies to improve cognitive distortions and increase distress tolerance

Implementation Activity: Teacher attendance for the Adobe Connect session and completion of implementation reflection logs are required in order to earn 6 inservice points.

Follow Up Method: Email communication throughout the implementation period. Additional coaching and support is available upon request.

Target Audience: All teachers grades 3 and above that teach vocabulary/reading.

Course Objective: Participants will understand and apply the instructional sequence of the SIM Word Mapping Strategy and learn the importance of high frequency fidelity and its impact on student learning.

Course Description: The content and instructional strategies presented in this professional learning event are aligned with Florida Standards and the Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction. This instructional program has been designed to help older students quickly learn how to predict the meaning of unknown words.

Low achievers often need such instruction because:

• they have not learned the meaning of a large number of words,

• they do not know how to identify parts of words that have meaning,

• they do not know the meaning of word parts, and

• they do not know how to use the meaning of word parts to predict the meaning of whole words.

These skills are critical when students are reading a text in school because they cannot take the time to look up the meaning of every word in a dictionary. These skills are also critical when students take standardized reading comprehension tests where they are required to identify the meaning of words among several choices and where they are required to read passages and answer questions about them. This program provides teachers with a functional and efficient way to teach these required skills and prepare students for the reading tasks they encounter in school and on tests.

Participants receive The Word Mapping Strategy manual. After professional learning by a certified SIM Professional Developer participants have permission to copy all the instructional and student materials needed to teach this strategy for their students only.

Implementation Activity: Progress monitoring student pre- and post- data are required prior to receiving 12 inservice credits.

Follow Up Method: Email communication and coaching throughout the implementation period, as well as on-site coaching (per participant request) will be available.

PreRequisite: MUST have attended a prior LessonPix, Boardmaker, PECS, and/or Core Professional Development(PD)

Must also have current access to a visual supports creation tool (eg. LessonPix, Boardmaker, Symbolstix, etc). This will NOT be provided.

Target Audience:Teachers (PK-2), Teachers (PK-12 ESE), Paraprofessionals (PK-2, PK-12 ESE), Therapists (SLP, OT ,PT) that have PREVIOUSLY attended LessonPix, Boardmaker, PECS, and/or Core Professional Development(PD)

Course Objective: Participants will be able to create, search for, and share visual supports to be used with students to incorporate the Universal Design principles of multiple means of representation, action and expression.

Course Description: In this three-hour socially distanced face-2-face training, participants will learn to use technology to make visual supports and educational activities for their classrooms. Participants will receive tools to make visuals (eg. laminate, velcro, etc. ) and access to a color printer, laminators, and binding machines (for making books).

Required: *Important * In order to use the color printer, you will need to access your materials via:

 1. the WEB (from logging on to a computer in our lab) OR

 2. a PIN/Thumb drive with saved materials that you bring with you. 

Implementation Activity: 

1.Submit student impact data at www.fdlrsaction.com.

Follow Up Method: Email communication and coaching throughout the implementation period, as well as on-site coaching (per participant request) will be available.

If you have any questions related to this course please contact: mia.laudato@fdlrsaction.org or wendi.melton-harper@fdlrsaction.org 

Target Audience: Teachers must attend with their collaborating partner. General Education and Exceptional Student Education Teachers who partner in serving students with disabilities in an inclusive service delivery model (Support Facilitation, Co-Teaching).

Course Objective: Participants will understand the roles and responsibilities of the general educator and ESE educator in the planning and implementation of instruction in an inclusive setting.

Course Description: This two-session training will be conducted via ZOOM. Strategies for successful collaboration will be shared and resources to support implementation will be provided. Five collaborative teaching approaches will be modeled and taught including parallel teaching, station teaching, alternative teaching, team teaching and one teach/one support.

Collaborative Teaching in Elementary/Secondary Schools: Making the Co-Teaching Marriage Work!, by Wendy W. Murawski will be provided to all participants.

Implementation Activity: Participants will have course work PRIOR to each virtual meeting, and will need to submit Student Impact Data in order to receive 12 inservice credits.  

Follow Up Method: Email communication and coaching throughout the implementation period, as well as on-site coaching (per participant request) will be available.

If you have any questions related to this course please contact: rbedesem@contactfin.com

Target Audience: General and Exceptional educators who are instructing students with disabilities including instructional coaches, administrators, and related service providers. Best practices but not required:

• Attend this course after you have attended our Collaborative Teaching PD

• Attend with your collaborative partner (general educator with support facilitator)

You are most certainly welcome to attend if the best practices are not met. 

Method of Delivery: Big Blue Button 

Course Objective: Participants will have the opportunity to learn about:

• Special Education Legislature and common terms

• Review the 5 Collaborative Teaching Approaches

• Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) and SDI within the 5 Collaborative Teaching Approaches

• The four components of Specially Designed Instruction in the inclusive classroom. 

Course Description: Provide fundamental knowledge of Specially Designed Instruction with content specific examples.  

Implementation Activity: Participants will be required to complete pre-reading and coursework to be prepared for participation in the live virtual session. 

Total Inservice Points (3):

Follow Up Method: Email

If you have any questions related to this course please contact:  rbedesem@contactfin.com, kriley@contactfin.com, akanji@contactfin.com