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Everything a Teacher Needs to Know
As the school year begins...
Somewhere in a school building far, far away...
A teacher looks at her class list for the new school year. "hm, autistic spectrum, similar to Aspergers,
mild auditory processing disorder, sensory integration disorder, Tourette's syndrome. Full inclusion,
no IEP. Accommodations include written instructions along with verbal; homeroom teacher checks the
homework log each day to make sure all homework is written down. Guess that pretty much tells me what
I need to know."
But does it really?
Too often, the documentation about students with special needs does not include something really
important: it does not include the child's strengths and areas of interest. Looking at the paperwork
on the child in the example above does not tell the teachers that this child is very curious about
how things work, has reading skills several years above his grade level, and an excellent memory. It
also doesn't say that he is very interested in current world events, geography, foreign languages
(though not the "regular" ones that are taught in schools) and is an expert on World War II history.
All of this information is important for teachers to know because along with tailoring their instruction
to meet a child's special needs, tailoring instruction to a child's special interests and strengths
results in better learning for all the students in the class.
When teachers knows their students' special interests and strengths, those strengths and interests can
be used as a lead-in to learning. Especially for students with special needs, forging connections
between subject matter and their own lives can mean the difference between a successful class
environment where all students respect each other and learn together, and a class where the student
with special needs is present in the classroom but is not truly accepted or included as an equal.
How can busy teachers learn about the important strengths
and interests of their students, especially those students
with special needs? Some teachers ask the students or their
parents to fill out a questionnaire. Some teachers find out
which extracurricular activities their students are involved
in. Both of these ways of finding out about their students
have limitations when it comes to students with special needs,
however. Students with special needs may not be able to independently
read/comprehend a written questionnaire, or may not have the
command of language needed to write answers that reflect who
they are inside. In addition, students whose interests are
out of the mainstream may be hesitant to write that information
and risk making them seem even more "weird" or different to
others. Parents of children with special needs may be overwhelmed
with other paperwork and helping their child adjust at the
beginning of the school year, and may not be able to make
filling out an optional questionnaire a priority. Students
with special needs may not be active participants in sports
or other extracurricular activities, so relatively little
information can be gained by researching this.
One way to find out about a child's special interests is to assign tasks that allow, or even require,
a student to tie what they will learn in science class to something in real life. This can be done as
an introduction to science at the beginning of the year, as well as throughout the year during each
new unit. An introductory assignment can be to briefly tell students the topics they will be learning
about during the year, and then to have them find a real life or historical application of one topic
of their choice. The assignment can be written, oral or a pictorial display. The point of this is not
to make a high stakes, term paper-type assignment, but to have the student spend a little time relating
school topics to something that is meaningful for him or her. As the teacher views the results of
this assignment, he or she will gain valuable information about what is interesting to the students.
For instance, a student may choose to share that weightlifting machines use pulleys. Another student
may comment that wheelchair ramps are inclined planes and the steeper the plane, the more work it takes
to get up. During a unit on electricity, a student may bring in a broken calculator he took apart to see
how it worked. In another unit, a student may comment that she knows that evaporation cools things off,
because she uses a spray bottle to keep cool while tanning. While studying the effects of erosion, a
student may bring in a piece of smooth glass or stone found on the beach. Yet another student may apply
one of Newton's laws (for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction) to current events
and comment that it is important for Hesbola fighters to remain away from the back end of their
rocket launchers, since there is an "equal and opposite reaction" that takes place out the back end
once the rocket is launched.
The point is, that we never know what students will come up with when we assign tasks that require
them relate what they are studying in class to their own lives. What we do know, however, is that
such assignments will allow students to connect what we are teaching with their own lives, and that
what they bring back to us will give us a better glimpse of the world through our students' eyes.
This is a win-win situation: our students make connections that will help course content to stick with
them, and we learn more about our students and how to tailor our teaching to involve them more fully
in the learning process.
ABOUT THIS COLUMN
SERCH is excited to bring you a new monthly column that focuses on children with disabilities and the
math/science curriculum. Children are all different; children with disabilities may have learning
differences that require a re-thinking of the usual methods of teaching science and math. But children
with disabilities can grow up to get higher education and hold jobs in science in science and math fields.
This column is dedicated to the proposition that success in science and math is possible, and is dedicated to
making that success possible by helping parents and school staff learn about the many ways to achieve learning
for students with disabilities.
This column is written by Robin Hurd, who is a mother of 4 boys, ages 13, 11 and 8 year old twins. The
combination of disabilities at her house includes non-verbal physical impairments, sensory issues, Autistic
spectrum disorder, Tourettes syndrome, auditory processing disorder, anxiety disorder as well as talented and
gifted. In spite of this list, Robin, David and the boys enjoy life and learning to the fullest! Robin serves
as parent support liaison for the AAC Institute, a non-profit organization supporting people who communicate
using alternatives to speech. She writes a monthly column for parents at the AAC Institute, moderates a
parents' on-line group, and is available for support to individual parents. If you would like to contact
Robin about this column, you may e-mail her at
parents@aacinstitute.org.
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