Exceptional Children.
"A learning disability is not due to lack of motivation or effort on child's part, although sometimes parents and teachers treat children with learning disabilities as if they are lazy or not trying hard enough.'' (Meece, 76) It is important for us as teacher to understand this because it may cause conflict and you may loose the desire to help the child. These children are intelligent individuals, they just need some encouragement and motivation to strive to their success. Based on some experiences i have noticed that some teachers leave the students academic and social development to the special education teacher. Including these students in your class can be beneficial to all your students.
Some of your children may have severe and multiple disabilities so you may need to work much harder. They may have learning disability, deafness or hearing, physical, low vision, traumic brain injury, deaf-blindness or autism. Lot of these disabilies can be a cause of biological risks such as smoking, premature birth or other complications. These disabilies can be very harmful to the childs emotional and developmental stages. Teachers and parents should try their best to make the students understand that it is okay to be different. Teachers should introduce these concepts at a very early age so they are comfortable with all their classmates. An important aspect to your classroom is to create a safe and comfortable environment for your students.
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In reponse to Sapna. I definitely agree with the point you made about a "learning disability is not due to lack of motivation or effort on child's part, although sometimes parents and teachers treat children with learning disabilities as if they are lazy or not trying hard enough" (Meece, 76). I believe that I stated this exact quote in my blog posting as well. As educators steering away from this so-called stereotype decreases conflict and helping a child succeed in the classroom should be a main focus on the teacher. You are absolutely correct when you say that these children are intelligent individuals, they just need some encouragement and motivation to strive to their success. All students need some type of motivation at one point or another. Students with learning disabilities may already feel at a disadvantage from their peers, or lower self-esteem depending on their learning disability and who they are, so as a teacher it is important to make students feel comfortable in the classroom and make efforts to accommodate all the needs of his or her students if possible. Special education teachers and general education teachers need to work together in order to ensure the student is successful and obtaining the necessary resources that the student may need. Teachers need to work together as a team. :)
ReplyDeleteTeaching is a challenge, no one said that it would be easy. You will face struggles that may require you, the teacher, to do additional research or find other resources to help. Utilizing parents as a resource and creating an open communication between you and the parents may be your best tool. Parents have more information about their child than anyone else, and they can provide strategies that they use at home. I completely agree when you say that "an important aspect to your classroom is to create a safe and comfortable environment for your students." This is important because you want your students to feel comfortable in the classroom and with the peers in the classroom. You don't want your students to feel that they are "different" from one another. If the student with the learning disability feels comfortable enough, have the students asks questions and provide more information so that they understand what it is, etc.
Blog # 18 Response to Sapna
ReplyDeleteSapna,
I definitely agree with you about exceptional children or children with a disability is not due to lack of intelligence. I believe all children are capable and as general education teachers especially it is essential for teachers to be inclusive and support all children regardless of a disability or not. I like the point you made about creating a safe and inclusive environment that embraces diversity and differences. Doing community builders and bringing in literature that is diverse and even literature that shares about disabilities will benefit all students. As general education teachers we still have a role to create an environment that embraces all of this and you make a great point about not wanting students to feel like they are different and not included but rather create a community of learners.
Great points Sapna. Everyone is contributing some great ideas. A safe and inclusive environment is important, and I think it is crucial to create that environment in a way that values the unique qualities we all have versus labeling certain exceptionalities as "disabilities". Personally, I've noticed that my friends who have ADD or ADHD can process incredible amounts of information simultaneously--that's a positive trait that could be utilized in the classroom. As Kathy Morgan stated in her blog, we need to put the student first...before the label. As teachers we serve as models for our students--if we identify certain students by their learning disability(ies), what kind of example does this set? Many famous, accomplished and important members of society have / had disabilities. Einstein, Terry Bradshaw, Charles Schwab, Whoopi Golberg and Robin William are just a few. It would be great to incorporate learning about these famous, important people as a way to encourage and inspire our exceptional learners.
ReplyDeleteMotivating students with disabilities can be a hard task. I agree with Meece and Sapna that it is important for us to understand that these students are not lazy and need to be motivated in a positive way. Furthermore, it is important because they are already at a disadvantage in the classroom and they need motivation and one on one time.
ReplyDelete"A learning disability is not due to lack of motivation or effort on child's part, although sometimes parents and teachers treat children with learning disabilities as if they are lazy or not trying hard enough.'' (Meece, 76) It is important for us as teacher to understand this because it may cause conflict and you may loose the desire to help the child.
I understand the idea that you don't WANT your kids to feel different, but it's still important that they not ignore the fact that they HAVE difficulties, that they are different, but that that shouldn't be an issue with how they're treated. I think about it like this: if a student doesn't think that they're different, then they're going to think their failings in school (if they occur, which they will - because every student gets them) are due to their own lack of will... not from forces they can't control, like learning disabilities.
ReplyDelete