Learning About Motion and Movement in a Primary Autism ISP
Many of the special education teachers who participate in our IWB Learning Communities describe the in-class observation opportunities as being one of the best experiences of their Learning Community journey. During these job-embedded professional learning sessions, teachers are provided with the opportunity to co-plan and co-teach a differentiated lesson using their IWB with one of our Itinerant Resource Teachers. Moreover, it is within these in-class sessions, that the professional learning surrounding the use of the IWB as a tool to support differentiated learning is truly consolidated.
This week, Primary Autism ISP teacher, Lindsay Boag from H.A. Halbert Public School collaborated with one of our Itinerant Resource Teachers to create an interactive and multi-sensory science lesson on motion and movement. In this lesson, students were asked to describe, experience and explore the concepts of spinning, bouncing and rolling. Following the co-planning of the lesson, members of our IWB Learning Community, for teachers supporting students in an Autism ISP, were invited to attend the observation class and meet to discuss/debrief the lesson and tools modelled.
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This lesson employed the use of IWB tools such as:
- Containers
- Embedded/Linked Videos
- Actions
- Sound Recorder with the ActivSound System
- ActiView Document Camera
The lesson also included accommodations such as:
- Repetition
- Student Choice
- Student Special Interest Areas
- Multi-Sensory Learning (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)
- Consistent and Predictable Reinforcement
As a result of these thoughtful and appropriate tool and accommodation considerations the students of Ms. Boag’s class demonstrated prolonged engagement and attentiveness to the lesson and its activities. This ultimately resulted in an excellent morning of student learning for our students and a beneficial opportunity for professional learning for our observing teachers.
