Because of the way the charts are organized, the most obvious pattern is the organization of the characteristics, impact and strategies. Another pattern that I see is that all of the strategies listed are intended to help all students learn the same material, though not necessarily in the same way. Thus, Universal Design is implemented throughout the charts, as the idea behind UD is modifying the materials or environment so that all students have access to knowledge. This is also the same principle used in pyramid planning- once you have figured out what the challenges are in your classroom as far as learning goes, you modify the lesson as needed so that all children reach the top of the Planning Pyramid. While it takes more time and consideration, it is very rewarding to see all children realizing the same goals. From this lesson, and reading all of the different charts, I have also noticed another pattern- throughout most of the disabilities we’ve encountered, there are a few strategies that work across the board. These include adapting physical environment, instructional materials, assessments and instruction; preparing the class, and monitoring peer behavior as well as student’s progress. This is something so ingrained in my mind now, that I hope I will find it easily accessible when I’m actually in the classroom. It really isn’t that difficult to adapt lessons for different learners, or for different abilities, and as a teacher, it is a necessity. We should all want our students to achieve success. I think that our text, and a completed chart with all of these mini charts included, would be a great resource for the classroom. This would be something I would keep to myself, not posted, but it provides such great practical strategies for a wide variety of disabilities and would come in handy. If applicable to my class, I could recreate a chart and give to the students, written in easier to comprehend language, to help them understand a particular disability. There’s another strategy under the “prepare the class” heading! It would also be helpful if I was trying to diagnose a disability in my class- obviously not by myself, but it could give me pointers. I like that we were able to add to/edit each other’s charts. This was a good teaching strategy for this online class.
One thing I noticed as a pattern for most of these disorders is that many of the children have a hard time understanding the material. They also struggle with staying on task. Some of the disorders that include these characteristics includes, ADD, ADHD, at-risk learners, autism spectrum disorder, and ELL students. One of the accommodations I would use to help these students correlates with the universal design, by incorporating "multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. I would do this by incorporating many things that interest my students. This will help grasp their attention and give them more of a desire to pay attention to the topic. I would also allow my students to present topics of interest using various methods. These could be presentations, drawings, powerpoint, poster, etc. These ways could also be used as a method of assessment. Therefore, the methods mentioned above would incorporate the multiple means of representation, expression and engagement. I believe these methods would also correlate with the planning pyramid, because most or all of my students would learn if I varied the teaching methods, interests, expression, and representation, because students learn in numerous ways. They're all different, so you're more likely to reach all of them if you try to incorporate as much variation as possible. Overall, most students can be taught if the teacher simply adjusts the material, environment, assessments, as well as instruction methods. Therefore, we as teachers need to be willing to adapt and be somewhat flexible with our teaching styles if we plan on reaching all of the students in our classrooms. I will definitely use many of the accommodations we have learned in this class during my future years of teaching.
There are patterns in the accommodations charts shown because each chart is similar; the charts are not similar necessarily in format but definitely in the accommodations. I learned several things from this activity. It is important to continue to find ways to accommodate all students. Consulting with other professionals is a positive way to find out more information, tips, ideas, advice, etc. on how to accommodate students as well. There are tons of ways to accommodate students! Find them! This relates to universal design for learning by finding different approaches to helping students. By making goals and assessments, this method can be beneficial to each student. It relates to pyramid planning in that the chart gives different options and ideas on how to accommodate students. The concepts in pyramid planning build off of one another, as do the charts on the WIKI page. Each accommodation can build off of another and ideas are endless! This information is crucial to addressing the needs of all students in my future classrooms. There are so many ideas and techniques that I can use to make sure each of my students are happy and have their needs met while still meeting their learning goals.
Because of the way the charts are organized, the most obvious pattern is the organization of the characteristics, impact and strategies. Another pattern that I see is that all of the strategies listed are intended to help all students learn the same material, though not necessarily in the same way. Thus, Universal Design is implemented throughout the charts, as the idea behind UD is modifying the materials or environment so that all students have access to knowledge. This is also the same principle used in pyramid planning- once you have figured out what the challenges are in your classroom as far as learning goes, you modify the lesson as needed so that all children reach the top of the Planning Pyramid. While it takes more time and consideration, it is very rewarding to see all children realizing the same goals.
ReplyDeleteFrom this lesson, and reading all of the different charts, I have also noticed another pattern- throughout most of the disabilities we’ve encountered, there are a few strategies that work across the board. These include adapting physical environment, instructional materials, assessments and instruction; preparing the class, and monitoring peer behavior as well as student’s progress. This is something so ingrained in my mind now, that I hope I will find it easily accessible when I’m actually in the classroom. It really isn’t that difficult to adapt lessons for different learners, or for different abilities, and as a teacher, it is a necessity. We should all want our students to achieve success.
I think that our text, and a completed chart with all of these mini charts included, would be a great resource for the classroom. This would be something I would keep to myself, not posted, but it provides such great practical strategies for a wide variety of disabilities and would come in handy. If applicable to my class, I could recreate a chart and give to the students, written in easier to comprehend language, to help them understand a particular disability. There’s another strategy under the “prepare the class” heading! It would also be helpful if I was trying to diagnose a disability in my class- obviously not by myself, but it could give me pointers. I like that we were able to add to/edit each other’s charts. This was a good teaching strategy for this online class.
One thing I noticed as a pattern for most of these disorders is that many of the children have a hard time understanding the material. They also struggle with staying on task. Some of the disorders that include these characteristics includes, ADD, ADHD, at-risk learners, autism spectrum disorder, and ELL students. One of the accommodations I would use to help these students correlates with the universal design, by incorporating "multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. I would do this by incorporating many things that interest my students. This will help grasp their attention and give them more of a desire to pay attention to the topic. I would also allow my students to present topics of interest using various methods. These could be presentations, drawings, powerpoint, poster, etc. These ways could also be used as a method of assessment. Therefore, the methods mentioned above would incorporate the multiple means of representation, expression and engagement. I believe these methods would also correlate with the planning pyramid, because most or all of my students would learn if I varied the teaching methods, interests, expression, and representation, because students learn in numerous ways. They're all different, so you're more likely to reach all of them if you try to incorporate as much variation as possible. Overall, most students can be taught if the teacher simply adjusts the material, environment, assessments, as well as instruction methods. Therefore, we as teachers need to be willing to adapt and be somewhat flexible with our teaching styles if we plan on reaching all of the students in our classrooms. I will definitely use many of the accommodations we have learned in this class during my future years of teaching.
ReplyDeleteThere are patterns in the accommodations charts shown because each chart is similar; the charts are not similar necessarily in format but definitely in the accommodations. I learned several things from this activity. It is important to continue to find ways to accommodate all students. Consulting with other professionals is a positive way to find out more information, tips, ideas, advice, etc. on how to accommodate students as well. There are tons of ways to accommodate students! Find them! This relates to universal design for learning by finding different approaches to helping students. By making goals and assessments, this method can be beneficial to each student. It relates to pyramid planning in that the chart gives different options and ideas on how to accommodate students. The concepts in pyramid planning build off of one another, as do the charts on the WIKI page. Each accommodation can build off of another and ideas are endless! This information is crucial to addressing the needs of all students in my future classrooms. There are so many ideas and techniques that I can use to make sure each of my students are happy and have their needs met while still meeting their learning goals.
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