6/17/2019
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Gerilyn McGorry
|
We have a classroom on campus with students that are identifies as Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH). It is a K-5 class. In order to have the students in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), they attend with peers in their grade level. Some students have hearing aids and do not need an interpreter. However, two of the students in that group are profoundly deaf with no hearing at all. One student was in kindergarten this last school year and did not know sign language at all. His parents did not speak English and did not know any sign language. The first few weeks were very difficult trying to communicate with him. His homeroom teacher was having the same issue. You could tell he wanted to learn so badly. He was attending with a third grade class because it was the only class the interpreter was attending. So, I have a five-year old boy who cannot communicate and is attending with students that are three years older than him and a curriculum that was far above his reach (or so I thought). This boy could not communicate with us, but he is a natural born artist. I model steps under the document camera at the front of my room and he was positioned right in front of the screen. He watched everything I did and copied the steps. I wrote simple directions with pictures of what the students were supposed to do (image of scissors to indicate cutting). By the end of the year, he was communicating through sign language with the adults in his group and was performing at an almost third grade level, Now I have to come up with some challenges for him for first grade. |
6/18/2019
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Gerilyn McGorry
|
2. Describe at least one way you have used technology to meet the needs of a student with a disability in your classroom. Be sure to identify or describe the specific technology and the student's disability. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
I am an elementary school Visual Arts teacher. Through fundraisers, I have purchased 24 iPad minis over the last few years. We love to use technology in the art room. Some of my exceptional students have a hard time with "making a mistake" in their artwork. I have one student (EBD) who refuses to pick up a paintbrush because he gets upset with himself if his hand cannot paint what is in his brain. On days that we are painting, I provide him with an iPad and a stylus to paint along with us. This way, if he makes a mistake, he can just click the back button and undo it. He is now excited to "paint" and is not refusing to participate. It makes my heart happy when he is able to participate with his peers and share his excitement with his cooperative group. |
6/20/2019
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Gerilyn McGorry
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This last school year, we had a new third grader enroll that was non-verbal and being assessed on ACCESS Points. A majority of the time, he would rock back and forth moaning. He did not want to do anything. He would hit himself and grab others around him. He had a one-on-one para, but he would still stomp around the room and try to leave. I was having a very hard time grading him. I met with his mom and homeroom teacher and we picked one Access Point standard for him to work on: - VA.3.S.3.Pa.a: Manipulate selected visual art tools and media.
- He already had a grading scale they were using in the classroom and we transferred it to the Art room.
- A = all work done by student
- B = most work done by student
- C = hand-over-hand (50% student/50% teacher)
- D = hand-over-hand (mostly teacher)
- F = refusal to participate
We also had a reward system in place. If he did five things we asked him to, he got a short break away from the project. We used laminated paper pennies and put one on his chart each time he did something on his own or with help. He went from throwing paintbrushes across the room to putting the brush on paper and manipulating it. He had some great masterpieces at the end of the year! |