For Teachers
For this section, I conducted an interview with Jeneille Branen, a teacher with years of experience in a school that follows an Expeditionary Learning model, a model that has been shown to be very effective for non-neurotypical children. In her years as a teacher and administrator she has had to deal with many neurodivergent students, myself included, and did a fantastic job of reaching them and having a high level of engagement in her classrooms. The interview has six questions, and is transcribed as follows:
My name is Jeneille Branen, and I have been in education serving students and families and supporting teachers and educators over the past 25 years. I started my career teaching kindergarten-3rd grade in Arizona and Illinois while my husband pursued his master's degree. We moved back to his hometown in 2002 where we both continued advanced degrees at the University of Idaho. I then taught several different education courses for the University while I was raising both my daughters. In 2009, Palouse Prairie Charter School was opening, and I fell in love with the model and received the kindergarten position. After teaching for three years, there was leadership turnover, and I moved into a co-leadership model and served as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for three years. I shifted into the full Executive Director role when my co-leader moved. I was in that position for six years. I was profoundly impacted by the dedication of the staff and the impact this model of education can have on students and staff, including my own two daughters.
1) In my research I have found alternative forms of education to be incredibly effective for increasing engagement and learning outcomes especially in non-neurotypical children, but they seem to be underutilized in the classroom. Why do you think that is or what makes these things so hard to integrate into the classroom?
Alternative schools operate with a different approach or different model of education and it takes time to fully implement a new model of learning for teachers. Therefore, often new teachers don't have all the tools to fully engage all learners immediately. They also don't receive this type of training in their undergraduate education. As a result, this training falls on the school by which they are employed and requires additional professional development. Schools also only focus on a few work plan goals a year to support student achievement, and all professional development is focused on those goals. New staff or staff that may have missed training related to total participation techniques and differentiation need to "catch up" on that professional development, which can be very challenging. Bottom line, it takes time to master these skills.
2) Even if curriculums can’t be changed due to state or school requirements, what are aspects of those things or just strategies in general that you’ve found to be effective reaching students specifically those that may have a learning disorder?
Building strong relationships with students and deeply understanding them well is the most effective strategy in supporting them in the classroom. Students need to feel safe, understood to be successful. Differentiating curriculum so all students can have an access point to the learning is vital for their success as well, regardless of the adopted curriculum.
3) when you had a student with ADHD that wasn’t learning well or that was some way problematic in the classroom, how did you approach that situation?
First, I build a strong classroom culture, so students feel safe to work in collaborative groups, share their thinking and seek support when needed. I also use a variety of assessment tools to fully understand the student's readiness for the content. When planning lessons, I consider their learning profile, interests and modify lessons by differentiating the content, process and provide respectful tasks and flexible grouping. Other approaches include providing frequent physical and mental breaks in the learning.
4) There are programs such as IEPs and 504s that can create learning or behavioral plans for students that need them, have you found these to be effective and are there any issues with these programs?
I do find these to be very effective for a child. Those plans include lower student-to-teacher ratios, modifications to be more successful in the learning, alternative settings, adaptations of timelines, materials and supplemental interventions. All of this helps a child get an equitable education. However, the biggest challenge educators face in implementing 504's is remembering all the modifications when having a full class size and implementing them consistently.
5) research shows play to be extremely effective in engaging students, but have you personally seen the benefit of allowing children to have free play time throughout the day?
There is quite a bit of research that supports this idea and I firmly believe it is crucial to all learners of all ages. However, it has been very challenging to provide enough time to implement the research based on the State guidelines of providing a certain amount of instructional minutes throughout the day. The teacher is very limited in providing breaks, especially the older they [students] get, to be in compliance with state law. Teachers try to mitigate this by using strategies to get moving while learning. In addition, in my school, we worked hard to mitigate this by having physical education four days a week and a full day of outdoor adventure with a learning focus. I felt those students that struggled the most in the classroom truly thrive in these elements, making them feel more successful as a learner.
6) how have you seen alternative styles of learning be effective in reaching students with learning disorders or that struggled in more standardized curriculums?
Based on my experience, I can only speak about the EL Education model of education. This model employs several research-based practices that support all students in accessing the learning. Students are engaged in active learning through different types of protocols, student engaged assessments. The following is an example of this approach. In a traditional classroom, students are seated in their desks or tables and asked questions about the content and only a few students are called on to answer. Many students will disengage. In an EL Education classroom, a teacher will use a protocol to have more active learning such as a "Back to Back, Face to Face" protocol. This protocol has all students stand up, find a partner and stand back to back. The teacher will then ask a question about the content and then ask the students to go face to face and share their thoughts. During that time the teacher also listens in to what the students are sharing and reinforces their thinking. The process is then repeated. This is just one example of many. This type of approach allows all students to be engaged, hear the learning in a few different ways and reinforces what has just been taught. Teachers also intentionally make time in the day to build a strong classroom culture with a mindset of "sharing our similarities and celebrating our differences" so all students feel safe in sharing their thinking in whole, partner or collaborative groups.
External links and resources
For this section, I conducted an interview with Jeneille Branen, a teacher with years of experience in a school that follows an Expeditionary Learning model, a model that has been shown to be very effective for non-neurotypical children. In her years as a teacher and administrator she has had to deal with many neurodivergent students, myself included, and did a fantastic job of reaching them and having a high level of engagement in her classrooms. The interview has six questions, and is transcribed as follows:
My name is Jeneille Branen, and I have been in education serving students and families and supporting teachers and educators over the past 25 years. I started my career teaching kindergarten-3rd grade in Arizona and Illinois while my husband pursued his master's degree. We moved back to his hometown in 2002 where we both continued advanced degrees at the University of Idaho. I then taught several different education courses for the University while I was raising both my daughters. In 2009, Palouse Prairie Charter School was opening, and I fell in love with the model and received the kindergarten position. After teaching for three years, there was leadership turnover, and I moved into a co-leadership model and served as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for three years. I shifted into the full Executive Director role when my co-leader moved. I was in that position for six years. I was profoundly impacted by the dedication of the staff and the impact this model of education can have on students and staff, including my own two daughters.
1) In my research I have found alternative forms of education to be incredibly effective for increasing engagement and learning outcomes especially in non-neurotypical children, but they seem to be underutilized in the classroom. Why do you think that is or what makes these things so hard to integrate into the classroom?
Alternative schools operate with a different approach or different model of education and it takes time to fully implement a new model of learning for teachers. Therefore, often new teachers don't have all the tools to fully engage all learners immediately. They also don't receive this type of training in their undergraduate education. As a result, this training falls on the school by which they are employed and requires additional professional development. Schools also only focus on a few work plan goals a year to support student achievement, and all professional development is focused on those goals. New staff or staff that may have missed training related to total participation techniques and differentiation need to "catch up" on that professional development, which can be very challenging. Bottom line, it takes time to master these skills.
2) Even if curriculums can’t be changed due to state or school requirements, what are aspects of those things or just strategies in general that you’ve found to be effective reaching students specifically those that may have a learning disorder?
Building strong relationships with students and deeply understanding them well is the most effective strategy in supporting them in the classroom. Students need to feel safe, understood to be successful. Differentiating curriculum so all students can have an access point to the learning is vital for their success as well, regardless of the adopted curriculum.
3) when you had a student with ADHD that wasn’t learning well or that was some way problematic in the classroom, how did you approach that situation?
First, I build a strong classroom culture, so students feel safe to work in collaborative groups, share their thinking and seek support when needed. I also use a variety of assessment tools to fully understand the student's readiness for the content. When planning lessons, I consider their learning profile, interests and modify lessons by differentiating the content, process and provide respectful tasks and flexible grouping. Other approaches include providing frequent physical and mental breaks in the learning.
4) There are programs such as IEPs and 504s that can create learning or behavioral plans for students that need them, have you found these to be effective and are there any issues with these programs?
I do find these to be very effective for a child. Those plans include lower student-to-teacher ratios, modifications to be more successful in the learning, alternative settings, adaptations of timelines, materials and supplemental interventions. All of this helps a child get an equitable education. However, the biggest challenge educators face in implementing 504's is remembering all the modifications when having a full class size and implementing them consistently.
5) research shows play to be extremely effective in engaging students, but have you personally seen the benefit of allowing children to have free play time throughout the day?
There is quite a bit of research that supports this idea and I firmly believe it is crucial to all learners of all ages. However, it has been very challenging to provide enough time to implement the research based on the State guidelines of providing a certain amount of instructional minutes throughout the day. The teacher is very limited in providing breaks, especially the older they [students] get, to be in compliance with state law. Teachers try to mitigate this by using strategies to get moving while learning. In addition, in my school, we worked hard to mitigate this by having physical education four days a week and a full day of outdoor adventure with a learning focus. I felt those students that struggled the most in the classroom truly thrive in these elements, making them feel more successful as a learner.
6) how have you seen alternative styles of learning be effective in reaching students with learning disorders or that struggled in more standardized curriculums?
Based on my experience, I can only speak about the EL Education model of education. This model employs several research-based practices that support all students in accessing the learning. Students are engaged in active learning through different types of protocols, student engaged assessments. The following is an example of this approach. In a traditional classroom, students are seated in their desks or tables and asked questions about the content and only a few students are called on to answer. Many students will disengage. In an EL Education classroom, a teacher will use a protocol to have more active learning such as a "Back to Back, Face to Face" protocol. This protocol has all students stand up, find a partner and stand back to back. The teacher will then ask a question about the content and then ask the students to go face to face and share their thoughts. During that time the teacher also listens in to what the students are sharing and reinforces their thinking. The process is then repeated. This is just one example of many. This type of approach allows all students to be engaged, hear the learning in a few different ways and reinforces what has just been taught. Teachers also intentionally make time in the day to build a strong classroom culture with a mindset of "sharing our similarities and celebrating our differences" so all students feel safe in sharing their thinking in whole, partner or collaborative groups.
External links and resources