greetings,
a classmate and i were talking with Jason in class today about what strategies one might used when faced with certain circumstances (students with different learning abilities) in the classroom. we came up with a few good ideas (looking into IEP's and working with school EA's). However i would like to hear what some of you might think about the types of differentiations we WILL be forced to practice as educators.
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Hi Derek,
Very true that this will be a topic that will come up and when it does, we will desperately need to adjust our teaching style/area to meet the needs of these students I found a helpful article at: http://specialed.about.com/od/iep/a/accomod.htm and here are some key points I would start out using in any classroom and then try new, more specific strategies if initial ones do not work:
-Photocopy notes that students can add to rather than copy right from the board (or post them on moodle nowadays)
-Declutter your classroom to keep you mind tidy and theirs and encourage similar organizational practices yourself (simple things too like colour coding subjects or groups and keeping them consistent)
-Create a buddy system where peers
check in on eachother's progress
-Constantly repeat key concepts and check for understanding (even with the silent students!)
-Have a smart seating plan: have students who are visually impared sit near the front of the class and have students who regularly chat sit away from eachother
-Adjust assessments to include an oral test rather than a written one to suit certain students
-Give on going feedback to make sure students are on and stay on task
-Pay attention to lighting and temperature in the classroom to give all students an optimal learning environment.
Learning differences manifest themselves in a huge variety of ways and as educators in this age, we are extremely lucky to have access to a plethora of web resources to help us along the way.
Here are some others:
http://www.education.com/topic/special-education-accommodations/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/intro.html (this pbs site is very useful as it breaks down learning differences into the four categories: attention, reading, writing, and math and gives teachers specific tools to use to accommodate these students)
Raechel, well said! Derek, differentiation is respectful and recognises human complexity...sometimes even educators need to be forced to do right.
be peace
jason
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