Resources for Faculty

Most people believe that only students in wheelchairs are the only ones who require adaptable furniture, but most students who require adaptive furniture do not use wheelchairs. Due to many health reasons, students often require cushioned seats, chairs with lower lumbar support, etc. But most importantly, adaptive classrooms ensure safety, help improve fine motor skill development, facilitate longer periods of concentration, and promote socialization - allowing students with physical challenges to overcome barriers and feel less isolated.

Please contact the DRC if you believe that any of your students require adaptive furniture.  We will do what we can to help students feel physically comfortable in your classroom, so they can focus on learning better.  Students who have already been approved for adaptive furniture already know that is their responsibility to request furniture for specific classrooms by completing the Furniture Request Form

Distractions vary from individual to individual.  So please sit down with your students and ask then to explain what distracts them.  Things that distract students can include:

• smells/odors
• lightening in the room
• temperature in the room
• noise distraction
• visual distractions

Just making minor alterations can make all of the difference. Here are some examples:

• Students who get visually distracted can sit at a desk facing the wall
• Students who need cooler temperature can sit next to the fan or vent
• Students who get distracted by noise in the room, can wear headsets or ear plugs

In-Class Assignments:

This refers to any assignments that are due before the student leaves the classroom.  Depending on a student's learning and health challenges, it may take them longer to complete their classwork, especially in math classes.  Professor needs to let the student know how much more time they can have and how they would like the student to submit their work to them. Examples:

• Must place it in professor's mailbox within two hours
• Must email it to professor by midnight on the same day
• Can turn in the work at the next class meeting

Out-of-Class Assignments:

This refers to any homework or projects and papers that students should be working on outside of class time. As you may already know, we cannot predict health issues and sometimes students with severe health conditions may have to be hospitalized for days at a time.  Therefore, professors and students are expected to create a plan if students need any extra time for out-of-class assignments.  Are are a few examples:

• 7 extra days for papers
• 4 extra days for projects
• Extra 24 hours for discussion posts

Sometimes students with severe health conditions may need to miss part or all of their class meeting.  If this should happen, it is very important for all students and faculty members to create a contingency plan where the student will be able to make up for class time that was missed.  We recommend faculty do the following:

• Come up with some type of cue that the student can give you without disturbing the class if they need to leave early.
• Come up with a way for students to make up their participation/classwork.  Here's a list some protocols that professors have offered students with this accommodation:
  • Make up the class by attending a different session in the same week.
  • Make up the content missed by writing a summary of key concepts covered in class within one week.
  • Any missed exams must be made up within two weeks.
  • If for any reason, student needs more time than the semester allows, an incomplete grade may have to be offered to the student.  Please visit the college catalog to get more information regarding incomplete grading process: https://catalog.canadacollege.edu/current/grades/

 

Duration and frequency of breaks need to be determined between professor and students. Therefore it is very important to have a detailed conversation of how the class activities and lectures can be impacted by breaks. with your students who require this accommodation.

It is also important to note that when professors see the word "breaks", they automatically assume it means that the student needs to leave the classroom for a short time period.  This is not always the case, so please make sure to discuss the details of this accommodations with your students.

Breaks during class time:

Depending on the structure of the class, professors can make recommendations to the students.  Here are a few examples of how breaks can be applied in the classroom:

• Some professors request breaks be taken after the first 30 minutes due to important lecture material
• Many professors would like students to give them some kind of cue (e.g. hand signal) to let them know they are going on a break and another gesture if they will not be coming back (usually due to health related issues)
• Other professors request a break that is no more than three to  five minutes at a time and no more than two breaks per class. 
• Also professors may make sure that there is room in the back of the room if the student needs to take a standing break in the room during lecture time.

Breaks during exams:

Many professors worry that students may cheat during their breaks.  Therefore, we recommend that you give them either a page at a time or sections at a time, and when the student has completed those pages, they will be allowed to have a break.  And when they return, the next section/pages can then be given to them.  This can give the professor peace of mind that students are not looking for answers to the questions that they viewed before their breaks.

Please also keep in mind that students who are given breaks as an accommodation also have extended time, so please do not count the time during their break toward the amount of time they are allowed to finish the exam.  We call this "Stop the Clock".  

And just like breaks in the classroom, please provide students the option to take their breaks in the exam room.  Most of the time, they just need to stand and stretch.  

Audio Recording Agreement Form

Some student will require audio recording their lectures due to their disability.  However, in order to use this accommodation, they must agree to and sign our audio recording policy:

• Information contained in the audio-recorded lecture is protected under federal copyright laws and may not be published or quoted without the express consent of the lecturer, and without proper identity and credit to the lecturer.
• They know that may be asked to pause audio recording during sensitive or private discussions in class.
• Audio-recordings may not be used in any way against faculty, lecturer, or students whose classroom comments are recorded as part of class activities.
• If they need this accommodation, they must notify their professors in a timely manner so that any necessary arrangements can be made to use this accommodation (ex: requiring to sit closer to the professor, needing to sit next to an outlet to charge recording device, a wireless microphone, etc).
• If this accommodation cannot be provided for any reason, students have the right to be provided an alternative accommodation (ex: professor's zoom recordings, lecture notes, one-on-one meetings with professor to review all the highlights of concepts discussed or lectures in class, etc). 
• Audio recordings of lectures must be deleted after the semester has ended from all devices that have saved these audio recordings.

 

Students will be responsible for bringing their own audio recording device and they must let you know that they will be using this accommodation in your class. 

Shortly after the add/drop date, faculty will be sent a link from the DRC to complete the Audio Recording Acknowledgement form. This form lets us know that you acknowledge that the students who have this accommodation may require to use it for your class. We just need to know if you will:

• Allow audio recording of instructional information during class/lab.
• Cannot provide this accommodation, BUT will provide an alternative accommodation. (If you need assistance to brainstorm an alternative accommodation, please contact the DRC).
• Or this accommodation does not apply to your class(s) (e.g. no live lectures, recorded lectures/videos are provided to all students, etc).

 

Any media that will be part of your lectures/assignments must be accessible when they are captioned. If a video is not captioned or a podcast does not have a transcript, instructors are responsible to arrange for an accessible version to be produced.  Please scroll down to learn of some helpful tips on captioning that you may find helpful:

In General

Two to three lines per caption frame is average. But if you need four lines because of the context, do it. 

Dialog 

When two people are talking at the same time on the screen, you need to be able to distinguish them. Place captioned lines on the screen as character is saying them, so it is obvious to viewers who is talking.  If it is not obvious who is talking on the screen, it is recommended that each person’s dialog is labeled with the name/description of the person talking.   

 Example:

•  Tom: I can’t see you!
• John: Take your head out of the fridge then!

Music

 A description (in brackets) should be used for instrumental/background music when it's essential to the understanding of the video/scene.  Off-screen background music description should be italicized.  If possible, the description should include the performer/composer and the title.

Examples:

• [Louis Armstrong plays"Hello Dolly"]
• [pianist playing]

 

Nonessential background music should be captioned by placing a music icon (♪) and should never be captioned at the expense of dialogue.  (There is no need to caption background music with a duration under 5 seconds).

If music contains lyrics, caption the lyrics verbatim. The lyrics should be introduced with the name of the artist and the title in brackets, if the presentation rate permits.

Example:

• [Dinah Washington singing “Mad about the Boy”]
•  ♪The boys are back in town ♪♪

 

Sounds Effects

Sound effects are sounds other than music, narration, or dialogue. They are captioned if it is necessary for the understanding and/or enjoyment of the media. A description of sound effects, in brackets, should include the source of the sound. However, the source may be omitted if it can be clearly seen onscreen. And never use the past tense when describing sounds.  Captions should be synchronized with the sound and are therefore in the present tense.

Example:

[audience cheers])

 

Off-screen sound effects should be italicized, if italics are available.

Example: 

[dogs barking])

 

Use punctuation to indicate speed or pace of sound. 

Example for slow sounds:

[clock chiming]

Dong…dong…dong

 

Example of fast/rapid sounds:

[gun firing]

Bang, bang, bang

Students who require extended time are students who:

• Often have physical trouble with writing and typing.  This could be due to an illness, injury, or visual challenges that make it difficult to read and write in a timely manner.
• Some students have medical/health issues such as anxiety, migraines, ADD/ADHD, or are undergoing medical treatment that affect their ability to complete tasks in a timely manner.
• Other students have processing deficits that require more time to comprehend and complete work.

 

Tips to provide extended time in the classroom:

We advise professors to discuss with students who require this accommodation to come up with a routine that will help students not get behind in their work as the semester progresses.  Here are a few routines that are popular:

• Classwork will be provided to students in advance so that students have the extra time BEFORE the classwork is assigned.
• Any classwork that is not completed during class should be emailed to the professor within 24 hours or it is considered late.

 

Tips for extended time on tests/quizzes:

How extended time is provided is determined between professors and students.  Most people think that the extended time must occur on the same day, but that is not true.  Here are a few ways that professors can provide extra time:

• Students may begin the exam in their office before the class begins and then finish the exam with the rest of the class later.
• If a student does not finish during class time, they may finish the exam in another class that the professor teaches.  
• Professors can give students part of the test on one day and the next part on another day.

 

Extended time on projects and long assignments:

This accommodation is not common, but is usually granted to students who are undergoing medical treatment or have major physical/processing challenges that require them to begin preparing for their projects or long papers way in advance so that they do not fall behind the curriculum.  

We recognize that not all professors have their prompts ready before it is assigned to the class; however; if you know what the gist of the assignment will be, you can give students tasks they they will need to do anyway for their papers or projects.  For example:

• Begin researching and collecting evidence from at least 5 sources
• Begin outlining topics they will be able to do on their own

Memory aids are testing accommodations that support students with documented cognitive issues related to a disability. It is a tool used to trigger information that a student has studied but may have difficulty recalling due to cognitive processing deficits. This can be due to a variety of reasons, such as memory deficits, traumatic brain injury, medical treatment (e.g. chemotherapy and medications).

Memory aids give students equal opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge in a testing situation by lessening the impact of their disability. It is not intended to provide students with the answer. This accommodation is not intended to reduce academic requirements or alter the standards by which academic performance is assessed.

The contents of a memory aid are at the instructor’s discretion and should not reduce academic requirements or alter the essential requirements of the course. Only the instructor can determine whether a memory aid compromises the integrity of the course.  

 

What is Memory Aid?

A memory aid is due to the discretion of the instructor. Every instructor is different and may decide what constitutes a memory aid. Here are some examples of memory aids:

• Pictures
• Video clips
• Index cards
• Notes
• Classwork
• Textbook
• Charts
• Formula sheet
• Instructor-made memory aid (most popular)

 

What is the Memory Aid Accommodation Process?

1. In the beginning of the semester, when the student and instructor sit down to go over all of the accommodations, they will discuss:

• If the instructor will be creating a memory aid for the student
• Or if the student will be creating the memory aid, they will discuss:
  • What type of memory aid would be appropriate for the class (e.g. one side of 3x5 index card, one page double spaced, one page from reading passage, novel, etc)
  • What type of content is allowed on the memory aid (e.g. pictures only, formulas only, acronyms only, etc)
  • How many days the student will submit the memory for approval (e.g 5 days before exam)
  • At this point, the instructor may request edits and have the student resubmit it by a certain deadline

2. Once the instructor approves the memory aid:

• A picture or word copy of the approved memory aid will be emailed to the DRC proctoring team at canadadrc@smccd.edu as soon as possible – preferably 3 days before the proctor appointment, so that we can print it out for you. If it is on an index card, we still would like a copy in case the index card gets lost. It is also highly recommended that you also cc your professor on this email!
• OR the student will give the professor the approved memory aid and the instructor will attach it to the exam when they deliver it to the DRC. (However, it is highly recommended that a picture of the memory aid be taken by the student in case the memory aid is lost in transit).

 

To review all of this information in a PDF form, please feel free to download the memory handout here.

 

Peer note-takers are students who are in the same class.  Once a note-taker is found, please do the following:

• Email canadadrc@smccd.edu or Charlene Suda at suda@smccd.edu the name and the email address of the notetaker. 
• The note-taker will be asked to sign an Agreement which includes a confidentiality agreement.
• The note-taker will complete paperwork for HR and payroll so they can get paid a stipend. 
• The note-taker and the student will be given access to a private DRC google drive folder that the notetaker and student can upload and retrieve notes from.  You will also be given access to this google folder so can you also feel free to view the notes whenever you'd like.

 

If a student gives you a memo with the note-taker accommodation on it, please make sure with the student that they indeed require a note-taker for your class.  If so, ask them if they have already someone in mind (usually a friend they already know who is in the same class) or if they would like you to ask the class if anyone would like to be a note-taker.  Here are some tips of how many professors ask their class for a note-taker: 

• Please announce the need for a note-taker in your class.
• You may also send an email to the class rather than make an in-class announcement.
• The identity of the DRC student needing the notes must be confidential unless indicated otherwise by the DRC student.
• You may choose to facilitate the transfer of notes from the peer note-taker to the DRC student – peer note taker will provide notes directly to you, you will provide notes to
the DRC student. 

Here is a sample Script:
“Would anyone like to volunteer to share their class notes for this course with DRC this semester?  If you do, you can be paid a stipend of $100 per a class. If you are interested in serving as a notetaker for this class, please email me as soon as possible so we can get you set up and start sharing your notes."  

 

*If a volunteer does not come forward by the add drop date,

please contact canadadrc@smccd.edu to meet with a DRC counselor to brainstorm an alternative accommodation.