Drink the Coffee. Teach the Things.

In my EDU 211 class, we often discussed the value of evidence-based practices to guide our teaching. We explored a plethora of evidence-based practices used by teachers, and then went into the field and watched our own CTs use them. I left the class having a lot of knowledge surrounding the idea of evidence-based practices, but discovered a hole in my understanding during our EDU 342 class about data. I never thought about how the "evidence" part, and where teachers get their evidence from. I just assumed that an education researcher conducted a study and proclaimed a certain practice to be "evidence-based", and then everyone used that practice in their classrooms. It never dawned on me that teachers frequently use their own class data as evidence to create their own evidence-based practices. It makes perfect sense, considering every class is different, just as every student is different. Teachers use their own data to tailor their instruction and interventions spec...

Emotional and Behavior Disorders (EBD) is the term that encompasses all emotional and behavior disorders. The textbook defines Emotional Disorders as " The internalization of difficulties and challenges, which can lead to stress, depression, and anxiety that interfere with life" (G-4). Behavior Disorder is defined as "A condition in which a student consistently violates social and school rules and disrupts the classroom and requires educational action to meet success" (G-2). This category of disorders/disabilities is both specific and broad. The spread of emotional and behavior disorders is broad, yet the manifestation of EBD is specific to an individual student. In this blog post, I want to discuss four friends who collectively have helped me unpack EBD. The first two friends, Jim and Molly, come from the textbook. They are both eight years old, and have EBD, but they are extremely different. Jim externally deals with his emotions. He is extremely aggressive and ...

The Least Restrictive Environment is defined by IDEA as: "To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily” 20 U.S.C § 1412(a)(5)(A). In other words, the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is the educational setting that is deemed to foster the most success for students with disabilities. There are many components and things to consider when finding the LRE for each student. This can include:  This list is not exhaustive, but it does show that deciding the LRE for a student with a disability is not simple or easy. P...