4/8/2018
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
Chriss Celentano
|
- Think of a student with a disability you have now or in the past. Describe ways in which their disability affected their learning in your class.
One student I have has Intellectual Disabilities. She struggles to listen for any length of time, struggles to sit up, reads below grade level, has a hard time recalling directions and information, and struggles to communicate with her peers. I teach an elementary drama class and we were working on developing commercials. Allowing choice, students could pick between a TV commercial, Radio commercial or a Print Ad. I had this child do a radio commercial so one could coach and practice and not have to account for any cues or reading being seen on camera. She was teamed up with a student who is patient and likes to be in charge.
The team and I developed a radio commercial. I made sure the student with disabilities had input into the commercial until we had a final script. On the day of recording the commercial, the team practiced their script over and over - building confidence and expectation for when we recorded the real thing.
Finally, we recorded the commercial - first a test run so she knew what to expect and then a final recording. Afterwards we listened to the radio commercial and celebrated their success for a job well done.
edited by Chriss Celentano on 4/8/2018
edited by Chriss Celentano on 4/8/2018 |
4/8/2018
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
Chriss Celentano
|
John Schweig wrote:
When I was a Speech and Debate coach teaching acting in Duo Interpretation, I had a student who was hard of hearing and couldn't always pick up the cues of when her partner was done speaking. Because Duo Interpretation actors and actresses stand side by side facing the judge, they can't look at each other and thus could miss these cues if hard of hearing. So, her partner and I re-blocked the script to include a foot-stomp at the end of each line where a prompt was needed. This caused a vibration in the floor which the almost-deaf child could feel and which cued her to begin her talking portion.
That was a clever idea. I wonder if a physical cue like a touch or a subtle movement could have worked, too. |
4/29/2018
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Chriss Celentano
|
Option 1: Describe how two of the strategies discussed could potentially be implemented in your classroom. Be sure to identify the two strategies by name, and describe how they could be used to address the student's disability. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
Task Cards are a great strategy for helping students with disabilities - and as mentioned, all learners. I love the idea of having a tool to help a student remember what their task is. If a student is in charge of or part of a group working on an aspect of a show, having a colored card that has the question that needs answering (Where is the setting?) or directions (Build 3 bananas that are 10" long) will surely be of value. When students get together and start planning, some students with processing issues may become lost on a seeming tangent. With Task Cards, there is a physical, easy to find, guided set of instructions they can refer back to.
Differentiated Assignments is a great way to have all students participating while at the same time ensuring those students who need more get more while other students are doing equally worthwhile activities that better meet them where they are currently at. Having some students explore the imagined backgrounds of a character while other students work on something more concrete makes each day a chance for growth. |
4/29/2018
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Chriss Celentano
|
- Option 1: Provide/Describe one or more examples of adapted or alternative assessments you have successfully used in the classroom for students with disabilities. Be sure to identify the student's disability. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
I have a student with an emotional disability such that she cannot speak out loud. She can occasionally whisper but only a barely audible single word (often yes and no). We were exploring characters and I had a quick ongoing assessment to cover our vocabulary, with students demonstrating the set of terms. I had this student actually write her responses down with colored pens - which she was able to do in complete, long sentences, demonstrating which terms she did know and which ones she still hadn't mastered. |