JAMAICA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, Montego Bay

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JAMAICA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION
CONFERENCEHoliday Inn Sunspree Resort, Montego
Bay

• April 11 -13, 2007
• TEACHING FOR SUCCESS REACHING EVERY LEARNER
• Student Characteristics Profiles of the Learner
• Dr. Celene A. Gyles
• Mico University College

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This Presentation

• Student learning and diversity in the classroom
• General characteristics of learners
• Exceptional students in the classroom
• Participatory Activity
• Profiles of learners with specific learning needs
• Classroom and learning strategies
• Activity a word to teachers
• Referral/Resources

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Rethinking How We Do School and for Whom

• The aim is clear. Each child - each of the young
  - should be able to advance to full capacity in
  accordance with general and special ability and
  aptitude.
• Paul Brandwein
• Memorandum On Renewing Schooling and Education

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Learning and Diversity in the Classroom

• All students are different. The diversity can be
  seen in the homes and communities from which they
  come. They have varying characteristics and
  learning styles.
• It is unusual to encounter a public school
  classroom in which most children are the same
  ability, attitude, religion, and same
  socioeconomic status

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Student Characteristics

• The nature of the students, their abilities and
  their numbers have a great impact on the school
  environment, the teachers and method of
  instruction, the curriculum and other students.
• An understanding of the concept of learning and
  the needs of learners involve knowledge about the
  characteristics that are common to the ages of
  children and
• youth we work with.

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Student Characteristics.

• Just as it is important to know the students
  learning styles, it is also important to know
  something about learning characteristics common
  to the ages of youth you work with.
• Please remember that all children develop at
  their own pace and not all characteristics will
  be seen in all children at the same age or grade.
  
• The following, outlines some common
  characteristics of youth of different
• ages

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Characteristics Common to Ages

• Early childhood K 2
• Short attention spans make hands-on activities
  a must for this grade level. Activities divided
  into small pieces or steps with physical
  activities in between work best.
• Very concrete thinkers and do best in activities
  in which they are both doing and seeing things
• Have a strong need to feel accepted and have
  adult approval. Adults should provide lots of
• praise and encouragement for even
• small successes.

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Characteristics Common to Ages

• Early childhood K 2.
• Cannot separate themselves from the projects or
  activities and view any evaluation as a
  reflection on themselves. Therefore, avoid
  competition and activities that select a single
  winner or best person.
• Enjoy working in small groups with plenty of
  adult attention.
• Both boys and girls are usually more concerned
  with the doing of a project rather than the
  completion and/or comparison of a project. Select
  activities that can be completed
  successfully by the child.

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Characteristics Common to Ages

• Middle Childhood ages 8-11
• Are quite active with boundless energy.
  Activities should encourage physical involvement.
• Interests may change often, jumping from one
  thing to another. Encourage multiple brief
  learning experiences.
• Usually do best when activity or task is
  presented in small pieces. Need simple and short
  directions.
• Need guidance from adults to stay at a task to
  achieve their best performance. Adults should
  provide lots of encouragement and recognize even
  small successes

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Characteristics Common to Ages

• Middle Childhood ages 8-11
• Are moving from concrete to more abstract
  thinking. Ready-made solutions from adults are
  often rejected in favour of finding their own
  solutions.
• Need recognition and praise for doing good work.
  Present recognition in front of peers and
  parents.
• Dont like comparisons with others. Instead of
  comparing youth to each other, compare present to
  past performances of each child.

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Characteristics Common to Ages

• Middle Childhood ages 8-11
• Are very curious . Always asking why. Dont
  provide all the answers. Encourage a few to find
  the answers and report to the group.
• Middle childhood youth are more likely to remain
  interested and involved when you offer a variety
  of learning experiences, with a variation in the
  pace and range of learning experiences.

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Students who span the Spectrum of Learning

• Though todays teachers generally work with
  single classes with students of nearly the same
  age, these children have an array off needs as
  great as those among the children of the one-room
  school. Thus, a teachers question remains much
  the same as it was 100 years ago How do I
  divide time, resources, and myself so that I am
  an effective catalyst for maximizing talents in
  all my students?

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Consider how these teachers answer that
question!..

• Mrs. Williams assigns students to spelling lists
  based on a pretest, not the assumption that all
  3rd graders should work on List Three.
• Mr. Brown matches homework to student need
  whenever possible, trying to ensure that practice
  is meaningful to everyone.

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Consider how these teachers answer that
question!..

• Ms. Johnson only occasionally teaches math to the
  whole class at once. More often she uses a series
  of direct instruction, practice, and application
  groups. She works hard to give everyone equal
  time at an appropriate entry point of
  instruction, matching practice work to student
  need. She also regroups students for real-world
  math applications so they hear a variety of
  voices
• in their journey to think mathematically.

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Consider how these teachers answer that
question!...

• Mrs. Enrico offers students a variety of options
  when its time to create the final product for a
  unit. She bases the options on students
  interests so they have the chance to link what
  they have learned with something that matters to
  them as individuals.
• All of these teachers are practicing
  Differentiated instruction in their
• differentiated classrooms!!

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Student Differences

• Children of the same age arent all alike when it
  comes to learning, any more than they are alike
  in terms of size, hobbies, personality or likes
  and dislikes.
• However, children do have many things in common,
  because they are human beings and because they
  are all children, but there are also important
  differences.

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STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN THE REGULAR
CLASSROOM

• In the classroom teachers encounter students with
  a wide range of learning needs, learning styles
  and instructional requirements.
• There are two concepts of differences that
  teachers must consider in planning instruction.

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Differences in Planning Instruction

• 1. Interindividual differences
• - differences between or among
• groups
• 2. intraindividual differences
• - uneven physical, social and
• mental development within an
• individual

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Individual Differences and Exceptionalities

• Legislations and advocacy have established that
  every child is entitled to a basic education.
• Compulsory education laws/policies became prime
  factor in directing attention of school personnel
  to individual differences among children.
• Educational programmes for children who are
  exceptional are based on differences and
  strategies for adapting educational programmes
  for different clusters of
• children.

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Exceptional Children

• For educational purposes, exceptional children
  are those who require special education services
  and related services if the are to attain their
  full potential.
• These children may have mental retardation,
  special gifts or talents, learning disabilities,
  emotional or behavioural disorders, impaired
  vision or hearing, autism, communication
  disorders, traumatic brain injury physical or
  health impairments,.

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Individual Differences and Exceptionalities

• Inter-individual differences are the dimensions
  in which exceptional children differ from
  non-exceptional children.
• Tests for psychological and educational purposes
  have been developed to measure inter-individual
  differences.
• Dimensions for which inter-individual differences
  may be assessed
• - Academic aptitude academic performance
• language development and psychological
• development.

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Individual Differences and Exceptionalities

• Two groups are represented on the intelligence
  scales
• (1) the upper groups - Intellectually gifted
• (2) the lower groups intellectually retarded
• Persons with IQ scores of 70 or 2 standard
  deviations below the norm constitutes 2 of the
  population and are generally labelled mentally
  retarded.
• Persons with IQ scores of above 130 or over 2
  standard deviations above the norm constitute 2
  of the population and are generally labelled as
  superior or gifted.

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Intelligence Quotient - IQ

• Intelligence Refers to problem solving skills
  and the ability to adapt to and learn from lifes
  everyday experiences (Santrock, 2007).
• Intelligence Quotient A concept created by
  renowned psychologist Robert Sternberg (1912). It
  refers to an equation of a persons mental age
  and chronological age.

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Intelligence Quotient - IQ

• If mental age is the same as chronological age,
  then the persons IQ is 100.
• If mental age is above chronological age, then
  IQ is more than 100. For example, a six year old
  with a mental age of eight would have an IQ of
  133.
• If mental age is below chronological age, then IQ
  is less than 100. For example, a six year old
  with a mental age of five would have an IQ of 83

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The measurement of intelligence

• Intelligence Quotient - IQ
• - (formula IQ MA/CA x100)
• It is a score comparing mental and chronological
  ages
• Mental Age Refers to the IQ test score that
  specifies the age level at which the individual
  is functioning.
• Chronological Age Refers to how old a person is
  in years as time passes from birth this is used
  in comparison with mental age to determine IQ.

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The measurement of intelligence

• The practice proved problematic
• - As children grow older, range and variability
  of mental ages increase
• The concept of Deviation IQ (SD) was introduced
  to deal with the problem a number that tells
  exactly how much above or below the average a
  person scored on the test, compared to others in
  the same age group.

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Normal Curve

• IQ scores seem to be distributed throughout the
  population according to a phenomenon called the
  Normal Curve.
• The norm or average score is 100.
• The population is broken down into units called
  standard deviations to describe how one score
  varies from the mean (average score)
• Each standard deviation includes a fixed portion
  of the population

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Normal Curve..
IQ distribution throughout the population
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Intelligence Interval Cognitive Designation

• 40 54 Severely challenged (Less than 1 of
• test takers)
• 55 - 69 Challenged (2.3 of test takers)
• 70 84 Below average
• 85 114 Average (68 of test takers)
• 115 129 Above average
• 130 144 Gifted (2.3 of test takers)
• 145 159 Genius (Less than 1 of test takers)
• 160 175 Extraordinary genius

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Standard Deviation

• Computing the value of a standard deviation is
  complicated. But let me show you graphically what
  a standard deviation represents...
• One standard deviation away from the mean in
  either direction on the horizontal axis (the red
  area on the above graph) accounts for somewhere
  around 68 percent of the people in this group.
  Two standard deviations away from the mean (the
  red and green areas) account for roughly 95
  percent of the people. And three standard
  deviations (the red, green and blue areas)
  account for about 99 percent of the people.

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Important Considerations About Intelligence

• IQ tests can provide useful information if
  administered by a competent school psychologist.
• Results from IQ tests are generally not useful in
  planning individualized educational objectives
  and teaching strategies for a child.
• Results from an IQ test should never be used as
  the only criterion to make important decisions
  about a childs future.
• (Heward Orlansky, 2000)

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Screening, Classification and Referral

• Screening is necessary to identify those who need
  professional attention
• Classification allows identification for
  remediation, funding, provision of services and
  label
• Referral should be made when necessary. Teachers,
  parents and others should be knowledgeable of
  referral agencies and personnel to whom referrals
  may be made.

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Profiles of the Learner

• Children with sensory impairments
• Children with physical disabilities
• Children with health impairments
• Children with specific learning disabilities
• Children with communication disorders (speech
  language )
• Children with behaviour disorders emotional
  problems
• Learners who are disadvantaged those who are
  intellectually impaired
• Learners who are gifted and talented
• Although there is diversity of learners,
  
• teachers tend to focus on the average
• children in the regular classroom.

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Focus on Placement

• Children with sensory, intellectual, severe
  physical and multiple impairments are usually
  placed in special schools, special classes,
  special units and are often accommodated in
  special resource facilities.
• There is need to focus on those children with
  specific learning disabilities who are in the
  mainstream, who are identifiably the largest
  percentage of children with special learning
  needs.
• Who are these children? What are they like? Why
  is there need for focus on this group?

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Learning Disabilities - LD

• Learning disability (LD) is a term used to
  describe a group of conditions that interfere
  with a persons learning and consequently,
  his/her functioning throughout life. There are
  disorders related to listening, speaking,
  reading, reasoning, and mathematical calculation.
  
• Learning disabilities can be characterized by a
  discrepancy between a students ability and his
  or her achievement in areas such as reading,
  writing, mathematics, or speaking. There is no
  one sign that shows a person has a learning
  disability.

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Learning Disabilities LD

• Individuals with LD can see and they can hear.
  They have intelligence in the near average,
  average, or above average range. Because they do
  not appear to be different in these ways,
  difficulties are not expected. The impact of the
  condition may range from mild to severe. These
  disorders may co-occur with attentional deficits
  or social maladjustments or emotional
  difficulties, and thus they become even more
  handicapping.

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Learning Disabilities LD

• Disorders not included. The term does not include
  learning problems that are primarily the result
  of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of
  mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, of
  behavioural disorder, or of environmental,
  cultural, or economic disadvantage.
• Learning disability is not the same as Slow
  Learner

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Prevalence

• As many as 1 out of every 5 people in the United
  States has a learning disability. Almost 3
  million children (ages 6 through 21) have some
  form of a learning disability and receive special
  education in school in that country.
• In the Jamaican classroom, approximately 10 of
  the students have a learning disability.
• The major challenge of students with LD is
  reading.
• About 85 of elementary age students with LD have
  difficulty reading, particularly in decoding
  words
• In fact, over half of all children who receive
  special education have a learning disability.

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Prevalence.

• Reading is a concern in Jamaica!
• At a principals conference a few years ago the
  question was posed Why are we not able to teach
  all our children to read?
• The response was that the answer is a complex one
  as the reading process itself.

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Prevalence.

• Although statistics about the incidence of
  reading problem in Jamaica may vary somewhat, we
  know that 50 to 100 of children in
  disadvantaged communities have reading problems.
• Only 60 of boys are functionally literate after
  six years of primary education.
• The Mico CARE Centre data to date since this year
  show 438 applicants on the waiting list 359 have
  already been assessed plus an additional amount
  for express and eternal assessments.

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Types of LD

• When we speak of LD what is the condition that
  comes to your mind?
• A catch all term is Dyslexia What is it? Are
  you dyslexic? Would you want to know?
• TEST, TEST 8 minutes individual test!!!

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Common Types of LD

• 1. Dyslexia - a language-based disability in
  which a person has trouble understanding words,
  sentences, or paragraphs.
• 2. Dyscalculia - a mathematical disability in
  which a person has a difficult time solving
  arithmetic problems and grasping math concepts.
• 3. Dysgraphia - a writing disability in which the
  individual has a difficult time with the physical
  task of forming letters and words with a pen and
  paper and has difficulty producing legible
  handwriting.

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Common Types of LD.

• 4.Orthographia Individuals with this disorder
  have difficulties utilizing clues from several
  sources that aid in deciding on the correct
  spelling of a word. It is a specific learning
  disability that involves an inability or delay in
  learning to properly spell words from letters.
• Auditory and Visual Processing Disabilities -
  sensory disabilities in which a person has
  difficulty understanding language despite normal
  hearing and vision.

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Visual Processing Disability

• People with a general visual processing
  disability often experience most learning
  difficulty in the areas of math and spelling
  because they have trouble 'visualizing' words,
  letters, symbols, etc

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Auditory Processing

• Auditory processing involves how well you can
  understand auditory information. Can you 'keep
  up' when people talk very fast? Can you tell
  voices apart easily (even on the phone)? Can you
  imagine the voices of familiar people in your
  head? Can you remember information that your
  hear?

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Specific difficulties may include 

•  Communication
• difficulty with expressionpoor receptive
  language
• General
• difficulty following oral directionsdifficulty
  learning in lectures

• Reading
• poor decoding of new wordspoor comprehension
•  Writing
• poor spelling/mechanicspoor sentence structure

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Educational Implications

• Supports or changes in the classroom (sometimes
  called accommodations) help most students with
  LD.
• Specifically, technology can help individuals
  with disabilities become more efficient and
  effective learners

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Teaching Strategies

• Provide high structure and clear expectations.
  Children who are LD tend to have difficulty
  focusing, getting started and setting priorities.
  Creating a clear structured programme allows the
  student to be exposed to fewer distractions and
  possible avoidance and allow for greater focus on
  work related tasks.

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Teaching Strategies

• Allow flexibility in classroom procedures (e.g.,
  allowing the use of tape recorders for note
  taking and test-taking when students have trouble
  with written language).
• Keep in mind that the greater the number of
  options in responding to a task, the greater
  chance that a particular students learning style
  will be useful and successful.

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Teaching Strategies

• Learning materials should easily accessible, well
  organized and stored in the same place each day.
  The less the LD student has to worry about,
  comprehend or remember, the greater chance for
  success. Too many details can easily overwhelm
  this type of student.

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Teaching Strategies

• All assignments should be presented on the
  blackboard as well as orally presented. This
  multi-level sensory approach will only enhance
  the chances of the child being able to bring home
  the correct assignment.
• This will also cut down on parent child
  frustration which often occurs when the child
  with learning disabilities brings home part of
  the assignment or and assumption of what needs to
  be done due to a lack of ability in copying
  quickly.

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Teaching Strategies

• Make sure that the child's desk is free from all
  unnecessary materials. Children with learning
  disabilities tend to have organizational problems
  as well. The less chaos, the better the focus.
• Use small binders that hold fewer papers.
• Keep the desk free of most materials. Otherwise
  he may be embarrassed to get up to go to the pail
  and stuff it in his desk.

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Teaching Strategies

• Correct the student's work as soon as possible to
  allow for immediate gratification and feedback.
  Students with learning disabilities do not often
  have foundations of success when it comes to
  schoolwork. Therefore, when they hand in work
  they begin to worry about how they did.
• If they do not receive it back quickly, some
  children may use a great deal of energy worrying
  about the reactions of others if they did not do
  well.

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Teaching Strategies

• Try to separate him from students who may be
  distracting. Some children with learning
  disabilities are very distractible, while others
  may use any external situation to avoid a
  potential failure situation.
• Sitting a child with learning disabilities next
  to students who are self-motivated and internally
  controlled will provide extra structure and
  controls.

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Teaching Strategies

• Use multi-sensory teaching methods whenever
  possible. This is a common sense issue since all
  the research indicates that the greater number of
  sense utilized to learn something, the greater
  chance for the information to be understood and
  retained. Using visual, auditory, kinesthetic or
  tactile input together is highly recommended for
  children with learning disabilities.

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Teaching Strategies

• Respond to the childs comments praising whenever
  possible. Many children with learning
  disabilities tend to have secondary emotional
  issues as a result of frustration and lower sense
  of self worth due to academic failure and stress.
  Consequently, when he responds or initiates
  conversation, praise for the initiation of
  communication should be praised.

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Teaching Strategies

• Give constant feedback. Many children with
  learning disabilities tend to write negative
  scripts about their ability and their
  performance.
• Feedback in any form reduces this negative energy
  pattern and offers reality, the only thing that
  breaks down fear.

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Individualize Instruction

• To adequately address the needs of all students
  teachers must individualize instruction. To do
  this, firstly identify specific needs of each
  student. This is done through
• Formal and informal assessments
• - involves observations, checklists,
  teacher-made and standardized tests, rating
  scales, etc.

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Guidelines for Teachers

• To individualize instruction, teacher should
• 1. Vary the learning content for real-life
  value and to equip students for the society.
• 2. Vary the teaching and learning process to
  match unique learning profile of individual
  students.
• THREE STYLES OF LEARNERS

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Learning Styles

• There are three primary styles of learners
• Auditory Learners Learn best by listening
• Visual Learners Need to be able to create
  mental pictures in order to understand what is
  being taught
• Tactile-Kinesthetic Learners Learn best when
  they are able to touch objects and move their
  bodies.

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NOTE WELL

• No single instructional approach is best for
  students. The goal of teachers should be to have
  students use more than one modality in every
  lesson.

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More guidelines for teachers

• 3. Vary learning products or ways in which
  learners demonstrate their mastery.
• Offer alternative goals and objectives
• Build level of difficulty in assignments (e.g.
  worksheets)
• Establish response format (e.g. Clearly indicate
  if it is by reading, writing or orally).

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Some Final Thoughts

• Students with special needs often require more
  intense and explicit instruction, with
  instruction period either decreased or increased
  according to specific needs.
• A major avenue for meeting individual learning
  needs is the effective use of technology
  particularly software and interactive media.
• struggling students often benefit from additional
  supervision, monitoring, prompting, correction
  and feedback

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Sources

• Choate, J. S. (2000). Successful inclusive
  teaching Proven ways to
• detect and correct special needs.
  Mass. USA Allyn Bacon.
• Dixon, M., Matalon, B. (2003). Exceptional
  students in the classroom.
• Kingston Chalkboard Press.
• Smith, D. D. (2007). Introduction to special
  educationMaking a
• difference (6th. Ed.). Mass.USA Allyn
  Bacon.
• Vaughn, S., Bos, C. S., Schumm, J. S. (1997).
  Teaching
• mainstreamed, diverse, and at-risk
  students in the general
• education classroom. Mass. USA Allyn
  Bacon.
• Winebrenner, S. (1996). Teaching kids with
  learning difficulties in the
• regular classroom Strategies and
  techniques every teacher can
• use to challenge and motivate
  struggling students. Minneapolis,
• USA Free Sprint Publishers.
• Woolfolk, A. (2004). Educational psychology.
  (9th. Ed.). Mass. USA
• Allyn Bacon.

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END

• The driving force of successful schools is the
  staffs commitment to ensuring the success of
  each student!!!
• Trust you benefited from this presentation!!!

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TEST, TEST!!

• What is your learning style?
• Do you know?
• Have you ever thought about it?
• TEST IT!!
• (If we have time!!)