Council for Exceptional Children Spring 2022 Virtual Conference

The focus of this session will encourage teachers and administrators as you continue educating students and supporting families. We will take a trip down memory lane to uncover our passion for education that may have been buried during the pandemic.

This session will discuss the impact of trauma on students’ behavior and well-being. It will also highlight how trauma can affect teachers and the importance of self-care strategies. Content will focus on identifying behavioral responses to trauma and implementing SEL practices to support all students.

Research has shown that collaborating with families results in positive learning outcomes for students, and the challenges we faced during the 2020-21 school year underscored this need more than ever. In this session, we will discuss strategies for thoughtfully engaging families and coaching caregivers to address their child's unique needs. Participants will learn how to apply principles of adult learning when coaching families to use evidence-based interventions with their children, as well as how to increase positive caregiver-child interactions to promote learning and development. Demonstrations on how to apply these principles in face-to-face and virtual situations are included.

The Universal Design for Learning Framework Strategy Cards are interactive infographics that describe the what, why, and how of UDL implementation. The UDL Strategy Cards are a free tool to promote equitable, accessible, and student-centered educational learning environments to all students and to decrease the achievement gap among various student subgroups. Teachers and administrators can use the UDL Strategy Cards to formulate feedback and generate clear, specific, and actionable steps to improve practice when engaged in the observation and feedback cycles of the Mississippi Professional Growth System. They can also be used by Educator Preparation Programs for use in pre-service programs to demonstrate the concepts of and ways to implement Universal Design for Learning.

This session will focus on creating a path to inclusion that provides options for students who learn differently. District and building leaders will navigate the multifaceted challenges behind designing, planning, and implementing a vision of inclusion in education. Inclusion is a path, not a destination.

Running out of creative ideas for engaging students? Know your students love video games? We have just the trick to enhance social emotional learning in your classroom. Join Plainfield Public Schools and SiLAS to learn the research behind game-based learning and how we’ve used that knowledge to create virtual worlds that get students’ attention and keep them engaged. Level up your classroom with SiLAS’ universal screening tool, tiered lesson plans, and avatars.

Join us for this session on visuals. We will discuss multiple routines and activities of the school day where visuals will help students with significant disabilities have a better understanding of the routine and how to successfully complete it. Think navigation, directions, classroom order, reading, etc. Participants will be able to view visuals as well as receive visual templates that they can edit for their own use.

Special education updates, ideas, and best practices to help create learning LEAPS!

Upon completing this session, teachers and public school stakeholders will understand the importance of ensuring the appropriate placements are being assessed and considered when programming for students with disabilities. Additionally, this session will provide resources to identify positive examples of school climate factors, practices, programs and strategies associated with inclusion to increase collaboration and ultimately lead students to being placed in their true least restrictive environments.

Assistive technology promotes greater independence. It can enable students to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish without assistance from others. Technology can be used with students to enhance their reading, writing, and math skills. Assistive technology can be used to enable students to communicate their wants, needs, ideas, and desires. It can also be the bridge to social communication and the ability to participate in social interactions. Assistive technology enhances the methods of learning, communicating, and interacting.

Assistive technology promotes greater independence. It can enable students to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish without assistance from others. Technology can be used with students to enhance their reading, writing, and math skills. Assistive technology can be used to enable students to communicate their wants, needs, ideas, and desires. It can also be the bridge to social communication and the ability to participate in social interactions. Assistive technology enhances the methods of learning, communicating, and interacting.