5/23/2022
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
Jeff Luty
|
I have a student in my current theatre class who is on the autism spectrum, and because of this, they have a poor behavior reputation with other teachers at school. I had been told about their behavior issues (but not the autism issue, more on that later) before this school year from their prior teachers and chalked them up to having a Behavioral Disorder.
I originally seated them away from other students in class who they were known to interact with to provide them with the least distractions. However, as I got to know and interacted with them, I began to suspect that they didn’t have a behavioral disorder but an autism spectrum disorder. They had a sensitivity to sound that their parent clamed was slight deafness; they had an inability to recognize basic social cues; delayed cognitive and learning skills; delayed language skills (“baby talk”); and random outburst in class, which would set off the other students. So the first thing that I did was move them to the front of the room so that I could keep a closer eye on them and personally assist them when they needed help. From my communication with our administrators and support staff, who confirmed my thoughts, I found out that the parent didn’t want their child labeled as autistic due to the assumed stigma that came with it, so there are no specific accommodations on file for this student.
Specific accommodations that I have made with them is more one on one interaction to check for lesson and assignment understanding, turning off my classroom microphone or lowering my speaking volume when interacting with them to make them more comfortable, specific praise for good work and task completion, and redirecting them back on topic when they start up with their off-task outbursts. |
5/23/2022
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
Jeff Luty
|
Great idea to pair them up! |
5/23/2022
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
Jeff Luty
|
Wonderful way to redirect and focus them! |
5/24/2022
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Jeff Luty
|
I have used the two column note graphic organizer regularly for many years as a way for my students to write their daily bellwork/theatre vocabulary word. It really helps them when it comes time to study for our weekly quizzes, using the folding the paper method to study. I must admit that I have never uses the “Summary” option at the bottom of the page (it was not taught to the staff when we were first “required” to implement graphic organizers as part of a past administrator’s requirement), but I see how it will be beneficial to the students to summarize the definition in their own words.
I am looking forward to using more technology in my classroom next year as our district is moving to the “One Device” program, where all of the students will receive either a laptop or tablet. I plan on trying the “E-Learning Center” idea that was discussed in this chapter, as it will allow the students to follow along to a topic at their own rate, and also be able to review the lesson at home whenever they need to. |
5/24/2022
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Jeff Luty
|
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:
A few years ago, I had an elementary student (kindergarten his first year, and then first grade the following year) who was diagnosed with severe autism and had very limited speaking skills along with a hearing issue. He didn’t respond well to vocal cues but responded well to rewards. He also loved to explore my classroom, especially when I was working with other students. Rewarding him every week was going to break the bank, since it wouldn’t be fair to reward only him for good behavior and not the other well-behaved students in the class. Working with our resource specialist at the time, we came up with the solution to print out multiple faces, One with a smile, one with frown, and one with a neutral/straight lined mouth. These face papers were placed close by to him so that he could reflect on them during the class. He started each class with the smiley face, but if he became off task or did something disruptive, then the smiley face would be switched to the neutral face, and eventually the frown face if his behavior continued to fall. Once he understood the concept of the faces, which happened really quickly, he became more attentive and less disruptive in class, because he wanted the reward of the smiling face. |