BRAVO Gary! I couldn't agree more about how important it is to take more than and instructors interest in a student. It's about getting to know and recognize individual needs both personal and educational.
Keep up the good work!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
I tell a story about a young student going through school during the late fifties and sixties when ADD and other learning disabilities were yet unknown as we know them today. This young man flunked the fifth grade due to poor grades in English and math and was perplexed by his poor performance knowing he was better than this. A English teacher in the sixth grade took notice of his dilemma and intervened. He had the student spell out words and do simple math problems in which this young student managed not to get one right. The teacher looked at his answers and asked, " do you see what you are doing"? You are switching the two middle letters of the word you are spelling and switching the last two digits in the math answer. The kind interest of a WWII P-51 Mustang Fighter Pilot flying for the 8th Air Force turned English teacher changed a young man's life. Mine! This young man grew up and became a Service Manager, Fixed Operations Manager and later a General Manager for more than one Ford & Toyota Dealership. Not bad for the class clown. He still moves the letters and number around, but knows now what he's doing.
When I tell this story to my class I always have one group that laughs at this possibility. What interest me is those that do not, for more than likely they themselves suffer quietly with internal learning disabilities, these students I hone in on quickly espically in written or oral labs and test to identify any learning disability that maybe malignant.
We as teachers/educators must maintain the goal of providing the skill sets that will lead to their success in the career field that they have chosen. But with a little personal intervention and a strong belief in the student personally can overcome many wrongs if mixed with a kind word or two.
I try to enlist the help of other students to help tutor a student with a learning need. our campus offers tutoring and it try to encourage students to take advantage of those programs. I offer different make up projects, assignments and research papers for them to show profiency in a subject if they are poor test takers.
I work with the individual closly. I will focus on vocabulary and terminology. Help them break down words. I feel vocabulary is essential to fully grasp concepts.
In a college setting, students are not willing to share their deficit areas with the instructor. I use informal writings to assist me in gauging my student's abilities. If I see students with enlarged handwriting or simple words misspelled, I write notes on their papers with correction and ask them to see me after class or before the next class. Oftentimes the student will open up and we both devise a workable plan to assist them in being successful in the class.
I provide notes prior to class that they can print out and bring with them so they have the structure laid out ahead of time. I also pair them with another student who can help explain things in a different way so that when they work in groups, they can hear the content from another perspective. I welcome multiple drafts of papers and spend lots of outside of class time--tackling one issue at a time.
Invite them to discuss a topic of interest; or write a short story of an experience they had in their life that applied to the course being studied.
I fully agree with this as I had the great experience with a student who had special learning needs as she needs special attention with words and vision. I found this to be a wonderful learning tool for myself and the student and both of us learned so much together. This student also got the use of a computer in the classroom to help her and through it all she said the most important thing was that I believed in her so she started to believe in herself. How amazing is that. I will remember that for ever. No matter what learning problems your students have or what ever tools they have to help You believing in them is the best tool of them all. Aisling
A strategy I have used when working with English Language Learners is preview/review. I personally preview the subject matter with the smaller group before I present it. Then I do the presentation with the whole group and later review once more with the smaller group. Questions are welcome during each of those sessions and during the general presentation.
Other strategies I have used include using mixed groups (stronger with weaker, more experienced with newbies, etc.), before and after class sessions as needed, simplifying text or other materials, and breaking the sessions down into smaller bits as needed to name a few.
I try to make them feel as comfortable in class as I can. Grouping them with other students also helps them feel more accepted by the other classmates. I try and meet with them personally before class each day and ask them how they are doing and feeling about the class. I try to cover the subject matter in a clear and simple way. I make sure before I leave the subject I am lecturing on to check to make sure they understand before going on to the next subject matter.
Hi Stephen!
Very good thought process. We do take for granite that we have made ourselves abundantly clear. What can we do to be sure that our instructions are clear to students?
Good job!
Jane Davis
ED106 Facilitator
I often refer back to the "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" example before presenting new material to students (some of which may have learning difficulties). This is when you take each demonstration/lecture and break it down or simplify it as if you were going to show someone how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Example: You might say to someone "take the bread, and then you put peanut butter and jelly on it" and they would understand. But let's say another person doesnt comprehend in the same manner. That person would just take the loaf of bread still in the bag, the peanut butter and the jelly still in the jar and stack them up on one another. You never told them to open the bag, open the jars, get a knife, etc...
It is important that we remember that if we dont give clear instructions, some students could be doing things completely wrong based on the things we say and the assumption we think that they will understand what we are talking about without being perfectly clear.
I have found that peer tutoring is successful since students bond with their fellow classmates toward a common goal of completing their courses. I also find that use of flash cards if very beneficial along with my advice to students not to procrastinate in their studying before an examination.
Recently I have started handing out brief hand printed summaries of the key points of an individual class. I see the students using these hand outs when they are studying. It seems to me I stumbled on a good way to aid some of my students with learning needs. I have now started to see what kind of simple handouts I can create for each of the various classes I teach.
Carol Kravitz
I keep the students who have the most needs up front when ever possible so I can see what they are doing and interact with them more as needed. We are lucky also to offer tutoring in our Learning Resource Center, which can help a great deal. Sometimes too I will put students together in pairs -stronger with waeker. It can help both skill sets. The stronger learns patience ans some leadership, while the weaker develops more confidence and has another "mentor' in the classroom setting.
What I have found in my experience is students with learning needs need to feel comfortable and respected in the classroom. I had a student from Greece who had struggled in a another classroom and was brought to mine to see if I could help him. I spoke with the students in my class prior to the student arriving. I explained how this particular student was having difficulty adjusting to his new environment and that I wanted them to go out of their way to include him as part of the group. I asked for a volunteer to be a helper to the student. The helper would make sure the learning needs student had the correct papers, correct page number, etc for whatever we were working on. This eliminated that hopeless feeling of seeing everyone around you be on task and you not knowing what to do. With the apprehension diminished, the learning began.
Most of the students in our school that have learning needs have to do with english being a second language. I encourage them to ask questions, and let them know that I can rephrase questions and statements to help them understand the text or questions. I try not to make them feel uncomfortable when I am talking to them.
When at all possible, one-on-one tutoring is much more effective for students who are struggling with English grammar topics and writing skills than whole group instruction. If a student is having difficulty with concepts that are taught during the course, I usually require them to meet with me outside of class for tutoring. This is almost always a welcome invitation to the student and gives him or her the message that I care about their success.
