The children who walk through our classroom door every day have individual learning styles and needs. It is our role as an educator to know our students and make appropriate modifications to the learning environment to empower each student to learn and thrive.
Responsibility for learning rests with the students, they are accountable to do the work. However, we are accountable for instruction and guidance in the learning environment to meet our students' individual learning styles and intelligence. Students should be taught content in the best way they learn.
Differentiating instruction is more than how we present the information to our students. It is also understanding how our students process this information, how they best can show us what they have learned, and what tools we use to assess if they are learning and what they have learned.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA defines the term "child with a disability" in order to make special education and related services available to children with exceptional needs in public schools. We look at how the child's exceptional needs affect how he/she is able to learn in the school setting. IDEA defines specific disabilities into 14 categories to guide states to determine who is eligible for free appropriate public education (FAPE) under special education law.
The 14 categories defined by IDEA:
Responsibility for learning rests with the students, they are accountable to do the work. However, we are accountable for instruction and guidance in the learning environment to meet our students' individual learning styles and intelligence. Students should be taught content in the best way they learn.
Differentiating instruction is more than how we present the information to our students. It is also understanding how our students process this information, how they best can show us what they have learned, and what tools we use to assess if they are learning and what they have learned.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA defines the term "child with a disability" in order to make special education and related services available to children with exceptional needs in public schools. We look at how the child's exceptional needs affect how he/she is able to learn in the school setting. IDEA defines specific disabilities into 14 categories to guide states to determine who is eligible for free appropriate public education (FAPE) under special education law.
The 14 categories defined by IDEA:
- Autism
- Deaf-Blindness
- Deafness
- Developmental Delay
- Emotional Disturbance
- Hearing Impairment
- Intellectual Disability
- Multiple Disabilities
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impairment
- Specific Learning Disability
- Speech or language Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment, including Blindness
For the purpose of this blog post, we will be looking at Intellectual Disability and learn how to modify instruction to meet the needs of children identified as having an intellectual disability. If you'd like to learn more about all the categories go to http://www.parentcenterhub.org/categories/.
What is an Intellectual Disability and how can I best modify my instruction to ensure my students are learning?
Intellectual disability is a disability characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills. Students identified as having an intellectual disability can learn. We need to know how they learn best and modify our instruction accordingly.
I'd like to note an important law passed in October 2010. Rosa's Law was passed that the term mental retardation is to be replaced with the term intellectual disability. The definition remains it is the terminology that has changed.
I use ongoing formative assessments as a process to guide and direct my teaching. I am able to consistently monitor students' developing knowledge, understanding, and skill related to the content I am teaching.
Implementing formative assessments in each lesson is a quick way quick tools to guide me in how to proceed with my instruction. They give me instant feedback on who is struggling with the content and who is ready to move on to the next level or topic.
Modifications directly alter the material/curriculum. Modifications change the target skill or what is measured. There are five types of modifications:
- EXPECTATIONS
- Withdrawal for specific skills individualize the expectations and materials; different task
- INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL
- Using below grade level material: rewriting text for lower readability; alternate curriculum
- INSTRUCTIONAL AIDS
- use of a calculator; open notes/book; assistive technology for target skill; use of manipulatives
- PRESENTATION
- Reading text out loud to a student when reading comprehension is the target skill
- RESPONSE
- Modified response expectations, alternative assessments
Formative assessments help me modify what is being taught and what a student is expected to learn and demonstrate.
I have created a unit plan for my students on the Controversy of Christopher Columbus https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mKPQVHEZoHhtxdZ9JRfRV-T7XIHg52YFFWg2jlcy0Co/edit?usp=sharing. My students all have been identified as having an intellectual disability. Using the strategies of modification I will make adjustments accordingly.
I have created a flowchart that outlines the process in which these differentiation strategies can be incorporated.
You can also view the flowchart by clicking the link below.
References
Categories of
Disability Under IDEA. (n.d.). Retrieved August 26, 2017, from
http://www.parentcenterhub.org/categories/#id
Combs, E., &
Dahlgren, A. (2014). Time To Teach Differentiated Instruction: Engagement and MOtivation in Every Classroom!
Hayden Lake, ID: The Center For Teacher Effectiveness.
