6/6/2021
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Becky Donohue
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This year I had a student with multiple disabilities, the one which primarily affected him in my classroom was visual impairment. He used a large screen laptop with large-print buttons, but often struggled with drawing lessons and even shut down completely, putting his head down on the table. I worked to build a relationship with him both in and out of my classroom and paired him with another student with a disability for a project in which they created their own adaptive tool. They studied how the adaptive tools in my room functioned, what the benefits were and chose a purpose for their own tool. They had to describe what the purpose of their tool, how it would benefit the artist and with which media it would work. It was a tremendous amount of work and took most of the year to get him to engage. However, building trust with him (he moved a LOT and kept to himself, only socializing with his siblings) and pairing him with a non-threatening partner allowed me to engage him enough to participate in this special project. This was really a turning point for him and he opened up much more after that, both inside and outside my classroom. Despite all the strategies that I tried earlier in the year, I had to overcome his unique objection, trust, to move into a space where he felt comfortable in my room. |
6/10/2021
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Becky Donohue
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One strategy that would benefit my students is the use of computers. I have a student who is visually impaired and would benefit from being able to read with enlarged type and highlighted text. He would also benefit from being able to respond by typing on a large-text keyboard versus writing on standard lined notebook paper.
Another strategy that will benefit my students is learning centers. My youngest students are very familiar with learning centers and my older students enjoy having the opportunity to return to this less ridged way of learning. All ages of my students will benefit from the social aspects of learning centers as well. |
6/10/2021
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Becky Donohue
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Many of my students require directions to be repeated, clarified and checked for understanding. I find that this not only benefits my students with IEPs but also helps reinforce directions for all students.
One method of alternate assessment that benefited a previous student was to present his answers in the form of a class presentation rather than written responses. Although he was below grade level in reading and writing skills, he knew the information and was able to verbalize his answers. You could see the stress come off his shoulders as he realized he would be assessed in a formate he felt more comfortable in completing. |