It’s a given that high-quality, ongoing, and student-focused professional development (PD) is key to improving teaching and learning. But questions about time, adult learning needs, relevancy, and technology integration plague PD coordinators, team leaders, coaches, district and school administrators, and consultants. Recently, a growing number of schools are finding answers to these compelling questions by exploring, designing, and conducting blended PD.
Mike Kersjes spent more than a decade teaching students with learning disabilities. His first special education teaching job was in an inner-city school in a cubicle that “barely fit five people,” ….a “pitiful excuse for a classroom” that sent “a message to the kids who were taught there: You are worthless.” Mike later began teaching at Forest Hills Northern High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Kristine Burgess, M.S.Ed. (Reading Department Head at Landmark High School)
Study outcomes suggest that mindful meditation decreases anxiety and detrimental self-focus, which, in turn, promotes social skills and academic success for students with learning disabilities.
Models help promote mathematical thinking by facilitating an understanding of key concepts and mathematical structures. By seeing and moving objects, students engage their senses to better understand and reason with abstract concepts, or to make sense of — and solve — problems.
Attention deficit disorder symptoms often interfere with classroom expectations and impact nearly all of the child’s activities and interactions. But educators have developed methods and strategies that have proven successful with children with ADD. Learn some specific teaching strategies that both challenge children with ADD by presenting then with interesting activities designed to improve behavior and learning, while simultaneously providing them the support they require.
Motivation is key to school success. Just as the actor asks a director, “What is my motivation, for this scene?,” the child turns to teachers, parents, and peers to discover the “why” of learning. Motivation is often defined as a need or drive that energizes behavior toward a goal.
Teach science by having students think like scientists. Scientists ask themselves questions, develop hypotheses, and test until they learn some more. They collaborate with peers and use computer programs, diagrams, pictures, videos, and other multimedia resources. These hands-on activities help all students- and are especially helpful to students with learning disabilities.
Class lessons that engage students’ visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic learning modes contribute to effective learning. But what about homework?
