This week’s module focuses on Teaching Strategies for Students with Special Needs. Scroll down to all three pens that highlight teaching strategies for every type of exceptionality and challenge listed.
The website is:
http://www.teachspeced.ca/?q=node/3
Module Task:
Under each section, choose one item and then read the suggestions for strategies. You are to analyze the strategies suggested for all three sections and post for your classmates.
The three sections are:
- Student Needs
- Exceptionalities Determined by the IPRC
- Diagnosed Medical and Psychological Conditions
Guiding Questions:
- Summarize one item from each of three categories
- Describe how this term affects a student’s learning.
- Summarize the strategies suggested.
- Analyze the strategies using your own experience as an educator. Do you think they are effective? Inclusive? Appropriate for the student’s age and learning level?
- Offer two new strategies that you have tried in your classroom.
Your answers should be fulsome and not one sentence long. They should carefully explain the exceptionality or challenge, relate it directly to student learning, and offer insight.
~
Post your
summary
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Read all posts made by your colleagues
~ Respond to at least
TWO of your
classmates' posts
Total Online Hours: 8
INSTRUCTOR NOTES
If you copy and paste the web address, listed in the module, into a new window you will see the three sections that are referenced.
http://www.teachspeced.ca/?q=node/3
- Student Needs - click and you will see a full list of special needs ranging from Aggression Management to Visual Spatial Processing
- Exceptionalities Determined by the IPRC - click and you will see a list of exceptionalities
- Diagnosed Medical and Psychological Conditions - click and you will see a list of diagnosed medical and psychological conditions ranging from Acquired Brain Injury to Usher Syndrome
_________________________________________________________________________________
Student Needs:
(Eating Disorders)
I chose to complete a series of tasks for this AQ utilizing resources and reflection points on research conducted about a particular topic. I had chosen "Eating Disorders" for a number of reasons but in choosing it I thought it suiting to choose strategies in this area to reflect on in regards to the area of "special needs" as shared through the website- teachspeed.ca
Eating Disorders are characterized by feelings of over-eating when a person has not; or necessity for binge-eating. Ultimately it is likely to cause physical and mental health problems in a person's life if left untreated. This will lead to death, eating disorders are serious and have easy to see impacts on the human body.
The teaching strategy that I think is worth mentioning but also one of the most ineffective frrom teh list is, "Provide resources to the student and parent on eating disorders and counseling options (school and/or community)" (OTF, 2019) Most likely unless the student develops the eating disorder while under a teacher's watch, the student would have been privy to many materials previous to the teacher's interaction. I think that if a student has an eating disorder, they would generally get identified and then be under a certain amount of parental supervison as well as participating in some sort of counselling. It just seems inapporpiate to pass on materials to a student who is already identified as one with an eating disorder. I would imagine it important to pass onto parents if there is concern about a student who maybe should be identified.
Its common knowledge that media has an immediate impact on students/people from the moment they see an advertisement or piece of media. The OTF "Teach media literacy, focusing on realistic body images." (OTF, 2019) I think that after a personal study on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), it is extremely beneficial to "sneak" some subliminal pieces of text/media into course materials that provoke thought in certain areas and/or support.
In my experience at a boarding school in China, there were a few students in our classrooms who were encouraged by parents to diet/fast. What parents didn't know is the right way to do so. Some students, after being spoken to about their conditions, were told that they were their diet practices by their mothers. In some cases, it turns out that students were just unaware of how to diet. A trend that struck schools hard in China was the "A-4 Paper Challenge"; in which the students/female participants were challenged to fit their "tummy"/midsection behind an A-4 paper in a picture that proves their "love handles" were not protruding from their "hour glass" figure. What I found effective when working with these students was using the beginning of class activities to introduce the facts/physiology of a human. In regards to "Brain Ed" I would incorporate the learning the strategies that would be best for a lesson from the classroom teacher's perspective, at times, I would be able to connect the content and link it to the idea of how nutrition and balanced lifestyles make direct impacts.
Exceptionalities Determined by IPRC:
(Mild Intellectual Disorder/"Personal Care")
This is when the student may have low intellectual capabilities and will not benefit from standardized teaching. If using the IQ test to check for diagnosis, it would be 70 or less. The OTF, describes how this diagnosis impacts a student through the following ways self-image, ability to comprehend classroom materials that may be unabridged or differentiated, as well as awareness of personal abilities/limits (2019). I'll be focusing on areas of need that reflect "Personal Care".
A strategy I like that was recommended by the OTF in regards to students with mild intellectual disorder/intellectual disabilities with needs in personal care are "Develop and implement alternate programming on the student’s IEP, pertaining to personal care, self-advocacy, peer social skills, etc.; Privately talk to the student about self-care." (OTF, 2019). Using subliminal messages to gauge a student's needs if unknown to the teacher or a way to reach out to the student and allow them a "natural" segue into questions regarding their area of needs is creative. However, sometimes not effective because of how elaborate an area of need may be.
Another Strategy to assist students in a classroom who have Personal Care needs in relation to intellectual disabilities requires rapport. Strategy as mentioned by the OTF, "Privately talk to the student about self-care." (OTF, 2019). In regards to the "private talk" strategy, its important to note that sometimes students are acting out in ways that are harmful to themselves yet teachers may not be aware of it entirely. Using class activities and discussions, sometimes teachers can retrieve some insight into a student's situation without privately talking to them. Private conversations with students may sometimes be out of place based on the specific teacher's rapport with a student. Effective if the rapport between the teacher and student is there; may be unpleasant or awkward otherwise. In situations where the teacher has good rapport with students, a private conversation should done in a relatively public area, or after contacting/connecting with guidance counselors, SERTs or other teachers who you know have good rapport with that particular student.
In my experience at a boarding school in China, there were many students who I taught with "intellectual disorders" while in our resource room. While practicing English with them as their support block sometimes we would read or participate in a reader's theatre, this allowed me to incorporate resources from other areas that I saw fit. Some of these students were feeding themselves a Snickers for breakfast; not brushing their teeth and then munching on spicy bean curd jerky throughout the day. Their health (let alone daily hygiene) was a talking point for some of these teachers as it was not officially brought to light that these could be factors in students' reluctance to participate in group activities as well as their low energy levels earlier in the day.
Diagnosed Medical/Physiological Conditions:
(Anxiety Disorders)
I found it interesting that there is indeed a connection between "Anxiety Disorder" and Eating Disorders, essentially any anxiety disorder makes it difficult for a student to perform to their fullest ability from day to day in a range of task forms. Ultimately, Anxiety disorders stem from a number of different areas, I will be reviewing and discussing teaching strategies in specificity to "Eating Disorders". This has a serious potential impact on students' mental and physical well-being. This could be a result of socio-economic influence or social influences from within the school/society.
Anxiety is characterized by the feelings of distress in a student when overcome with uncertainty in regards to appropriate course of action in a given situation. Students' abilities to respond are inhibited and generally when they do respond the actions taken result in confusion or misconception between the individual with the anxiety disorder and the teacher/student peer.
I am a "big-time" snacker and as I talked about in a presentation earlier through the AQ, maybe would have suffered from an eating/anxiety disorder. It went relatively untreated for a long time and required the support of teachers and my parents. The OTF recommends that a teacher "Allow to eat during class times" (OTF, 2019). This support strategy allows students who may not enough for a number of reasons to find time to eat or snack in order to regain attention and participation in class. I practice this with my students and it works relatively well. From time to time I need to remind students to remove garbage from their desks, and mop up spilt milk, but its worth the statement. I find that students are actually more willing to mop it up themselves and build a sense of rapport with teachers when things like this happen. When teachers take initiative, students usually make a mental note.
School initiatives are something I always thought (as a student) were superfluous because of the way I was introduced to them as a student. The OTF makes note of the following strategy for students with Anxiety Disorders in regards to Eating Disorders specifically, "Support healthy eating" (OTF, 2019). I personally feel that a school initiative like "healthy Snacks" or specific cafeteria food days are important to raise awareness of eating disorders and healthy lifestyles for students. I believe that when integrated in a way that is supportive, seemingly beneficial for the student body-it would be extremely practical.
Students in our school with GAD (General anxiety disorder) are hard to spot, but it is easy to notice when students are stressing themselves out or their body-image. From my experience, one of the best things I was able to do was to dress professional, maintain a healthy lifestyle myself and share my progress with my students when I would come in with a new shirt/getting ready for big holidays/talking about the weekend and trying out a new recipe/restaurant. That rapport with students goes a long way and students respond very well. Although you may not be the "GQ" teacher of your school, you can still advocate a healthy lifestyle to your school community and students are receptive of it. School initiatives and group/teams make mindsets (sometimes) permanent.
