About This Book’s Readers
This book is for general K–12 teachers, special education teachers, instructional assistants, paraprofessionals, and related service providers including but not limited to speech-language pathologists, counselors and psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, assistive technology specialists, audiology and mobility specialists, and deaf and hard-of-hearing specialists. These educators work with students who need adaptations, though not all students who need adaptations require staff support in addition to their classroom teacher. Communication, integral to systems thinking, becomes crucial to teaching via teams.
Administrators and district leaders who read this book and embrace the systems thinking mindset—focusing on relationships, responsiveness, communication, and sustainability—will clearly see that learning adaptations are not a place, a label, or a particular person. They are accommodations, modifications, and supports that meet students where they are. Making this shift in thinking allows all stakeholders to see adapting learning as an integral part of students’ learning experiences and to see the school community as a place where everyone can reap the benefits of a supportive classroom environment.
About Using This Book as a Resource
It’s important to note that when integrating accommodations and modifications, teachers must keep in mind any existing guidelines for determining how adaptations may affect students meeting graduation requirements and attaining a diploma. For those students, ensure that the provided adaptations do not alter the standards for the curriculum and that students who are receiving these supports are meeting their school’s course requirements. The question of whether the chosen adaptation changes the standards determines if it is an accommodation or a modification. Universal design for learning and accommodations that do not alter the standards provide an array of supports for students receiving a diploma.
In any respect, this book provides real-life examples and explains what adaptations an education team needs to provide for the variety of ways students learn. It highlights the intersection of Fisher and Frey’s (2015) systems thinking approach with adapted learning. Chapter 1, “Creating an Adaptation-Friendly Systems Thinking Classroom,” further discusses the principles that underlie systems thinking and, hence, Unstoppable Learning. The chapter also explores the triangle of support and universal design for learning tools, which blend with systems thinking to direct educators as they create equitable adaptations. Chapter 2, “Making Accommodations and Modifications While Ensuring Rigor,” details specific adaptations and explores gifted and twice-exceptional learners (learners who have giftedness and a disability). We discuss the different levels at and forms in which staff and peers can provide support in chapter 3, “Determining Personal Supports.” To that end, chapter 4, “Communicating With Key Collaborators,” considers the various stakeholders who co-plan together to design learning adaptations.
The driving questions that Fisher and Frey (2015) pose in Unstoppable Learning encourage educators to think deeply about their own curriculum design and presentation and the way students demonstrate their knowledge and skills. These driving questions appear in feature boxes throughout this book to take readers on an inquiry-based path to explore their pedagogical philosophy. Here are just a few of the questions that educators will answer in the course of reading Adapting Unstoppable Learning.
• What adaptations can I make to assignments and classroom activities?
• What tools facilitate universally designed lessons and support system implementation?
• How can I make adaptations while maintaining rigor?
• How can I integrate personal supports and technology into my classroom?
This books also aims to supply readers with a deep understanding of curriculum, personal, and technological supports. Three useful forms—(1) student profile, (2) infused skills grid, and (3) academic unit lesson plan—guide the reader through creating meaningful, effective adaptations. Numerous strategy examples provide readers with ideas to design an accessible lesson. It is our hope that this book provides educators with the tools necessary to teach and support all students.
CHAPTER 1
CREATING AN ADAPTATION-FRIENDLY SYSTEMS THINKING CLASSROOM
The systems thinking that creates Unstoppable Learning is integral to providing adaptations for students. Systems thinking compels educators to see the big picture and make decisions that benefit students as a learning body. Applying this thinking leads educators to the triangle of support and universal design for learning. These two key methods take a broad look at classroom needs and use specific elements within a lesson to build a fortified platform that ensures students comprehend and meet learning targets. To make these elements work together successfully and craft the content, process, and products, educators must commit to systems thinking and use the triangle of support and universal design for learning as guides to help them ensure that students receive what they need.
Systems Thinking
The educator is responsible for detecting patterns, new and recurring, so he or she can strengthen the structures that help a classroom run effectively (Fisher & Frey, 2015). Creating an effective learning environment also is characterized by an educator’s ability to identify the barriers students face and strategize the elements of a lesson to overcome those obstacles. In a systems thinking classroom and school community, all stakeholders understand that it takes a collaborative effort to ensure each student’s learning success. All stakeholders must remain aware that many elements and structures interweave and develop a thriving learning environment that responds to these interactions.
Fisher and Frey (2015) introduce the concept of systems thinking as a way educators “recognize the dynamic nature of the organized groups they operate within and … activate the right elements at the right time to reach the desired outcome” (p. 2). Within a school, a systems thinker views the classroom as a whole and meticulously identifies how various elements influence that system. The four systems thinking principles—(1) relationships, (2) communication, (3) responsiveness, and (4) sustainability—are integral to providing learning adaptations (Fisher & Frey, 2015).
Consider the importance of relationships among students and education team members (including paraprofessionals, related service providers, and families). Open lines of communication in these relationships ensure that educators are responsive to students. A sensibility for developing and maintaining relationships, engaging in ongoing communication, and being responsive brings educators full circle with sustainability as the capstone. These principles, which are discussed in the following sections, are essential to creating a culture amenable to learning adaptations within a systems thinking classroom.
Relationships
Teachers are ideally sensitive to dynamic personalities in their classrooms and strive to nurture positive relationships and maintain a safe learning climate for all students. Jason J. Teven and James C. McCroskey (1997) report that the level to which students believe their teachers care about them affects how those students perceive their own learning. Certainly, through natural human instinct, we understand how critical our interpersonal relationships and communication are to both the teaching and learning processes and the socioemotional development of students (American Psychological Association, Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education, 2015). This communication embodies many facets of teachers’ relationships with students, since thoughts