As I have dived further into my research on engaging students with special needs, I have began to research how to modify science lessons for every type of learner. I initially found a great article on www.redorbit.com that discusses this exact topic. The author brings up an important topic that is often forgot about: federally mandated assessments and how every student is held accountable for the overall test scores. This also brings up another topic that could be discussed, which is test scores overall and how students with disabilities are required to take the exact same exam as their regular education peers, but yet their school can lose funding because of their test scores. But as I have mentioned, I began to focus on how to modify your science lessons for every student in your classroom.
One great idea the article mentions is making sure that you hit each type of learning style. This will assist every student, not just your students with special needs. Make sure that you not only say something, but also include a visual so that every student can take away from what your are teaching. It is also important to use a great deal of repetition. A child without a disability on average requires that something be repeated 12-14 times, but a child with special needs can require up to a 1,000 repetitions of something. This is extremely important to remember when you are teaching in a fully included classroom.
Another idea that is brought up in the article is understand that some children might not understand what is going on and could become frustrated which is why they act out. Teachers might see this behavior as being done on purpose and punish the child, instead of assisting them one of one to get them back on track. The author states that this could be a reason why students with special needs have a hard time staying on task, because they know they will get punished anyways and not receive the proper guidance.
The last point you made makes so much sense. If a child is acting out they probably don't understand what you're talking about, or feel left out for some other reason. Taking the extra time to work with these students would probably result in less time being spent on classroom management issues. I completely agree that as teachers we have to take the time needed for each student and try to meet their specific needs.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with this article. Recently, I was taught that students don’t have different “learning styles”. Students do have preferences for the way they like to take in information. Catering to the student’s learning preferences actually leads to learning less. Students assume the task will be easier, essentially leading them trying less during the task. Overall, this hinders their mental engagement and high-level thinking process.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to having students with disabilities in my classroom. I know the student may need extra time to learn something. I am willing to do this, to give that student extra time after or before school. I want all of my students to learn and comprehend. I will adapt my classroom to make this happen. I do not believe in learning styles. All students can learn and achieve success. The teacher may need to approach the application differently.
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