We hear it (or even say it) often. Many teachers out there are intimidated by the term "special education" and feel as though they are not required to teach
those kids. However, what many fail to realize is, we are ALL teaching them to some degree. We ALL have them in our classrooms, and we are servicing their needs. So, why say you don't want to be a special ed teacher? When I refer to Special Ed in this aspect, I am referring to the high functioning students that are performing sightly below grade level (maybe 1 to 2 grade levels below), and are able to successfully learn in a regular classroom setting (which may be with 1 teacher, or 2).
Think about this: You have a class of 20 children. In this class, approx. 10 are considered "on grade level", 3 are "advanced" and the other 7 are considered to be on the "lower" end. Of these 20 kids, 3 have a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD, and one is severely depressed. There's also 1 that has just gone through his parents' divorce. Even though none of these students have an IEP, they all have special needs that require special attention. In this class of 20, ALL 20 children have different needs.
Throughout the year, you realize that a few of the kids
If you, as a teacher, are providing instruction that is
differentiated, and you are meeting the needs of all of the "regular ed" students in your class, what makes you think you can't meet the needs of a child who has a disability?
If you aren't familiar with differentiation, or providing to meet the needs of everyone, here are some tips!
- For your kids with attention or hyperactivity issues you can:
- shorten assignment, or give assignments in smaller portions at a time (if a students can successfully show you that he/she can do 10 math problems...does he/she really have to do all 30?)
- set a timer-it's an easy way to keep them focused. "you can get up and move once the timer goes off"
- allow him/her to stand up during the lesson. In my class, if the kids aren't being disruptive, they can sit backward, stand, anything that will keep them focused
- replace a chair with a yoga ball. This allows the child to move around, and bounce on the ball without disrupting.
- stress balls can be a life saver-I had a student who would constantly cut things in his desk, tear paper, and just fiddle with everything. Once he discovered a stress ball, his hands had something to do when they weren't being used.
- kids who have trouble reading/writing
- for writing assignments, allow the student to speak into a recorder. Then, he/she can play it back slowly to write it down. (many times, our emerging readers have many great ideas, but don't have the ability think of ideas, remember them, and write them down while also trying to focus on spelling, grammar, and handwriting)
- a recorder is also great for reading fluency. Have the student read into a recorder, then listen to it, and try to make it better
- For reading differentiation, it is imperative that you group the students and provide small group instruction to ALL students. The emerging readers need just as much attention as the advanced ones do.
- kids who are on the other end of the spectrum, and need services because of their advanced exceptionality (also known as "talented and gifted")
- these children also need individualized instruction
- don't ever give them MORE and say you're servicing them. they don't need more work, they need advanced work.
- Just because a gifted third grader is advanced, doesn't mean he/she wants to help all of the struggling kids...it also doesn't mean that he/she wants to complete classwork from a higher grade level.
- Here's what you can and should do:
- offer options for these students: if you can have them complete a research project on the subject you're teaching, the student is still learning, but has taken on the role of active learner and is in charge of what and how he/she learns the material
- use higher order thinking all of the time--these students don't need to recall information, they need to take that information, and use it.
- allow these kids time to explore what really interests them. If you're asking the class to do an expository writing piece, why now allow for choice. Wouldn't a student be more excited about something they love??
I have so much more I want to share. Special Education is my passion....it's why I'm a teacher. Check back soon for more!
