I am a prospective teacher. I am a junior at Salisbury University and I am inquiring about students with learning disabilities. My question is what activities can be used in a classroom to help a child with a learning disability to fit in and to help the other students to understand the disability?
Re: just a qick question
Honest discussion with the students in any classroom helps kids to understand disabilities. In fact, every time I bring up the topic in my classroom, I see kids all over the room nodding in understanding. All of us have areas of strength and weaker areas and many of us are contending with learning differences without ever having been formally diagnosed.
As to the activites to help the LD child, that would depend on what learning difference the child has. If it’s a reading issue, I offer them books on tape so they can keep up with the curriculum. I don’t have kids take notes from the board. I don’t ask kids to memorize for tests - memorization comes very hard to many children with learning differences. I don’t give timed tests. I don’t count spelling.
I try to plan multisensory lesssons that work to get the information across to the varied learning styles and attention spans I have in my classroom.
If you want the best answer to your good question, get hold of Dr. Mel Levine’s Educational Care book.
Re: just a qick question
Sara,
I would like to thank you for your help. I appreciate you taking your time to write back to me. I would also like to thank you for telling me about that book I believe I will go get it. I feel that it will probably be a good book to help me to prepare for teaching.
Thanks again!!
Amanda
Re: just a qick question
Leigh,
Thank you for responding to my question. Any and all advice is appreciated. I also want to thank you for telling me it sounds like I will be a great teacher. That means a lot to me and I just wanted to say thanks!!!
I don’t think it is a good idea to explain a student’s disability to other students. This may cause embaressment to the student and/or bring attention to the student that the student doesn’t need. I personally think that explaining to your class at the beginning of the year that all students are different and all students learn differently,and that sometimes you may use different methods with different students, but that you will treat all students fairly would be a great way to address the differences of all students. Good luck to you, sounds like you will be a great teacher!