Transcript Inclusionary Techniques for Students in the Regular Classroom

Identifying and Treating Learning
Disabilities in the Regular
Classroom, the frustration, anxiety
and tension.
Dr. Timothy L. Heaton
Cedarville University
Cedarville, Ohio
[email protected]
Can You Read This?









Lan hof the r e in beer.
Th eqeo ple of Lagla nbare
cal leb Lagqs
The yca met ot his col bland
Of the no rth thous andso fy
Ear sapo. The ylivebint ents.
They fo llowe bth erein beer
Which mo vebf ro mqla ceto
pla celook in pfo rfoob.
Before you Teach; Plan






1. What’s important?
2. Why is it important?
3. Which method is best?
4. How can I make the topic memorable
and relevant to my students?
5. How can I best evaluate?
6. What Biblical truth is taught?
Use inclusion if a pupil has trouble
with any of the following:






1. Paying attention
2. Having a fighting or argumentative attitude.
3. memorizing/ remembering
4. More energy than you can handle or not
enough to complete the task at hand.
5. Hearing everything, especially directions.
6. Seeing everything one should see and writing
everything one should see.
Use inclusion if a student has any
trouble with any of the following:






7. Leaving words out while you are writing
or leaving letters out of words( endings)
8. Can’t remember what one was just toldshort term memory.
9. Can’t remember what you learned a
week ago- long term memory.
10. Reading comprehension
11. Spelling
12. Handwriting
Some easy interventions for all
students




Use color: Color mat under their materials, use
colored handouts, allow them to highlight in
color, color transparency over their reading
material.
All of the above can help a student focus better,
comprehend and read better.
Use Music: Headsets with environmental or
classical music to help them concentrate better
and longer, keeps them from being distracted by
environmental or classroom noises.
Use Activity: Use Games, Competitions,
Movement of any kind to reinforce material.
Diagnosis and Intervention



A student needs to be
completely diagnosed by
an expert regarding any
learning problem, it’s
severity and suggested
interventions to assist the
student
You, as the teacher…
Can NOT make the
diagnosis, you can tell
parents or administration
that you “suspect” a
learning problem, but do
not label it.





Some Tests:
Wisc-R( Psychologist)
Woodcock-Johnson
Cognitive Abilities
instrument( trained
teacher)
SOI( Structure of
Intellect)
ADD/ADHD is based on
observation/data
collected, though a PETscan can identify regions
in the brain due to lack of
Dopamine.
General Tips for Teachers




Use instructional tactics that actively
involve the student in learning activities.
Teach students strategies to help them
comprehend material.
Include activities that teach youngsters
how to think and solve problems.
Help children focus their attention on
relevant features of the task.
More Tips for Teachers




Have child set their own goals and assign
a reward for accomplishing their goal.
Individualize( Differentiate) instruction
allowing children to master basic academic
skills at their own rate.
Have children predict the consequences of
their behavior( wise and unwise choices)
Show concretely by demonstrating how to
correctly perform the instructional task.
More Inclusionary Teaching
Strategies that will help all students





1. Provide a detailed syllabus including specific
information including dates and time schedules.
2. Vary instruction to include multisensory
presentations
3. Provide concrete experiences including
simulation, case study, role-play, games.
4. Review previously learned material and
review material learned that day.(closure)
5. Personalize material with student’s
experiences making it relevant.
Inclusionary Techniques






6. Provide ample examples
7. Have various ways to review material in order
to over-learn it.
8. Help students obtain taped textbooks( same
resources for the blind are available to learning
disabled)
9. Reduce distractions
10. Allow concrete aids( such as finger counting
or using hash marks)
11. Assist in obtaining notes, make copies of
your lecture notes, copy another students notes
More Inclusionary Techniques


12. Provide alternative testing
arrangements ( put in an isolated
environment, put headsets on and play
music while testing, cut test into smaller
bits, extend time limits)
13. Use Multisensory teaching devices
such as the computer and computerized
programs to assist with teaching content.
Inclusion Tips for Behavior


You see a student continually disrupting
other students when the student should
be working independently.
What should you do?
Inclusion tips for Behavior



You should not move student away from peers
or pull out of the class.
Rather you should check to be sure he
understands and is able to do assignments.
OR Match him with a peer tutor or work in a
cooperative learning group when working on
class assignments. Discuss with peers how to
help him within your behavior management
plan.
Inclusion Tips for Educational
Performance


The students work is inconsistent or
generally poor.
What should you do?
Inclusion tips for Educational
Performance



You might be tempted to grade him down
for poor or incomplete work.
You should however teach him some
learning strategies and give him extra
time to complete.
Make sure you are using age-appropriate
materials and use peer partners for
reading assignments.
Inclusion tips for Classroom
attitudes


1. The student easily gives up in an area
of weakness in order to seemingly get out
of work.
What should you do?
Inclusion tips for classroom
attitudes



You might be tempted to excuse her from
some assignments or reprimand her for
unwillingness to even try.
Rather, promote success with appropriate
learning tasks that can be accomplished
and then provide a strong reward system.
Give the student opportunities to tutor
others (peers or younger) in areas of their
success.
Interventions for Reading









Tape record textbooks
Underline or mark key concepts
Assign peer readers
Provide study questions
Give advanced organizers
Teach questioning strategies( F&F)
Shorten assignments
Allow more time
Introduce new vocabulary in context
Intervention for Memory problems





1. Allow for sufficient practice in varying
ways.
2. Use different senses/modalities
3. Use mnemonics
4. Encourage mental visualization
5. Use graphic organizers
Interventions for Handwriting










1. Make a copy of peer’s notes
2. Tape record lectures
3. Provide an outline/fill in the blank
4. Allow more time
5. Permit pictures or drawings/oral reports
6. Do webs, diagrams, charts
7. Allow essays in outline or web form
8. Consider manipulatives( finger paint, sandpaper, etc.)
9. Teach keyboard skills
10. Objective tests
Interventions for Expressive
Language problems









1. Allow more time to respond
2. Give hints
3. Build vocabulary
4. Compile a handbook of terms
5. Urge students to refer to notes/outlines
6. Ask specific, structured questions
7. Urge students to use visual aids
8. Allow students to do projects, manipulate
objects, give demonstrations, make a display.
9. Encourage the use of tape players.
Intervention with following direction
problems










1. Use nonverbal gestures to set the stage.
2. Use printed prompts to teach listening skills
3. Establish a ritual for following directions
4. Ask the student o paraphrase
5. Use the VAKT approach( visual, auditory, kinesthetic,
tactile)
6 Break into small steps( task analysis)
7. Move from the known to the unknown
8. Assign a direction buddy
9. Use visual clues
10 Keep directions short and teach questioning
techniques.
Testing Inclusionary Students








1. Group Test items together
2. Construct well-written test items
3. Use concrete relevant examples
4. Consider readability factor
5. Use cues to highlight key words or target
specific directions
6. Give practice tests before graded tests
7. Give pre-post tests
8. Teach students test-taking strategies
Tests for students with Reading
problems








1. Oral tests
2. Tape the test
3. Allow more time
4. Decrease the number of test items
5. Reduce the complexity of language and add
examples
6. Clearly print test items
7. Space test items appropriately on the page
8. Use pictures or diagrams when appropriate.
Tests for students with Attention
problems








1. Shorten tests
2. Administer parts of the test on different days.
3. Provide test breaks
4. Seat student away from extraneous noise.
5. Use study carrel or cubicles.
6. Use parent volunteers to administer test
individually.
7. Color code test sections
8. Use headsets with “white noise” while testing
Testing students with Handwriting
problems







1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Construct objective tests
Permit tape-recorded answers
Provide for oral responses
Allow use of keyboard/computers
Allow dictated responses
Reduce time restrictions
Allow students to write on test
Keep in Mind



If a student is failing, you are failing as a
teacher, until you find out the reason why
and do something about it.
Thomas Jefferson said “All men are
created equal, not God. God said all men
are created different, uniquely gifted”.
Fairness is not equality, but is giving each
child what she or he needs.
Attention Deficit
Fact or Fiction





Dr. Timothy L. Heaton
Professor of Education
Cedarville University
Cedarville, Ohio 45314
[email protected]
Attention Deficit or
Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity


Identification of ADD/ADHD
Must display 8 or more of the following
characteristics before the age of 7yrs old
and must be observed for at least six
months with no evidence of injury or
illness
Descriptors







1.Restless/fidgets
2.Difficulty remaining seated
3. Easily distracted by extraneous stimuli.
4. Difficulty waiting turns in game or group situation
5. Difficulty following directions
6. Difficulty focusing attention for long in any work or
play activity
7. Shifts from one uncompleted activity to another.
Descriptors continued






8. Difficulty playing quietly
9. Talks excessively
10. Interrupts or intrudes
11. Does not seem to listen
12. Loses necessary things
13. Engages in physically dangerous
activities without consideration of
consequences.
Facts about ADD/ADHD





1. Chemical disorder in brain due to lack of Dopamine.
2. Medication can be helpful in 80% of all cases. Needs
professional diagnosis.
3. Other possible causes:
Brain injury, Prenatal drug/alcohol exposure, birth injury,
infection, delayed brain maturation, lead poisoning, food
additives( MSG, Caffeine, Preservatives), Allergies, Food
intolerance, Medical illness,
Heredity.
Fiction about ADD/ADHD





Caused by Sugar…no research shows this.
Caused by Florescent lights…
No research reveals this
Megavitamin Therapy helps…absolutely no
scientific evidence to support this.( It does cause
liver damage though)
Medications used causes drug addiction….no
evidence of this.
Fact about ADD/ADHD





ADD is more prevalent in girls than boys
ADHD is more prevalent in boys than girls
ADHD/ADD affects approximately 20% of all
adopted children.
33% of children with ADHD also have some
learning disability.
The ADHD child WANTS to OBEY, and BE
NORMAL, but CAN’T!
More Facts about ADD/ADHD







1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Low self-esteem
Poor School performance
Poor Peer Relationships
Anti-Social behavior is frequent
More Neurotic and Interpersonal problems.
More acts of physical aggression.
More suicide attempts
Facts continued




1 in every 20 children in U.S. can be diagnosed with
ADHD.
2. Only 5% complete BA degrees compared with 40% of
peers without ADD.
3. 30% of ADHD cases indicate birth mother had
depression.
52% of ADHD have fine and gross motor coordination
problems, difficulty in note taking, completion of longterm assignments, organization problems, expressive
language difficulties, and problem solving.
You Never Outgrow
ADD/ADHD, just mask it.


Pre-school: touches, talkative, attention
seeking, usually very loving and caring, sorry for
mistakes, but keep making same ones.
School-Age: immature behavior, daydreaming,
incomplete work, social problems with peers,
excessive sibling rivalry, highly imaginative,
forgetful, disorganized.
Other attempts at Masking
ADD/ADHD




Adolescents:
Social isolation, Depressed, Moody, Low Selfesteem, academic failure. Continual conflicts at
home and school.
Many times thought to only have LD problem,
but progress deteriorates rapidly in Middle/High
school.
Brightness and Personality got them through
Elementary, but demands in MS/HS become
overwhelming.
Adult ADD/ADHD






Inattentive to details:
Driving, Numerous traffic violations,
Conversation, Checkbook, Reading, Lots of
uncompleted projects, inconsistent work
performance.
Impulsive:
Quick decision maker without regard to
consequences.
Careless and Thoughtless remarks
Very frustrated and impatient
Ways to Assist ADHD/ADD person
succeed


1. Set Artificial Due
Dates (ADD)
Back up all due dates
one or two days and
live as if this date is
the final date and
work towards that
end.

2. Set watches and
clocks ahead by fiveto-ten minutes and
live as if that is the
actual time.
Ways to help ADD/ADHD
people succeed

3. Set a routine for each
day and stick closely to it.
Routine is a key to
success for ADD/ADHD
people.


4. Allow for “breaks” in
my blocks of time.
Focus for about 15
minutes( less for
younger) and then take a
break, walk around, look
out the window, call
someone. Include this in
your routine.
Ways to help ADHD/ADD
people be successful.



5. Triple the amount of time
that I think a project, paper or
activity will take and live with
this.
6. Food, Music, Color:
Keep food/drink nearby in
order to help concentration
while working on something.




(Food…continued)
Put on Classical/
Environmental music with
headphones
Use other white noises such as
a fan to assist with sleep
and/or concentration.
Use bright colored folders,
paper, blotters to increase
organization or attention focus.
Ways to Help ADD/ADHD be
more successful



7. Eliminate any distractions,
phone off, quiet place without
windows.
8. Organization:
Clutter free, Out of sight/out of
mind. Colored files, folders, Daily
to do list and Prioritize it. Mark
things off.







9. Accountability:
Establish accountability with close
friends, classmates, and others
who are organized to help me
keep on task.
10. Other:
No caffeine
Regular meals, no snacking
Go to bed on time and don’t sleep
past 7AM
Learn to say No and don’t be a
people pleaser.
Helping the ADD/ADHD student
at school


1. Classroom needs to
have a structured routine.
Teachers that are routine
oriented and not so
creative are best for the
ADHD/ADD child.
Reduce stimuli in
classroom.

2. Work out an
accountability system
with the teacher,
checking for assignments
and books for that night
and parent signing and
returning with student to
school.
Academic help(continued)


Palm Pilot or Day-timer to
keep track of things.
Computers are a great
aide for learning.
A place for everything
and everything in it’s
place. Structure is key.


Provide a stimulus free
environment for doing
work.
Don’t upset the routine
without lots of notice and
preparation to your child.
Academic help(continued)


Repeat directions
numerous times, act
them out, and write them
down.
Good nutrition is key.
Eliminate caffeine,
sweets, items with
preservatives from the
students diet.


Behavior Modification:
Rewards….do it
frequently and for small
things and then increase
to bigger things and for
more time.
Medication: Yes or No

If you’ve tried more structure, reduced stimuli
and some of the above suggestions, and they
are not working well….you should look into
Medication. Check with a doctor who specializes
in ADD/ADHD and who knows the latest in
medications. The trend today is more towards
Antidepressant medications and medications
that have less side-effects.
For Further Help…Go Online to
organizations below or call.






Attention Deficit Disorder Association
1-800-487-2282
Ch.a.d.d. ( Children with Attention Deficit
Disorder)
1-305-587-3700
Hyperactive Attention Deficit
1-703-772-0455