This case study describes a middle school special education teacher’s creative solutions for pushing students to create and virtually present using Google Slides in a self-contained classroom. Students present projects they develop and are proud of during the time of distance learning. The use of paced Google Slides templates, word banks, sentence starters, select-to-speak tools, and videoconferencing replicate the types of accommodations and supports students would (and need to) have in the classroom.

I’m a special education teacher in New Orleans, teaching in a middle school self-contained special education classroom. I serve a small group of students in grades 4–8, with various exceptionalities and low-incidence disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disabilities, and specific learning disabilities. In the classroom, my students receive a myriad of accommodations and modifications designed to meet their specific needs and support them in building their academic confidence and performance. Throughout this time of distance learning, it has been my highest priority to ensure that my students are receiving a rigorous educational experience that is both engaging and accessible to them, and that meets them where they are in terms of the social-emotional stressors of this time. As a teacher serving black and brown students with exceptionalities—individuals whose identity markers are disproportionately not afforded the exceptional education they deserve and have a right to—it is all the more important that the assignments and support I provide push them toward achieving their individual goals and support their mental and emotional health, happiness, and development.

In this case study, my students and I worked to recreate a process we had used in class for building presentations and practicing oral presentation skills to share what they know and what they have learned. With the goal of creating and orally (virtually) presenting a Google Slides presentation about a famous person of their choice, my students used virtual accommodations and creative solutions to complete projects they were proud to present to the class in a Zoom call at the end of the week. Virtual accommodations that made this possible included a presentation template/organizer in Google Slides, daily pacing (adding a slide each day), built-in sentence starters in the template, a built-in word bank, access to a select-to-speak tool on Chromebooks as needed, direct support via Google Hangouts Screen Sharing for students who needed direct teacher or para support in completing their presentation, and more.

Learning goals

• I can use basic research skills to learn about people and things I am interested in.
• I can create a presentation including words and pictures on Google Slides.
• I can use my voice and presentation skills to orally present a finished presentation to my classmates.
• I can think critically and give positive and constructive feedback to classmates about their presentations.