How do you balance the need to learn more about the topics you teach with your need to develop new ways of teaching and your classroom time?

I think it's important not to put too much pressure on one's self because you may spend all of your time stressed that you are not developing on your topic and new teac hing techniques. Set achievable goals for both within a certain amount of time. If you are reading up on your topic. Find sections to research rather than reading an entire book at once. With developing new ways of teaching, take notes during your classroom time on sections that need attention and find ways to improve those.

Seldom do I know the nature of the disability. A student designated as disabled could be a physical disability or a learning disability, all I know is what the accommodations is such as more time to hand in assignments. Unless a student shares with me the nature of their disability (and I cannot ask)then all I can do is provide the accommodation agreed to by the school. I usually have one or two students with the disabled disignation in my class and can only provide limited support unless the student lets me know the nature of their disability. Again, what I can do is limited because I am an online instructor and have no visual contact with students. It is very much up to the student to seek help if needed.

What would you say is the greatest challenge to working with students with learning disabilities?

What would you say is the greatest challenge to working with students with learning disabilities?

Repeating, repeating and then showing a visual or hands on exercise to really instill the learning outcome. I have needed to read a test out loud. That said, it is our schools policy that if the student doesn't come to the instructor with documentation then the instructor is not to allow extra time or make accommodations for the student. Often I am told about a learning disability but no documentation is presented. On the other hand, I can usually tell if a student may have a learning disability after a few assignments come in but I am not to ask about it. I do then modify my delivery of the curriculm for a possible better retention but it is the entire class that gets the different approach.

What are some methods that have been successful for you in working with students with learning disabilities?

What is the most common form of learning disability that you encounter in your classes? What are the characteristics?

Dyslexia is one learning disability that a few of my students have had. These students have a hard time reading and it shows up in their written quizes.

What are some ways you can learn how to help a student with learning disabilities?

some of the ways to help students with learning disabilities is to have the student explain what kind of methods worked in the past.

What kind of instructional support is helpful to students with learning disabilities?

Instructional support for students with learning disablities are: Presentation provided on audio tape, provided in large print or designated reader or pesent instuctions orally. Response: allow verbal response, allow answer to be dictated to a scriber, tape recorder, via computer or dirctly into test booklet. Timing: allow frequent breaks and extended time for test. Setting: Provide prefrential seating, special lighting as needed, or accoustics. Material: Provide space between paragrahs underline key words very brief content & get to the point. These Instuctions can be very suppportive for the student with the leaning disablitiy. Vernise Walker

What are some strategies that you have used when working with students with learning needs?

Working with music and art makes the work so much more fun, original and productive.

What are some ways you can assess student learning needs?

I give an assessment on the first day to determine how much additional information should be added or removed from the course. If my students have a strong foundation we can go directly to content. If not, I go through a series of reviews in addition to adding the content.

What are some ways you can learn about the needs of diverse learners?

Communicating directly with the student can give you an idea of where they are in their language and vocabulary abilities. A simple question inquiring about how and why they came to school. In addition to this it is helpful to give a pretest to the entire class. The design of the test should have some short essay and knowledge focused questions so the instructor can gain information into the student's retention thus far in the program. The first question would lead into what motivates them as well.

Why is it important for adult learners to be able to use their life experiences in the classroom?