There are many different types of disabilities for which there is also a vast amount of written information for. In fact, entire books have been written about a single specific disability. However, key to working with the inclusional model and struggling students which will be in your classroom, there are a few important things to remember. If you keep the following points in mind, you will be in a much better situation to meet the needs of your struggling student(s).
- Break away from those traditional models, that's when these students start their descent and begin to fall through the cracks. Vary your strategies until you come across one that works, and you will!
- Remember, most of these children DO have an average intelligence. When their frustration level escalates, the learning potential diminishes and the behavior issues escalate. Always make sure that your struggling students believe in themselves. You will need to be positive, encourage risk taking attitudes and build self esteem as much as possible.
- When something is not working - STOP! Notice the things that aren't working and move toward a change. Look for those puzzling looks from your students and be prepared to intervene.
- Whenever possible, make learning concrete. Always ask yourself if there's a method for making the particular learning activity concrete. Remember, students with learning disabilities are much more interested in project based learning that they are on refining a specific skill(s).
- Struggling students work much better alone (when they understand the task) or with a partner, avoid large groups or whole class settings.
- There is no right waythat works, when something is not working, it's time to try a different strategy. Afterall, it's much easier to identify the wrong way and change it!
- Notice what works. When the student is learning and is applying him/herself diligently, ask yourself what strategy you employed. Does this particular strategy take into consideration the learning style of the child? (Auditory, Visual or Tactile?) It is important to be observant about what does work and use those same strategies for other learning tasks. Always vary your instructional methods to meet the varied learning styles of all learners.
- Recognize that children need to be active in their learning, they need to be engaged. Remember, we diminish the amount of learning they will actually do when we treat them as a passive learners and try to impart our knowledge upon them. The longer the child sits in passive mode, the greater the chances for misbehavior are. Vary your instructions, five minutes of talk, five minutes of visual, five minutes of interactive conversation etc.
