Teaching Strategies

Diverse Teaching strategies are necessary if you are going to fully differentiate instruction for an inclusive classroom. In 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do, John McCarthy relates differentiation of instruction to a spell, appearing intimidating and incomprehensible to some. However, McCarthy then details that in reality every teacher already has the tools to differentiate in powerful ways for all learners: we just have to know how. We can use this article, as well as other McCarthy had posted on edutopia to assist us in realizing what tools we already have and how to use them to prepare to best meet the needs of our future, diverse students. 

McCarthy, J. (2014, July 23). 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-ways-to-plan-john-mccarthy

Universal Design for Learning

The Universal Design for Learning

is a set of ideas and principles for curriculum and pedagogy that emphasizes the goal of giving all individuals (our students) equal opportunities to learn. These ideas are presented with rules and blueprints for educators to use to create instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone with flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs. This is basically a designed “program” that does what we have been learning all semester in EDC 313; It differentiates Learning. These resources explain just why UDL is necessary and brings in Neuroscience and brain networking to help reveal just how unique every individual is when it comes to learning. We can use this in the classroom to help differentiate learning in a very laid out format.

What is Universal Design for Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2017, from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl

Types of Special Needs Students

As teachers we will encounter Special Needs students every year in and out of our classes.  The most common disabilities seen in schools today according to teAchnology.com are:

• ADD/ADHD

"Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder affects about 5% of schoolchildren - about two children in every class. Teachers and parents need to develop intervention and prevention skills for the sake not only of the affected child, but for the other students in the class who need a learning environment free from disruption."

• Aphasia/Dysphagia

"Dysphasia is a language disorder which is often called aphasia in the medical world to prevent confusion with a similar term dysphagia, a swallowing disorder. Aphasia then is the more commonly used term for a speech impairment which can vary from no speech at all, to a difficulty in naming some objects. Its more usual incidence is among adults who have suffered from stroke or other brain injury. Depending on the area and extent of the brain damage a person may be able to read but not write, or vice versa, able to sing but not to speak. The prognosis of those with aphasia varies widely and all too often, has been confused with other childhood learning disabilities such as deafness or autism."

• Apraxia/Dyspraxia

"Dyspraxia is also known as "motor learning disability". Once known as "clumsy child syndrome"dyspraxia often comes with language problems, and sometimes a degree of difficulty with perception and thought. Dyspraxia does not affect a person's intelligence, but it can cause learning difficulties for children. Four out of every 5 children with evident dyspraxia are boys. If the average classroom has 30 children, there is probably one child with dyspraxia in almost each classroom."

• Auditory Processing

"Auditory Processing Disorders are often overlooked and as the condition is becoming more widely known, professionals are taking a closer look at how it affects children and their education. CAPD can affect children with perfectly normal hearing as well as those with hearing loss. Typically the child cannot process sound fast enough to be able to distinguish normal language. If a teacher or parent is talking to a child at 50 miles per hour but the child is processing at 45 miles per hour, there is a problem. The child gets tired of trying to keep up and tends to get frustrated and tune out. This is often described as "lazy" or "inattentive." The problem transfers from listening to reading. For children with normal vocabularies, reading is simply transposing a known language into a different format. But for children with CAPD, reading amounts to learning a whole new language."

• Autism/Aspergers

"Both Aspergers and Autism are increasingly referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) as a range of disorders exist affecting verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction and imaginative or creative play. Aspergers is at the milder end of the range and symptoms usually appear in the first three years of a child's life. Children on the autism spectrum have trouble in the classroom communicating their needs or understanding instructions. Inappropriate social behavior leads to the child being bullied or isolated and their inability to decipher the world around makes it difficult for their teachers to meet their needs."

• Cystic Fibrosis

"Cystic Fibrosis is categorized under the handicapping condition of "Other Health Impaired." According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, an estimated 70,000 children worldwide have this disorder. It is a serious hereditary disease that affects the respiratory and the digestive systems. If both parents are a carrier of Cystic Fibrosis, then a child is at risk of inheriting this disease."

• Cerebral Palsy

"Approximately half a million people in the United States have been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP). CP is a long-term physical condition caused by an abnormality of brain growth or a lesion to the brain, resulting in the impairment of muscular development and control. CP can occur if the mother experiences an injury or disease that affects the fetus, during a traumatic birth, or later in life due to an infection, disease or head trauma."

• Developmental Delays

"Children develop at their own pace, and what is considered "normal" has a wide range. Sosha might begin walking shortly after her first birthday, but might not speak a three word sentence until age three. Caleb might be a chatterbox at age two, but isn't toilet-trained at age four. If it appears that there is a significant delay in vision, motor skills, cognitive skills, speech, or social skills, early treatment is the best way to help a child make progress and be ready to enter school."

• Down Syndrome

"Down Syndrome is a medically diagnosed syndrome caused by the presence of an extra chromosome 21 and occurs in approximately one in 900 births. Distinctive physical characteristics include: small ears, upwardly slanting eyes, short stubby hands, a flattened facial profile, a large tongue, short stature, and a gap between the first and second toes. A child with Down Syndrome may also experience: visual or auditory problems, thyroid disease, decreased muscle tone, cardiac conditions or loose ligaments. Children with Down Syndrome typically function in the mild to moderate range of mental retardation (MR)."

• Dyslexia

"Dyslexia is a type of learning disability that alters the way the brain processes written material, causing reading, writing and/or spelling to be a challenge. Dyslexia varies from person to person. Most dyslexic students have average to above average intelligence and a reading level significantly low for their age."

• Emotional/Behavioral Disorders

"There is growing recognition that early intervention is necessary to prevent troublesome behaviors from escalating in the classroom. Prevention and best practices for dealing with behavior disorders can create a safe school environment for accelerating school performance, increasing readiness for learning and reducing problem behavior. Rather than leaving the responsibility to the individual teacher, it is being proved that schoolwide structural strategies are the key to success. Positive behavior management and social skills instruction should be implemented in each classroom, with a school culture of unified discipline and shared expectations of success based on academic enrichment."

• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

"Children affected by FAS are a challenge in the classroom because they have difficulties with learning, paying attention, memory and problem solving. The term Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is commonly used to cover the range of effects seen in children whose mothers drank alcohol during their pregnancy. FASD can include physical, mental, behavioral and learning disabilities, with developmental delays and possible lifetime implications. Most children with FASD have normal or above normal IQs (only 15% having IQs below 70) and the symptoms that show up in the classroom are first seen as 'behavior problems.'"

• Fragile "X"

"Fragile X is the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and the most common known cause of autism. While there is no cure for the condition, it is hoped that further understanding of underlying causes will lead to new therapies. Caused by a defect on the X chromosome, the symptoms may range from mild learning disability and hyperactivity to severe retardation and autism. Currently Fragile X syndrome is treated through behavioral therapy, special education and medication."

• Hearing Impaired

"Hearing impairment is an invisible and greatly misunderstood disability even though it affects one in ten Americans at some stage of their life. Hearing impaired children face prejudice and ignorance on a daily basis; 'if you are deaf, you are also dumb, if you wear a hearing aid or have a cochlear implant then you can hear perfectly, if you are deaf, you are not very bright and if you can speak, you cannot be deaf'. These common assumptions are the biggest handicap hearing impaired children must face as they go to school."

• Learning Disabilities

"Students with learning disabilities can be taught effective learning strategies that will help them adjust to mainstream classroom activities and prepare them for life as adults. Children who start school with difficulty in receiving and organizing information, remembering and expressing themselves need to be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. Otherwise they fall behind and this has a tragic snowball effect leading to behavioral and emotional problems. A child who is trying to learn becomes more and more frustrated in the face of repeated failure, leading to low self-esteem and bad behavior which greatly affect their social interactions."

• Mental Retardation

"There are many causes of mental retardation (MR) and in many cases, the cause is actually unknown. Mental retardation is a significant sub-average general intellectual functioning which impacts adaptive behavior. Most mentally retarded children fall under the "mild" or "moderate" category, while approximately 15% fall under "severe". Students with mild, moderate, or severe mental retardation are classified by the Committee on Special Education (CSE) and have Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs). Although many of these students will receive an IEP diploma, higher functioning MR students can achieve a regular high school diploma."

• Neurological Disabilities

"Neurological disabilities include a wide range of disorders, such as epilepsy, learning disabilities, neuromuscular disorders, autism, ADD, brain tumors, and cerebral palsy, just to name a few. Some neurological conditions are congenital, emerging before birth. Other conditions may be caused by tumors, degeneration, trauma, infections or structural defects. Regardless of the cause, all neurological disabilities result from damage to the nervous system. Depending on where the damage takes place, determines to what extent communication, vision, hearing, movement and cognition are impacted."

• Seizure Disorder

"For children with a seizure disorder, faculty/staff members need a clear understanding of the disorder and what to do should a seizure occur. Seizures result from imbalance in the electrical activity of the brain. Seizures are classified as simple partial, complex partial, absence, or grand mal, based on the intensity and symptoms of the seizure."

• Visual Impairment

"For a child to be classified as "Visually Impaired", there must be a medically verified visual impairment accompanied by limitation in sight. Furthermore, this impairment must interfere with acquiring information or interaction with the environment to the extent that special education and related services are needed."

LGBTQ Inclusion

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/publications/creating-an-lgbtinclusive-school-climate

LGBTQ Students are becoming increasingly prevalent within schools, and as such teachers are finding they need to figure out means of inclusion for them as they still remain a group that faces harassment in the school. Those inclusion methods involve both things to do and to not do in a school environment.

The Dos:
1. Allow a Gay Straight Alliance Club: They can educate students about diversity and support for LGBTQ, be a valuable resource to administrators, and can be easily controlled as they follow the same rules as all other clubs.

2. Praise Staff Members who promote Inclusion: Let faculty know that it is more than acceptable, if not commendable, that they are working to make the school more inclusive and safe for LGBTQ.

3.  Dress Code: Allow students to express their identity in dress code, but make sure it is enforced in equal measure throughout the school without discrimination.

4. Transgender and Intersex Students: Students may not identify as their gender or be born with a condition placing their gender in between a man and a woman. Making sure that their preferred gender is correctly listed and supported is beneficial for the school to correctly address them.

5. Gender Inclusive Language: Things like School dances and events are often difficult for LGBTQ students because they feel they are not designed to be inclusive of them. By changing some wording and means of promoting these events to allow gender inclusive language, they may feel more welcome and invited to go.

The Don'ts:
1. Don't Invade their privacy: respect their privacy as an individual, do not out them or reveal their sexual orientation without their explicit permission.

2. Don't Allow Bullying: If a student is to be included, they first need to be safe. Make sure you and your fellow teachers understand that bullying of any forms is not allowed, and that no exception should be made regarding the issue of Bullying LGBTQ students. They deserve the same protection as every other student.

3. Don't Allow Bullying hot spots: Bullying most often happens when and where a teacher or authority can't see it. Figure out where these locations are and how said bullying happens to prevent this from occurring.

4. Don't Allow Harassment Based on Religious beliefs: Everyone at school is entitled to their beliefs, but they are not allowed to use those beliefs to harass others at school.

5. Do Not Promote Conversion Therapy: These are not only implicit to the students that the person promoting thinks of them as "wrong," but the practice itself has been denounced by all medical association. Let every teacher and faculty member know that this is not only wrong but harmful to the student. If a student has been put through conversion therapy, be ready to support them.

Source: Creating an LGBT-inclusive School Climate. (2017, November 01). Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/publications/creating-an-lgbtinclusive-school-climate

Strategies of ELL Instruction

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2013/10/25/strategies-for-ell-instruction/

One of the challenges of being a successful teacher in the classroom environment is to properly instruct English Language Leaner Students in tandem with the regular curriculum. For a newer teacher, figuring out such concepts on the fly can be very difficult, not to mention actually applying these concepts. Therefore the article "5 Key Strategies for ELL Instruction" can act as a good support for teachers who need a general refresher or base to build instruction ideas off of.

1. Scaffolding Understanding: A good concept to understand off the bat is that ELL Students are not totally helpless. While they may need increased help understanding the language at first, it will not be the case later on. Keeping this in mind, lesson plans involving a class with ELL students in it should design themselves to increase their autonomy over time, with projects and assignments that provide this freedom with slightly more advanced materials as their understanding progresses.

2. Grouping: Learning a language usually requires some sort of exposure to the native speakers whose language you are gaining an understanding of. By placing ELL students in groups of others with varying degrees of proficiency in the English, they gain a better range of vocabulary and applicable vernacular.

3. Background Knowledge: This method works for just about any group of students, and ELL is no exception. Providing the student with some easily understood context or background information of the subject they are studying will not only ease them into it better (like explaining an American cultural subject to someone who has never experienced it before), it may also improve their interest int he subject as well.

4. Extended Discussion: Allow them to talk with their classmates and with you about the subject you are teaching. They will not only get an opportunity to communicate but may also pick up on new vocabulary.

5 Value Linguistic Difference: Figure out what cultural backgrounds your ELL students come from, and treat those backgrounds and differences as something to be discussed and respected. The student learning ELL is the challenge, and their background is a valuable resource to understanding what needs to be done to properly educate them.

Source: 5 Key Strategies For ELL Instruction. (2015, March 31). Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2013/10/25/strategies-for-ell-instruction/

Integrating ELL Students into General Education Classrooms

This article provides 4 good ways to be inclusive of English Language Learners in your general education classroom.

1. Use pre-test results to plan lessons and drive instruction. Pre-test results determine what areas to teach and review. "English language learners typically need practice in decoding, vocabulary, and early reading skills. With younger ELLs, oral instruction is the perfect method for creating and sustaining interest -- teachers can use their body language and voice in addition to songs, poems, jazz chants, role-plays, and dialogues." (Sasson, 2014)
2. "Get to know you" activities. Pre-assessing students with "get to know you" activities helps assess what they actually know, which determines instruction. One type of pre-assessment activity includes oral, reading, and writing questionnaires.
3. Use results of pre-tests to engage ELLs. You can change their future works depending on what they know and what they don't know. Meet their needs.
4. Differentiated reading lessons. In a differentiated reading lesson, the teacher can adapt the task to two or three different levels, enabling the student to choose the level at which they can work best.

Sasson, D. (2014). Integrating ELL Students in General Education Classes. [online] Edutopia. Available at: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/integrating-ells-general-education-classes-dorit-sasson [Accessed 6 Nov. 2017].

Low SES Learners

This is a brief over view of a book by Eric Jensen “Keeping Poverty in Mind When Teaching.” He talks about theory and research that people have found about how students involved with a low-income family impact their learning experiences.  He goes into detail about social and emotional skills that students will not acquire also due to being raised in an unsafe or unstable home. Not only can it affect the performance of students but it can also affect the behavior of the students. An emotional keyboard is shown to help students differentiate between their emotions causing them stay calm and focused in the classroom. There are several activities that can be conducted in the classroom to ensure that the students are stable in their environment so they are secure to learn. I would like to implement some of these activities such as personality surveys or this emotional keyboard that Jensen provides in to my classroom.

A.     (n.d.). Chapter 2. How Poverty Affects Behavior and Academic Performance. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx