Special Education » Learning Styles

How to Reach All of Your Students During Your First Year

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:58:11 +0000

As a first year teacher, you will be faced with a diverse learning community in your classroom. Most likely you will have students from different ethnic, cultural, and social backgrounds which impacts the way they learn. Chances are you will also have students with special needs that are mainstreamed into the classroom. In addition, the classrooms in some school districts are overcrowded with up to 40 students grouped together in a single classroom.

So, how does a first year teacher reach tackle the sea of diversity that awaits them in their new classroom?

The first step is to learn everything you can about the students that will be present in your classroom. Learn about their backgrounds, academic achievement, and conduct in the school environment. For the special needs students, learn exactly what their special needs are, as well as their academic progress up to the point where they will enter your classroom. You can achieve this by talking to school officials as well as staff members in the district who have worked closely with these students.

When it comes to reaching all of your students, you can begin by focusing on two strategies:

Learning in the Traditional Classroom Environment

Taking everything you have learned about your students, you will need to design lessons that will adapt to every learning style that exists in your classroom. The lessons should be designed to indicate an outcome which will enable you to assess the progress of the students. It will tell you who is grasping the knowledge and who will need your help and assistance. It will also serve as an indicator of learning styles and provide you with the information your need to adapt the lesson to the student’s learning styles.

Integrate activities into the lessons that encourage all students to interact. You can do this by creating different scenarios and asking students to apply what they have learned to various real-life situations. Students like to know why they are learning a particular skill and applying it to everyday life sends the message that the skill is important and useful.

Vary the lesson by adapting the materials to your student’s individual experiences with learning. You can do this by asking the student to apply the lesson to another learning experience they have had in the past and ask them to compare the experiences. This will tell you a lot about the manner in which the student identifies with learning. In addition, the more you integrate the learning with the student’s individual experiences, the more likely they are to absorb the material being taught.

Learning in the Technology-Infused Classroom

Technology has changed the face of education and provides teachers with innovative tools for reaching students of all learning styles and abilities. Some students learn visually and technology is a really great way to engage these students by teaching through graphics and imaging with programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint among many others.

In addition, technology provides the teachers with the tools they need for a classroom of diverse learning and allows the students to learn at different speeds in a single classroom environment. This is a blessing to the educational system, especially in school districts with classrooms that are crowded with a diversity of learning, not to mention being able to reach special needs students through the invention of assistive technology.

If your student teaching experience did not prepare you to teach with technology, there are a host of instructional technology workshops and classes available to help teachers integrate technology into the classroom. Not only does technology improve learning, it also prepares the students with the necessary skills to survive in the world beyond public school education.

By: J.C. Sprenger

How to Become a Special Education Teacher

admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:18:41 +0000

Get Started

Become qualified.You need two things: A State Teaching certification and (since NCLB was enacted) status as a Highly Qualified teacher in the subjects you plan to teach. Every state has its own guidelines for teaching certification and HQ. Check with your state’s Department of Education (or equivalent department) for specific guidelines. Although it varies, the following will be needed for certification: A four year degree in special education, OR a four year degree in another subject area, with a master’s degree in special education. (If you have a four year degree in a subject other than education, many states will allow you an emergency or temporary certificate so that you may teach while earning your certification in Special Education.) Find a suitable university or college with a program in Special Education. Public universities often do just as well as private colleges, if not better in some circumstances, at preparing you for working in a public school. Take as many elective courses as possible in reading and math. Special education students are nearly always integrated in the english and math regular classrooms. This will give you a better idea of their needs. Reading instruction is also critical in elementary grades. Look around for alternative options. If your degree does not also make you Highly Qualified, check your options. Each state usually has two or three means of becoming HQ. The most direct option tends to be a Praxis II exam if your state considers it acceptable.

Tips

Further your education whenever possible. The willingness to continually improve your understanding of the subjects you teach and of instruction methodology is what will make you an excellent teacher. While taking courses, take care to learn as much as possible about reading, writing, math, special education curriculum, learning styles and teaching styles. Self-confidence is important; you should at all times emit an aura of having everything under control, even when you just want to run away and cry. Respect is earned. While you will be able to have some leverage in your position, good teaching will not take place until your students respect you. In challenging situations (and there will be many), keep your cool; respect is easily lost. The kids can and will try anything to throw you off balance, so have a plan to handle it before it happens. Choose your battles; some conflicts are just not worth engaging in. It will only distract you and your students and derail the class. You will have some fantastic moments that will make you wonder how you could ever have considered anything but teaching. Always over-prepare your lessons. Bored kids are noisy kids. Always be prepared for the unexpected. You might have the best lesson in the world planned, but sometimes half the class is clueless to the concept and you have to adjust everything. Be sure you know to spell and use correct grammar. Nothing looks worse than a teacher who can’t spell or punctuate properly, even the students don’t know the difference. Greet your students each morning to read their moods even before the school day begins. If appropriate, hug each of them. At least give each of them each a high five and tell them you are glad that they are there. That may be the only positive contact they have all day.

Warnings

The Special Education field is not for everyone; it takes a lot of patience and you’ll have to be prepared for anything. You are not the kids’ friend. Relationships can become misunderstood. Be friendly with your students, but keep a distance.

By: Natasha Veale

Special Kids Need Teachers With Special Education Degrees – Qualify And Make A Difference

admin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:01:03 +0000

To put children who are challenged and have special needs into the mainstream classrooms is not really an intelligent thing to do. Children with special needs require teachers with a special education degree. Professionals with a special education degree are rare these days and many administrators are finding it hard to recruit and hire qualified teachers. There is a desperate need for professionals who understand the various learning styles for students who have learning disabilities. Having a special education degree itself, guarantees long-term employment.

Teaching, as it is, is already a difficult job and the difficulty increases when teaching those who have learning disabilities like dyslexia. Students who have behavior problems like Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity Disorder can take a toll on a regular classroom curriculum and need to be taught separately keeping their condition in mind. Among the diverse population of students who have special needs includes children with autistic disorder. This puzzling disorder makes it nearly impossible for some of these children to function in a regular classroom.

Regular and traditional teachers cannot impart the required quality of education in the learning support classes due to lack of knowledge necessary to help challenging students. Only teachers who have a special education degree have the knowledge necessary to help challenging students meet their academic goals. A teacher needs to have training on how to use the latest teaching strategies to help this diverse population learn to its greatest capacity.

The strategies required for teaching challenging students are quite different than the ones used in the traditional classroom. Once a teacher has earned a special education degree, he is properly trained to help such students learn to their greatest capacity. These unique strategies are effective in helping nearly any student function well in the classroom setting.

There are a good number of different programs available for anyone who wants to earn a special education degree. Many of the courses can be taken online in the comfort of your own home and at your convenience.

A teacher with a special education degree becomes an asset for the school by enhancing its reputation and is thus sought after by many school systems across the United States.

By: Scotie Keithlow