DISTANCE LEARNING: Strengthening Online Instruction for Students with Special Needs (Grades K-12) Presented by Toby Karten Award-Winning Teacher, Presenter and Author of Building on the Strengths of Students with Special Needs (ASCD), Inclusion Strategies & Interventions (Solution Tree) and Inclusion Strategies That Work! (Corwin Press)

Specifically Designed for General Education Teachers, Special Education Staff and Other Related Staff and Specialists and Interventionists Who Teach or are Preparing to Teach and Support Students in Distance Learning

• Practical online digital tools that strengthen distance learning for students with special needs 
• Proven ways to support IEP goals in online environments including both high tech and low tech strategies
• High yield distance learning academic supports for literacy, mathematics, and content area instruction for students with special learning needs
• Proven ways to empower students with "online mindfulness and digital self-efficacy" to build and honor students' social and emotional skills

Practical Ideas and Strategies

Even though the least restrictive environment (LRE) is redefined in an online environment, access to an appropriate education for students with special needs should never be denied or diluted. In this unique NEW seminar, award winning special educator, presenter and author Toby Karten, will share proven ways to more efficiently plan, assess, differentiate, and most appropriately instruct students with special needs in a distance learning environment.

You'll learn practical ways to document how and when online services, accommodations, and modifications are given so that progress toward a student's IEP goals is continually monitored. Toby will share proven ways to enhance your distance learning model so that you can more effectively provide specially designed instruction to target the special learning needs of your students.

This seminar is appropriate for general and special education teachers and related staff who are seeking proven ways to strengthen distance learning for students with special needs in grades K-12.

Ten Key Benefits of Attending

1. Strengthen Distance Learning Instruction for Students with Special Needs
   Whether your instruction is completely online or in a hybrid learning model, you'll learn dozens of practical strategies and helpful resources to enhance online instruction for students with special needs
2. Monitor Interventions and Student Progress Toward IEP Goals
   Document how and when online services, accommodations, and modifications are given with digital record-keeping, portfolios, online notebooks, and interactive slides
3. Incorporate Learner-Specific Online Instruction
   Learn proven ways to plan and deliver online instruction that targets specific learning needs while increasing student achievement outcomes across your curriculum
4. Deliver Your Students' Specially Designed Instruction Online
   Learn proven ways to provide each student's specially designed instruction needs online with appropriate adaptations
5. Plan Your Online Lessons with the Same Learning Targets
   Learn innovative ways to use different materials and online tools designed to promote increased online engagement and achievement for students with special needs
6. Establish Appropriate Online Procedures to Match Special Learning Needs
   Learn timesaving ways to match your online practices to the characteristics of students with specific differences; dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, autism, emotional, sensory, and developmental, speech-language, and physical skill sets and more
7. Capitalize on the Strengths and Interests of Your Students with Special Needs
   Discover a variety of the best online K-12 activities that honor concrete, representational, abstract, virtual, and engaging ways to "do it, see it, link it, and own it" with visual, auditory, kinesthetic-tactile modalities, art, music, and movement
8. Collaborate and Communicate Online With Your Learning Team
   Learn time-efficient online ways to plan and problem solve with grade level colleagues, administrators, interventionists, co-teachers, paras, related service providers, students, and families
9. Maintain Inclusion Principles in Distance Learning
   Learn practical ways to establish prior knowledge, relate to students' lives, model outcomes, offer practice, repetition, and enrichment, and establish an inclusive learning atmosphere
10. Receive an Extensive Digital Resource Handbook
    Each participant will receive an extensive digital resource handbook packed with valuable strategies, online instructional techniques, digital tools and helpful resources to strengthen distance learning for students with special needs

Outstanding Strategies You Can Use Immediately

• Practical strategies and the best hi-tech and low tech tools to enhance distance learning for students with special needs
• How to establish protocols that adapt, but do not dilute the K-12 curriculum for learners with special needs
• How to monitor IEP progress with "digital check ins and checkups"
• Online and offline supports for learners who may be more distractible and inattentive in a distance learning environment
• Ways to match digital tools to the literacy levels of students with special needs
• Ways to capitalize on student strengths by "checking in" with students with special needs before they "checkout"
• How to develop and nurture positive online relationships with your students with special needs
• How to enable families as allies so they are better prepared and empowered to support their child with special needs
• Ways to build social skills and maintain peer interaction online
• How to include whole-part-whole online instruction; e.g., tiered supports, break-out rooms, centers, stations, cooperative learning
• Active engagement strategies for online environments with a focus on motivation, transitions, and routines.
• How to make the online teaching environment motivating, fun and engaging for students with special needs

A Message From Your Seminar Leader

Dear Colleague:

In my experience as a special educator in PK-12 classrooms and my work as an inclusion coach, and educational consultant with hundreds of schools across the country, I am continually inspired by the potential technology has for students with special needs. In this online environment, the learning successes of students with special needs is dependent on the preparation of educators who deliver distance learning with the essential knowledge and skills to address the individualized levels of their students. Just like education in traditional in-person classrooms, distance learning includes a successful and appropriate match of the online teaching and digital tools with each learner's specific skill set.

I have designed this seminar to share with you the most effective strategies, digital tools and online resources I have found to strengthen the distance learning experience of students with special needs. During our day together we will explore practical ways students with learning or attention differences, emotional, social, or behavioral needs, or communication, developmental, physical, or sensory differences can best be supported to succeed in an online learning environment.  Together, we will explore the what, how, and why certain best online practices and digital tools work better for students with specific differences, and the scaffolding and resources that will make that happen. Yes, there are obstacles and challenges, but there are also readily available solutions!

I look forward to meeting you online at the seminar and sharing numerous strategies and resources you'll be able to use immediately to increase the success of your students with special needs in a distance learning environment.

Sincerely,
Toby Karten

P.S. I have successfully used a variety of technology tools to create engaging online lessons for students in inclusive classrooms and online platforms to accelerate their learning. I can't wait to share these with you, since teaching students with special needs is my passion, both in in-person classrooms and online!

Who Should Attend

General Education Teachers, Special Education Staff and Other Related Staff and Specialists and Interventionists Who Teach or are Preparing to Teach and Support Students in Distance Learning

About BER Live Online Events

With the current health challenges, all BER in-person PD events are currently being presented in a Live Online format:

• Outstanding Instructors
  All programs are led by outstanding BER national trainers
• Extensive Resource Handbooks
  You'll have access to an extensive digital Resource Handbook before, during and after your seminar
• Highly Interactive
  You'll be able to ask questions in real time and interact with the instructor and other participants
• Program Guarantee
  As we have for 43 years, we guarantee the high quality of our programs. If you are not satisfied, we'll give you a 100% refund.

Special Benefits of Attending

Extensive Digital Resource Handbook
Each participant will receive an extensive digital resource handbook giving you access to countless strategies before, during and after the seminar. The handbook includes:

• Best practices and digital tools for planning online instruction for students with special needs  
• Strategies to support and empower students who have special needs to handle academic demands online; e.g., reading, writing, mathematics, and K-12 curriculum
• How to develop and expand collaborative online roles and responsibilities with general and special education colleagues, students and families
• Ways to use digital tools and other feedback to support each learner's social, emotional, and behavioral needs and skill sets
• Hands-on, minds-on, online distance learning resources and strategies across the content areas that support teachers of students with special needs K-12

Consultation Available
Toby Karten will be available to answer your specific questions and the unique needs of your own program.

Semester Credit Option
Up to four graduate level professional development credits are available with an additional fee and completion of follow-up practicum activities. Details for direct enrollment with Brandman University, part of the Chapman University system, will be available at this BER program.

Meet Inservice Requirements
Participants of both the Live Online Seminar and those completing the Recorded Version online can receive a certificate of participation that may be used to verify five continuing education hours. State CEUs are available for both versions of the course. For specific details, visit www.ber.org/ceus.

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