InTASC Standard 2: Learner Differences
The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that enable each learner to meet high standards.
When teaching, a good teacher needs to be able to address learner differences through understanding the strengths, needs, and the rate at which each student is developing. In order to do this, the teacher needs to be able to employ many types of teaching strategies and activities that help support that students as they grow and progress when it comes to the content and skills in a challenging environment.
In my classroom at St. Francis Xavier, each of the students was different, some more so then others. Due to these differences, we (the teachers) had to be aware of what was happening in our classroom and how the students were responding to the instruction. These responses could be seen academically and behaviorally. From our observations and assessments, we then had to make adjustments to our classroom and lessons to help with these learning differences that our students may have.
One of our students stands out in my mind when it comes to learner differences. He is a bright little boy who needs some more adjustments to our classroom and lessons in order to support his learning. This student has some sensory sensitivity and fine motor delays. He can also be hard to motivate when it comes to participation to what we are doing in our classroom and hard to get him to actually take his time and try when doing his work. To try and figure out days that he seemed to have the most difficulty doing tasks and what times of days, we began doing some behavior tracking (Behavior Tracking 1 and 2 artifacts). After awhile we began to see some patterns – days in which we (the teachers) or the students were out of dress code, seemed to be days in which his behavior was more erratic, and when it came to writing he would often refuse to write or not try. We could not do much about the out-of-dress-code days besides being aware of what was happening, but we could work to find ways to improve his motivation when it came to writing.
His lack of writing motivation seemed to strive from the amount of time it would actually take him to write out sentences and his work compared to his peers (examples of his work and writing can be seen in the Work Samples artifact). To help with his writing motivation, and to also help with some fine motor skills work, we provided this student with an AlphaSmart (seen in the Sensory artifact) to type out his stories on. He seemed to like this more and would have something typed up by the time we were ending the lesson, which before using this he made have had nothing written. To help with motivation, we also provided a sticker chart that when he reached a certain amount of stickers due to good on-task behavior he could earn some extra iPad time. Unfortunately, this sticker chart did not seem to actually help him at all.
When it came to his concentration in class, this student had a hard time of sitting still at some points and at other points rousing himself enough to participate and pay attention. Some of this we believe is sensory related due to what information we receive from his last year’s teacher and to what various school specialists have shared with us. We have inserted various objects into his environment to help adjust for these needs. To help him to be able to sit in his seat and not sliding out of it, we have a special, rubber, bumpy seat that keeps him planted (for the most part) in his seat and off the floor. We also have a stretchy, rubber band on the legs of his chair for him to use for when his feet feel like moving. This band provides some resistances to his legs so that he does not have to physically kick objects to feel anything special. We also have a rubber ball with “hairs” sticking out of this. He has a tendency to pull out his hair when thinking. Last year this resulted in red, raw, bald spots on his head where he picked it. This ball allows him to pull at it with hopefully a similar feel to what it would be like picking at his hair. We also provided a special picture schedule for him so that he could follow along visually with what we were supposed to be doing during different times of the day and what expectations went with those activities. This seemed to help quite a bit, especially when we first provided it to him. All of this can be seen in the Sensory/Behavior Adjustments artifact.
I understand not all learning differences are as big as this student's needs are, but I believe that this student's needs and supports help to demonstrate how much can go into addressing learning differences. It is extremely important to be aware of these differences so that they can be addressed so that the student can receive the support and adjustments to the classroom and lessons so that they can grow and be successful in school.
In my classroom at St. Francis Xavier, each of the students was different, some more so then others. Due to these differences, we (the teachers) had to be aware of what was happening in our classroom and how the students were responding to the instruction. These responses could be seen academically and behaviorally. From our observations and assessments, we then had to make adjustments to our classroom and lessons to help with these learning differences that our students may have.
One of our students stands out in my mind when it comes to learner differences. He is a bright little boy who needs some more adjustments to our classroom and lessons in order to support his learning. This student has some sensory sensitivity and fine motor delays. He can also be hard to motivate when it comes to participation to what we are doing in our classroom and hard to get him to actually take his time and try when doing his work. To try and figure out days that he seemed to have the most difficulty doing tasks and what times of days, we began doing some behavior tracking (Behavior Tracking 1 and 2 artifacts). After awhile we began to see some patterns – days in which we (the teachers) or the students were out of dress code, seemed to be days in which his behavior was more erratic, and when it came to writing he would often refuse to write or not try. We could not do much about the out-of-dress-code days besides being aware of what was happening, but we could work to find ways to improve his motivation when it came to writing.
His lack of writing motivation seemed to strive from the amount of time it would actually take him to write out sentences and his work compared to his peers (examples of his work and writing can be seen in the Work Samples artifact). To help with his writing motivation, and to also help with some fine motor skills work, we provided this student with an AlphaSmart (seen in the Sensory artifact) to type out his stories on. He seemed to like this more and would have something typed up by the time we were ending the lesson, which before using this he made have had nothing written. To help with motivation, we also provided a sticker chart that when he reached a certain amount of stickers due to good on-task behavior he could earn some extra iPad time. Unfortunately, this sticker chart did not seem to actually help him at all.
When it came to his concentration in class, this student had a hard time of sitting still at some points and at other points rousing himself enough to participate and pay attention. Some of this we believe is sensory related due to what information we receive from his last year’s teacher and to what various school specialists have shared with us. We have inserted various objects into his environment to help adjust for these needs. To help him to be able to sit in his seat and not sliding out of it, we have a special, rubber, bumpy seat that keeps him planted (for the most part) in his seat and off the floor. We also have a stretchy, rubber band on the legs of his chair for him to use for when his feet feel like moving. This band provides some resistances to his legs so that he does not have to physically kick objects to feel anything special. We also have a rubber ball with “hairs” sticking out of this. He has a tendency to pull out his hair when thinking. Last year this resulted in red, raw, bald spots on his head where he picked it. This ball allows him to pull at it with hopefully a similar feel to what it would be like picking at his hair. We also provided a special picture schedule for him so that he could follow along visually with what we were supposed to be doing during different times of the day and what expectations went with those activities. This seemed to help quite a bit, especially when we first provided it to him. All of this can be seen in the Sensory/Behavior Adjustments artifact.
I understand not all learning differences are as big as this student's needs are, but I believe that this student's needs and supports help to demonstrate how much can go into addressing learning differences. It is extremely important to be aware of these differences so that they can be addressed so that the student can receive the support and adjustments to the classroom and lessons so that they can grow and be successful in school.
Artifacts: