Balance of time during class hours. However, I find it most effective after class to give my time to my students with learning disabilities.
Greetings Dixie!
I truly admire instructors who sacrifice for the succes of students.
I usually find that once I notie a student having difficulties a bfief conversation helps them give me the info that I need to help. BUT - the timing thing - like you - it can really be a challeng. Someties it is offering an idea as you say on the run.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
Greetings Mazzy!
Don't you think that our public education systems have failed students in some respect by adding the label "learning disabled". This is such a negative connatotation. What do you think?
Good job!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitatoe
Two equally great challenges come to mind. The first is getting students to tell me they have a problem and be willing to talk to me about the areas where they're having issues.
The second is managing the time, both mine and theirs, to have those conversations and coaching sessions. Although we partner with a housing broker which places students in apartments relatively close by, we are essentially a commuter campus. We also have long, block classes that meet once a week for three to four hours. If, for example, a student gets out of class at 11:30 and I have a class at noon, that student is unlikely to want to hang around until I'm free at 3:00. The early morning appointments work very well, but few students will meet me at 7:15am!
I steal class time, confer on the run between classes, and come in for all sorts of extra hours, but I know I miss many students who would benefit from that one on one attention.
Getting them to admit they need help. But as an istructor who also has a learning disabilaty I feel better prepared to help them.
The hardest part is making students see that they have the cabality to make it and be successful in life. Unfortunately, many students with learning disabilities have given up on themselves and it makes it even more difficult for an instructor to work with a student who has lost all hopes and motivation.
From having a child who has a learning disability, the challenge I've had is that I want to maximize his classroom performance while at the same time not having the accomodations result in a social stereotype.
I feel the greatest challenge is creating work content that is fair yet not too easy. you want to motivate and challenge the learner and it seems that no disability is the same (even if it is the same disability).
Greetings Linda!
Just as we should not enable student's without disabilities, we should not be an enabler of those with disabilities. You are absolutely correct about students using a disability as a crutch. This type of person will have difficulty in both their professional and personal endeavors.
Good job!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
While some students have learned to cope with their learning disabilities, with modifications to the class, you will find a few students who have learned to use them as a crutch. These students will expect you to lower class standards for them.
Modifications can be made to meet their needs, but they must be encouraged to learn the material and not expect to receive credit due only to the fact that they have a learning disability.
It has been my experience that the students with the learning dissabilities are some of the best students in my class. They work harder than most and are always right up front, taking notes or going that extra step.
Hi Gregg! Thanks for you observations! True, it is often the case that an adult learner has an undiagnosed learning disability and it's difficult for us to help if we do not know the situation. Sometimes it can be a challenge with language, or vocabulary, and sometimes it is a challenge with how information is processed. As most of us are not specifically trained in adult learning disabilities or how to diagnose them, this causes a further challenge.
I have often asked students privately, or for them to write down in their own words, the manner in which they feel that they learn the best and to also identify any challenges they might have in assimilating new information. I have done this without referring to learning disabilities (and without it becoming an excuse) in the hopes that their answers may better equip me to adapt my teaching methodologies accordingly.
Jay Hollowell
Guest Co-Facilitator
ED106
The greatest challenge would be if the student did not know they had a learning disability. Their frustration and my own would be greatly reduced if the discovery could be made and immediate action could take place in order to help the student to overcome the disability.
Hi Rebecca!
It is absolutely imperative that all student needs are considered within a classroom setting. No one student should be made to feel less capable than another - and, I believe that capabilities are individual.
Keep up the good work!
Jane davis
ED106 Facilitator
I would say it is based on how severe the disability is. I have plenty of patience and can deal with alot at once. the other is time, we are not allowed enough time to teach students whom have a severe disability. these types of students need a second instructor in the classroom to slow things down for them withing out disturbing other students since the classes move so fast.
Hi Marshall!
Good for you! I call that self disclosure and I find that when students can connect in some way with the instructor much more learning occurs.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
One of the challenges that I face is the students desire to be in denial, or to not want to draw attention to himself and his needs.
For me it is the student not identifying they have a disability. I try and take the embarassment away from them by openly discussing my learning diability and how I have overcome it.
The biggest challenge I have faced is the identification of the learning disability and the freedom of the student to discuss their disability. I feel that onces accurately identified, I now have the skills to assist that individual with developing a game plan to make them more successful in class and in the workplace.
I agree that the discovery aspect is the most difficult. Quite frankly, though, I've not had much training in dealing with disability learners, modalities for assisting them or even identification of disability learners. Are there any good places to "self-teach" on this (these) subject(s)? Can you suggest some?
