Classroom Management

Classroom management skills build a classroom environment that encourages learning and children are engaged and feel safe. The following tips are for you to add to your toolbox of classroom management skills. We welcome your suggestions and appreciate you sharing your expertise with us!

• Good lesson planning leads to good behavior in class.

• Greet your class as they enter the classroom – use their name when you say hello or good morning.

• Collaborate with your class to establish classroom rules – make sure they are clear, enforceable and consistent.

• Walk around the class while you are teaching –be in proximity to those who require more monitoring.

• Maintain eye contact with students – visually check for understanding.

• Behavior issues can be a mask for learning issues – “I’ll use negative behavior so I don’t have to read when the teacher calls on me.”

• Reinforce positive behaviors – catch students being good.

• Use a currency system to reinforce positive behaviors – marbles in a jar for ice cream or Discipleship Dollars. (Make sure the system is developmentally appropriate.)

• Get to know the parents and family members

• Ask for help! There are many public and private school teachers and administrators who volunteer at church. Ask them for suggestions. Ask your Special Needs Ministry Coordinators, too!

• Post a schedule of the routines in the classroom. Ex.: 9:30 Praise & Worship, 9:40 Joys & Concerns, 9:50 Bible lesson/story, 10:00 Activity – craft or game, 10:20 snack, 10:30 Closing Prayer.

Quiet Room

The Quiet Room is a space for those who are having difficulty with over-stimulation or who are out of sorts and need a quiet spot to help them feel better. The Quiet Room has low-lighting, large, comfortable cushions and bean bags, plus a variety of multi-sensory activities. The Quiet Room also has a small tent if there is a need for a smaller, calming space. The Quiet Room is staffed by adult volunteers and youth helpers. Family members may bring someone to the Quiet Room from church service or teachers may escort someone to the Quiet Room.

The Quiet Room is available during the 9:30 am church service. If you would like to have the Quiet Room available at other times, please contact the Special Needs Coordinators.

The Quiet Room is located downstairs by Fellowship Hall, across from the bathrooms in Room 101.

The Quiet Room welcomes any donations of new or slightly used multi-sensory toys. Please contact the Special Needs Coordinators if you have any donations you could share with us.

Training

Although some people are blessed with a gift to be able to work with folks with Special Needs, all of us need training and information so we can best serve those with Special Needs who come to our church and classrooms. We have identified a need to provide training and information online. Below are PowerPoint presentations and other documents on a variety of Special Needs topics to help educate and inform our teachers, youth group leaders and volunteers. Several of our teachers, youth group leaders and volunteers are parents of children and youth with Special Needs. They can be a great resource about their own children and youth, as well as having great knowledge about their family member’s Special Need. Please contact the Special Needs Ministry Coordinators if you would like us to design a PowerPoint or document on a certain topic or Special Need or if you feel you need more training and information. There are more resources listed on the Resources and Information page for you to use, as well.

Autism PowerPoint

Resources and Information

There are many sources of information to help you in the classroom, youth group or working with adults with Special Needs. Please feel free to use the Special Needs Ministry library and also access our Links page to explore a variety of websites. Also, as part of the Special Needs Ministry library, we have collected many flyers, brochures and handouts from attending the Accessibility Summit. These materials are housed in binders located in the church library.

Special Needs Ministry Library

The Special Needs Ministry library is available for lending to our church family and friends. These books are a resource for all who have family members with Special needs or anyone who works with people with Special Needs. We welcome any donations of books, DVDs and other resources to add to the Special Needs Ministry library.

• Special Strength for Special Parents: 31 days of Spiritual Therapy for Parents of Children with Special Needs by Nina Fuller

• Learning to Slow Down and Pay Attention by Kathleen Nadeau, PhD and Ellen B. Dixon, PhD

• Helping a Child with Nonverbal Learning Disorder or Aspergers Disorder by Kathryn Stewart, PhD

• It’s So Much Work to be Your Friend:  Helping the Child with Learning Disabilities Find Social Success by Richard Lavoie

• Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents: A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare

• Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice by Robert E. Slavin

• The ADHD Book of Lists: A Practical Guide for Helping Children and Teens with Attention Deficit Disorder by Sandra F. Rief

• Autism and Your Church: Nurturing the Spiritual Growth of People with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Barbara J. Newman

• Gospel Light’s Special Needs Smart Pages: Advice, Answers & Articles about Teaching Children with Special Needs by Joni and Friends

Links

The Special Needs Ministry is always looking for great information and materials to help us better serve those with Special Needs at Trinity United Methodist Church. On this page you will find many links to many different websites pertaining to those with Special Needs for training, education and information. If you have any suggestions for links, please contact the Special Needs Ministry Coordinators.

• Wrights Law Special Education Advocacy -  www.wrightslaw.com

• Special Olympics of Calvert County - http://www.somdcalvert.org/

• Autism Project - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

• The Autism-Asperger Association of Calvert County - http://www.asdcalvert.org

• Barstow Acres Children’s Center - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

• Morgan’s Wonderland: All Access Theme Park - http://www.morganswonderland.com/

• Christian Church Foundation for the Handicapped - http://www.ccfh.org/

• ARC of Southern Maryland - http://www.arcsomd.org/

• Parents’ Place of Maryland: The Parents’ Place is Maryland’s Parent Center and is committed to improving the lives of children with disabilities and special health care needs. - http://www.ppmd.org/

• VSA: Very Special Arts (formerly Very Special Artists) - http://www.vsarts.org/

• Kennedy Krieger Institute - http://www.kennedykrieger.org/

• My Great Kid: See the Potential - http://mygreatkid.com/

• Council for Exceptional Children - http://www.cec.sped.org

• LD Online - http://www.ldonline.org/

• ADDitude: Living Well with ADD - http://www.additudemag.com/

• Muscular Dystrophy Association - http://www.mdausa.org/

• FREE to students K-12 in public, private or homeschool educational setting who have a diagnosed learning disability, visual impairment or physical disability. Also free for adult education. Online books using Kurzweil with over 100 titles with additional titles available. Subscriptions available for organizations and international students -Bookshare.org