: Everything You Need to Know to Structure A Classroom in 75 Minutes

A structured learning environment is important for success for a student with autism. Other students benefit too. Teachers have limited time to put it all together while developing meaningful individualized lessons. We will demonstrate how to implement best practices and optimize time in 75 minutes or less. First things first
Getting ready for the first day of school

Set up the classroom for success. It is never too late to restructure if things just aren’t working out right. Physical structure of the room

Refers to the way the classroom is set up and organized, the placement of furniture and materials.  Physical and visual boundaries help the child to understand where each area begins and ends and establishes the context of the environment. 

• Independent work stations
• Desks/Carrels
• Consider where you are placing students – are they distracted by other activities in the class?
• Choice centers
• Listening center
• Writing center
• Reading center
• Game center
• Puzzle center
• Sewing center
• Science center
• Group Teaching
• Reorganization areas
• 1 on 1 teaching

Structuring Tips
Have well defined areas-clear physical and visual boundaries.
Types of Boundaries

• furniture
• carpet
• tape outline
• natural boundaries such as a sandbox or blacktop
• timer or visual cue card
• organization of work space
  
• Schedules for each area
  
• Labels in each area
  
• Materials in each area should be organized & age appropriate.
  
• Minimize visual and auditory distractions of each area.
  
• Make each area viewable by an adult at all times.

Visual Instruction

• Visuals include anything the student sees: body language, objects, pictures, and printed material.
  
• Visuals should be easily recognized, easily understood, universally understood, neat, and uncluttered.
  
• Visuals should match the student’s ability level and they should be what his IEP objectives dictate.
  

Schedules

Students

• Object/Object sequence
• Picture symbols
• Pictured written list
• Written list

The key is to individualize each schedule for each student; one student may have an object system, another a picture system and another may have a written list.  Transition from one level to another can be taught by pairing levels: a picture with the written word. 

Caution when using photographs; some students may focus on minute or irrelevant details rendering the photograph ineffective for communicating the desired expectation.

Some students can handle only a portion of the daily schedule presented at one time; assess and observe to determine individual abilities.

Schedules are one of the most valuable tools of structured teaching concepts and principles for student in general education classes.

Staff

• Master schedule
• Lunches/Breaks/Planning Periods
  

Structuring the Teacher

A “disorganized” teacher must run an organized classroom for the success of students.  The students require structure and organization.

Mini schedules

• Mini-schedules can help structure each activity.
  
• Mini-schedules are the major steps of a period or an activity’s sequence.
  
• Mini-schedules often increase compliance because they increase the student’s comfort zone (predictability of what is going to happen); thus, they often reduce discipline problems.
  

Unscheduled Events

• Fire drills and anything that happens and is not indicated on the schedule can cause a student with autism to have a melt down.
  

A symbol should be chosen and taught to the student to represent this sudden change in the schedule.
Some districts choose the lightning bolt to handle these unforeseen sudden changes.

• Visual directions – teacher cues

These are visual symbols the teachers have available at all times to prompt the students. Instructional Considerations

The key to success is planning for success! Failing to plan is planning to fail.  This is the most exciting part of teaching – creating new lessons to challenge your students to experience new learning.  Students with autism want to learn and grow. 

• Thematic Lesson Plans
• IEP Work tasks
• Scripts
• Do use a systematic method to teach the student-develop a script. (Scripting is writing down the words to be used to teach a process, to use a work job, or to give a direction.)
  
• Plan the language of the script to be used.
  
• The language of a script should be simple and to the point.
  
• The script should support the visual aid/s being used to teach the student.
  
• Do use the same script over and over again for it helps the student learn the routines more rapidly.
  
• Do teach the script to all who work with the child.
  

Scripting Language
“Joane,” look.
Match this.
Looks good.
Look at this new folder game.
Find the one that is the same.
You got it correct.
A day in the life with a child with autism

We’ll take you on a visit of a classroom using examples of visuals, schedules and teaching materials.

• The bus arrives
• Check your schedule
• Curriculum, IEPs, ABCs, 123s and all of the therapies
• Lunch
• More of the Curriculum, IEPs, ABCs, 123s and all of the therapies
• Journals
• Go home

Choice-Making

Choice-making has an impact on behavior, social interactions and interpersonal cognitive problem solving

Communication, behavior and social skills are the most challenging aspects of autism

Effective social skills are important to adult success

Problem solving and social skills frequently overlap

On a daily basis people encounter situations where they must decide on a course of action to meet a need or solve a conflict and these situations frequently involve interactions with other people

The ability to make choices is an important aspect of problem solving. 

We learn to make choices by having the opportunities to do so, by expressing our preferences and by learning about different options available for us to choose from. Behavior is communication
(What to do when the dragon wins)

• Analyzing behavior – Functional Analysis
• Asking “Why?” a person is being disruptive
  
• Knowing why a behavior problem occurs helps us to decide how to treat it.
  
• Behavior Motivations/Functions
  
• Social Attention
  
• Tangibles- Material reinforcers
  
• Escape
  
• Sensory
  
• Multiple Motivations
  
• Other influences
  
• Behavior Chains
  
• Tends to happen in chains - Think links - break the chain
  
• Break the links before it gets bad
  
• Being proactive vs. Reactive
• 100%behaviors
• Filling your bag of tricks
• Getting to know the child
• Using choice making
• Teaching self-regulation strategies

Teaching Strategies That Promote Positive Behavior

• Teach communication
• Assume that what you are doing is wrong and not the fault of the child
  
• If you think child is at fault you won't go any further
  
• Choreograph people and disciplines
• Rely on data and not perceptions
• Room arrangement
• Schedules - make it predictable
• Manipulate materials so child prefers the work over the "bacon" (reinforcer item)
• Curriculum modification
• Reduce information load of task
• Teach organization
• Hard and easy tasks interspersed purposely in schedule
• Be sneaky with teaching -finessing kid with giving it a try
• Use the child’s interests
• Theory and research- kids who experience this type of teaching are more   
• likely to try the hard stuff without a behavior breakdown
• Teaching "yes" I can,
• Present expectation visually:
  
• schedules
• assignments
• rules
• Power Cards

Create Routines For All Activities

• Live and die by routines
  
• Autism is a disorder of closure;
• kid needs to know what finished is;
• teacher needs to know what finished is
• Put a red line on paper to indicate finished
  
• Identify and teach environments
• Practice in new environment
• Introduce any new situation gradually
• Only stay for a short time
• Set attainable goals
• Role play and practice prior to introducing a new situation
• Reinforce at a high rate. Reserve desirable toys or treats for introducing new situations
• Plan in advance what consequences you will use if there is a problem
• Device a token system if feasible
• Let others know in advance about special situations that may occur.
• Scripts
• Environmental stories
  
• Make structure and routine highly predictable
• Oops - social stories, quiet areas - so child knows there is safety and you have a plan
• Build on routines and build in flexibility
• Personalize Reinforcer Menus
  
• Cannot teach without good reinforcers
• Using structure can be a reinforcer
• Finishing a page can be a reinforcer
• Ritual can be reinforcing
  
• Create a Work Station
• They teach independence
• Work stations can be as portable as a 2 pocket folder
• Work stations are not only desks - think broadly
• "Trapper keepers" are portable workstations for "typical kids"
• Remember to reinforce the process of moving through the work station and not just the finished product - teach the process
• Teach kid to determine if work completed and done correctly - can do cooperative situations where kids check each others papers
• Self- evaluate - reinforce self-evaluation process in beginning even if work is not correct
• Program for All Transitions
• Transitions cause problems - treat as instructional activity
• Write IEPs for transitions
• Transition survival skills - Check schedule, look at what other kids are doing, check Power Cards, ask for help, etc.
• Role play
• Teach self-monitoring skills so they can learn to recognize their own correct performance