I am a new instructor and have a very small class. As of yet, I have not faced this challenge but I think that if I did have a student with a learning disability, I would need to invest more one-on-one time with him/her in order to make sure that she understands the material.
Working one on one with students is a very good way to help students with learning disabilities. Also allowing them more time to complete assignments will help. This will give them more time to process the material, and learn at their own pace.
I do not have much experience with teaching students with disabilities, however, a significant percentage of my students speak English as a second language which unfortunately sometimes places them into the same category as learning disabled. I find that giving them extra time to complete assignments, having hands-on demonstrations, as well taking time to make sure they understand the content have greatly impacted their success.
Talk to them and see what has helped in the past and provide them with more time
Some schools offer "English as a second language" or other courses that can be used in combination with or just before current classes.
I agree with giving the students more time and using the techniques of drawing boxes around the questions to help the students focus on one question at a time. I've learned more from this section than any other I've take. Well done.
ASk them what can help them. Review their notes,highlight text material, give more exam time, check on them frequently. Quizes to check learning as homework. There is alot we can do.
Extended time, especially immediately after class or a regularly scheduled tutoring session has been very helpful in increase the learning and retention of knowledge with Learning Disabled students.
At my school, we do an assessment of the LD students that give us specific areas that the instuctor can give extra support. This support could come from a variety of different ways. One on one instruction, extra practice time and more time to complete the assignment are also helpful.
Giving the student more time will make them successful
Hi Tom!
A very good point your making! If we are connected and know our students, we can more easily recognize their needs.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
I had a student that had a speech impediment. One of the assignments was to give an oral presentation in front of the class. At the beginning of the quarter he spoke to me and alerted me to his impediment. I assured him that I would work with him. He presented to me individually and not in front of the class. He was very grateful.
I agree. Giving extra time will help students with learning disabilities.
Teaching cooking techniques is, I think, by default, a good support for learners with diisabilities. For one, there is a lot of visual presentation and demonstration. Our short lectures are PowerPoint driven, which is another visual and time sensitive way of presenting information. Also, since we expect the students to repeat what we've shown them, there is time to float around the classroom to give students some one-on-one attention.
I find each student is an individual. I give them all the help I can by asking them about their progress often.
Mr. Hallowell,
I find that both in my instructional delivery and course content, as well as productional execution of a daily culinary assinment, that providing visual(power point), audio(my dissertation or subject matter), tactile("hands-on" demonstrations, and final critics of the finshed plate with comments on the flavor profile of the palate, hopefully guides my students to a desired successful learning experience.
I also do give all my students enought extra time to finish exams, I lecture with visual material in a semi circle seating arrangement so that all students can see and hear me(and I can also observe their daily posture and attitude in class), and I provide handouts each class with underlined and boxed text with emphasis on key concepts and vocabulary that will be needed for future applicatin in the course.
I think these above modifications apply to all of my students and not just the "learning disabled". Lastly I try to MOTIVATE all my students to be as successful each day as they can, to achieve their final goal of graduating with a degree that will carry them through life with a successful future in an industry thet they have chosen to succeed and excel in.
Bobby
These are all instructional supports that I have used in my classes as well. We're fortunate to have an excellent Academic Learning Center that assists the faculty in helping the students.
Giving the students more time really helps with their success. Also, letting them know that you are there for them goes a long way as well.
I find simple things are usually the most effective. For example, dropping the number of answers on a multiple choice test from 4 to 3 makes a big difference for individuals with learning disabilities. Also, providing more time for exams tends to make a significant difference.
I have found that by creating unique ways to remember things help students to better understand information and also to better retain it. I create dances and songs to help explain things to students instead of having them read some thing and not understand what they have read. By creating actions (dances) when they do read about a certain chapter it is easier for the students to grasp the concept and also it helps them to understand the words they are reading because they know the definition of a word or words before seeing and or reading the word because we go over the spelling.
