Teaching Kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom - Essay Example

Teaching Kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular room A child with learning difficulty "has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of the children of the same age" (Frederickson and Cline, 2002, as cited in Westwood, 2003). A child is identified to have learning difficulty or with special needs if he or she finds it difficult to do the activities a normal kid of the same age would do. There are different kinds of children who can be identified with learning difficulty - those who have physical disability, sensory impairments, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, or intellectual disability. Specific learning difficulties can also be in the form of language, reading, writing or numerical (mathematical) difficulties. It has been known that these learning difficulties in some children are due to neurological deficiencies in students. Some attribute the problem to possible hereditary or genetic factors. However, recent studies show that learning disabilities can also be caused by ineffective and inefficient learning strategies used by these students when dealing with regular classroom tasks. This, in turn, makes them more frustrated and prone to errors. But these students with learning difficulties can be taught different efficient and effective learning techniques for them to gain more parity with other normal students (Westwood, 2003, p. 10). Many parents or guardians of these children with learning disability believe that their children will be better off in a school or institution that specifically caters to these so-called special students. That is possible because the faculty and staff of these special schools are trained for special education and know how to handle these types of children. Also, the curriculums in these schools are particularly designed for children with special needs. However, the lack of social interaction with normal kids in these schools may make it a little difficult for them to cope with the challenges of the "real world" as they grow, though there are some who became successful in their own right. Including learning disabled children in a regular classroom setting is a common practice now. Children with learning difficulties are allowed to interact and mingle with normal kids so as not to make them feel different or outcast because of their disability. This inclusion movement, though, makes it difficult for teachers who are used to just teaching normal kids to handle these students with special needs. As Schultz (2003) stated, "many - despite their excellent track records - find themselves ill-prepared or inadequately supported to meet the special needs of students who require specialized instruction." However, with continuous learning of different teaching approaches and seeking advice from professionals and experts in special education, a so-called "hybrid teacher" (Schultz, 2003) can be achieved. This is a kind of instructor who knows how to deal with both normal and learning disabled students in one classroom, and be successful in it. There are different kinds of approaches to teaching children with learning difficulties. It can be student-centered, process-centered or direct approach. These styles can be combined to achieve best results. But after some analysis were made in the outcomes of these approaches, the following features, when combined, are identified to create the most effective teaching approach for children with learning difficulties: carefully controlling and sequencing the curriculum content to be studied; providing abundant opportunities for practice and application of newly acquired knowledge and skills; ensuring high levels of participation and responding by the children []; using interactive group teaching; modeling by the teacher of effective ways of completing school tasks; teaching children how best to attempt new learning tasks []; making appropriate use of technology []; providing supplementary assistance (e.g. homework; parental tutoring, etc.) []. Abundant guided practice; the teacher provides frequent feedback and correction during the lesson. Reinforcement; students are rewarded through descriptive praise and encouragement. High levels of student participation and engagement. Fast pacing lessons. Positive student-to-student interactions; peer assistance and discussions. Student-to-teacher interactions; frequent asking and answering of questions. (Westwood, 2003, p.15) Teachers who tend to follow the features mentioned have more success in dealing with kids with learning disabilities. As a result, these children are not left out and they can easily go with the pace of normal students. These strategies also help the learning disabled children develop their social skills better, as well as their academic ability. There are also different techniques specific to a particular learning disability that teachers can do to improve their learning disabled students' mental ability. Teaching Strategies for Children with Reading Difficulty Children with reading difficulty are those that are having a hard time making out the words the teacher gives out. These children also have difficulty comprehending a sentence or a passage. There are different approaches teachers can do to address this particular learning difficulty. One way is the multi-sensory approach, which targets the auditory, visual, tactile and kinaesthetic aspects of learning. This is usually recommended for children who have unusual difficulties in reading and comprehension. Westwood (2003) named several methods that follow the multi-sensory approach. These are the Fernald VAK approach; Cloze procedure; Repeated Reading and the Impress method; Pause, Prompt, Praise (PPP); and Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). All of these methods are done with close guidance by the teacher or tutor, showing the student how to do the activity first and then letting the child do it on his own. After which, the student is then commended in different ways to boost his self-esteem. As mentioned in one of the features of effective teaching approach, teachers should utilize appropriate and available technology. Making use of computers makes it more interesting to children to study and learn more. For a child with reading difficulty, a simple word processor can help him develop his reading, as well as his writing ability. Children can make their own stories using the word processor which helps improve their reading, writing, and comprehension skills. Computer is a good tool to use because it is "infinitely patient, allow for self-pacing by the student" (Westwood, 2003, p. 148). Teaching Strategies for Children with Writing Difficulty Another aspect of learning difficulty that can be seen on students with special needs is their writing ability. These students have a hard time finishing, or even starting, writing activities such as essays. Most of these students get so frustrated when they are trying to write that their frustration leads to a total dislike in this school activity. When they start to dislike something, they lose motivation in doing it, lose practice, and still end up with the same learning difficulty. That is why teachers always have to keep them motivated, continuously encourage them, and keep on showering them praises. Teaching writing to students with learning difficulty, as well as to other normal students, can be approached in two different ways - the traditional approach and process approach (Pollington, Wilcox and Morrison, 2001, as cited in Westwood, 2003). The traditional approach is more of a teacher-centered writing approach. It is the teacher who has more control on the writing activity, providing the topic that students have to write. This approach, though, may not be too effective for learners with writing difficulty because of the lack of proper guidance. However, there are some innovative and interesting methods can be done by the teacher to supplement this approach such as providing resource materials that can pique the interest of the student and motivating enough to keep them going. With this traditional approach, it is indeed important for the teacher to have the enthusiasm in teaching to be able to think out-of-the-box ideas to supplement the children's learning. The other approach, process-approach, is more of a guided writing by the teacher. There are different variants of process approach to writing. These are writing workshop, shared writing and guided writing. In a process approach, students will learn the basics of writing, styles and techniques with the guidance of the teacher. The teacher usually writes first as an example of application of what was just taught. Then the students will start writing on his own or with a group, and the teacher is constantly checking the progress of the work. With workshops or guided writing, children with writing difficulties become more interested because they get to share their work with other people and listen to others' works as well. They are even allowed to write about topics they want, and most of them would tell stories about their personal lives. Having good writing ability can really be a challenge both for normal students and those with learning difficulties alike. Thus, the teacher's role in this aspect of learning is very important. Teaching Strategies for Children with Numerical Difficulty Numerical ability is really challenging for most of the students, normal or not. Many find dealing with numbers as a very tedious work and irrelevant. However, we deal with Math concepts in our everyday lives and it is important that the students have at least the basic knowledge in dealing with Mathematics. Children with numerical difficulty are those that are having difficulty grasping Mathematical concepts. They may exhibit lack of ability to solve simple problems or translating the concepts into real-life situations. Though this may be the case, the curriculum of the subject should not be entirely different from the regular one just so these students can easily grasp the subject. Instead, teachers should try to make some adjustments and just a few modifications in the curriculum to be applicable both for regular students and learning disabled ones. A new tool was introduced to somehow lift the burden off the teachers in teaching Math concepts to mixed students in a regular classroom. This tool is a software called Fluency and Automaticity through Systematic Teaching with Technology or FASTT. Not only children with learning disabilities can use this, but regular students as well. This is a program designed to help students gain Mathematical facts fluency in order to be able to solve advanced problems. This is more advantageous to students having math difficulty as the research on its effectiveness shows (Hasselbring, Lot and Zydney, 2006). Other teaching strategies Stark (n. d.) believes that children with learning difficulties show inclination to other fields such as arts, theater, and nature, among others. Thus, these children should be exposed more in these fields. Allowing children with learning difficulty to explore nature more develops their social skills and helps them learn more science concepts at the same time. Both regular students and learning disabled will enjoy these occasional nature visits, thus doing it in a regular class setting is not an issue. The use of technology, indeed, helps in effectively and efficiently teaching kids with learning difficulties. There are different software now available to help teach kids of different levels, ages and learning capabilities. These software make studying and learning more interesting to students, especially those with learning difficulties. It is best to always incorporate these new tools for a more enjoyable and fun learning experience in a regular classroom with mixed students. The most important thing that a teacher of both regular and learning disabled students should keep in mind is that not all students have the same learning capability and pace. Continuous encouragement and motivation is needed, especially for the students with learning disability. Having lots of patience is also required with these children. It is not difficult to teach students with learning difficulties in a regular classroom setting. Some adjustments just need to be done in the curriculum and teaching strategies to cater to the needs of both types of students. References Child Development Institute. (n. d.). Suggested Classroom Interventions for Children with ADD & Learning Disabilities. Retrieved March 31, 2006, from http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/teacher.shtml Hasselbring, T. S., Lott, A. C., & Zydney, J. M. (2006, March). Technology-Supported Math Instruction for Students with Disabilities: Two Decades of Research and Development. Retrieved March 31, 2006, from http://www.ldonline.org/article.phpid=1981&loc=26 Schultz, J. J. (2003, July). What Makes a Great Teacher for Students with LD: Introducing the Hybrid Teacher. Retrieved March 31, 2006, from http://www.ldonline.org/article.phpmax=20&id=443&loc=27 Stark, A. L. (n. d.). Field Trips and Research Projects for Kids with Learning Disabilities. Retrieved March 31, 2006, from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/environmental/stark.htm Westwood, P. (2003). Commonsense Methods for Children with Special Education Needs: Strategies for the Regular Classroom (4th ed.). New York: RoutledgeFalmer. Read More