Making life better in disadvantaged communities - our thoughts on everything - from Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc.
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One of my friends who is a school psychologist once put as a child's diagnosis "dyspedagogia", which is Latin for "bad teaching". Fortunately, the teacher did not speak Latin and didn't get it. I guess his point was that she didn't get a lot of things.
My point, and I do have one, is that sometimes all a teacher needs to do to enable a child to succeed is to change the classroom. Most teachers think automatically of a few basic changes - if you have two children who are constantly talking to one another, you don't refer them both as Attention Deficit Disorder, you move them to opposite sides of the classroom.
Other modifications might not be so obvious. If a student has difficulty taking notes and listening at the same time, the teacher can have him listen in class, ask the student a question or two during the lecture to test comprehension. After class, another student who is a good note-taker, can make a copy of his own notes for the student with a disability to use for studying.
In the PowerPoint presentation in our School Years workshop for Disability access , which you can download here
http://www.spiritlakeconsulting.com/DA/ … _mod3.html
You can find dozens of ways classrooms can be changed and several practical examples.
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I agree, if teachers were to take a little more time. that precious time that they have few of, during those school hours. And work out the issues, including modifications to re-structure a classroom to provide inclusive education for all their students. Afterall, don't most teachers go into education, so that they can help students. Those with disabilities especially need a teacher who is more willing to go that extra mile to help that child.
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I think a real issue is that like many people, teachers too often get stuck in the mindset that this is the way that things have always been done and therefore should be continued that way. They might not be resistant to change, but they certainly aren't looking to be the ones to start change.
Also, I think too few teachers know anything about disabilities. My son- now grown- was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in grammar school. At the time, hardly any of his teachers knew anything about it and I unfortuntately don't think that has changed. I don't know if schools do a good enough job of educating teachers to work with students with disabilites, especially when it comes to learning disabilities or other disabilities that aren't really visible. How can teachers make changes that will benefit their students if they don't even really have an idea of what is going on with the child?
I agree with Leonora. In the days of inclusion (blending students with disabilities in the same class with students who do not have disabilities) these students are taught by teachers who are not special education teachers, therefore know nothing about the disabilities, nor about IEPs. They are removed from the care of their case worker (the normal special ed teacher) and placed into classes where teachers know nothing about their disability. In theory, special ed teachers are supposed to be placed in the classroom with them, but from what I hear, this never ends up working out. Does anyone else have any comments or personal experiences on inclusion?
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It depends on the teacher. As we say in the School Years workshop, which is going on right now at Turtle Mountain (!) there are some years when your child will have a good teacher who, special education teacher or not, is willing to work with the child and learn from you what works for this child best. Then, you have other years where the teacher is set in his or her ways and that is the way they are going to teach and if your child does notlearn well that is just too bad.
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When giving lectures to the students, tape record it yourself or have one of the teachers tape it for you. So you can go over it anytime you want and as many times you want at your own pace.
You could highlight materials.
Go to a special classroom.
Use the computers for your notes
Tape notes for children that cant read them.
Modifications for children w/disability
Make the work at his/her level
Have more open book tests
Copy notes and highlight the most important.
Move the student in front of classroom, the student could see and participate w/the class.
Drawing pictures or panting then haging them in the hallway.
Tape around desks so the child dont wonder around the room.
Let hyper kids sit and bounce on a ball.
If child gets all there work done faster than other kids let them sit in there desk and play with toys or somthing.
Erin wrote:
Drawing pictures or painting then haging them in the hallway.
When a kids got asthma or any other physical disability, modify some of the physical activities in the Phy Ed class. Such as, ask the teacher [or vice versa for the teacher] different things to do like, dribbling the basketball around the basketball court. Instead of playing a full court game like the other students are doing at the time. This way all of the students are doing something and ain't left sitting on the bleachers.
Many teachers have different thoughts on how to work with students who have a learning disabilty.....Some feel that giving extra help to a child with a disability other students will get mad at the child recieiving the extra help.......A teacher can make a child with a learning disabilty a part of a class by not pointing out to the rest of the class that the student has learning problems......No child should be left behind on getting an education.....
When students are forgettful with their home work and other papers that might be important. Take the paper and tape it to the back of their back so they don't forget it.