Diverse Learners Midterm Answers
Liza Sosnowski
Question 1:
· PL 94-142: Education for all Handicapped Children Act: This act was passed in 1975 and it “mandated that a free and appropriate education be provided to all students with disabilities, regardless of the nature and severity of their disability” (p24, Salend). This law allowed for students to enter into the least restrictive environment and to be educated with their peers who are not disabled. Under this law, the IEP was outlined. This law also allowed for “students with disabilities and their families to have the right to nondiscriminatory testing, confidentiality, and due process” ( p.24, Salend). The focus of this law was to give students with disabilities equal access to the general education classroom. Parents advocated for this law.
· PL 99-457: Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Act of 1986: This law was very important in gaining access for children who were younger into the LRE. This law extended the rights from the PL 94-142 law to children from birth to age 5. It was great because it “encouraged early intervention services and special assistance to students who are at risk” (p24, Salend). Also included in the law were guidelines to implementing an IFSP (Individualizes Family Service Plans) for each child. The IFSP helped the educators develop a plan of action as to how to provide the best services to the child within the LRE.
· Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act : This act serves as a civil rights law that prevents all institutions who are receiving federal funds from discriminating against anyone who has a disability “in education, employment, housing, and access to public programs and facilities” ( p26, Salend). It also mandates that these institutions have appropriate accessibility for people with disabilities. It provides students with disabilities the opportunity to be in general education classroom with peers who do not have disabilities. It also provides students with disabilities the right to extracurricular activities in their local schools. This law mandates that the curriculum and instruction used in general education classrooms will be accommodated to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Although Section 504 does not require the development of an IEP, accommodations must be made in order to meet the needs of those covered under Section 504. The plan that is usually made for students is called a 504 plan Section 504 is great because it allows for those people who do not qualify to be covered under the IDEA to have similar benefits and still be placed in the LRE. For instance, under IDEA, when individuals turn 21, they no longer qualify. Section 504 then picks them up and carries them throughout the rest of their lives and allows them to have regain the rights they had under IDEA. Section 504 also includes people who have “ ADD, social maladjustments, temporary and long term health conditions, communicable diseases, AIDS and eating disorders” (p 27, Salend).
Question 2:
A high-incidence disability is one in which the child’s symptoms seem to be mild. Students with high incidence disabilities tend to make up a large percentage of students with disabilities. Students with these types of disabilities tend to have many things in common. Sometimes, the symptoms do not really show themselves as disabilities in early childhood years and are hard to detect because children who have these disabilities at this time may do certain things that are very similar to what a child without these disabilities do. However, signs that a child may have a high-incidence disability may be more visible as a child enters into his/her elementary school years and the work becomes more demanding. “Their learning and behavioral difficulties impact their school performance and can start to cause frustration, social rejection, low self-esteem, and a dislike of school” (p.63, Salend). It is important to note that in some cases, but not many, children with these types of disabilities may grow out of the disability when they enter into adolescence. According to Salend, high-incident disabilities “include such disability categories as learning disabilities ( ex. Nonverbal learning disability), mild intellectual disabilities, mild emotion/ behavioral disorders( ex. selective mutism) and speech and language impairments (ex. voice disorders)” (p. 62, Salend).We learned in class that there are seven types of learning disabilities that are examples of high- incidence disabilities. The seven types of learning disabilities are: 1) reading recognition, 2) reading comprehension, 3) math calculation, 4) math reasoning, 5) written expression, 6) oral comprehension, and 7) listening comprehension. These types of learning disabilities are commonly found in many students. Because of they are so mild, and they are so commonly found in students, they are categorized as high-incidence disabilities.
Students with low-incident disabilities are less common than those with high-incident disabilities. They only make up “6% of the students with disabilities, whereas students with high-incident disabilities make up about 90% to 95% of students with disabilities” (pp. 62-75, Salend). Students with low-incident disabilities are those who have physical ( ex. Spina Bifida), sensory (ex. Deaf), and multiple and significant cognitive disabilities(ex. Autism). Their symptoms are more severe than those of high-incident disabilities. Generally, children with low-incident disabilities never grow out of their disabilities, and these disabilities can be identified usually at a very young age. These disabilities could have developed at birth, or they can be due to an accident that occurred.
Students with emotional and behavioral disorders fall under high-incidence disabilities. One particular type of disability that falls within this category is called selected mutism. This is a type of anxiety disorder that affects the way a student communicates with others. The pre-referral process can begin as a teacher and parents observes the student in the classroom and at home. Students are observed for two months to see if the mutism persists. If it does, the child is then tested in the comforts of his/her home in order to see if further treatment by a specialist is necessary. “If the mutism persists for more than 2 months, or another dominant language is not interfering, and if there are no verbal responses at all, treatment should begin immediately”(http://selectivemutismfoundation.org).
Autism is a low-incidence disorder in which the child has severe communication, socialization, and communication disorders. It typically occurs at birth or within the first 3 years of life. Parents and teachers can usually observe and recognize the symptoms of autism. They can seek out the help of a therapist to help the autistic children and their families develop techniques to understand the child’s needs and to communicate with each other and with others.
Question 3:
First, teachers will have needed to gain the trust of the families early on in the year. The more a family feels that they can trust their child’s teacher, the more comfortable they will feel and the more they will want to meet with and talk to the teacher. It is also important to establish confidentiality with the families of the students you teach. Families must know that the information that is discussed within the meeting will not be discussed elsewhere.
When planning the meeting, the teacher must identify the reasons for the meeting and develop an agenda for the meeting. Enough time should be allowed in the agenda to discuss issues or concern that the teacher, family, and other educators in attendance may have. A good way to ensure participation from family members in the meeting is to contact them before the meeting and provide them with information on the issues that the teacher would like to discuss in the meeting so they come into the meeting with a better understanding of what needs to be addressed. Share the agenda with the family and others who will be coming before the meeting, and ask them to bring helpful documents and materials to the meeting, and let them know about important background information that they will need to know of to take part in the meeting. Send other participants that will be attending helpful documents such as IEP’s legal rights, work samples etc. that will be pertinent to the agenda before the meeting. Families might also appreciate it if the teacher sends them a list of questions or suggestions to help the actively participate in the meeting. Also, let the families know who else will be in attendance at the meeting besides you. Teachers must make sure that the time for the meeting is convenient for the families. Teacher need to contact families by their preferred method of contact (email, written letters, phone call etc.) in order to establish a good time to meet. Once the meeting has been scheduled, the teacher should contact the families and other professionals who should be there to tell them where, what time, and the purpose of the meeting, and how long it will last and to confirm that they will be there. Teachers should send a follow up email, letter, phone call etc. that will better ensure the family’s attendance.
The conference should be set up so that it is a comfortable and collaborative setting to be in so that it encourages good communication between participants. The furniture needs to all be the same size, and tables and chairs should be arranged so that everyone can see each other. Teachers must warmly greet participants as they arrive, offer them refreshments, and engage them in pleasant conversation. Next, review the agenda and purpose of the meeting. In order to help establish good communication, provide the participants with paper and pencil/pens to jot down notes and questions as the meeting progresses. Also, it is important to put a sign on the door that lets others outside of the meeting know that one is in progress so that the meeting goes on without interruption.
The meeting needs to start on a positive note where the student’s strengths are addressed. Next, participants should provide student work samples, anecdotal reports, and grades to provide supports for their comments. Then discuss and issues or concerns they have about the student’s performance. As families discuss their issues and concerns, teachers must be attentive, empathetic. They must ask questions that encourage participants to respond instead of waiting for them to ask questions or respond spontaneously. Teachers need to use language that is understandable but not degrading. It is best to structure the meeting in a way that the family prefers to communicate. The meeting must positively end by summarizing the points of discussion. Participants must agree on a plan of action, and establish lines for ongoing communication. Then set a date for the next meeting. Finally, evaluate the meeting.
Question 4:
Teachers must use a variety of “attitude change and information-sharing strategies,” in their classrooms in order to promote positive attitudes towards diversity in their classrooms. A very important thing to keep in mind as a teacher is your attitude. The attitude that you have towards those who are culturally and physically different from you will be the model that your students model their attitudes after. Therefore, it is so important to have a positive attitude toward these differences, so that your students will have one as well. Interact with all of the students to show them that you are comfortable being around them and that you have respect for them. Teachers must make sure to use positive language that expresses the way you think, feel, and act towards everyone in a positive light.
Teachers need to “learn about their students and the backgrounds, cultures, strengths, interests, hobbies, and talents so that they and others can view them as competent and capable, and understand their multi dimensions” ( p.180, Salend). Share information about their cultures in the classroom by decorating the class bulletin board with pictures of people from different cultures or have books in the classroom in which the settings and characters are from all over the world. Make sure to celebrate the cultures from which the students come from so that students gain an understanding and acceptance of cultures that are different from theirs.
It is so important to focus on a student’s strengths rather than their weaknesses! Teachers must describe students in terms of what they are good at or who they are instead of what they struggle with. For example, If there is someone in the class who is a great at speaking Spanish, but may struggle with English, ask him/her to be the class translator for the writing prompt they will be working on that day, and have the student write the writing prompt in Spanish on the board so that the class can see what it would look and sound like if it were in Spanish. This will not only help the child feel good about his/her ability to speak Spanish, but it will also allow the class to view Spanish as a great attribute for someone to have!
Teachers need to “use individuals-first language, and refer to students by their names” (p180, Salend). This will allow for other to focus on the person rather than on their differences. For example, if you need to call on a group of students who are at a lower ability level than others, make sure to call each student into the group by their name instead of by their disabilities. The teacher should say, “John, Mary, and Paul need to come and read with me.” Instead of saying , “the slow readers, John Mary and Paul, need to come read with me.” This way everyone learns to respect each other by referring to each other by their first name instead of by their disabilities or differences.
Teachers need to take the time to note the similarities that students have between each other so that they can learn to see each other as equals. For example, the teacher should say that both Tiwanna (and African American Student) and Sarah (A white student) have pony tails in their hair.
Invite guest speakers to come in to discuss their disabilities with the class and to speak about how they have worked to overcome some of the struggles they may have had in the past when they were students. Students will gain a respect for people with disabilities and how they have managed to overcome them. For example, have someone who is blind come in to talk to the class. Ask the person to bring any equipment they use to help them through their disability.
Finally, have the students study friendships so that they can understand the importance of them. Have the students write a friendship poem about why friendships are important!
Question 5:
Chapter 1 Summary: Understanding Inclusion
Resources:
1) http://www.kidstogether.org/inclusion.htm
This article addressed inclusion classrooms and said : The fundamental principle of inclusive education is the valuing of diversity within the human community.... When inclusive education is fully embraced, we abandon the idea that children have to become "normal" in order to contribute to the world.... We begin to look beyond typical ways of becoming valued members of the community, and in doing so, begin to realize the achievable goal of providing all children with an authentic sense of belonging. (Kunc 1992, pp. 38-39).
2) http://www.myeducationlab.com/
3) http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/
Summary:
· People with disabilities long ago did not have the same opportunities as those who do today. Most were institutionalized, whereas today they are given the chance to be in general education classrooms with students who do not have disabilities. They are put into what is called inclusive classrooms.
· Many efforts have been made to accommodate the needs of children with disabilities into inclusive classrooms. The least restrictive environment (LRE) has helped to make this possible. The LRE is an individual plan for how to best include students with disabilities into a general education classroom. “Students are placed within LRE based on their strengths, challenges, and motivation” (p.12). LRE allows the students to be moved from more restrictive to less restrictive classrooms as the need arises. This is in order to meet the needs of the students in the best way possible.
· Normalization- “provides students with opportunities, social interactions, and experiences that parallel those of society to adults and children with disabilities” (p.15).
· Advances in technology have been used to assist a person with disabilities.
· IDEA “mandates that free and appropriate education be provided to all students with disabilities, regardless of the nature and severity of their disability.” It has been changed overtime in effort to be more inclusive for those with disabilities.
· Pages 31-32 record the results of a study done on the impact that inclusion had on students with disabilities which seemed to show that the impact was mostly positive. These students seemed to thrive in the inclusive classroom.
· Studies show that students who are in inclusive classrooms and do not have disabilities also seemed to thrive academically. They also thrived socially as they tended to be more apt to make friends with and stand up for students with disabilities.
· Educators attitudes about inclusion vary. Some worry that they will ba overworked and that the pace of the classroom will be really slowed down making it hard for them to keep up with the standards they must teach in the school year. Others find that it is a positive setting to teach in.
· Families with children with disabilities tend to have very positive attitudes about the inclusive classroom.
· Families with children without disabilities tend to have mixed feelings about their children being in an inclusive classroom. Some worry about it slowing down the pace of the classroom. Others find in socially beneficial for their children to be in a classroom with other children who have disabilities because it allows for their children to learn to be more accepting of people with disabilities.
Chapter 2 Summary: Understanding the Diverse Educational Strengths and Challenges of Students with Disabilities ( pp 43-62)
Resources:
1) http://www.myeducationlab.com/
2) http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/
3) http://www2.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html
Summary:
· A Comprehensive planning team is composed of families and professionals who join together to come up with a plan to help students who are struggling in the general education classroom. Once students who are struggling are identified, the team comes up with a plan to help them. This plan is put in place before further special education classes and services are considered.
· Mediation is offered when there are disagreements that result between family members and educators about the plan of how to best help the child.
· An impartial hearing officer steps in when disagreements cannot be easily settled.
· Prerefferal System- this is a process used to assist teachers with helping to meet children’s needs before a referral for special ed. placement is made. If this process works for the child in the general education classroom, then it is continued. If it does not work, then the team will look further into special education accommodations.
· Response to Intervention (RTI) are also used before special education is considered. They are “ multitiered identification and instructional models used for assessing the extent to which the child responds to and needs more intensive and individualized instruction to succeed in the inclusion classroom.”
· Progress monitoring- monitors the effectiveness that your program has on the student’s progress.
· IEP’s ( Individualized Education Program) these are written individualized plans that identify the special education and related services that the student will receive to address their needs. Assistive Technology may or may not be implemented within these plans, but if it is then it must be written into the IEP. To determine whether or not it is to be used, an individualized technology assessment is performed.
· Transition services are natural points of transition that a student will go through and activities are implemented that coordinate with the different points of transition to help the student easily progress throughout these periods of transition.
· Summary of Performance (SOP) are made after the student graduates or surpasses the age for receiving special education services. They address the student’s achievement and also give suggestions to help the student succeed their post-secondary goals.
Chapter 2 Summary (pp.62-96)
Resources:
4) http://www.myeducationlab.com/
5) http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/
3)http://www2.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html
Summary:
· High-incidence disabilities- mild disabilities that include such disabilities as learning disabilities, mild intellectual disabilities, mild emotional/behavioral disorders, and speech/ language impairments. Between 90%-95% of students with disabilities are in this category.
· Low incident disabilities- generally are more severe.
· Students with learning disabilities may struggle with their ability to remember certain things, be motivated, attention, and organization difficulties. Reading can also be difficult for them. Writing may be difficult as well. Math as well.
· Students with learning disabilities may also have language problems. Nonverbal learning disabilities-These students struggle to process nonverbal, visual-spacial info, and communications such as body language, gestures. They tend to miss social cues. Teachers can aid these students by establishing routines, giving them specific sequential directions so that they can prioritize when multi-tasking.
· Perceptual and Motor Difficulties- students with learning disabilities may have trouble recognizing, discriminating, and interpreting visual and auditory stimuli. Also may have gross and fine motor difficulties. Gross motor difficulties may include awkward gaits, clumsiness, poor balance and inability to kick a ball, skip and follow rhythmic sequence movements. Fine motor problems include trouble tracing, copying, pasting, holding a pencil etc. Another motor problem that can result is hyperactivity.
· Social-Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties- learning disabilities which may include problems socializing, self-concept, confidence, and motivation and social withdrawal etc.
· Students with oppositional and defiant behaviors often exhibit resistance to authority figures. Students with conduct disorders- engage in aggressive and disruptive behaviors. These students also exhibit obsessions, compulsions, and anxiety disorders. Students with selective mutism may speak at home but they avoid speaking when in school.
· Three types of ADD (attention deficit disorder) 1) constant motion associated with hyperactivity (ADHD-HI or ADDH) 2) inattentive distractible, disorganized (ADD/I) or without hyperactivity ( ADD/WO) or undifferentiated attention deficit disorder (UADD) 3) Students who exhibit a combo of hyperactivity and distractibility (ADHD-C) All three type commonly exhibit problems being inattentive, disorganized, poor motivation that interfere with their learning, memory, academic performance, socialization and friendship with others, and their emotional development. ADD is not recognized as a separate disability under the IDEA act unless they are also health impaired, learning disabled, or emotionally disturbed. Students with ADD who don’t qualify under IDEA can be eligible for services under Section 504.
· Students with Intellectual Disabilties:
o Students with mild intellectual disabilities- IQ scores that range from 50 to below 75 and need intermittent and/or limited supports to foster their learning
o Students with moderate intellectual disabilities- IQ scores range from 30 to 50, and they often need assistance and long term support to enhance their learning (includes those with Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Prader -Willi syndrome, and Williams’s syndrome pp72-73).
o Students with severe and profound intellectual disabilities have IQ scores below 30 and may have significant cognitive, communication, behavioral, physical, speech/language, perceptual and medical needs.
· Students with Physical and Health Needs pp 77-78: Students with physical disabilities are identified as students with orthopedic impairments or students with other health impairments. Students with orthopedic impairments includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly ( club foot, absent member); impairments caused by disease ( poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc) and impairments from other causes ( cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns which cause contractures)
o Students with other health impairments include those who exhibit limited strength, vitality, or alertness, it can also include those who are medically fragile or those who depend on technological devices for ventilation, oxygen , tube feeding.
o Students with physical and health conditions tend to have IQs in the normal range
o Some of the conditions these students have are congenital which mean they were present from birth; others are acquired which means they were caused by an accident or illness.
Chapter 3:Understanding the Diverse Educational Strengths and Challenges of Students Who Challenge Schools:
Resources:
1) www.hcsm.org this is a great website that provides a variety or helpful resources to families who may be looking for health services. This would be a great resource to offer to families who may have just moved to the area and need to make contact with some valuable health resources.
2) http://www.migrantsupport.eu/ This is such a great resource to give to migrant working families. It tells them of their rights and gives them helpful contacts to help them integrate themselves into society.
3) http://www.naehcy.org/facts.html This is an extremely valuable resource to have on the education of homeless children and their families.
· Children represent the fastest growing poverty group. 20% of US children are poverty stricken. These rates are higher for children with disabilities.
· Urban poor children may live in run down housing and be exposed to lead poisoning, which causes learning and behavioral difficulties, stunted growth, and hearing loss
· Homeless children do not have a permanent residence. 2% of children are likely to become homeless during the school year.
· McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act gives homeless children the right to a free public education in a mainstream school environment and seeks to help limit barriers to their school attendance.
· Rural Poverty rural school districts serve a greater number of students living in poverty than nonrural school districts. Rural school districts also serve more students with disabilities in gen ed classrooms as well as a growing number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
· Children of Migrant workers often move around a lot so it is hard for them to get aquainted with the classroom environment. Things to help them: provide them with a welcoming classroom environment; focus on their strengthes; reach out to their families; when they move again, provide the family with a portfolio of the child’s work so they can give it to the child’s next teacher.
· Remember to hold all students to high standards, be respectful and accepting of their backgrounds, diversify the curriculum you use to meet the cultural and linguistic needs.
· Wealthy children can also be affected. Sometimes these children struggle to perceive things realistically.
· Bilingual children may have trouble adjusting to the classroom setting, but it important that they not be put in special ed classes due to this. They may resemble similar problems as a child who needs special ed, but there are several ways to identify whether it is necessary for them.
· Children will come from a variety of different family dynamics so its necessary to be sensitive to this. Some may be adopted, foster care, single parent family, extended family mambers may take care of the children, Gay or Lesbian parents etc. Each child is special no matter what their family dynamic is like, and the teacher must focus on their strengths. The teacher must try to eliminate discrimination or Bias’s from the classroom.
· Be sensitive to a child’s linguistic and cultural background.
Chapter 4 Summary :Creating Collaborative Relationships and Fostering Communication
Resources:
1) www.myeducationlab.com
2) http://www.teachhub.com/news/article/cat/14/item/250
This is a great article about co-teaching, its’ pros and cons, and more strategies to use to effectively co-teach.
3) http://www.teachervision.fen.com/education-and-parents/resource/3730.html
This is a great resource to use to help teachers develop good strategies to use to effectively plan and carry out a parent teacher conference. There are also form templates for teachers to use to help them.
Summary:
· An effective inclusion program is one in which there is good communication between the teachers and other members of the planning team.
· Wraparound process- process the team uses to guide them to make the best decisions for implementing inclusion.
· ESL teachers instruct students in English
· Bilingual teachers help students in their native language and in English
· Migrant Educators helps migrant families enroll their children in school and then they provide the child with supplementary individualized instruction in smaller groups.
· A key member to the comprehensive planning team is the case manager, service coordinator, or support facilitator who helps make sure that the group is staying on task and working toward a common goal.
· Roles that teams should perform in order to work collaboratively: initiating; information gathering and sharing; clarifying and elaborating; summarizing; consensus building; encouraging; harmonizing and compromising; reflecting; balancing.
· Successful teams use “person/student centered planning,” in which the important roles that the students and their families play in planning inclusion is are recognized.
· MAP planning is another strategy used by the team to develop goals for inclusion. “Map Action Planning” is what MAP stands for.
· Co-teaching- teachers work together in the inclusive classroom. Different instructional arrangements teachers may use to co-teach:
One teaching/one helping
Parallel teaching
Station teaching
Alternative teaching
Team teaching
· Collaborative consultation is used to help teachers effectively work together in the inclusive classroom. The consultant is usually the special ed, bilingual, or multicultural educator or a school psychologist, speech/language therapist, or physical therapist who works along with the general education teacher.
· Want to promote congruence in between the co teachers.
o 2 models to help co-teachers collaborate: 1) a priori model- in this model, supportive services educators teach new content that supports the content ot be learned in the general education classroom. The instructions lays foundation for what the child will learn soon in the classroom.
o The post hoc model- supportive instruction services reinforce skills already learned in the classroom.
· Advocate for your students and their families
· Teachers must be aware of the diverse backgrounds from which their students and families come from in order to effectively communicate with them.
· Essential to understand the belief systems of your students
· This chapter had very useful information on effective ways to communicate with families and set up and carry out conferences with families.
· Informative notices, newsletters, daily/weekly notes, 2 way notebooks, and daily/weekly progress reports and home-school contracts all help to keep families informed about what is going on in the classroom and how their child is progressing.
Chapter 5 Summary: Creating an Environment that Fosters Acceptance and Friendship
Resources:
1) www.myeducationlab.com
2) http://specialed.about.com/od/teacherchecklists/a/classroom.htm
This is a great website that gives teachers useful information about how to create a welcoming classroom for all students to learn in.
3) http://education.byu.edu/diversity/activities.html This website gives great ideas for how to promote diversity in the classroom.
Summary:
· Many cartoons, comics, and tv shows show characters who have disabilities or differences in a negative light. Kids learn to have negative attitudes towards others with differences because of what they see in the media. As a teacher it is important to promote positive attitudes towards everyone regardless of their differences.
· “an important goal in your inclusive classroom is to teach all students to appreciate diversity and to value and learn from each other’s similarities and differences”(p176).
· Important to discover what the attitudes of your students are like when it comes to dealing with diversity by performing “attitude assessments, using individual differences probes, look at students drawings, and use observational techniques and sociometric techniques.”
· The teacher must be the role model for how to treat others and how to respect diversity.
· Disability simulations can be used to help students understand what it would be like if they had a certain disability.
· Make sure to incorporate a unit of study on disabilities and individuals in the past who have had them.
· Teach about assistive devices
· Teach students about different cultures and incorporate cultural diversity in the way you decorate your classroom.
· Use the “bridge system” to teach kids about different dialects.
· Teach students about stereotypes and how to appropriately respond to them. Also, teach students about discrimination.
Friend Text Chapter 1: Planning Instruction by Analyzing Classroom and Student Needs
Resources:
1)www.myeducationlab.com
2) http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/44472.aspx
Great website for ideas on how to arrange the classroom to accommodate students with special needs.
3) http://www.uhseport.net/published/k/sh/kshaw/collection/1/
Provides websites for differentiated instruction strategies in a variety of subject areas!
My notes:
· You will be able to accommodate more diversity in the classroom if you set up your classroom in a way that caters to all students’ needs. Use the INCLUDE strategy.
· 2 key concepts of the INCLUDE strategy: 1) “student performance in school is the result of an interaction between the student and the instructional environment.” 2) “by carefully analyzing students’ learning needs and the specific demands of the classroom environment, teachers can reasonably accommodate most students with special needs in their classrooms.”
· Inclusion strategy contains ideas of both universal design and differentiated instruction
o Universal design- idea that instructional materials, methods, and assessments designed with built-in supports are more likely to be compatible with learners with special needs than those without supports, and they minimize the need for labor intensive accommodations later on.
o Differentiated instruction- the idea that a variety of teaching and learning strategies are necessary to meet the range of needs evident in any given classroom. Needs are met by differentiating the content being taught, the process by which it is taught, and the ways students demonstrate what they have learned and the level of knowledge through varied products. Differentiation is achieved by providing materials and tasks at varied levels of difficulty and with varying levels of instructional support, through the use of multiple grouping arrangements, student choice, and varied evaluation strategies.
o
o 7 Steps of the INCLUDE strategy uses for differentiated instruction:
§ 1)Identify classroom demands
§ 2)Note students learning strengths and needs
§ 3)Check for potential areas of student success
§ 4)Look for potential problem areas
§ 5)Use information to brainstorm ways to differentiate instruction
§ 6)Differentiate instruction
§ 7)Evaluate student progress
o Factors of classroom management: physical organization, classroom routines, classroom climate, behavior management, the use of time
o Flexible grouping- using a variety of grouping strategies based on a student’s individual needs.
o Instructional Materials – using different instructional materials to help meet the needs of students such as basals which are published text books that focus on basic skills, often used in reading and mathematics, and texts that stress subject matter content in areas such as history and science. Teachers also use other materials such as manipulatives, technological devices like audiovisual aids, telecommunication systems, and computers.
o Instructional Methods- the ways in which teachers present content and skills to students and evaluate whether learning has occurred are the essence of teaching and are crucial for accommodating students with special needs.
o When evaluating students with disabilities, teachers must focus on what the student knows rather than on the extent of his disability.
o Teach positively by recognizing and focusing on students strengths. This helps students to see themselves and others positively, to see learning positively , and to overcome their weaknesses.
o Three areas describe students learning strengths and needs: academics, socio-emotional development, and physical development.
o 2 ways to differentiate for students with disabilities: 1) accommodations 2)modifications
· Select age appropriate strategies- students’ accommodations and modifications should match their age.
· Select the easiest approach first- Accommodations need to be easy for the gen ed teacher to implement and should not require so much time and effort that it interferes with teaching the entire class.
· Need to establish good effective routines in the classroom.
· Learning Outcomes reflect Blooms revised taxonomy related to levels of thought. 6 levels of thought, from lowest to highest: 1)remembering 2)understanding3)applying4)analyzing5)evaluating6)creating
Resources for Midterm:
Salend, Spencer J.Creating Inclusive Classrooms Effective and Reflective Practices.Seventh Edition, Pearson Education,Inc. 2011, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Online source: http://selectivemutismfoundation.org , February 28,2011.
