The followings are some topics that I truly enjoy learning and sharing with others.
Classroom holistic approach
Setting an inclusive classroom environment.
- The broad scope of the term “inclusive classroom”.
- How to design classroom environments that welcome diversity.
- Practice.
- Inclusive classrooms are born and nurtured through the teacher: the role of the teacher.
- Seven personality traits of a teacher (orquestrator, motivator, illuminator…)
- Learning styles and how to design classroom environments that welcome them.
- How to design inclusive classroom lesson plans.
- What are Accommodations and modifications and the role they play inside inclusive classrooms.
- How to implement accommodations and modifications in an inclusive learning environment.
- Practice.
An IEP or Individual Educational Program, is the next step once the child/teenager is being diagnosed.
- The implication an Individual Educational Plan has on the child’s growth and the reasons why you, as a parent and your child, should be active in the process of creating it.
- Data gathering outside school and the importance of teamwork: family and school together.
- The family’s role while designing and implementing an IEP.
- What are accommodations and modifications? How to get the best out of them in every setting possible, including outside-school activities.
- Parents need to be ready to make personal modifications in order to achieve social/emotional and academic goals faster in their children
- Practice.
How to design and maintain a safe and supportive classroom environment that promotes students’ achievements.
- Emotional education: definition.
- The role of emotional education inside the classroom. Concrete examples.
- The emotionally competent teacher.
- How to deal with teacher’ stressful emotions inside the classroom. Practice
• Role and responsibility of the teacher in the learning process: Do I really want to be a teacher?
• Self-evaluation / evaluation practice.
• An emotionally competent student.
• Diagnosis and management of the student’s emotions in the classroom.
• Characteristics of a class that promotes a stable emotional environment.
• How to design measurable and appropriate challenging objectives that do not develop students’ stress.
• Practice.
Learning disabilities and family support
Definitions and differences among learning disabilities, learning difficulties, developmental delay, developmental disability and social emotional difficulties. The social emotional implications for the student and his/her family.
- The importance of being familiar with these concepts to avoid careless informal diagnostics.
- Informal observations: no evaluations. The fundamental role of the teacher during data gathering. Practical examples of observation and data gathering techniques to use inside and outside the classroom and in family settings.
- Parents also have learning difficulties or disabilities. How to develop a sense of empathy and how to help their children academically and emotionally in order to reduce behavioral issues and improve their self-esteem.
- How to use the three “magic” levels of communication: information, thoughts and feelings, to approach and engage parents when behavioral or academic issues are present.
- Practice
How to take care of yourself as a parent, caregiver, or teacher when faced with diagnose or difficult behavior. Once parents and teachers realize there is a difficulty, then:
- Where do I go? What can I do? What should I not do? And now what? An empathy approach and the steps to face a diagnosis in a holistic way.
- What social, emotional and academic behaviors in children and teenagers should ring alarm bells for you as a parent and teacher.
- Helping parents to overcome the denial step and go into action. Three levels of communication:
- Environmental implications of a given diagnosis in the family dynamic and its adaptations.
- How to set family environments without neglecting the life as a couple.
- Practice.
The greatness of having Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Disorder with impulsiveness.
- Who are the only physicians qualified for the diagnosis?
- Super strengths and difficulties those persons have while learning. Practical examples of how to boost them during learning stages.
- The academic and behavioral accommodations/modifications inside academic settings that aim to enhance strengths.
- Fundamental modifications in home settings as well as within the family and relatives circle to boost children’s self-esteem.
- Some tips for parents and teachers to reduce the daily stress produced when interacting with ADD persons.
- How to promote maintenance and generalization of positive behaviors.
- Practice.
Lesson Planning and the learning environment for students with difficulties or learning disabilities.
- Characteristics of a lesson plan that reproduces inclusion.
- Basic elements of effective lesson plans.
- How to design lesson plans that promote inclusion inside the classroom.
- How to design measurable short and long-term goals and keep track of them.
- The different types of curricula and examples of how to adapt them for students with learning disabilities
- How to adapt materials within the regular classroom for students with learning disabilities.
- Constructing the learning environment.
- Different ways to support student’s emotional growth: types of reinforcement.
- Practice.
Implementing a unique approach for a child/teenager/young adult
Behavior issues: FBA or Functional Behavior Assessment: three types of FBA used for children/persons with autism and/or social emotional issues.
- Definition and the advantages of having an FBA in order to reduce social emotional behavioral issues as much as possible.
- The right timing to implement a FBA.
- What type of behaviors, circumstances and environments inside the classroom, outside the classroom and at home trigger behaviors?
- How to design a Behavior Intervention Plan that involves clearly the aspects that trigger behaviors.
- The fundamental role of family and school for implementation, monitoring and improvements when needed.
After the Functional Behavior Assessment is ready, now it is time to design the individual BIP or Behavior Intervention Plan.
- Needed steps before implementing a BIP
- Definition and criteria for using a BIP
- The persons that should be involved in this process in order to generalize behaviors in different settings.
- The role and design of measurable behavioral objectives.
- Reinforcements: types of reinforcements and how to use them in different settings.
- How to design a BIP.
- Practice.
IEP or Individual Education Plan: the academic plan to assist students with learning disabilities.
- The role and types of objectives used when designing an IEP.
- Importance of identifying students’ strengths.
- Identifying individual reinforcers and how to use them.
- Stages of an IEP and how to design an IEP
- The relationship between individual materials design and strengths.
- Implementation, data gathering and how to use data in order to record students’ growth.
- The role of the student and family during the design and implementation stages.
- Practice.
Adaptations and modifications. Two different tools needed to work with students with learning disabilities, learning difficulties and academic and behavioral issues.
- Definition and examples of adaptations in school and family environments.
- Definition and examples of modification in school and family environments.
- Steps to follow for the evaluation and identification of strengths and growth possibilities required in the implementation of adaptations and modifications.
- Types of adaptation according to: learning disability, learning difficulty, and social-emotional behavioral issues.
- How to use adaptations inside and outside the classroom. Practice.
- Types of modification according to the learning disability, learning difficulty, or the social-emotional behavioral issues.
- How to use modifications inside and outside the classroom. Practice.
- The role of the family when modifications and / or adaptations are needed at home as well.
- Steps to follow in order to implement odifications and adaptations at home.
- Practice
Teaching and learning in different settings
Exploring the frontier of the teacher’s inner life inside the classroom.
- Why are you here in this lecture? What are your real motivations behind your choice?
- Three components that go to class along with the teacher: intellect, emotion and spirit. How they affect the teaching performance.
- The way you love yourself is the way you love your students, your family and your colleagues.
- Identify and integrity inside the classroom. Definitions.
- The role of teacher’s identity and integrity inside the classroom.
- Loosing our teaching motivation: main factors
- Listening to yourself first, and then the students. Why is it a must?
- Tips for healthier happier lives. Practice.
- Practice
How disciplined are you as a teacher? Classroom discipline.
- The relationship between context, discipline and self-discipline.
- Discovering the levels of self-discipline. Impact of this at work level. Self appraisal.
- Cognitive therapy and personal successes. “Reformatting” the mind to achieve positive behavioral changes.
- Tools to improve self-discipline by using Cognitive Therapy. Practice.
- Self leadership. Identifying personal strategies Practice.
- Objectives at the discipline level. Types of objectives. Steps to create, implement and monitor them. Practice.
- Disruptive behaviors. Origin and “reading” of said behaviors. Practice.
- Intervention plan for disruptive behavior in the work environment. Step by Step.
The undeniable influence of social and emotional issues during the teaching / learning process.
- Three stress levels. Definitions and main characteristics.
- Tips to identify different levels of stress in the classroom.
- Performance of a stressed brain during the teaching learning process. Implications.
- The teacher as a stressor: “the world is exactly as we see it”. Self-evaluation and tools to reprogram your mind and brain.
- Stressful work environments. Characteristics, evaluation.
- Positive working environment. Four basic steps to implement and strategies to track improvements.
- How to consciously reduce stress in the classroom. Strategies.
- Practice.
The work environment. We are all ``heads`` of someone, what a good ``boss`` you are.
- The leader of 2019 is not the leader of 2010.
- Identify weaknesses and strengths to succeed. Self-evaluation and Practice.
- Difference between intrusive and automatic thoughts. Its impact on a personal level. Self appraisal. Practice.
- Caution and worry Caught in your own anxiety and worry. Change strategy. Step by Step. Practice.
- The negative lens. Where is the problem?
- The origin of the anger. Practice. step by step for a new approach in the face of anger.
- The personal advantages first, and then work to implement personal objectives, not labor, in the short and medium term. Step by Step. Practice.
- Your brain is the best pharmacy in the world. Six strategies Practice.
How to take advantage of learning differences (Levine,1993) to practice inclusion inside the classroom.
- What is inclusion and why work with it?
- The difference between learning differences and learning disabilities.
- Easy tests to identify and enhance learning differences inside and outside the classroom.
- The relationship between positive learning environments and learning styles.
- How to create a strengths-based approach in the classroom that embraces learning differences.
- “We are different not unequal”. Practice/hands on with skills, strategies and resources to boost learning differences.
Teaching for remembering: The role of Working Memory and Cognitive flexibility when learning a new topic.
- Working Memory. Definition and its importance for learning
- Cognitive Flexibility. Definition and its importance for learning.
- The relationship between Working Memory and Cognitive Flexibility. These two terms entail the ability to learn and save information to be used any time we need it.
- Three types of information storage. Examples and practice.
- Working memory in children from 4 to 11 years old. The role of the teacher.
- How to teach any subject that enhances both of them. Multiple examples in different settings.
- Practice.
The importance of learning to detect early signs of social emotional issues, and how they impact the child as well as the family.
- What is discipline and what is disciplining
- Your levels of discipline. Self-evaluation.
- Parents’ need to understand the importance of discipline and how discipline can help their sons and daughters for the rest of their lives.
- The serious implications at social/emotional level of misconceptions about discipline in children and teenagers.
- The social emotional issues the lack of discipline creates in children and teenagers, as well as adults.
- The right time to implement an intervention plan in order to achieve behavior and social/emotional stability.
- Steps to implement, to follow and to monitor behavior.
- Strategies to monitor and to implement changes to achieve short- and long-term objectives.
- Practice.
Autism and Behavior
Broad approach towards unique aspects of Autism.
- Criteria for diagnosis: signs, symptoms., characteristics.
- Developmental red flags.
- What causes of autism.
- Diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder: who is and who is not allowed to give a diagnosis. Standardized assessment tools.
- The importance and future implications of recognizing individual strengths in a person with autism.
- The importance of brain plasticity for cognitive training.
- Behavioral interventions.
- Practice.
ABA or Applied Behavior Analysis: the use of behavioral principles for issues that are socially important.
- Relationship between autism and ABA.
- Ten principles that define this scientific discipline.
- A B C or antecedent/behavior/consequence. Three fundamental aspects for any behavior intervention.
- Understanding the function of the behavior.
- Antecedent description and data gathering.
- Behavior description and data gathering.
- Consequence description and data gathering.
- Hands on/practice once data is gathered to create/design the plan.
Cognitive development factors with emphasis in communication: from 0 to 2 years old.
- Definition.
- Stages in communication development.
- Clear traits that mark the baby’s current mental stage.
- How to nourish with your communication some baby developmental factors.
- The parietal lobe and the amygdala. Their role in communication.
- Warning signs for possible Autism.
- Parents and caregivers together in the search for help
The autistic child and family dynamics
- Diagnostic criteria: signs, symptoms, characteristics.
- Diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder: authorized personnel to give a diagnosis.
- Communication dynamic between the autistic child and his/her family. Understanding the dynamics of communication and practical exercises.
- The impact of social interaction in the autistic child’s family.
- Definition and use of accommodations. Practice of some home accommodations.
- Step by step guidance on how to implement routines according to the level of diagnosis. Practice.
- Last minute plan changes guidance. Practice.
Step by step guidance for teachers with ASD students.
- Personal and professional profile of a teacher in an inclusive classroom.
- Teachers self-skills assessment to evaluate strengths and weaknesses with focus on training opportunities.
- Main traits autistic students have.
- The importance for the teacher to be aware of autistic traits in order to achieve a healthy relationship between teacher and student.
- Understand and identify factors that influence the behavior of autistic children in the classroom.
- Stages of an intervention plan. Practice.
- Stages of a Behavior Support Plan for autistic students. Practice.
- Stages of a Behavior Support Plan for teachers with autistic students. Practice.
- Accommodations. Definition and practice of accommodations for autistic children with a mild or moderate diagnosis severity.
- Modifications. Definition and practice for autistic children with a mild or moderate severity level
