Best Practices for Teaching Students with Learning Differences

1. Best Practices for Teaching Students with Learning Differences K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

2. Fundamentals about teaching and learning differences • We all have strengths and weakness i.e. learning differences, neurodiversity; • The concept of a learning difference/learning disability is culturally embedded; • Direct teaching and learning changes the brain through neuroplasticity; • Differentiated teaching does not mean teaching less; it is simply better teaching K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

3. Practice # 1 • Construct a profile of the learners in your class • Be a conscious observer of learning behaviors • Read the “testing” • Empathize with the learning style K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

4. What does that feel like? What do you see? ADHD in the classroom; Auditory attention Recall of basic math facts worksheet What would make it easier? K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

5. A learning disability is the difference in the students cognitive ability and their ability to perform academically • We need to know what is getting in the students way. • Task analysis what skills does the student need to be successful ( think back to the math example) • What can we/ the student do to accommodate, compensate and remediate K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

6. Practice #2 • Teach students how their brain learns. Metacognition is recognized as one of the most effective ways for an individual to improve learning; Need a basic understanding of the brain and learning; ” K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

7. Practice # 3 • Teach the student “how to learn” the content; knowing the content will naturally follow. • Require plans of how to study, how to write an essay from beginning to end • Review and revise the plan K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

8. Identify the elements of the process needed to complete the assignment • The more complex the material the more important it is to do a task analysis. • e.g. Reading comprehension is not simply about the ability to decode. • What is it about ? • Pre reading knowledge • Vocabulary • Fluency (processing speed) • Auditory processing • Visual processing • Working memory/attention K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

9. What is the process to mastery? • Scaffold so skills can develop e.g.. Note taking • a pp of the class to be added to during class • graphic organizer • Post exemplar notes after class for reference • Identify a good note taker and give a copy of their notes to the weaker note taker so they can check for errors and omissions • Record the class and save for reference K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

10. Note taking 4-12 grade K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

11. Practice # 4 Cure “learned helplessness” with regular dialogue on learning K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

12. Avoiding the entitlement/ helplessness trap • Students need to be empowered to use their strengths. • I have difficulty with _________________ but I can use __________________________________ strategy/ accommodation K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

13. Practice # 5 Prepare for differentiated teaching • Establish clear measurable mastery goals/ skills to be able to differentiate; • Set out clear, organized expectations; • Design several ways to demonstrate mastery . K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

14. Gold Standard K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

15. Practice # 6 • Learn with our students the different purposes of • Remediation • Compensation • Accommodation And when and how to use them K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

16. When accommodations go wrong ! Removing the need to take notes student won’t develop the skill, and is detrimental to their learning experience in class. How do we develop the skill and accommodate the student? Why can’t they take notes? How do we measure growth? K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

17. Practice #7 Teaching a student how to use an accommodation • You need how to use extended time • Extended time is a different problem • Calculators don’t develop number sense • Computers don’t automatically make you a better writer but they can! K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

18. When is a compensation remediation ? • Audio text while following print improves visual memory/ reading fluency/ vocabulary • Voice to text allows you to produce enough text to edit. • Graphic organizers are concrete examples of an abstract idea K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

19. Remediation, Compensation and Accommodation • Remediation teaches skills/ strategies explicitly to facilitate the learning process • e.g.. • breaking large task into smaller component parts • Making the sequence explicit • Giving big picture • Identifying main ideas………….. K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

20. Practice #8 Letting the student apply skills independently Do we let them get in the game ? • Is the student given an opportunity apply skills in a ‘real’ way. • Insisting on webbing when a child can plan without it • Phonological reading instruction that robs a student of the ability to keep up with content of their peers • When the remediation saps a students feeling of competency K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

21. Practice # 9 evaluations • Why we need them? K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

22. Practice #10 Don’t over subscribe to disability • Students are more than their subtest scores ( understanding diagnostic testing ) • Do we expect a great degree of mastery for students identified as having a learning issue • Do we expect the student to show too many strengths, to be able to be successful? K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011

23. Fair isn’t equal and equal isn’t fair Students have to be supported to advocate. Students need to feel teachers want to collaborate with them But What does the teacher see as the ‘glitch’ what does student see as the ‘glitch’. K. Schantz and A. Gammage April 6th. 2011