From Iep Objective To Fun

From IEP Objective to Fun Activity!
June 24-25, 2009

About me:
Kate Ahern, M.S.Ed.
Teacher of learners with multiple special needs for 12 years
Educated at Simmons College in Boston
Worked in for a short time in both private and public school, past 8 years in a collaborative setting
Author of Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs Blog

Housekeeping
Take care of your own needs (restroom, snacks, drinks)
Please set your cell phones to a setting that will not be disruptive if you receive a call/txt/voicemail
This is a “Paper Free Presentation” all handouts are online:
http://intensivespedresources.wikispaces.com/IEP2Fun
for web links
citations
Power Point will be hosted on www.slideshare.com search for “From IEP Objective to Fun Activity”
You can e-mail me anytime with questions at teechkidz@gmail.com

Workshop Objectives
Participants will:
Understand the benefits of humor
Gain knowledge of the developmental stages of humor and how to apply to their classroom
Create a task analysis
Understand embedded learning and apply to a lesson
Develop ways to increase their creativity
Understand new ways to use assistive technology
Create an outline of a thematic unit and a lesson plan to use with it

Agenda
Day One
Introductions
Benefits to Fun and Laughter
Humor Development
Task Analysis
Embedded Skills
Ticket to Leave
Day Two
Creativity for Teachers
Fun with assistive technology
Integrated Thematic Units
Lunch
Presentations

Best Lesson Ever Ice Breaker
Choose a partner you don’t know.
Interview your partner and find out:
Name
Their teaching assignment
What the best lesson they ever taught was
AND
Why

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”
-William James

What is Humor?
wit: a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" temper:
a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling; "whether he praised or cursed me depended on his temper at the time"; "he was in a bad humor"
the quality of being funny; "I fail to see the humor in it"
(Middle Ages) one of the four fluids in the body whose balance was believed to determine your emotional and physical state; "the humors are blood and phlegm and yellow and black bile"
put into a good mood liquid body substance: the liquid parts of the body wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Forms of Humor
British Journal of Visual Impairment, Pagliano et al. 25 (3): 267. (2007)

General Benefits of Humor and Laughter
Proven to reduce stress and blood pressure
Enhances immune system
A sense of humor can increase coping ability
Contributes to a positive self-esteem
Increases feelings of connection and belonging (builds social bonds)
Defuses difficult situations and reduces conflict

“A sense of humor... is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.”
-Hugh Sidney

Benefits of Humor to Children
Increases desire to participate and engage
Increases resilience
Increases coping skills
Helps work through internal and developmental conflicts
Furthers cognitive development
Reduces anxiety
Increased creativity
Builds social skills
Helps teach point-of-view shift
Helps reinforce memories
Can increase language skills (vocabulary, multiple meaning words, figurative language)
Increases problem solving
Increase sensory awareness

WhyLaughat School?
From The Laughing Classroom

Humor in Our Classrooms
A child’s ability to understand humor varies with:
cognitive abilities
sensory abilities
prior experiences
cultural influences
stage of development
Humor in children changes over the course of intellectual development and often reflects the current developmental conflicts

“The laughter of adults was always very different from the laughter of children. The former indicated a recognition of the familiar, but in children it came from the shock of the new. “
-Elizabeth Hardwick

What makes young children laugh?
6 to 12 or 15 months
Laughter at the attachment figure engaged in unusual behavior (a sneeze, a funny walk)
12 or 15 months to 3, 4 or 5 years
Treating an object as a different object
2 to 3 or 4 years
Misnaming objects or actions
3 to 5 years
Playing with word sounds (not meanings)
3 to 5 years
Non-sense word combinations
3 to 5 years
Distortion of features of objects, actions or people
3 to 5 years
“pre-riddles”
Children this age almost “get” jokes or riddles such as knock, knock jokes but then will attempt to make up there own or retell showing they do not really understand the concept of a riddle/joke
All ages
Physical comedy/slapstick
P. McGhee, Understanding and Promoting the Development of Children’s Humor, Kendall/Hunt, 2002

6 to 12 or 15 Months

2 to 3 or 4 years
The cow goes quack
“Look at the little car pushing that big motor home!”
Calling Mom Dad

3 to 5 or 7 years
“pre-riddles”
Children this age almost “get” jokes or riddles such as knock, knock jokes but then will attempt to make up their own or retell showing they do not really understand the concept of a riddle/joke

Humor Development After Age 5-7
Mastery of skills/cognitive processes will decrease the humor in previously amusing situations
Around the time of puberty, humor becomes aggressive and sexual, humor matches developmental concerns
Following disasters adolescent may “make fun” of victims as a way to distance themselves
Anxiety in the child or adolescent's own life can sometimes be managed with humor
By teen years elaborate intellectual humor is usually present

What makes young children laugh?
6 to 12 or 15 months
2 to 3 or 4 years
3 to 5 years
3 to 5 years
3 to 5 years
3 to 5 years
“pre-riddles”
Children this age almost “get” jokes or riddles such as knock, knock jokes but then will attempt to make up there own or retell showing they do not really understand the concept of a riddle/joke
All ages
Physical comedy/slapstick
P. McGhee, Understanding and Promoting the Development of Children’s Humor, Kendall/Hunt, 2002

But I’m Not Funny!
Start by finding joy
Keep a joy list or diary of things, specific things, that make you smile
Reflect on your list and find time to do the things you having been doing
Try to find the positive in most things
Play!
Humor in, humor out!
Chose a comedy over a drama
Collect books, dvds, websites that make you laugh (an amusing children’s book might be a good way to start, try Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker)
Save funny e-mail forwards in a “need a laugh” file
Post funny sayings, signs or posters to make you smile
Keep joke and riddle books around
Humorobics – training for your funny bone
Find your humor style and comfort level and move from there
Make a point of spending time with funny people
Starting with once a day and working up from there ask yourself, “How can I see this as funny?”

Things to Try in the Classroom
Keep a classroom quote book, review funny things that have happened periodically
Start the day with great, upbeat or silly music
Share a joke of the day at circle or morning meeting
Aim for “a laugh a day keeps behavior away” and attempt to increase the number of laughs weekly until you reach 15 or more – just for kicks keep data
Give yourself and other permission to laugh – make a permission slip and post it
Create a humor “center” (joke books, jokes on switches, funny videos embedded in PowerPoint or Switch It Maker, silly props, items which make funny noises, etc)
Use humor as a reward, have a kid who thinks gravity is funny, drop something every time he answers correctly
Keep an anecdotal log of what each student finds amusing to turn to when planning lessons
What else?

A Sense of Fun
From funny to fun everyday… how do we get there?
We look for ways to bring humor, amusement and joy into every activity – if it isn’t fun, it probably isn’t engaging, if it isn’t engaging maladaptive behavior will increase and learning will decrease
We work to be sure our staff and students are happy – if we aren’t happy to be there, they won’t be happy to be there
Find out what makes staff and students happy and integrate into daily experiences
We embed our IEP goals and objectives into engaging and fun activities as often as possible

Task Analysis
The Process of Breaking Down a Job or Procedure into Smaller Steps
How small the steps are depends on the needs of the learner
Different Kinds
Procedural
Hierarchical
Why do a task analysis?
To determine discrete skills that need to be learned
To determine “pre-requisite” skills to be taught OR
To determine alternate methods of meeting a “pre-requisite” of a task (accommodations, assistive technology, etc.)
To determine which steps of a task would be appropriate for learning through partial participation or other methods

From Task Analysis to Fun Analysis
Gather paper towels and spray bottle
Go to cabinet and open
Choose correct spray bottle and paper towels and remove from cabinet
Shut door cabinet door
Go to table
Spray table
Wipe areas that have been sprayed
Check work
Throw used paper towels away
Return supplies to cabinet
Task – wiping a table
Fun Ways to Practice Skills
Play Simon Says type game i.e. Simon Says find the cabinet, the table, etc.
Hide fun objects in the cabinet to find, use child’s humor level to decide what
Have relay races matching picture symbols to objects in a cabinet
Practice spraying bottles by doing craft projects, spray the teacher games, games that require aiming the bottle
Watch clips of Karate Kid to learn about “Wax On, Wax Off” and then practice
Play “basketball” type games to practice throwing away
Make up rhymes or a rap about steps
Make up a song about steps
Check with OT, PT, Speech, Vision Specialist, etc for their ideas

Try Another One
1.Place a martini glass in the freezer for a minimum of 15 minutes.
2. Place ice cubes into cocktail shaker.
3. Pour four ounces of Beefeater gin in the cocktail shaker.
4. Pour a quarter teaspoon of the vermouth into the cocktail shaker.
5. Stir with stainless steel spoon or stirrer.
6. Remove martini glass from the freezer.
7. Impale one Spanish olive on a toothpick.
8. Place the Spanish olive into the glass
9. Pour the contents of the cocktail shaker through strainer to catch the ice
10. Pour into glass
11. Drink and enjoy
Task: Perfect Martini
Fun Ways to Practice

Try it on your own!
Task
Fun

Embedded Skills
What IEP objectives do you think are being addressed here?

Embedded Instruction
Instruction of basic, life or access skills within another lesson or contextual activity
Insertion of (short) systematic instruction into the existing routines and activities
Use of incidental teaching methods (“teachable moment”) to maximum development of basic, life or access skills
Student-specific interventions are planned and embedded within the daily routine and the
Instructional materials used are accessible
Beneficial to students with low motivation or poor generalization
Also Embedded Functional Skills, Embedded Learning Opportunities (ELO), Activity Based Education

Embedded Learning Opportunity

Embedded Skills Models
Model 1 – Fully Integrated: Basic skills are integrated fully into the learning, and in the
activity, or subject matter, being interwoven with the subject, delivered through the whole
activity and, being integral to it. Here, the person/s delivering the subject or main activity
will also take on the basic skills work.
Model 2 – Sandwich Model: Here, the basic skills are delivered in a calculated and
discrete part of the time allowed for the whole activity or course, but are contextualized to
the main subject area. Often, the basic skills inputs are delivered by staff other than those
teaching the rest of the course.
Model 3 – Overlapping Circles Model: In this model, except where it is designed to
overlap, the basic skills work is neither integrated nor contextualized to the activity or
subject area.
From John Hamer (Director AlphaPlus Consultancy Ltd)
http://www.eife-l.org/publications/proceedings/kc07/John%20Hamer.ppt.pdf

Embedded Skills Chart I
Unit/Lesson Title:_____________________________________________________
Teacher: ____________________________________________________________

Embedded Skills Chart II
Lesson: ___________________________________________________________
Domain: Self-Management & Home Living Recreation & Leisure
Community Living Pre-Vocational/Vocational
Teacher: __________________________________________________________

Embedded Skills Chart II
Lesson: Germs – Green Glitter Activity Part 1
Domain: Self-Management & Home Living Recreation & Leisure
Community Living Pre-Vocational/Vocational
Teacher: Kate Ahern

Tickets To Leave
Learned
Use diaper filling for planting seeds (3)
Put a voice output switch at the bottom of a container to activate a sound reward when filled
Callier-Azuza Scale (2)
How to use humor
teechkidz@gmail.com
We are always doing embedded teaching
Learned to make boring tasks fun
Embedded skills chart (2)
To find the funny/fun (6)
Learning can be fun (2)
Task to Fun Analysis (2)
Using humor is a great way to teach
You can have fun at a training (thank you!)
Laugh More/Use humor more (4)
To create a humor center in the classroom
Humor is important (3)
Humor is a stress reliever
TV taste can reflect humor stage (2)
“down the mall”
Use humor appropriate to age/development (2)
Ways to address IEP goals that are fun and interesting
Communication development
Use an empty picture frame to reframe negative thoughts/speech (2)
Similar instructional strategies can work with diverse learners

Tickets To Leave
To be organized
Be more positive
Laugh more (3)
Help the TEAM find the funny
Keep track of “the funny” in a journal
Drink a Guinness in Dublin
Fly on a plane calmly
To find the fun/funny (7)
Green Glitter (2)
To do more to help me relax (2)
Laugh 15 times a day/laugh more (2)
Embedded skills chart (2)
Bathmat with sensory “fingers”
A switch in the bottom of a container
Will try in the future
To have more fun (2)
Be happy/smile more
Do more things I like
Use humor in the classroom (2)
Be happier
Create a quote book
Worm measuring
Task analysis (2)
Classroom “fun” picture
Picture frame to reframe negativity (3)
Make my joy/happy list longer/use joy/happy list (3)

Tickets To Leave
Bring my own/more coffee/drinks/snacks (5)
Get sound in SMART Board
Eat a better lunch/breakfast (4)
Homework
Don’t worry about work and have fun
Drink wine
Look for theme ideas
Take time to do something that makes me smile/I like/something for me (4)
Stay on task
Wear socks
Fun something fun to do with students
Dress warmer/layer/cooler (2)
Talk to new/different people
Try new things
Relax in class
Visibly respond to questions
Commitment for today
More sleep (4)
Use music/listen to favorite music (change the station) (2)
Scrapbook for 30 mins
Make that appointment
Go to the playground
Laugh more (2)
Find the fun/funny (3)
Be on time
Have a positive/humorous outlook (2)
Finish project
Take a walk with my son
Use the skills I learned
Listen better
Grocery shop

What I Learned from Tickets To Leave
Many people learned/will try/commit to various versions of being positive/finding the funny
Many people found practical ideas useful (switch in a jar, Callier-Azuza, picture frame, seeds in diaper filling, worm racing)
Some people found task analysis and embedded skills charting to be useful and will try again
Many people will try/commit to doing more for themselves which will impact teaching
Listening and paying attention might have been difficult for some
Some people felt shy or had trouble getting to know different people
There were some comfort issues (temperature, hunger, thirst, tiredness) that may have interfered with learning and impact experience in training
Therefore I learned what people found most useful, that many people would like to do more to find their own joy and I commit to trying to keep the energy level up

Bring it back
How can you use a strategy like Ticket to Leave in your job?
With peers?
With the TEAM?
With staff?
With students?
With parents or caregivers?
ticket

Reframe this! Warm up
Pick a partner you do not know.
I mean it. You can not know this person.
Take turns reframing situations that I put on the screen.
Avoid sarcasm, because while it is finding the funny it has no place in the classroom – it can be destructive and our students don’t understand it, but often times do understand the tone of voice that goes with it.

“For crying out press your switch before I hit my retirement!”

“Are you serious? You want me to clean up this mess?”

“All the adults need
to stop talking! The
students are trying
to work!”

“What were they thinking? This is never going to work!”

“Did you see that? Some jerk took my parking place!”

“Oh, no! She got her lunch all over my shirt!”

“How rude! He just asked me if I had garlic for lunch!”

“Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility.”
-Rosabeth Moss Canter

Enhance your creativity
Instead of “If only…” ask “What if…”
Immerse yourself in a topic that inspires you
Turn questions into quests
Network with creative people and avoid of the uninspired
Give yourself time to be creative
Be proactive “It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.”
Build up and out – add other ideas and use lateral thinking
Change the question
Consider a reverse mentor
Get enough sleep!
Play every day!
Adapted from http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/10/04/how-to-be-curious/
http://www.oprah.com/article/spirit/knowyourself/200809_omag_mind_map

Creativity Challenge 1
All of the other students and staff in your classroom (or the classroom you spend the most time in) are late. It is just you and ____________.
Your classroom has a very bizarre and terrible odor, so you are spending the morning an empty office. There is no where else to go and nothing else to do.
You must create an engaging, appropriate and educational activity for your student using only the materials you have on the table in front of you right now.
You may not pick up anything off the floor, take anything out of your purse, bag or pocket.
You may not talk or chat.
You have three-five minutes to list everything you can think of to engage your student.
Tip: Find the funny!

7 Qualities of a creative team
Innovation emerges over time
Successful collaborative teams practice deep listening
Team members build on their collaborators’ ideas
Only afterwards does the meaning of each idea become clear
Surprising questions emerge
Innovation is inefficient (and that’s ok)
Innovation emerges from the bottom up (those who need a solution find a solution)
Adapted from Sawyer, R. K. (2007) Group genius: the creative power of collaboration.
Basic Books: New York.

Creativity challenge 2
Your classroom is in charge is washing all of the empty individual sized soda bottles in the entire building so another class can bring them to the recycling center.
June 1st you discover 5 enormous garbage bags of clean, empty soda bottles and you mention this to your boss (your pretend boss who is, of course, nothing like your wonderful, real boss). Your boss tells you that you must use every single soda bottle in the bag for an educational activity by the last day of school. After finding the funny in that you and your team get down to business.
You and your team have 3-5 minutes to list every possible educational activity that can be done with an empty, clean individual sized soda bottle.

Creativity Challenge Analysis
Benefits/drawbacks of working alone
Benefits/drawbacks of working as a team

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that creativity.”
-Charles Mingus

Creative Fun with Assistive Technology
If it takes longer than 30 seconds to set it, it will not be used
Re-think how you use everyday AT Scattergories
Single message switches (BigMack)
Dual message switches (iTalk2)
Sequential message switches (Step-by-Step)
Multiple message devices
Battery Interrupters
AC Interrupters (Powerlink)

Theme Units
Thematic Units are a means to bring integrated instruction into the self-contained special education classroom.
Age Appropriate Topics
Functional and Meaningful
Partial Participation
Embedded Skills
Strategies and Assistive Technology to Increase Participation, Learning and Fun
Enhances Dignity and Self-Worth
Fun!

Steps to Unit Design
Choose a topic
Let student passions guide you
Match to grade levels standards/topics
Gather resources
Search the web
Go to special education sharing web sites (Adapted Learning, Intelliools Exchange)
The library (and book store if you are wealthy!)
See if there are any topic specialists (electrician? Film maker?) who might like to visit
Consult paraprofessionals and therapy team to see how they would like to contribute
Determine activities for curriculum areas and domains
Create fun and exciting lesson plans that embed skills and address objective
Consider a culminating activity to make a big finish
Adapted from http://www.lindaslearninglinks.com/theunit.html

Things to consider when creating a thematic unit:
What do I want the students to know and be able to do at the end of the unit?
What functional skills can be embedded into the unit?
What instructional strategies will be needed?
What activities should be presented?
How can the lessons be taught in a multisensory manner?
What assistive technology will be needed to access lessons and or functional outcomes?
How will you evaluate outcomes?

Unit Planning
Topic:
Age-Appropriate:
How can it apply to each academic area?
How can it apply to each domain?
How does it apply to relevant state standards?
How can the unit be carried over into every area of our schedule?
How can I involved related service providers/become involved as a related service provider to enhance carry over?
How can I involve caregivers and families?
Is there an enticing culminating event or project that can be included (and used as a reward)?

How will the unit address:
Curriculum Areas (and Standards) in:
Reading/Literacy
Phonics
Sight words
Symbol recognition and use
Listening comprehension
Math/Numeracy
Quantitative concepts
Counting, 1:1 correspondence
Patterns
Sequencing
Time
Money
Science/Health
Basic concepts
Application of science principles
Social Studies/History
Self awareness
Interpersonal awareness
Personal Information
Knowledge of family
Knowledge of school
Knowledge of community
Knowledge of state/country
Art
Music

Functional Domains
Communication
Choice making
Communicate wants/needs
Commenting
Pragmatics
AAC (low-tech/high-tech)
Vocalizations or speech
Co-active movement
Gross Motor
Postural control
Mobility
Throwing/kicking
ROM
Fine Motor
Reach
Grasp
Other hand skills
ROM
Self-Management /Self-Help/ADLs
Hygiene
Dressing
Feeding
Directing own care
Self-advocacy

Domestic Skills/ADLs
Cleaning
Cooking
Safety
Accessing home technology (microwave, etc)
Social Skills/Behavior
Eye contact
Self-control
Ability to wait
Self-advocacy
Self-regulation of sensory system
Self-monitoring
Community Living
Transportation
Shopping
Money handling
Following community rules
Safety skills
Leisure and Recreation
Choosing activities based on preference
Turn taking
Ball skills
Game skills
Accessing leisure technology (TV, DVD, stereo)

My FormatPick a topic and brainstorm activities for:
Reading/Literature
Math/Numeracy
Science/Health
Social Studies
Cooking and other Life Skills
Communication
Fine Motor
Community Based Instruction
Sensory Activities
Arts and crafts
Music
Adapted Physical Education/Fitness
Online Activities
Multi-media

Assignment
Choose a theme unit and answer the questions in unit planning
Brainstorm at least five possible lessons in different curriculum areas or domains
Design one lesson for the unit
Be creative
Break down tasks and find the fun
Embed skills
Use Assistive Technology
You and your team will present:
Your theme idea and answers to the unit planning questions
Your five (or more) lesson ideas
An overview of the one lesson you have planned including IEP objectives being addressed and embedded and how you will use AT

Final Ticket To Leave
What one thing from this workshop do you want to still be using/doing in October:
For your students?
For your TEAM?
For your self?
Find the funny – what is the funniest thing that happened in the past two days (preferable at this workshop… but if you were bored to tears you can use something outside of the workshop)?

From Iep Objective To Fun

by Kate Ahern on Jun 25, 2009

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