IRIS Media Inc. Program Reviews

Systematic Supervision Training Programs

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:03:33 PST

Exceptional Parent Magazine – December 2007

For this month’s selection we review three DVD/VHS training presentations for systematic supervision in school. The presentations are:

Systematic Supervision: Creating a Safe and Positive Playground
Systematic Supervision: A Positive Way to Monitor Common Areas – Middle School
Systematic Supervision: A Positive Way to Monitor Common Areas – High School

These presentations, developed by Iris Media, Inc., are a must for any school library and should be accessible to parents and school personnel.

This systematic supervision is based on research that has identified what works well when supervising students in school common areas and playgrounds. The purpose behind systematic supervision is to decrease problem behavior, increase student cooperation and make school settings less stressful and more fun. Systematic supervision accomplishes these objectives by training supervisors monitor and interact effectively with students, respond appropriately to problem behaviors and foster respect, responsibility and safety at school.

We know that parents who have kids with disabilities often worry about their own child’s challenging behavior and the risk to their child of the challenging behaviors of other students in the school setting. We, like so many similarly situated parents, find it frustrating when school districts can allocate scarce school training dollars toward physical management or intervention programs rather than purchasing programs that foster positive student and staff behavior in school settings. We really like these presentations because they focus on how school personnel can help create and foster positive behavior support rather than operating a behavior system focused on reacting to negative behavior.

The Iris Media, Inc. presentation developers describe the expected outcome from following the systematic supervision programs. They proclaim that “We want you, as a parent, to know what we are doing at school. We hope this will help you understand what we do, and why. We also hope it will encourage you to support our efforts at making our school a place where everyone is safe, respectful and responsible.”

Parents should be included in school efforts to create atmospheres that are safe, respectful and responsible. The systematic supervision approach, according to the authors, “is based on research that shows that students respond well to being treated positively and respectfully. In fact, the same research shows that when adults pay a lot of attention to students’ negative behavior, negative behavior actually increases. At our school, we are using this positive approach to supervising students when they are in common areas like hallways and cafeterias. We are also using it when students are hanging out or are making transitions from one activity to another. In schools where systematic supervision is used consistently, teachers and students report that they

feel safe and respected at school and are motivated to behave responsibly.”

The presentations demonstrate how school personnel working with elementary school through high school students can make a difference by being active in their interactions, being positive in their relationships with students, responding appropriately to problem behavior and communicating regularly with other staff, students and parents. The DVDs/VHS tapes give direct information in an engaging format that is equally accessible to school personnel and parents. The presentation captions used throughout the programs flow in logical order and build on understanding and developing the interactive skills. The scenarios played out by the “teachers” and “students” in the programs dramatically illustrate the effective outcomes of right and wrong approaches to handling challenging behavior.

These “Systematic Supervision” presentations are but one part of the Iris Media offering. The company also offers Internet access to helpful forms and resources that are instrumental in implementing effective systematic supervision programs. Interested parents and educators can visit the Website www.irisedonline.com to view examples of the systematic supervision presentation and other educational training materials. www.lookiris.com/resources provides educators and parents with helpful free downloadable resources.

We give these three Systematic Supervision presentations the EP Symbol of Excellence because they amplify the advantages of supporting positive approaches toward behavior in school settings. The presentations make parents and educators believe that using positive supervision at the outset, along with established positive behavior support principles, will promote positive school playgrounds and common areas, creating safe, responsible and respectful environments for students and staff.

Leisure and Recreation

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:03:20 PST

Exceptional Parent Magazine - JUNE 2007

Parents everywhere know the value of play and recreation in family life. We all try to create opportunities for our kids to have fun. In fact, we all now recognize that play is the primary learning device for infants and toddlers. Play is the primary way that kids build friendships and relationships with each other and learn how to interact with their peers and their environment. For this month, we have selected several DVDs and books that focus on play, leisure and recreation for kids with disabilities.

A word on leisure and recreation books and DVDs in general . . . we are impressed with the number of products in the EP Bookstore that address children and play activities. We all remember playing as kids. Who needs a book/DVD to tell us how to play with our kids?

Actually, the area of play, leisure and recreation has become quite sophisticated. Special education laws require schools to consider a child’s recreational needs as part of educational and transitional planning. Play affords significant opportunities for inclusive and instructional activities for kids with and without disabilities. There also is the need to be able to adjust or restructure play activities to meet the needs of children who have specific physical or cognitive impairments. Fortunately, parents and others seeking materials on leisure and recreation have a wealth of resources from which to choose. Here are a few of our favorites.

“Leisure Works! Expanding Options for People with Developmental Disabilities” by Martin Sheehan, Elizabeth Thorin and Brion Marquez is fabulous for its structure and content. This combination DVD and workbook blends visual and paperwork activities to help parents and kids understand what leisure is, how to choose leisure activities a child likes and how to engage in the leisure activities for maximum benefit. Leisure Works! gives information on the benefits of leisure including mental, physical, emotional and social. We like everything about this book. We learned something about leisure for ourselves. The format is so easy to use that you do not realize how much information and material is packed into each lesson. We enthusiastically award the EP Symbol of Excellence to this book/DVD combination!

The IRIS Media Inc., who published Leisure Works! also produced two other DVD resources we think are excellent resources. Walk Your Way to Fitness: Walk, Workout, Be Active for People with Intellectual Disabilities” is a 3 DVD disk collection that gives video lessons on walking; provides fun workouts to develop strength and flexibility; and a disc which provides PDF forms to use to help a child develop his or her own personalized activity book. “Workout with Sonny and Pedro: Walk, Dance and Stretch Your Way to Fitness” is a one DVD activity disc that provides 9 separate beginner and intermediate workouts to develop aerobic strength, flexibility and fitness. The DVD includes three walking, three strength and flexibility and three dance workouts.

These programs were awarded the Symbol of Excellence from Exception Parent Magazine

7 Secretos Escolares (7 Secrets to School Success)

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:03:28 PST

Video Librarian

For a Latino student in the U.S., the odds are daunting: not only are these kids four times more likely to drop out of school, but if the family recently immigrated, the parents are often counting on the children to learn English and get a good job in America. But due to low or nonexistent English skills, parents often see schools and teachers as intimidating and therefore avoid the involvement that is absolutely crucial to their children’s education. In this excellent Spanish-language video, a dramatization introduces viewers to Carlos Hernandez and Laura Garcia, who are falling behind in school, much to the frustration of their parents. Luckily, Oscar, the respected neighborhood shopkeeper, knows seven simple secrets of school success, which revolve around time-honored techniques for both students and parents, including setting up a home study environment and monitoring homework. Boasting good production values and realistic portrayals, this straight-forward program makes it clear that limited English or knowledge of school subjects is no barrier to encouraging kids and parents to become invested in a team effort towards academic success.

Highly recommended. Aud: E, I, J, H, P.

Gieschen, E. (2004, January/February). Video Librarian, 19, 23.

Booklist

Aimed at Latinos, this production "lays the foundation for a new academic achievement program" as it follows two Latino families while they set up a study-skills program for their children. In the first scenario, Laura and Carlos are experiencing difficulty in school. Laura aspires to be a singer and Carlos wants to be an astronaut. Neighborhood store-owner mediates between home and school to help the youngsters achieve their potential. This helpful dramatization shows how the school counselor works with the parents, who then set up a home study area where their kids can work without distractions. Although some footage seems a bit hazy, the program presents a vital message and is recommended for collections with Latino populations. The DVD contains English subtitles, and the video is closed-captioned.

McCray, N. (2004, January). 2003 Editors' Choice. Booklist, 100, 885.

Educational Media Reviews Online

7 Secrets of School Success has an entertaining story line created from the results of a research-based study concerning eighty Latino middle-school students and their families. The results of the study dictated the need for a culturally appropriate video program designed to facilitate parental involvement in helping students gain the necessary study skills to make them successful in their academic endeavors. This well done VHS tape, DVD, and accompanying materials, cover the roles that need to be played by parents and students to make the program a success. The topics deal with the importance of using effective strategies and guidance to help build students' study habits and self-esteem while monitoring the daily progress and achievements with praise and reward. The Educator’s Guide written in both English and Spanish gives an introduction to the program and includes a letter to parents and students using the resource.
The audio and video quality is excellent, prepared in Spanish with English subtitles and with a scene selection option. This feature gives the viewer the opportunity to focus on specific areas of the story without going back to the beginning. This resource is highly recommended, with a great potential for use in many different collections. These materials would be useful to educators and counselors who have the obligation to develop and implement these culturally appropriate strategies. Teacher education programs could benefit by making their students aware that such resources exist. It is imperative that public libraries and curriculum centers make available such tools to the ever-growing Hispanic population.
http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/emro/emroDetail.asp?number=1410

Reviewed by Hope Marie Cook, Curriculum Center Librarian, Eastern Connecticut State University

My Life Book

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:03:04 PST

Library Journal, October 1, 2005

This multimedia tool is designed to help parents of adult children with developmental disabilities plan for the future. The version reviewed includes a DVD and CD-ROM containing a workbook in PDF format that can be printed for personal use. The first part of the workbook gives the person with a disability ample space to describe himself or herself and indicate likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams. Once completed, it provides an introduction that includes pictures for caregivers, relatives, or new friends and acquaintances. The second portion focuses on planning tools to help parents identify key people who can take over caregiving responsibilities when needed, secure appropriate housing, expand their child’s circle of friends, and help their child find suitable work and leisure activities. Parents are instructed to complete the workbook to a certain point, then watch the next DVD chapter, which follows four families through the process of filling in the workbook by shadowing them in a training class and watching as they attempt to implement some of the techniques. The DVD seems designed as a sort of virtual support group to encourage people who may be at different stages of life planning. My Life Book is the type of planning tool vitally needed in almost every community. Highly recommended to public libraries and special libraries in education, health, and social service settings.

Video Librarian, November/December 2005 ***½

Intended to help families create a future care plan for loved ones with developmental disabilities, My Life Book follows four families facing the unique challenges of special-needs children, taking viewers through the process of putting together a record of basic information for the child that would be useful to temporary caregivers in the event of an emergency. Designed to be used in conjunction with a personal fill-in-the-blank scrapbook (printable from the accompanying CD-ROM or available separately for $35 in a spiral-bound book), the program aims to help ease the adjustment process for new/temporary caregivers and children (parents and child record personal information, such as where the child/youth works, attends school, volunteers, his or her friends, hobbies, routines, medications, likes/dislikes, moods, communication styles, general support needs, and religious affiliations). In addition, parents are taken through the process of planning for the future (when they are no longer caretakers for their grown children), including sorting out various financial and legal questions, finding appropriate housing, and mapping out work and leisure activities. An outstanding tool for both families and agencies that work with the developmentally disabled, this is highly recommended.

Eat Right for a Long and Healthy Life: What Everybody Needs to Know in 9 Nutritious Lessons

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:02:51 PST

Booklist - February 2008

Café Proprietors Maria and Shondra serve up guidelines on healthy living and nutritional food choices in this nine-part program. Maria's children, one of whom is developmentally disabled, stop at the restaurant each day to see their mom and pick up homemade snacks. Other children also visit and pick up nutrition ideas.

Each program (approximately 10 minutes) centers on a particular lesson (calories and metabolism, water, food labels, the food pyramid and more). Tips are presented through live-action footage. Animated segments feature a scientist called Dr. Why and a detective who solves such cases as the mysterious appearance of extra pounds and the lack of motivation. In several lessons, a perky young reporter answers e-mail questions dealing with nutrition and other dietary issues.

The diversity of the actors, the variety of approaches, and the gentle good humor make this an appealing program for both mainstream and developmentally disabled students.

Ease Into Fitness

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:02:31 PST

Library Journal, May 15, 2004
Ease Into Fitness is a workout tape that features warm-up and cool-down sections, flexibility training, and movements for strength and balance. The various exercises are demonstrated by a class of teenagers and adults with developmental disabilities. The tape has a short motivational segment that explains the benefits of starting an exercise regimen for people with developmental disabilities and their families. These two programs [Ease Into Fitness and Leisure Works!] are recommended primarily for public libraries, although academic libraries will find them useful for sports or human kinetics studies.

Educational Media Reviews Online, July 23, 2004
Ease Into Fitness is a complete physical workout for people with developmental disabilities. Structured as any other workout tape, the instructor leads a small group of young adults with various developmental disabilities through a warm-up, stretching moves, gentle aerobics, strength and balance, floor exercises for the core muscles, and a cool down.

The entire workout is made up of simple yet effective exercises. Instructors stress safety and encourage participants to go at their own pace. The aerobics section is especially noteworthy because theses very basic moves can increase the heart rate significantly enough to produce results. Instructors are first-rate and the music is appropriately unobtrusive with a dance beat. The group of exercisers, all at various levels of fitness, seem to be enjoying themselves, making the task of exercising with a tape all that much easier.

A balanced, beginners workout tape for a specific audience, Ease Into Fitness from Iris Media is highly recommended for academic health sciences and education collections, as well as rehabilitation and mental health agencies serving an adult developmentally disabled population.

Booklist
Eight developmentally disabled adults complete a three-part exercise workout in this program “developed by disability fitness specialists.” The class learns why maintaining flexibility is important before following along as the instructor demonstrates stretches, rolls, rotations, and leg raises. In the aerobic phase, marching and sidesteps are introduced. A male teachers directs the segment on balance, using a chair and towel to lead the class in standing, sitting, and stretching routines. Of course, warm-up and cool-down routines are included as well in this fine program featuring encouraging instructors praising and offering positive reminders to the eager participants. The title concludes with motivational information about exercise, partnering, schedules, and rewards.

Booklist (Vol.101 No.1, 9/1/04 , pg. 138)