Teaching

See the Closed Captioning page for more information.

• Make available lecture notes for ALL your students (if you do this electronically, make sure your documents are ADA/508 compliant - See Accessible Documents page). Pedagogical options – select when you will supply notes (before, after, or during the lecture) according to your pedagogical goals, noting that many students with and without disabilities will benefit from having the notes available BEFORE the lecture; may make notes incomplete/fill-in-the-blank so students will research, review, and/or collaborate to finish them.
• Use visual, aural, AND graphic cues in notes AND during the lecture itself to communicate the structure of the lecture and to distinguish between need-to-know and nice-to-know information
• Repeat or paraphrase questions and responses.
• Break up lectures into smaller chunks (15 minutes or less) and intersperse with active learning techniques (the On Course program on campus is one source of training in active learning techniques).
• Record, or allow student to record, your lectures, on condition that recordings are for personal use only and are not to be distributed (be aware of your intellectual property rights, potential pitfalls regarding these, and remedies)
• Create examples in your lectures using students’ names (on a rotating basis) and/or interests (hobbies, recent popular films, etc.).
• Move some lecture content into other modes of presentation/learning, i.e. think/pair/square, peer lessons and presentations, etc.
• Communicate the same information through multiple modes: speech, writing on board, projected items on screen (Power Point, pad cam, image of computer screen, etc.), 3-D models, etc.

Provide instructions in at least two forms to all students: orally, on overhead projector via pad camera or computer screen (if very detailed, type up in advance and access text in flash drive or via email when needed to project), on paper handouts (can provide just one per group to save paper), at class website, via email to student(s), and so forth.

• Allow all students the option of working alone if they so choose (when your pedagogy allows).
• Use the same assigned groupings repeatedly so you can place the student with sympathetic peers, and they can capitalize on prior experience working with one another as the semester unfolds.
• Try mediating group communication electronically through chat, discussion, text messaging, or other electronic text media rather than through speech face-to-face.
• Structure differing ways of participating, including roles such as timekeeper or notetaker, to allow students with challenges to contribute meaningfully.
• Allow “peripheral participation” – with the group’s and the student’s agreement, the student may sit adjacent to the group and simply observe rather than participate fully.

See the Accessible Documents page.

• Set clear behavioral expectations in your syllabus including a sequence of consequences for violating these expectations, and review these with students in the first week.
• Provide reminders of behavioral expectations when needed.
• Follow through on the sequence of consequences if behavioral expectations are violated.
• Structure differing ways of meeting participation requirements, including roles such as timekeeper or notetaker, or media such as written questions/responses (paper or electronic) or clicker technology, to allow students choices of how to participate in class.
• Allow all your students choices to complete work alone or with peers (when your pedagogy allows).
• Allow students to choose their partners/groups occasionally.
• Identify class peer(s) who express willingness to work with the challenged student and occasionally assign these to work with the student.

• Contact website host in advance, identify the technical difficulties concisely, and request modifications to make the site ADA compliant.
• Locate an alternate website that is compliant and covers the same material or accomplishes the same pedagogical goal.

• Contact the publisher (in advance if possible), identify the technical difficulties concisely, and request modifications to make the e-book ADA compliant.
• Contact the DSPS office to see if they have an accessible version in their resources, or have funding sources available for creating an accessible version (i.e, scanning the text)
• In future, adopt an alternate textbook with an e-book version that is compliant and covers the same material or accomplishes the same pedagogical goal.

• Keep a supply of inexpensive foam earplugs among your teaching supplies and offer them to all students at the start of any quiz, test, and/or exam.
• Consider offering the student, or ALL your students, the choice whether to take quizzes/test in class OR use the Test Proctoring service at CAS (main campus) or the Chico Center Library and Support Services Center, setting appropriate deadlines for completion.
• Provide extended time for ALL students taking the test when speed of completion isn’t integral to the skill/knowledge being tested.
• Use multiple shorter measures rather than a single long exam. This reduces pressure AND has been shown to have better student learning outcomes for all students.
• If the student has not yet been authorized test-taking accommodations, but you have a reasonable expectation s/he will be, consider giving timed tests, etc. as follows: Arrange to administer the test separately from the class. At the end of the same time period that you give ALL your students (for example, one hour), have the student change to a different colored pen/pencil/font. At the time-and-a-half point (in our example, one hour thirty minutes), change to a third color pen/pencil/font. At the double time point (two hours in our example), change to a fourth color. KEEP TRACK OF THE TIME PERIOD THAT EACH COLOR REPRESENTS. This allows you to, in future, recalculate the grade for the test based on the authorized accommodation (time-and-a-half, double time, or unlimited time). It also gives the student tangible motivation to complete the application for accommodation.
• Use alternate means of assessment as appropriate: group or collaborative assessment, papers, presentations, portfolios.
• Offer for all students to select from a preselected list of options for assessment of learning.
• Allow a “resubmission” option for students to correct or retake the assessment.
• Encourage students to attend workshops at CAS on test-taking (Tips, Anxiety, etc.).
• Provide pre-test supports (study guides, sample questions, review periods). Better yet, have students jointly develop and try to complete study guides and sample questions, and provide feedback on their responses prior to the test.

• At beginning of semester, set up partners or groups for ALL students that they may contact for notes, materials, and support in case of absence (allow students to select what contact information they are willing to share with others).
• Make course materials (handouts, video, lecture notes, etc.) available at your class website (Blackboard).
• Allow rescheduling of or flexibility with some deadlines.
• Allow completion/submission of some work electronically. If a computer with Internet is not available, perhaps photos of the work can be sent via smartphone.
• Leverage technology to allow student to participate in class: live video (Skype) or phone (speaker phone) connection, online chat and/or discussion; also see “Lectures” area on this page for further ideas.
• Set, and hold to, clear boundaries for yourself and the student about what work must be completed, in what way, by what time, for the student to meet the course requirements AND COMMUNICATE THESE IN WRITING when appropriate (email can be a good method for this).
• When appropriate, file an Incomplete grade contract with the student at the end of the semester.

Behaviors:

1. Set clear behavioral expectations in your syllabus including a sequence of consequences for violating these expectations, and review these with students in the first week.
2. Provide reminders of behavioral expectations as needed.
3. Meet individually with the student, discuss the behaviors you are observing and the resulting difficulties, and invite the student to strategize how to change those behaviors.
4. Follow through on the sequence of consequences if behavioral expectations continue to be violated.

Needs:

• Meet with the student outside of class to strategize approach(es): peer mentor/partner, Student Services like CAS (tutoring) or DSPS office, leveraging technologies (example: taking pictures of instructions via smartphone, emailing instructions to students in advance of activity), forming a study group, attending your office hours, etc.
• Provide material such as lesson plan, handouts, lecture notes, activity instructions, etc. to student in advance so that student can prepare as needed for class by studying, seeking tutoring support, programming communication device, etc.

• Allow ALL students options to change position (i.e., to stand in place or at back of the room) as needed to refocus attention, as long as this does not disrupt others.
• Set clear behavioral expectations in your syllabus including a sequence of consequences for violating these expectations, and review these with students in the first week. Consult with your Dean or the Vice President for Student Services if you would like guidance.

1. Meet individually with the student, discuss the behaviors you are observing and the resulting difficulties, and invite the student to strategize how to change those behaviors. Identify or review clear consequences for continuing with disruptive behaviors.
2. If warranted, file an Incident Report with the Vice President for Student Services. Otherwise, document the meeting if needed for a future Incident Report.
3. Follow through on the sequence of consequences if behavioral expectations continue to be violated.

• Submit an online work order to Facilities requesting adjustments to furniture arrangement or other elements as appropriate. If possible, include measurements needed for path of travel, height of surfaces, etc.
• Request a room change (typically done through your area’s administrative staff).

• Design a range of activities during each lesson to allow frequent opportunities for rest, breaks, and/or stationary activities.
• Allow students to partially design and manage their own workloads within a range of choices acceptable to the instructor and in alignment with the course objectives and outcomes.
• Permit students to step out of class for breaks as needed, as long as this privilege is respectfully used.

1. Measure, or ask the student to supply the measurement, of the height needed both for clearance (fitting under) and work surface heights, as well as path-of-travel requirements.
2. Request an appropriate height or adjustable height table or desk for your classroom by submitting an online work order to Facilities. Be sure to include the measurements and path-of-travel requirements!

• Shift small group communications to written (paper) or electronic form (text, chat, discussion, email, etc.) rather than speech at least part of the time.
• Allow preferred or reserve seating.
• Have all speakers raise their hands, stand up, or otherwise visually cue when they are speaking. This also helps ensure only one speaker at a time.
• Use the podium microphone, or request a lapel microphone from the DSPS office.
• Have students write responses silently before sharing them orally, explaining that this process respects the needs of both those learning best in silence, and those learning best in interaction with others.