MIchelle _Sliwienski

I am a Special Education teacher in a K-12 school. My focus area is K-6th grade. I have been working with and teaching SPED students for several years. I have learned to have different items (hands on materials) available to use in my classroom. For example, last year I taught SPED middle school math, and had ELL students. When my students started the year, some could not add. By the end of the year some of students were able to divide. I have counters, number lines and lots of visuals that the students used for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I have learned to be prepared and have multiple modalities available for students because students learn differently. What works for one student, may not work for the next. I have learned to over prepare on lessons and have numerous manipulatives and visuals available not only for my SPED students, but my ELL students as well. The materials were available for all the students to use as they needed. I never singled out any student, and the materials were for all students. The students learned that the materials helped them learn and master skills. By the end of the year, some students did not need to use any of the manipulatives or visuals when they divided.