Ideal Diet for a Cell

by Audrey DeZeeuw, Jennifer Gidley, and Julia Neumann

Introduction

Anchor Video

Emotionally Disturbed , Coordination Disorder, Dyscalculia

Emotionally Disturbed

Teacher Presentation

After a week, or so, of observation, try to anticipate classroom situations where the student's emotional state will be vulnerable and be prepared to apply the appropriate mitigative strategies.
By using examples, encourage students to learn science so they can emulate adult behaviors.
Check on the student's basic capacity to communicate and adjust your communications efforts accordingly.
Use a wide variety of instructional equipment which can be displayed for the students to look at and handle.
When an interest in a particular piece has been kindled, the instructor can talk to the student about it and show him or her how to use it.
Instructions should be simple and very structured.
Group participation in activities is highly desirable because it makes social contacts possible.
Monitor the student carefully to ensure that students without disabilities do not dominate the activity or detract in any way from the successful performance of the student with the behavioral disorder.
Teachers should reward students for good behavior and withhold reinforcement for inappropriate behavior.
Some aggressive students act as they do because of a subconscious desire for attention, and it is possible to modify their behavior by giving them recognition.
Have the individual with the behavioral disorder be in charge of an activity which can often reduce the aggressiveness.
Special efforts should be made to encourage and easily facilitate students with behavioral disorders to interact.
Show confidence in the students ability and set goals that realistically can be achieved.
Plan for successful participation in the activities by the students. Success is extremely important to them.
The environment must be structured but sensitive to the needs of these youth with behavioral disorders.
Expose students with behavioral disorders to other students who demonstrate the appropriate behaviors.
Direct instruction or target behaviors is often required to help students master them.
Consultation with other specialists, including the special education teacher, school psychologist, and others may prove helpful in devising effective strategies.
Keep an organized classroom learning environment.
Devise a structured behavioral management program.
As an educator you serve a model for the students who are behaviorally disturbed. Your actions therefore, must be consistent, mature, and controlled. Behavioral outbursts and/or angry shouting at students inhibit rather than enhance a classroom.
Provide a carefully structured learning environment with regard to physical features of the room, scheduling, routines, and rules of conduct.
If unstructured activities must occur, you must clearly distinguish them from structured activities in terms of time, place, and expectations.
Let your students know the expectations you have, the objectives that have been established for the activity, and the help you will give them in achieving objectives.
When appropriate, seek input from the students about their strengths, weaknesses and goals.
Do not expect students with behavioral disorders to have immediate success; work for improvement on a overall basis.
Be fair and consistent, but temper your consistency with flexibility.
You should refer the students to visual aids and reading materials that may be used to learn more about the techniques of skill performance.
Present a sense of positiveness in the learning environment.
Remain calm, state the infraction of the rule, and avoid debating or arguing with the student with a behavioral disorder.
Have preestablished consequences for misbehavior.
Administer consequences immediately, then monitor proper behavior frequently.
Enforce classroom rules consistently.
Make sure the discipline fits the "crime," without harshness.
Provide encouragement.
Reward more than you punish, in order to build self-esteem.
Praise immediately and all good behavior and performance.
Change rewards if they are not effective for motivating behaviral change.
Find ways to encourage the student.
Be positive and supportive.
Develop a schedule for applying positive reinforcement in all educational environments.
Encourage others to be friendly with students who have emotional disorders.
Monitor the student's self-esteem. Assist in modification, as needed.
Self-esteem and interpersonal skills are especially essential for all students with emotional disorders.

Coordination Disorder

Teacher Presentation

If breaks between classes are short (10 minutes or less), the student who has a mobility impairment may frequently be a few minutes late. Students and instructors may want to plan for these occasions, so students don't miss important material.
Observe potential obstacles so you can be aware of what is accessible and what is not accessible to students in wheelchairs.
Students may need to tape lectures (difficulty with writing or unable to write).
Table-type desks, with adequate leg space, which have enough clearance for wheelchairs can be moved into classrooms.

Dyscalculia

Teacher Presentation

Always ask questions in a clarifying manner, then have the students with learning disabilities describe his or her understanding of the questions.
Use an overhead projector with an outline of the lesson or unit of the day.
Reduce course load for student with learning disabilities.
Provide clear photocopies of your notes and overhead transparencies, if the student benefits from such strategies.
Provide students with chapter outlines or study guides that cue them to key points in their readings.
Provide a detailed course syllabus before class begins. Ask questions in a way that helps the student gain confidence.
Keep oral instructions logical and concise. Reinforce them with a brief cue words. Repeat or re-word complicated directions.
Frequently verbalize what is being written on the chalkboard.
Eliminate classroom distractions such as, excessive noise, flickering lights, etc.
Outline class presentations on the chalkboard or on an overhead transparency. Outline material to be covered during each class period unit. (At the end of class, summarize the important segments of each presentation.)
Establish the clarity of understanding that the student has about class assignments.
Give assignments both in written and oral form.
Have more complex lessons recorded and available to the students with learning disabilities.
Have practice exercises available for lessons, in case the student has problems.
Have students with learning disabilities underline key words or directions on activity sheets (then review the sheets with them).
Have complex homework assignments due in two or three days rather than on the next day.
Pace instruction carefully to ensure clarity.
Present new and or technical vocabulary on the chalkboard or overhead.
Provide and teach memory associations (mnemonic strategies).
Support one modality of presentation by following it with instruction and then use another modality.
Talk distinctly and at a rate that the student with a learning disability can be follow.
Technical content should be presented in small incremental steps.
Use plenty of examples, oral or otherwise, in order to make topics more applied.
Use straight forward instructions with step-by-step unambiguous terms. (Preferably, presented one at a time).
Write legibly, use large type; do not clutter the blackboard with non-current / non-relevant information.
Use props to make narrative situations more vivid and clear.
Assist the student, if necessary, in borrowing classmates' notes.
Consider cross-age or peer tutoring if the student appears unable to keep up with the class pace or with complex subject matter. The more capable reader can help in summarizing the essential points of the reading or in establishing the main idea of the reading.