Students with Learning Disabilities - Essay Example

How The Needs of a Target Group of Elementary Are With Learning Disabilities Being Met Based On Your Observations Students with learning disability normally display a range of traits over time, in numerous intensities that interfere with their overall growth and achievement (Bender 3). These enduring disabilities can hinder the learners’ acquisition of scholastic and other vital skills significant for continued existence as an independent adult (Thiers 45). The student might show numerous characteristics and the irregular performance pattern might go on through adolescence and adulthood and is not mainly the result of hearing, visual or motor impairments, emotional disturbance, cognitive delay or educational disadvantages (Thiers 45). Some of the characteristics include difficulty in thinking, listening, reading and reasoning (Bender 4). They also face challenges in processing language accurately and completely when receiving, sending and elaborating information. Children with learning disabilities also face irregular and inconsistent school performance profile and poor penmanship (Thiers 46). They are also very forgetful, which requires the constant reminder by their friends, teachers and families. Such students easily misplace or lose their school items and face difficulties with copying writings from the board and taking notes (Bender 4). They are much slower at working compared to students who do not have learning disabilities and normally do not finish their works. Student with learning disabilities normally reverse numbers, words and even letters (Thiers 46). They have long or short term memory problems and cannot keep a proper time sequence of concept. All this characteristics, when put together, make the life of a student with learning disabilities extremely hard, especially when it comes to education (Bender 4). This paper will conduct to separate studies of how the needs of a target group of elementary students with learning disabilities are being met and present the observations here. Institutions for Observation The two observations were conducted in Mountain View Elementary School and Lake Side Elementary School (not their real names). Mountain View Elementary School is a congregated school, which offers intensive learning devoted to enhancing the literacy knowledge of students with learning disabilities who have made least progress in reply to learning support in their community school. The objective is interim intervention lasting only two years, with a devoted staff to endorse the learners during that two year period as they change back to a normal setting. The institution’s maximum enrolment is 150 students varying from 4th grade to 9th grade. The setting of Mountain View Elementary School also offers teacher/pupil ratio, as well as an all-day literacy focus, which is tied to their curriculum. Lake Side Elementary School, on the other hand, offers various opportunities and support for 4th to 9th grade students with learning disabilities. Students are enrolled to this institution founded on system referrals (Cole and Price 59). The aim of the institution is to help every child in gaining knowledge, skills and competence to achieve their scholastic, emotional and social potential. The emphasis of their instruction is on improving literacy skills (Cole and Price 60). The program staff comprise of a regular classroom teacher, as well as a learning and literacy teacher in all classrooms, granting flexible instructional groupings all through the day. The program of the school (Literacy and Learning – L&L) has been specifically planned to offer intensive and open teaching with L&L educators working closely with core subject area teachers (Cole and Price 60). Observation Even though, the programs used by these two institutions sound very much different, the techniques used by the two institutions to guarantee their success are very much the same. The practices used include collaboration, individualised program plans, assessment and identification, meaningful parent involvement, accommodations, transition planning and self-advocacy. The only difference lies on how they implement them. This next section will present what I observed on my one month stay at each institution. Mountain View Elementary School In this institution, a teacher’s main task is to offer opportunities for learning and writing for learners who try to learn. The teachers’ second task is to enhance students’ success in writing. The teachers do this through cautiously monitoring learner’s writing to assess weaknesses and strengths, teaching particular skills, as well as strategies, in reply to leaner needs, and providing careful feedback, which strengthens newly learned skills and also rectify constant problems. These responsibilities show, upon inspection, that assessment is obviously an integral part of effective instruction (Bender 19). The institution utilises 11 elements of effective instruction for enhancing proficient writing skills. The teachers mainly focused on the student strengths to educate them (Cole and Price 60). For example, when trying to enhance the length of their students’ spoken phrases, the educators at this institution hold up cards with dots (two to three relying on the children’s level) and point to each dot as they say each word, which serves as a visual aid to compensate for the students’ weaker auditory memory. Researchers have termed this method as a pacing board (Bender 20). If the student looks at an item, for example, a toy and then says “ball,” the teachers try to get the student to add the colour by using the pacing board, as well, with two dots, saying “ball red ball” and also pointing to every dot as they say “red and the ball.” The teachers have implemented strategies that can be used to foster reading in the classroom, as well as at home, with the application of letter books and cards (Cole and Price 61). These cards and books have letters written in large fonts and accompanied by a picture of something which begins that letter. The teachers show the cards, then they say letter sound to the student, then they say the world and also wait to her if the student repeats it. In due course, the teacher used to ask the child to categorise the words by outing all the “b” phrases in one pile, the “d” words in another letter. Students with Down syndrome are excellent at matching games, so the teachers at Mountain View Elementary School have a set of pictures with the word printed below, and have the student match the matching picture with the word underneath (Cole and Price 61). In due course, the teacher slowly progress to having the student match just a word to the right picture, and then match them word to word. Once the students with Down syndrome learn the basic vocabulary by spoken words and signs, bringing in the words will assist them enhance their vocabularies and start to learn grammar, as well. In reality, once a student is putting three or four words together, the teachers use reading to teach grammar for example, that person is driving a car, instead of that person drive car (Cole and Price 61). Also, children with learning disabilities such as Down syndrome are overly sensitive to failure. Therefore, if they have any sort of feeling that they cannot be able to perform well, they might decline to do it. Therefore, the teachers give them a task that might be easier for them to complete. The educators present something that the students will do it correctly. They assist them in answering the questions right till they learn to do it by themselves. For example, in one situation, I remember the teacher asking a student to point to a dog and he pointed a duck, but the teacher kept on prompting at the right answer. Unlike a normal teacher who would use the “not right” or “no”, the teacher kept on prompting the right answer (Cole and Price 61). Lake Side Elementary School Lake Side Elementary School offers various opportunities and support for 4th to 9th grade students with learning disabilities. Students are enrolled to this institution founded on system referrals (Cole and Price 98). The program staff comprise of a regular classroom teacher, as well as a learning and literacy teacher in all classrooms, granting flexible instructional groupings all through the day. The institution has a policy treating their students in line with their chronological age as opposed to their developmental age (Bender 47). For instance, every student regardless of their elementary level, they are considered as underdeveloped. Therefore, they are all carefully treated till they leave school. Students attend the institution for five days, 76-minute period every week. The time spent in this school is called a “Learning Strategies course” by which the learners get high school credits. The learners set objectives for every visit to the Centre and they are assessed in terms of approach, organisation, as well as the use of class time (Cole and Price 98). For instance, students with learning disabilities are offered special scheduling to make sure that they can access the support they require during the school day. The staff comprises of also a part-time teaching assistant and two full-time teachers all of who have assistive technology knowledge. The educators have exceptional education backgrounds (Cole and Price 98). Learners are involved in the Individualised Program Plan (IPP) process plus self-advocacy is supported through talks with Learning Centre educators concerning Individualised Program Plan strategies, goals, assistive technology and accommodations (Bender 47). Transition planning in the institution is formally tackled each year and learners are engaged in goal setting and problem-solving. One measure of success used by this institution is academic achievement. The elementary school rate of completion for students with learning disabilities taking part in the school is 95%. Other pointers of success are a learners’ knowledge of themselves, their successful use of assistive technology and accommodations, as well as their ability to argue by themselves (Cole and Price 99). The first writing skill the educators evaluate with beginner writers is their fluency: they assess whether they student is able to change someone’s thoughts into written words (Bender 49). As concepts of fine motor and print skills develop, the learner is expected to become more skillful at writing words, as well as sentences, into compositions of increasingly more length. Students in this institution are allowed to use aids such as electronic dictionaries and calculators as a compensation for their skills, which the student might never master. They encourage their students to utilise highlighting tape or highlighter to mark significant information and also provide them with study guides (Bender 49). For instance, for upper grade-level students with learning disabilities who find it hard to master Math factors (- or +), teachers paste a copy of add/subtract math facts and multiplication tables inside the learners’ exercise or textbooks. When it comes to reading, the teachers have adapted unique textbooks that meet the specific needs of each student. During English lessons, I observed that each student have different kinds of textbook, which was meant to improve their personal learning. Parent volunteers helped in tape recording wherein they first provided a summary of their selection read the text and then stopped periodically to discuss vital facts and then finally asked the learners to answer some question. This was an effective method of learning because some of the students were being educated by people they discern well. For a very poor or reluctant reader, the teachers used tools such as CR-ROMs and videotapes with programmes that were aligned to the subject matter. They also provided plastic overlays to cover printed pages for learners with scotopic sensitivity (Bender 49). Finally, for learners with a history of language and speech difficulty, the educators rewrote tests, articles and questions in much simpler languages so that the student can comprehend the content and answer the questions correctly (Cole and Price 99). These assisted them in introducing new vocabulary prior to giving assignments or asking them to answer questions. Conclusion Students with learning disability normally display a range of traits over time, in numerous intensities that interfere with their overall growth and achievement. These enduring disabilities can hinder the learners’ acquisition of scholastic and other vital skills significant for continued existence as an independent adult. This paper has presented how two institutions (Mountain View Elementary School and Lake Side Elementary School) teach their learning disabled students. The various problems that the students encounter include irregular performance pattern might go on through adolescence and adulthood and is not mainly the result of hearing, visual or motor impairments, emotional disturbance, cognitive delay or educational disadvantages. As a recommendation, critics argue that educators should try and put themselves in the shoes of students with learning disabilities in order for them to understand the challenges that they undergo, which will assist them in coming up with effective means for teaching them. Works Cited Bender, William. Differentiating Instruction For Students With Learning Disabilities: Best Practices For General And Special Educators. Thousand Oaks: CA: Corwin, 2012. Print. Cole, Mary and Price, Anne. Best Practices in Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities. Calgary, AB: Calgary Learning Centre, 2009. Print. Thiers, Naomi. “EL Study Guide / Teaching to Student Strengths.” Educational Leadership 64.1 (2006): 45-60. Print. 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