Section I – Disabilities and Other Special Needs
1) (Chapter 7 Students with High-Incidence Disabilities) Sam is a student who has a communication disorder in which he displays significant problems with receptive language (involves understanding what people mean when they speak to you). Describe at least three accommodations as suggested by your text to foster Sam’s learning.
a. Create an atmosphere of acceptance – Students should feel comfortable and accepted in the classroom no matter what kind of learning challenge (disability) they may have. One way the teacher can model acceptance is when the student makes a mistake when speaking to not call out the mistake, but instead modeling the correct form of the sentence. Another way to accommodate this student is to minimize peer pressure by other students. Sam will feel more accepted by other students if he knows he will not be judged for his learning challenge.
b. Encourage listening and teach listening skills – Students should be taught how to listen because they spend a large portion of their day listening in comparison to any other activity in school. However, listening skills are not taught in school even though students are expected to do so. A teacher can accommodate this student by simplifying the vocabulary in order to make the oral material more understandable. It is also important for the teacher to praise the student when he listens in order to help the student become more accustomed to listening frequently.
c. Provide many meaningful contexts for practice speech and language skills – Students need to practice as much as possible using language in a variety of social and academic situations. When they practice more often, they are able to use their skills more readily. Practicing these skills will help the students “refine their language skills and make them more natural and automatic” (pg. 248).
2) (Chapter 7 Students with High-Incidence Disabilities) Marcus is an extremely bright student with an emotional disorder. Over the years, Marcus has learned appropriate social skills, demonstrating that he can apply these skills in social interactions. Nonetheless, without much structure, Marcus consistently fails to apply these skills in many of his day-to-day interactions with his peers. Identify three reasons why Marcus may continue to exhibit social skill problems, and suggest strategies his teacher can use to encourage the use of the acquired social skills.
3) (Chapter 8 Other Students with Special Needs) Greg is a student in your class and has just been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type. What are some of the behaviors you might expect of Greg in the classroom? What are some academic and behavior interventions you could consider to help Greg succeed?
a. A few behavior characteristics that Greg might express in the classroom fall into three categories: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. With inattention, he might make careless mistakes, seems like he is not listening, fails to finish tasks, loses things, becomes easily distracted, or is forgetful. With hyperactivity, Greg might be fidgety, is unable to stay seated, talks excessively, acts in a bossy way, is defiant, has temper tantrums, or moves excessively. With impulsivity, Greg might blurt out answers before questions have been completed, acts before thinking, is viewed as immature, fails to read directions, or has difficulty awaiting a turn.
b. Greg can become successful in the classroom with certain academic and behavior interventions. The teacher can emphasize certain information in the lesson instead of overloading him with a lot of oral material. The teacher can recap certain information by listing it off what directions she has just said. Instead of assigning Greg with long passages to read, the teacher can assign him shorter passages to read and then have reading comprehension checks at the end of each passage. In large-group instruction, the teacher can provide the student with many opportunities for participation. With behavioral interventions, the teacher should intervene with “structure, rewards, such as specific verbal praise, stickers and other symbols of appropriate behavior, and games that emphasize rewards for positive classroom behaviors” (pg.284). In order to prevent outbursts in class, the teacher will allow Greg to stand to do his work instead of spending the entire period sitting at his desk. This accommodation can be fitted for all students in order to help Greg not feel ashamed of having to get up and move around.
Section II –Differentiated Instruction (Required Question)
1) (Chapter 9 – Differentiating Instruction) Follow link to IRIS website - http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/udl/chalcycle.htm and review the entire module. READ—“How to Use a Module”—Link is on right side of homepage. BEGIN with the “Challenge” then review the other pages of the module. Select a core content area (either mathematics, ELA, or your primary middle school concentration) and respond to the items below.
Respond to the items below.
GO TO Page 8: UDL in Practice. Read the page and complete the chart below as it pertains your content area. Include a minimum of 10 multisensory strategies you plan to use.
Differentiated Instruction Resources
1. LD Online – Provided me with multiple articles to use for my candidate work sample. It is easy to find information about any type of learning challenge (disability). There is specific information about each learning challenge as well as information specifically designated for educators, parents and kids. Not only would I use this as a resource in my classroom for preparing and making accommodations for students, but I would also pass this website along to parents.
2. Textbook (Including Students with Special Needs) – This textbook has been most beneficial for me this semester. The main reason for this is because I actually read through it. It covers so much information in its few short pages such as assessing, planning, differentiating, evaluating, responding, and more. It gives information about different challenges (disabilities). I really like how it provides websites for additional information as well as articles and children’s literature. This textbook will come in handy when I am trying to understand a students’ behavior or disability or getting ideas for lesson planning.
3. Iris Center – I did not use this resource as much as I should this semester, but as I am going through it for this exam, I am seeing how beneficial it can be for me as a teacher and for my future students. It covers topics like accommodations, assessment, learning strategies, RTI, and more. It gives specific case studies and examples of how accommodations were made for this student. It also gives additional information linking the topic to other articles or websites. For example, with mathematics, the Iris Center has a link that takes you to an article about how to help students with disabilities participate in standards-based mathematics curriculum. This website would provide me with additional information for making accommodations for students.
Section III – Evaluating Student Learning/Responding to Student Behavior
1) (Chapter 11 - Evaluating Student Learning) The ways that tests are given to students with disabilities can have an effect on the accuracy of the results. Describe three different adaptations in test administration. For each, state one skill or learning difficulty accommodated by the change in test administration.
2) (Chapter 12 - Responding to Student Behavior) A number of simple strategies are available to help teachers manage students’ surface behaviors, including refusal to work, sitting with one’s head down, blurting out answers, etc. Explain and provide an example for 5 of strategies that can be used to manage surface behaviors.
a. Proximity control – I have seen this strategy work multiple times. If a teacher is explaining something, all he/she has to do is stand near the student causing the disruption without even saying anything to the student. This method works well because the student recognizes that the teacher has noticed the misbehavior, therefore should fix it before the teacher has to correct the behavior again. This method works well if the teacher is already moving around the classroom and briefly stops at a student’s desk.
b. Planned ignoring – Some students misbehave in class because they want attention. While the causes of the misbehavior should be handled, it can wait until after class or at a more appropriate time. This strategy works well when the teacher is the middle of explaining something to the class. In most cases, ignoring the misbehavior is an effective strategy because the student recognizes the teacher will not give him/her the attention he/she is wanting.
c. Hurdle help – The first question of assignments can seem the hardest because it is a matter of starting it. Some assignments can be overwhelming so at times it is appropriate to complete the first question together as a class. The teacher can also ask questions to encourage the students’ thinking and helping the students break the assignment into sections without it seeming so overwhelming.
d. Direct appeal to valued areas – Students have a desire to know and understand how the information they are being taught in class can be connected to the “real world”. In subject areas like mathematics, it is important to make connections with information outside of the textbook. Students will become more engaged with the activity if they see it is relevant to their lives.
e. Support from routine – Students need routine at every age. Having a routine can minimize a lot of misbehavior. For example, when students are used to a routine and then a substitute teacher is there for a day, everything can be thrown off completely with classroom management and behavior. The teacher should have the class routines listed somewhere in the room but should also discuss them throughout the year. Students need reminders of these class routines. One important routine is warm-up activities at the beginning of the class. Students can get into trouble at the beginning of the class if they have time before the bell rings. Warm-up activities not only help the students prepare for the particular subject area they are in, but it also helps to reduce misbehavior.
