Sei Classroom Stategies

Much like me, the Central High Special Education department head, Denny Jones does not have the classroom responsibilities of a typical teacher. Some of his duties are observing classes, attending IEP meetings, checking lesson plans, conducting monthly department meetings, and connecting with the families of students. In this role, he recognizes he has a unique opportunity to implement interactive strategies at Central High on a grander scale. In his classroom observations, he has been able to recognize teachers for using appropriate strategies that have improved the delivery of their lessons. In recent weeks, he has observed teachers using “think alouds” with their students during reading activities. He has also observed teachers often using a “Language Experience Approach” where students improve their reading and writing through the use of personal experiences. As he has become more aware of the interactive strategies, he finds himself encouraging teachers to try different ones. “Exit slips” have been one of his favorite strategies to share, because it gives the teacher immediate feedback on lessons. The “quick writes” and “sentence frames” are other strategies he recommends to help both the English learners and the general special education population.

Modeling new strategies to the special education faculty has become a large focus of this year’s department meetings. Denny has encouraged staff members to present effective strategies they are using in their classrooms. In a recent meeting, a resource teacher shared the RAFT (Role, Audience-Form-Topic) strategy which helps students think about the relationship between their audience and writing purpose. Another area where he feels he can have an important impact is on the language objectives on lesson plans. As he reviews lesson plans, he feels he has a better understanding of their purpose; he recognizes the domain, content, language function, and differentiation in them. He also ensures that teachers are using English in four phases (reading, writing, listening, speaking). Helping teachers improve their language objectives should have a positive effect on student learning.

As an assistant principal, I see the ELLs in my teachers’ classroom have proficiency levels that range from two to five. As I work through the SEI course and gain knowledge of interactive strategies, I’m more prepared to collaborate and discuss these strategies with my teachers in common planning time. My core content teachers agree that breaking complex readings into “jigsaw” activities has helped reduce the stress of long reading assignments with their students and has created a forum where students listen and/or read each other’s work to get the information they need. “Turn & talk” has helped students generate questions, find important information, and monitor comprehension. “Think Aloud” is another interactive strategy they see great value in. Having a better understanding of the purpose of language objectives and the differentiated levels of producing and communicating that go into them, has helped my teachers develop clearer expectations for