Organizing Instruction of Diverse Students II

 Organizing Instruction of Diverse Students II

14 Sept 2020

Our school environment has diverse students with academic challenges. Many of our students have ADD, some with ADHD, Dyscalculia and one or two with very mild Autism symptoms. One teaching method I enjoyed using with these type of students during classroom session included making them part of the lesson, for example, I would say something like – Lets now look at how The number line play a role in the daily lives of  ‘Eric or Sarah’… I often included using the student’s name, this was part of my teaching method. I think that this method hooked their interest in the subject, and connected the teaching to real life. 

Students at our school, especially those with learning challenges work at a different pace than the average child, and the curriculum we use is especially aimed at these types of learners. It includes, as mentioned before, auditory, visual and tactile learning.

This idea is also supported in the review by Howard, E. R., & Christian, D. (2002) that introduces us to the idea that planning and content design should play an important role to meet the needs of students with learning challenges. And according to them, this helps learners to develop higher levels of academic skills.

Our teachers are encouraged to do their planning based on the learning content and to discuss the work using small groups during classroom sessions. This idea is also supported by Bray, W. (2005) point out that small group participation with teacher facilitated instruction allows for more opportunities students can engage and learn.

Teachers are required to support students and make use of video’s where possible and ensure the students complete 1 tactile activity related to the work – this can be anything from drawing, a mindmap, or even a flow chart activity. We believe that this method allows for all of our students to follow the syllabus and achieve academic success.

Further to this, the key concept in the article by Bray, W. (2005) looks at the challenges diverse students face with regards to mathematics and also reviews methods to overcome those obstacles. The article reflects how accommodations and support play a significant role in promoting mathematics for students with learning challenges.  They would like us to consider that time and support is essential if a student with learning challenges wish to master the learnt content (pg3).

I do believe there are many ways to encourage accommodations for classroom instruction to meet student’s needs. The above method was just one method I personally found very effective. 

 

Reference:

Bray, W. (2005). Supporting diverse learners: Teacher collaboration in an inclusive environment. Teaching Children Mathematics, 11(6), 324-329. Retrieved from JSTOR.

Howard, E. R., & Christian, D. (2002). Two-way immersion 101: Designing and implementing a two-way immersion education program at the elementary level. Santa Cruz, CA: Center for Research, Diversity, and Excellence, University of California, Santa Cruz. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED473082.pdf