I need as much input as I can get, so , if you have an idea or opinion, please add it.
I am doing my masters project. I was hoping that the project would help my students with learning disabilities get more out of the general education classes. The question, “If general educators were taught the importance of using graphic organizers, and HOW to use graphic organizers, would they use them and if not why.”
Please give me your ideas either from a spec ed teacher or general ed teacher standpoint.
I chose this project because graphic organizers DO help students with learning disabilties. So why don’t teachers use them?
I would REALLY appreciate all the opionions and advice you share.
Re: Need you help please.
I agree a visual (i.e., graphic organizer) is very helpful for most students. Our school district has adopted [i]Thinking Maps [/i]which are graphic organizers used mainly to organize your thoughts before beginning a 1st draft for writing. This program is versatile and can be used with language arts and math. Are you familiar with this program?
graphic organizers
I am a special ed teacher in a middle school. We have had a push from our administration to use graphic organizers this year. We have had several PD sessions on the use of graphic organizers along with a book called 50 graphic organizers. All of the teachers have been using them and for the most part they are a success with all children including my students. The problem with the organizers is when the teachers use the same organizers for more than one day. Some even use them for a week or two. My students then lose the organizers and a very large part of their grade.
I don’t think most teachers were taught how to use graphic organizers when doing lesson plans. I recently got my credential and the instructor for my lesson planning course was really into the Strategic Instructional Model (SIMS) from the University of Kansas. I liked learning about SIMS and applying it to lesson planning was somewhat difficult for many of the students.
Once I got the hang of it it really helped me see the long term perspective as we had to do a course organizer, a unit organizer and lastly a lesson organizer…I saw how important it is to plan that way….There is a ton of research on the University of Kansas site about the SIMS model. Good luck!