Classroom suggestions
I would like to know how you manage to create new things/ice breakers, so your students with learning disabilities don't feel like they have been in theory for 45min. Would love some ideas for my class.
Bonita,
I will leave it to others to suggest how you might enhance your classroom presentations to incorporate more variety in your learning activities. I would only point out that what you are asking for are ideas to enhance the learning environment for ALL students. The fact that students with learning disabilities will benefit from it along the way is a side issue, not the most important one in making the decision to move forward with such techniques.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I would like some help in offering suggestions for students that have difficulty reading from the text and even their own power point for a presentation. I have several students that have great difficulty reading, and i am not sure how to proceed with their instruction.
Denise,
What you are looking for is "text to speech" technology. Try viewing the article at the link below. It explains what the technology does and then, at the end, it gives links to a number of places where such technology can be found, including FREE text-to-speech technology.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/text-to-speech-technology-reaches-an-inflection-point/
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I agree so much with what you stated here. I do think once accommodations are "built" into your curriculum and available for use with students that individuals with disabilities will find it easier to use the accomodations. I always try to remember that individuals do not like to use/do anything "different" than their peers because it makes them stand out. That is why I try to build it into the everyday curriculum. I really like the Universal Design theroy
Valarie,
Often, students with disabilities "stand out" whether they want to or not, because their disability is obvious to those around them. But the philosophy behind Universal Design is to make the experience of such students as much like that of all students as possible. The best way to do that is to make sure that the materials and activities are available to all without modification or accommodation.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Ice breaker activities can be very helpful in allowing you to get to know all of your students and for them to get to know each other. Even on a good day I don’t really like being put on the spot and think most people are the same. I like to do a planned get to know you activity in the first week. I lay out the activity, do an example on the board and then give written instructions and then we set a date for when the class will do the activity. It is usually that coming Friday but I at least give them some time to think and mentally prepare.
I ask the students to draw an image that represents them. I do and iceberg for my example but it can be a simple square or stick figure. Then they will draw their image on the board and introduce themselves by name to the class and then tell us why the image represents them. Like the iceberg there is much more to me than is visible from the surface. I have them turn in the paper with their drawing on it and a few sentences about themselves. I also add that this would be a great time for them to share something about themselves with me; I tell them that I will be the only one reading them. I find that giving the students time to prepare really helps with their anxiety levels and asking them to share something privately has been very useful in allowing students to communicate fears or concerns they have about being successful in my class.
Scot,
I really like the idea of allowing them to prepare in advance for the activity, rather than putting students on the spot to think creatively. It would be interesting to know how often your students with disabilities come up with some visual representation of their disability as part of their revelation of "self."
Dr. Jane Jarrow
