September 14, 2021 Mini Grants

Check out a few of the projects from the Mini Grant submissions.  

Creating an adapted environment to promote daily living and vocational skills for students transitioning from school based services to a post-secondary environment

Southwest Cook County Cooperative Association for Special Education

Sayard Bass, Assistant Technology Coordinator  sbass@swccase.org

This project was designed to promote daily living skills for transitioning from school based services to a post-secondary environment by leveraging 3-D printing technology and other low tech assistive technologies to provide more resources to staff and students and expand Assistive Technology Consideration for Transition.  This projected allowed for the creation of a library of tangible items for use in the environment at the transition center as well as the creation of a database of files accessible to create new items or print items for individual use. This group effort between classroom teachers, OT, AT, and Vocational teachers resulted in items that have been made available for individual OT sessions with students and borrowed from the center for use in home therapy treatment.  Items were distributed to classroom teachers who wanted to “try out an item” for student use.

 

Adapted Physical Education Assessment Scale (APEAS) and Assistive Tech Equipment (Digital Visual Timers and Arm Ergometers)

Southwest Cook County for Special Education

Dave Markusic, APE Teacher  dmarkusic@swccase.org

The APEAS II assessment was administered to the cooperative’s students and member district students who have been referred for evaluations for adapted physical education services or were scheduled for their triennial re-evaluations. SWCCCASE APE teachers administered the APEAS to students attended in-person learning.  The experiences of team members using the APEAS were extremely positive. Team members identified the APEAS as “much better than other assessment tools” and was an effective tool for assessment of student eligibility, evaluation, baseline data and placement.   Results from the assessment were used to create more appropriate IEP goals, collect baseline data in the IEP, communicate with parents and team members and  assist in the determination of the most appropriate setting in which to receive PE services.

Engagement though Pear Deck in the Concurrent Classroom

Oswego Community School District 308

Raggin Sondgeroth, Special Education Teacher  rsondgeroth@sd308.org

Through the purchase of Pear Deck which allowed teachers to add interactive components to their virtual classrooms, this project was designed to increase engagement, collect formative data and monitor student interaction.   Teachers in concurrent classrooms (students attending class in person and others attending virtually) needed additional supports and resources to engage all of their students.   Pear Deck allowed our teachers to quickly add interactive components to their instruction through Google slides. Easy to access templates allowed for teachers to have students either interact with the content in real time or complete self-paced modules. The teachers monitored students’ feedback in the teacher dashboard and prompted students to complete the interactive tasks. They were able to see in real-time who had mastered the concept and needed additional support so they could adjust their instruction accordingly.  Instructional coaches provided training to teachers and paraprofessionals using content from upcoming lessons through  coaching, planning, and modeling sessions.  

ASK an ATTORNEY

We are bringing this feature back:  Ask an Attorney. This is your opportunity to ask our IAASE Attorneys any questions.  They will provide monthly updates via the IAASE Blog. Click here to contribute to the IAASE ASK an ATTORNEY form. The first update will be in September.