EHS Resource Support

April 1- *Geography quiz

April 2 – *World History I test

April 3 -*Biology I test, *English I research paper due, English I Night Test

There are many teens who do not have any idea on what they want to do when they graduate from high school.  When asked what type of job would you like to work in someday, they will often have no idea.  Job shadowing is a way for teens to learn what a job involves and the opportunities that it provides. Rather than just hearing about a job, the student experiences it firsthand.  If your student has no idea of any career they are interested in, ask them to pick 3 areas that they might be interested in such as health care or construction.  Students may then spend a day at the worksite exploring what jobs are being done there and what each one involves.  The guidance counselor at the high school or the resource teachers can assist your student in setting up a job shadowing experience if they are interested.  To read more about the job shadowing experience, click here.

Some resource students will choose to attend college after graduation from high school.  It is important when choosing a community college or four year college to evaluate the support that it gives students with disabilities.  Students will need to take a copy of their current IEP to the Disability Support Services office of the college that they attend and advocate for  the services that they need to succeed.  It is important to note that college is not for everyone.  There are many excellent vocational and two year programs that will prepare a student for a career.  Other options also include job training programs which provide additional training along with counseling and job coaching.  The different options for post high school training will be discussed with you at your student’s annual IEP review.

For students who are considering attending a college after high school, here are a few links with excellent advice on what to consider when choosing a college along with challenges that they will face.  If your student is looking at this option, I encourage you to take time to read these resources.

Selecting a College for Students with Learning Disabilities or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Learning Disabilities in College – Successful Strategies for LDs in College

How to Prepare your LD Student for College

How to Prepare Your ADHD Student for College

We will be holding parent teacher conferences on October 29th from 12:00 until 8:00 and from 12:00 until 3:30 on the 30th. Please call the high school to make an appointment and meet with your student’s teachers.  They will be able to share  how your student is progressing and have suggestions on ways for you to support their learning.  First quarter report cards will be sent home on Friday, October 24.  We look forward to meeting with you at the conferences.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities has an excellent website full of information for teens with learning disabilities and their parents.  Many helpful topics are covered such as study skills, becoming your own advocate, and preparing for college.  Here is a list of time management tips from the topic of Study Skills:

• Study for short periods of time and plan to reward yourself after completing a predetermined amount of reading, writing or reviewing. Take needed breaks and be sure to monitor the progress you are making along the way.
  
• Try to develop a study routine, and select a preferred time and place to study. If it helps, change your routine each week and try different places to study. Be flexible, but also be sensitive to what works best for you.
  
• Find ways to stay organized. For example, try using index cards and wall calendars. These simple tools can be quite helpful in helping you to arrange and manage your time. A large monthly wall calendar can be useful and you might consider making copies of your schedule on index cards that you can carry with you. If you prefer to use a computer or PDA, there are numerous software programs available with built-in calendars and reminders. There are even watches available that have calendars that can be programmed.
  
• To figure out how much time to set aside for long-term projects, first list all the steps required to complete the project. Next, estimate how much time you’ll need to finish each step and then, count backward from the due date. Always allow more time than you think you will need for each step. If you are not sure about the project’s requirements, speak to the professor, teacher’s assistant, or learning specialist about how many steps are involved and what each step entails. This can give you a better sense of the time you’ll need to finish the project. It also can help relieve some of the anxiety of the “unknown” in tackling a new project.
  
• Keep the syllabuses for all of your courses in a place where they won’t get lost. Make extra copies, just in case. Make sure that you know the due dates for each assignment. Sometimes you can ask the professor to set interim due dates for you to turn in parts of the assignment. This can help you get each step done on time.
  
• Build in a little extra time for unexpected problem-solving. Be prepared for projects to take longer than originally planned.

The senior students who took the state PSAE tests last April may retake the test in October if they wish.  They are required to complete both days with the ACT on one day and the PSAE on the second day.  If they received accommodations in April, they may choose to have those same accommodations on the retake.  To retake the tests, they must talk to the guidance counselor, pick up a voucher, and fill out the registration papers.  They should return the voucher and papers to the Resource Room no later than September 15th. That will allow us enough time to send in their accommodation request to ACT.  Please remember if your student is planning on attending a community college after graduation, they do not need a required ACT score to attend.  If your student is uncertain about whether they should retake the test, please have them discuss it with the guidance counselor and resource staff.

Our 2008-2009 school year is in full swing and the students are busy transitioning back to the classroom.  For those of you who are new to this site, I will try to keep you updated of important changes to the resource room and its support services along with helpful articles to help you support your child in their learning.  We also try to list any test and project dates from the general education classes that your student is enrolled in.

We have a new program for the students who receive their English and reading class within the resource setting this year and  I will be writing more about it later.  We are continuing the use of the Renaissance Math program which we started last year.  We had good success with it and the students had positive comments about using it.  This program allows the students to progress through it at their pace and we found that they were very motivated to master as many objectives as possible.

The resource room is in the process of having an interactive whiteboard, a SmartBoard, installed.  We are very excited about using it to supplement our lessons and engage the students in their learning.  I will also write some more about how we are using it later on this site.

For those parents who are new to the high school resource program, please call us at the high school if you have questions or concerns.  We are always glad to help and welcome your assistance in educating your student.  Don’t forget to check back later for more updates!

Final exams begin on Tuesday, May 27 and end on Thursday, May 29.  These exams are worth 20% of your student’s semester grade, so it is important that they take them seriously.  The teachers will be giving them study guides and review sheets to help prepare.  Rather than wait until the night before the test to begin studying, they should be reviewing now.  Here is the test schedule:

• Tuesday: 1st hour, 4th hour, and 8th hour
• Wednesday: 2nd hour, 5th hour, and 7th hour
• Thursday: 3rd hour, 6th hour, and makeups

Please encourage your student to begin studying now and to take final exams seriously. 

On April 23 and 24, all juniors will be participating in the statewide testing for PSAE.  On the first day, they will take the ACT test. On day 2, they will take a test called Workkeys along with another state test in science.  The resource students do have accommodations which were approved by ACT. These were discussed with you at last year’s IEP meeting, but if you would like to review them, please call me at the high school.  Recently many of the classes have been reviewing concepts that will be covered along with strengthening their test taking skills.  Our students have an online computer program called WinKeys which practices those math and English skills needed for the Workkeys portion of the testing.  Your student has the web address along with a password which will allow them to practice these skills at home. There are other programs which are also available.  Please contact us for further information.

Important to remember:

• Get plenty of rest before the 2 days of testing.
• Eat a good breakfast each day.  Snacks will be provided during the testing period.
• Bring needed materials: calculator and two #2 pencils
• Do not be tardy those two days to school. Testing must begin by a certain time.
• All we ask is to Try Your Best!