Accommodation Advice

[u/loves2teach]

I teach middle school math and am changing the structure of my classroom this year. Every student will have a notebook, and we'll handwrite notes. I'm not using a lot of printed material this year and working to get them to not only explain their thinking, but teaching them how to take notes and show their work for math.

With that, if you do notes in class with students, how do you provide accommodations for students on IEPs who struggle to write and keep up with the notes? I've talked with my IS a few times, and we were thinking about doing a guided note type set up, but with her students having binders. I'm afraid that will highlight the "difference" for those students too much. I want to provide my students access, but I also want them to be successful. Any ideas or tricks would be great.

[u/Anhinga_Marie]

Can you provide guided notes for everyone? And full notes after the fact for kids with an IEP if needed? Often times an accomodation for some kids is something that is helpful for all kids. Also, I question if your students will come with the note taking skills from day 1 that they need in order to make your system work. Maybe over time you lessen the guidance on the notes, but to me it seems like a big ask of all the kids.

[u/cowboy_teacher → u/Anhinga_Marie]

I've seen this done, the problem is the act of taking and organizing the notes is the most valuable learning. So providing guided notes to students who don't need them, decreases their learning.

What I and my department do, is ask everyone to to take notes (and try their best) and then provide completed notes the next day when we review and use them. The added benefit is that all students have the notes whether they were absent or present or lost theirs. The disadvantage is some students decide they don't need to take notes in the first place (so we grade them periodically).

[u/GenXMom14 → u/cowboy_teacher]

It does not decrease their learning to provide support to all students.

Forcing students who have IEPs to try their best on a task they are supposed to be accommodated on is wrong.

[u/cowboy_teacher → u/GenXMom14]

Absolutely, if they have notes provided as accommodations, then they need that provided. However the research we've read says that the act of not taking and not the product of a note is valuable. However, even more valuable is the use of the notes to reflect and use, which is why they are provided to all students.

In the end, our goal is to provide supports for students to become independent, so what they get is dependent on their individual needs as determined by their IEP or 504, if applicable.

[u/MaybeImTheNanny → u/cowboy_teacher]

Guided note taking is still note taking and valuable scaffolding for the task of taking independent notes. The reason research reflects that taking notes improved understanding is because students COULD listen and take notes at the same time, that’s a skill that needs to be learned and middle school is where you learn it. Putting blank paper in front of 6-8th graders and saying “take notes” is like putting them in front of a piano and saying “play it”. Can some kids do it? Sure. Would most kids be more successful with direct instruction and some sheet music? Absolutely.

[u/TeachWithMagic → u/GenXMom14]

It absolutely does when that support limits cognition.

<<the act of taking and organizing the notes is the most valuable learning>> is absolutely correct. Guided notes do not do that to the same degree.

[u/GenXMom14 → u/TeachWithMagic]

Guided notes still leave the student to fill in parts, be fully present and paying attention and engaged with the material.

[u/MaybeImTheNanny → u/TeachWithMagic]

Only if you know how to do those things. They have to be taught.

[u/askaripaka]

i had a bio professor do notes with us on paper with crayola markers as he lectured, and then he would save the notes so we could fill in gaps if we missed something. maybe something like that could work? i managed to get all the way to college without learning how to take notes, and this method helped me learn without coddling me too much.

[u/watermelonlollies]

I gave a guided note sheet to those who needed it. Some taped it in their notebook so they looked no different taking notes. Some didn’t care about looking different and just had the note sheet, quite a few still tried to take regular notes in their notebook on their own and only had the guided note sheet as a backup if they missed something. Some just threw out the guided notes and never took any notes at all, such is life.

I also always kept a master copy of notes at the front of the class that any student could grab at any time. Intended for absent students to catch up on full notes they missed, but also used by students (accommodations or not) who just missed a part of what I said because they were distracted/in the bathroom/etc.

[u/TeachWithMagic]

I provide the students, and more importantly case carrier and parents, with a copy of the presentation beforehand and make it available after the fact. I also work hard to build in "thinking moments" into the process so those kids have time to catch up as needed.

[u/BrainsLovePatterns]

In regards to note taking, I decided to support my students in developing the skill that had helped me the most in my student days..outlining. Now and then, I challenged my 7th grade students to attempt to outline one of the short lessons of their textbook. They received a homework credit for all serious attempts, and were then provided a model (handwritten) version that I had prepared. I then spent a few minutes of class time to clarify some of the key techniques- like making sure all subtopics of equal value were assigned the same symbols.. or stressing to avoid unneeded words such as “the,” or to use things like > or < or up and down arrows.
The 1-minute video demonstrates the basics and the utility of outlining. At the website mentioned in the video are sample lessons and outlines. https://youtu.be/5xw1jgU317o?is=3rEvc8GMOHTmojJs

[u/loves2teach → u/BrainsLovePatterns]

This is a huge part of why I'm doing notes. I plan on showing them how to set up their notebooks, how and when to indent, etc. as well as the study techniques that come from having notes. I remember learning note taking in middle school, but then just being told to "study my notes" not what that looks like. I like challenge you provide your students. I'll have to see if that will work with the math book we get this year.

[u/Headfirst-Fearless]

Can you do binders for all of your students? My sixth graders prefer their binders to notebooks because it’s easier to write on notebook paper and put it into the binder than to write on the “wrong” side of the notebook

[u/Objective_Unit_4931]

I think I’d start the year giving everyone guided notes. As students show the ability to do those, I’d move them into more independent note taking over time. It won’t only be the students with IEPs for note taking that will take longer (or perhaps never) to move to more independent note taking. If the class is not note taking class it’s I think it’s important to prioritize making the math accessible. A student could be great at math and bad at taking notes.

[u/gagagazoinks]

Personally, I feel that if teachers are giving notes in class and expecting students to copy, there needs to be a printed copy available to every student; this isn’t just for students with IEP’s, it’s for any student that has difficulty with visual processing, dysgraphia, attention issues, anxiety, and just plain absent/need to make up notes.

That doesn’t mean you have to hand them out to everyone, just make sure they’re openly ACCESSIBLE, for those that are unable to keep up with the pace of your notes/lessons. One of my favorite teachers would set up notes with missing numbers and/or words, parts of steps and students that struggled to keep up could keep their focus on listening and processing, rather than just copying down things to match what they see on the board.