3 Key Ideas to Help Your Students Apply Intervention Strategies

How Can I Help My Student Apply Strategies to their Work? 

A speech pathologist shares 3 key ideas that can help you teach students to use  skills learned during the intervention process. 

"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child." - George Bernard Shaw

Teachers struggle on a daily basis in the classroom with students who simply do not apply what they've been taught, in spite of a teacher's best efforts.  And, unfortunately, all of the drill and practice in the world sometimes does not accomplish the objective of a student applying what they've learned.

Here are 3 key ideas that have helped me achieve instructional carryover with students on my caseload. Feel free to apply these same concepts in your classroom.

#1:  Teach Students to Self-Monitor Their Own Performance

Self-Monitoring - A Big Word, An Even Bigger Impact
 

Simply speaking, self-monitoring is the ability for a student to determine whether or not they were able to create the target behavior, by observing themselves during their own performance of a task.  

What I've Learned in the Speech Room

Many students become dependent on the speech therapist for feedback during therapy. When asked whether a sound was produced accurately, students aren't sure.  They weren't "listening" to themselves, because they were caught up in the performance, the "doing".  The student has become dependent on an external barometer. 

Give the student a checklist, and ask them to check their own work, or otherwise rate their own performance.   As a teacher, the value of self-awareness cannot be over-estimated.  (Hint:  printed cues for the desired strategy or response can be critical to internalizing a new set of rules when teaching self-monitoring).

#2:  Focus on Teaching a Strategy in a Controlled Context

Exercise in Futility 

I recall observing a language-disordered 3rd grade student participate in an ILA classroom exercise. The activity required the student to respond to a number of errors in a written paragraph, including multiple mechanics, grammar, and spelling errors.  Unfortunately, the student was not able succeed at that exercise, because so many types of errors were introduced simultaneously. 

Use a mixed practice format to challenge students who've already mastered the rules and can benefit from mixed practice.  Control the context and present single rules at a time for students who have not mastered grade level content.

#3:  Accurate Practice Requires Specific Instruction

Learning How to Teach

I once supervised a graduate student who didn't understand the mechanics of speech production.  In one lesson, she instructed a 4th grade student to "say 'r' like a Pirate",  and followed with an enthusiatic pirate impersonation.   The student continued to produce the sound with the same errors.  If the student isn't successful at least 60% of the time, the instruction needs to be modified. 

Use scaffolding, reverse chaining, thoughtful prompts and cues, and direct instruction to share the process of discovery with the student.   Level practice exercises in the 60-80% success range.

#4:  Provide Opportunities for Distraction...or Less is More

Once a student has achieved a level of mastery within a controlled context, distraction provides a needed challenge within the context of less definition and structure - this is an often overlooked step in the process of teaching students how to independently apply a learned skill.

Drill Practice ad Infinitum

Consider this case:  a secondary student who doesn't generalize grammar skills to conversation, in spite of years of remedial instruction. The next step simply requires that we expand the student's use of the grammar rules to broad, less defined tasks.

Try the following strategies: 

• story retelling
• narrative format
• mixed rule practice
• self-monitoring using a student grading rubric
• printed cues
• tape recording with playback
• multiple practice trials

Cynthia Scott, M.A. CCC-SLP is a Speech Language Pathologist and educator in the central Minnesota area.  She can be reached at PhoneticResoucesLLC@gmail.com, or view her blog at ThePhoneticResource.blogspot.com  for other helpful resources.

 

Response to Intervention (RtI) - What it is and what it isn't

RtI - What it is . . .

In its simplest definition, Response to Intervention is a multi-tiered framework approach that provides for early identification and intervention for struggling students based on student data.  Through ongoing progress monitoring and universal screening, both the learning rate and the level of performance of individual students are assessed.  RtI ensures that learning is taking place within the general education classroom with appropriate instruction. When students need additional support high quality, scientifically based instructional interventions that align with standards are used to scaffold student learning and provide the additional support needed to achieve strong academic results.

While there is not one single, widely practiced RtI “model”.  Generally it is defined as a three-tiered model. 

Tier 1 – Classroom instruction that includes:

• Core classroom instruction that is differentiated and utilizes strategies and materials    that are scientifically research-based and meets the needs of 80% of all students
• Instruction that is delivered by highly qualified teachers
• Universal screening and progress monitoring of all students
• Decisions that are made based upon student data

Tier 2 – Targeted interventions that provide for:

• Supplemental instruction in area(s) of concern
• Targeted skill instruction with increased frequency, intensity, and/or duration
• Small group or individual instruction using evidence based instructional/behavioral interventions
• Frequent progress monitoring of student data

Tier 3 – Intensive interventions that provide for:

• Individualized interventions that target specific skill deficits
• Remediation of relevant skills or compensatory strategies
• Intense monitoring of student data that helps to direct the teaching process

RtI - What it isn't . . .

• another instructional program or parallel curriculum
• merely a pre-referral process to place students into Special Education
• the same school-to-school or district-to-district
• a separate or stand alone initiative
• an added resource (teacher, classroom, program) or an added instructional period alone

Resources:

The National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc., http://www.rtinetwork.org

D Fuchs, LS Fuchs (2006). Introduction to Response to Intervention: What, Why, and How Valid Is It?. Reading Research Quarterly,

Jimerson, S. R., Burns, M. K., & VanDerHeyden, A. M. (2007). Response to Intervention at School: The Science and Practice of Assessment and Intervention. In S. R. Jimerson, M. K. Burns, & A. M. VanDerHeyden, Handbook of Response to Intervention: The Science and Practice of Assessment and Intervention (pp. 3–9). New York: Springer.

Kathy Steffens is a Special Educator with 20+ years experience.  She is available for questions regarding district RTI implementation and staff development training.  You can reach her at RightResponsetoRTI@gmail.com

The 3 Things Teachers MUST Do Before Intervention Planning

3 things teachers need to do before referring a student for intervention planning

So, a teacher has a student that is not making progress, and wants to address those issues at a problem solving team meeting.   From an administrative perspective,  teachers will consistently use best practice approaches in the classroom to address the basic learning needs of their students.   Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

What are the 3 things teachers can do to demonstrate the use of best instructional practice in the classroom? 

The Basics of Differentiated Instruction

While we cannot meet all of our students needs in all content areas at all times, key instructional strategies can be implemented by all classroom teachers.  These strategies can be defined under the heading of differentiated instruction.

Differentiation is simply tailoring instruction to help reach students with diverse academic needs and learning styles in order to ensure that they are able to master the academic content.  Here are some quick and painless ways to begin to differentiate instruction right away:

1. Vary the way content is delivered to students using a variety of modalities

·      Lectures and discussions (auditory presentation)

·      Demonstrations and media support (visual presentation)

·      Experiments and exploration (kinesthetic presentation)

·      Graphic organizers to help students understand concepts

(Move from the whole-to-part or part-to-whole)

2. Vary the materials to add interest

·      Use fiction and non fiction texts

·      Incorporate technology (video clips, apps, webinars, etc)

·      Integrate real life artifacts into lessons when possible

·      Provide an array of media articles that reflect student interests or culture around the content/concepts being taught

3. Vary assessments to address the strengths and weaknesses of students in your classroom:

·      Alter the length of time a student has to complete an assignment

·      Allow for various assessment tasks (written assignment, oral presentation, digital presentation, etc

·      Use rubrics to help empower students to identify the criteria needed to demonstrate mastery

Differentiation won't fix every learning problem - but it's a good place to start

Tomlinson (1999) points out that efforts to differentiate are most successful when they are combined with the use of a high-quality curriculum, research-based instructional strategies, well-designed activities that address the needs and interests of students, active learning, and student satisfaction with the lesson.   Differentiating instruction by itself will not automatically improve student performance but it is a great place to start!

References

Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Willis, S., & Mann, L. (2000, Winter). Differentiating instruction: Finding manageable ways to meet individual needs. Curriculum Update. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved January18, 2007 from http://www.ascd.org/ed_topics/cu2000win_willis.html

Kathy Steffens is a Special Educator with 20+ years experience.  She is available for questions regarding district RTI implementation and staff development training.  You can reach her at RightResponsetoRTI@gmail.com