I am planning for class
with a student to have in my classroom from Somebody
Else’s Kids by Torey Hayden and the student I am choosing to work with is
Lori. Lori was an adopted twin child who lives with a now widowed father. Lori
is full of energy and kindness and hardly seems like a child with a learning
disability when you simply communicate with her (Hayden, 1981). Lori is a
hyperactive student who struggles to learn or even copy material due to lesions
in her brain. She struggles to process written symbols, but does very well with
oral mathematics at or above her grade level (Hayden, 1981).
Accommodations
In order for Lori to be
successful in my class, it means that I must make the proper adjustments to my
lesson plans so that Lori has a fair opportunity to succeed given her learning
disability. For instance, in order to address Lori’s hyperactive nature I would
plan on her sitting in the front row of my classroom as well as allowing her to
stand and walk around during any activities that were not direct instruction so
long as she did not distract other students. By keeping Lori in the front of
the room, she is more likely to stay engaged and pay attention and by allowing her
to walk around and move she will be able to burn some of her hyperactive nature
when in the classroom and trying to learn.
Furthermore, I would make
changes in my lesson plan for Lori by not making her write down problems in
walk around activities but rather already have the problems printed out for
her. This would keep Lori from wasting time to write down problems while she
already struggles to copy material down. Lori would also benefit from guided notes so I
would print out handouts for her where all the notes require her to do is fill
in a few blanks for definitions rather than write the entire definition down.
Having Lori using guided notes would allow her to access all of her notes in a well-organized
format. Additionally, I would provide Lori with interactive practice problems
through Khan Academy or look into purchasing Algebra Tiles so her learning is
hands-on and helps her identify symbols better.
In Lori’s situation I
feel that it could be beneficial for her to have the option of watching video
or hearing the lesson/lecture afterwards as compared to review notes, so I as a
teacher could create a video the evening before the lecture explaining the
material for Lori and then have the material sent to her through e-mail or the
school website. Moreover, Lori could be given support on her tests by allowing
for oral examinations where one teacher asks the questions and another proctor
can assist her through the test in writing down the material to show that she
knows it. By allowing Lori to take her exam in the format that she is most
comfortable with, she has the best chance for herself to be successful and
demonstrate her knowledge of the material.
Since Lori has a twin
sister who does very well academically, I could look into having her sister and
her father support her outside of the classroom to help her academically with
her struggles to understand written symbols and communicate in writing. By
communicating with her family, Lori can have a support system at home as well
as her teachers and peers at school to help her learn and succeed (National,
1997).
Lori’s academic success
is the most important thing for me as well as leading her into the world with
the skills necessary for a career that she can love pursuing. In order to meet
those goals, Lori should be given support in class research projects as
students work to find careers in mathematics that interest them with Lori
receiving help writing her paper from myself or a teacher with student services
who can write down the spoken word that she delivers for her paper.
Drawbacks
Some of the
accommodations that are being made for Lori have drawbacks that have to be
taken into consideration with the benefits as a teacher trying to help a
student with a learning disability. For example, by allowing Lori to simply
fill in the blanks for definitions she is less likely to think about this definition
in a way that will stick in her mind. By forcing the students to write down the
entire definition they are forced to read the definition at least once and
proceed to write it down so the definition is in their mind by reading and
writing whereas copying down a few words to fill in blanks can become lazy and
unengaging.
Another drawback of the
mentioned accommodations for Lori is the idea of how she struggles to copy down
material and interpret written symbols. In mathematics, symbols are involved in
almost every mathematical step so giving oral examinations would be helpful,
but some things would need to be given with paper like graphing and plotting
data plots and performing data analysis.
Lori’s learning
disability makes direct instruction for the class hard to complete while
supporting her without using guided notes all of the time. Mathematics is a
subject that teachers can present in a very clear manner through direct
instruction so having to use a student-centered learning environment more often
means that Lori may miss out on some of the information that students will
discover through inquiry based learning experiences. This loss of an
opportunity would mean that it would be my responsibility to help Lori through
those conversations and to ensure that she understood the material. In order to
make sure that Lori can comprehend the material, I would make it a point to
include her in the discussions whenever possible.
Additionally, because
Lori cannot sit still for long periods of time it is unlikely that she will
have the focus to sit down at home to review material or visit sites like Khan
Academy for extra tutorials or practice problems when she is struggling. This
means that Lori, even when she is having a tough time, may not have the ability
to help herself study difficult material. This issue with study can become even
more troublesome when we think about Lori taking an exam and having not study
for that exam and being asked to take the test without preparing on her own for
the material. Lori would need reminders and support from myself and at home to
help her prepare for tests and quizzes.
Potential Issues
While trying to help
Lori, I may run into some potential issues. One issue would be that Lori
requires the help of a special education teacher, but did not meet the evaluation
requirements for special education services so she is not recognized as a
student with a learning disability (National, 1997). Another possible challenge
is that Lori cannot get any peer support from her classmates to assist her in
learning this new material and struggles without peer help.
In addition, I have not
had an experience in the classroom yet with a student with a learning
disability before so this would be a learning curve for me trying to help them
to the best of my ability. This struggle would encourage me to seek help from
my school’s STAT teacher who acts as an assistant to teachers with questions
about how to best teach their students.
More issues include Lori’s
self-esteem and motivation to succeed if she is still struggling. Throughout
the book she gives everything her best effort, but what would happen if she
eventually just gave up? Being unsuccessful can be frustrating for students who
have never experienced it, but it can be even more frustrating for students who
experience it constantly. They could begin to have low expectations of their
abilities and have a fixed mindset where their mental capacity is stagnant and
they have no way of changing it. As teachers for struggling students like Lori,
it is our duty to stay with them and push their expectations and meet them
where they currently are and inspire them for growth in the abilities through
class growth mindset activities.
When we think about Lori’s
issues with learning through writing and the lack of an ability to copy down
information, it really makes teaching much more difficulty because these two
skills are the building blocks of education and learning for students without
disabilities. Students write down definitions and make connections to these
words and then through copying down notes can review these materials later.
Lori’s disability makes learning difficulty, but not impossible. Lori needs a
system to meet her where she is academically. This would require a teaching aid
for her in all of her courses as well as an alternative method to learn the material
through online and interactive means.
Sources
Hayden, T. L. (1981). Somebody else’s kids.
United States: Putnam Pub Group (T).
National, the. (1997). Addressing students’
needs: Importance of knowing your students. Retrieved August 11, 2016, from
Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning,
http://www.cirtl.net/node/2543
