Chapter 3 Diverse Students In The Classroom

1. How Students Are Different And The Same Chapter 3 Diverse Students In The Classroom

2. Teaching Diverse Students “The key is learning how to teach individuals, not groups.” Carol, 7th grade teacher

3. Teaching Individuals Not Groups An Inclusive Middle School • Multilevel writing assignments • Cross-ability friendships • A place and support for students with special challenges • Multicultural, multi-ability, dvierse socio-economic status • Student’s capabilities complement one another • An interesting class!! NOT boring

4. Sights to See Peanut Butter and Micah in High School Peanut Butter and Jelly Lesson crede.berkeley.edu/research/crede/products/multimedia/pbj.html Micah: Senior Year in High School www.wholeschooling.net/WS/Video/Micah.html

5. Special Needs and Good Teaching Good Teaching Addresses Many Specific Needs Do we design teaching for categories of students or design teaching to handle diversity from the beginning? • Students that are part of a group are often very different from one another • When we teach towards ‘groups’ we can easily stereotype • When we design our teaching for diversity we automatically address both indivdiual and group needs.

6. Label Jars, Not People Seeing Children as People First Labels can dehumanize students seeing them AS their label rather than simply children. Let’s . . . • See students as children first • See strengths as central rather than deficits • Understand individual strengths, needs, interests • Use ‘person first language’ when we discuss labels. A student who is . . .

7. Students From Diverse Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Groups Related but different concepts: race, ethnicity, culture • Race - genetics and physical characteristics (no pure races exist) • Ethnic group - common bond based on ancestry, common beliefs, language, etc. • Culture - language and symbols, customs and patterns of interaction, shared values, norms, and beliefs

8. Students From Diverse Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Groups Inclusive Teaching Strategies • Promote respect of students’ culture, race, and ethnic identity. • Promote respect and understanding of each student as an individual • Help students learn how to critique and challenge social injustice. • Assure that students are accepted and valued, have a sense of belonging, and develop friendships.

9. Students from Extreme Poverty Poor people are judged as lazy and unmotivated. Getting beyond stereotypes and promoting understanding • Parents in a constant survival mode • Constant feelings of humiliation • Lack of understanding of options • Teachers often think poor parents don’t care but this isn’t true. • Education may not be seen as important if the challenge is daily survival • Poor children feel teachers don’t care about them.

10. Students from Extreme Poverty Inclusive Teaching Strategies • Show students they are special • Ensure emotional and physical safety; protect students from ridicule • Examine our own attitudes • Promote understanding of poor children • Try to understand connection of poverty and problems with behavior or academic performance • Create incentives • Don’t give homework that is difficult for children to do in unstable home situations • Have parents and others who have been poor tell their stories

11. Students Who Are Gay Ridicule and intolerance of homosexual students is widely prevalent • 10-30% of students are gay • Do not tolerate ridicule but promote understanding and relationships; challenge homophobia • Make no assumption about sexual preference • Have gay related materials visible in the classroom • Let students know you are supportive of all • Work on your own biases • Don’t advise students who are gay to ‘come out’. Let them make that decision • Connect students with gay role models

12. Students with Differing Academic Abilities • Gifted and talented • Dominant language learners • Learning disabilities • Cognitive disabilities • Traumatic brain injury

13. Gifted and Talented Definition • The term “gifted and talented” . . . means students . . . who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not normally provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities. (PL 103-398, Title XIV p. 388)

14. Classroom leadership, problem solving and advanced learning Multi-level learning strategies for higher level learning Multi-level, differentiated lessons Curriculum compacting Tiered lessons Open-ended assignments Inclusive Strategies for Gifted and Talented Students Scaffolding for high ability students • Build scaffolding into all instruction • Use computers and particularly the internet as an information source • Obtain materials at different levels • Bring in experts to share with the class • Identify mentors

15. Inclusive Strategies for Gifted and Talented Students 2 Mixed ability groups and higher learning. • Social action research projects • Literacy circles • Multi-age grouping • Flexible groupings • Collaborative pairing Expanding opportunities • Community experiences • Enrichment for All • Integrated honors programs

16. Inclusive Strategies for Dominant-Language Learners • High incidence of two-way communication • Social integration with native English speakers • Thoughtful integration of second-language acquisition principles with content instruction • Involvement and participation of home community • Promotion of critical consciousness • Faltis (1997)

17. Learning Disabilities:Definition • . . . a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written • that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. • The term includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. • The term does not apply to children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. • (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act [IDEA], 2004, p. 118)

18. Learning Disabilities Typical Descriptions of Challenges • Hyper and hypo-activity • Perceptual processing difficulties • Organization of work • Writing thoughts and ideas • Remembering mathematical facts Problems: very general statements; focus on deficits, not strengths. Suggestion: describe student challenges in specific functional terms • Faltis (1997)

19. Ways In Which Schools Help Create Learning Disabilities Teaching children in ways they can’t learn. • Prescribed curriculum sequence. • Ability grouping, forcing low groups to see themselves as non-readers and writers. • Denying access to real books until they can ‘read’. • Expecting kids to learn language from sitting all day without talking. • Asking questions that call for only one right answer. • Reprimanding children for wrong answers so that they avoid risk-taking And then: • Referring children to resource rooms. • Subjecting them to testing that further convinces them they know little. • Stigmatizing them with a pathological diagnosis.

20. Learning Disabilities Inclusive Teaching Strategies High expectations & recognition of achievement Authentic, multi-level instruction. • Multiple intelligences • Activity-based learning Provide scaffolding to help the student participate with support • Read-alouds, writing dictated stories • Buddy and group reading • Books on tape, talking software Adaptations for language • Computers • Talking software • Taped books • Tape recorder

21. Learning Disabilities Inclusive Teaching Strategies 2 Organization & anticipation • Books at home • Help organize desk • Visual prompts -- color codes • Teach skills in blocks • Preview work -- send home Behavior • Understand • Help learn responsibility Grades • Report learning not just grade • Alternatives -- extra credit, drop-a-grade, alternative performance

22. Learning Disabilities Problems with Pull-out Services • Resource room may stigmatize children • Students with many different problems are lumped together • Instruction focuses on isolated skills • Students miss instruction in the general education class • Difficult to establish a sense of community

24. Cognitive Disabilitypreviously mental retardation AAMR definition • Sub-average intelligence (2 standard deviations below mean) • Limitations in adaptive behavior: communication, self-care, home living, social skills, community use, self-direction, health and safety, functional academics, leisure, and work • Before age 18 • Needed lifelong supports

25. Cognitive Disabilitypreviously mental retardation Definition Mental retardation means significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects a child educational performance. IDEA, 1997, 300.7 [b]

26. Cognitive Disabilitypreviously mental retardation Intensity of Support • Intermittent • Limited • Extensive • Pervasive

27. Cognitive Disabilitypreviously mental retardation Impacts of Disability LEVELS OF SEVERITY MILD(55-70) : functions fairly normally; academic, living, and vocational limitations. MODERATE (40 -55): work and live in community with support. SEVERE PROFOUND (<40): need much assistance and support; often other disabilities. GENERAL CONCEPTS EXCLUSION LEARNING: slower and less capacity. SOCIAL: sometimes misread social cues; overtrusting. SEXUAL: historically very controversial. Have been successful parents with support. OTHER DISABILITIES

28. Community Involvement of Individuals with a Cognitive Disability PRESENT TYPICAL APPROACHES Institutions for persons with severe behavioral challenges Separate school or class Special work place: sheltered workshop Special living place: group home. CURRENT BEST PRACTICES Inclusion with other children in the neighborhood, churches, temples, or synagogues Inclusive education--regular classes with supports Supported employment Supported living--own home or apartment with supports

29. Cognitive Disabilitypreviously mental retardation Inclusive Teaching Strategies Key Principles • Age-appropriate • Community-based • Natural proportions • Self-determination and choices Strategies: • Multi-level teaching. • Partial participation. • Assistance and support from other students. • Picture cues and technology -- eg. Speaking software. • Smaller, simpler assignments • Link to life goals, home,and community. • Authentic, real world learning

30. Students with Traumatic Brain Injury Impacts • Physical impairments • Cognitive impairment • Behavioral/emotional changes and difficulties Teaching strategies • Same as with students with learning and cognitive disabilities • Provide emotional support • May need a shorter school day at first • Focus on strengths

31. Students with Differing Academic Abilities Common Inclusive Teaching Strategies • High but reasonable expectations for learning of all students • Provide leadership opportunities for all • Learning materials at wide ranges of ability and high interest • Multilevel, differentiated instruction using authentic learning experiences • Focus on strengths and draw on multiple intelligences • Provide scaffolds and supports • Heterogeneous, multi-ability learning groups • Collaborate with other professionals

32. Students with Behavioral and Emotional Challenges • ADHD • Emotional disturbance • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) • Students with other life challenges

33. Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder Three subtypes: Inattention Impulsive and hyperactive Combined -- all three challenges

34. DSM IV CRITERIA FOR ADHD • Inattention • Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in school work, work, or other activities. • Often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities. • Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly. • Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions). • Often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities. • Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework). • Often loses things necessary for tasks or activities (eg. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools). • Is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli. • Is often forgetful in daily activities.

35. DSM IV CRITERIA FOR ADHDPart 2 • Hyperactivity • Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat. • Often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which it is inappropriate (in adolescents or adults, may be limited to subjective feelings of restlessness). • Often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly. • Is often ‘on the go’ or often acts as if ‘driven by a motor’. • Often talks excessively. • Impulsivity • Often blurts out answers before questions have been completed. • Often has difficulty waiting turn. • Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g. butts into conversations).

36. RITALIN: Impacts of the Drug • helps children and adults focus for a short time • reduces emotional responses • helps moderate impulsivity • works equally on all people • long term effects are not known • tendency to sap children of their spirit -- zombie effect • can worsen conditions designed to prevent – agitation, restlessness, insomnia – which can actually lead to increased dosages • rebound effect may make the child’s behavior worse than it was before • reactions assure people the drug is needed and lead to increased dosages (a reinforcing negative cycle)

37. Creative and engaging learning activities • Students propose alternative approaches to assignments. • Multiple intelligences. • Workshops, authentic learning, activity-based learning • Story, pictures, manipulatives, games Respond to individual needs • Structures that encourage social interactions while working – tables, gathering places with pillows, or a small sofa. • Places where students can be alone and it is quieter – desks or pillows in the hall, study carrels. • Spaces for individual work – desks, floor work areas with pillows Inclusive Teaching Strategies For Students With ADHD Behaviors

38. Help students organize and structure their work • Help students plan, break goals into short-term steps • Tools -- a calendar, project task analysis, Gantt charts for schedules, daily and weekly schedules. • Help organize work –student notebooks (3 ring binders, wire notebooks for each subject, etc.), filing systems (alphabetic, topical), Understand and provide emotional support • Listen, build on strengths. • Structures for support --peer mentors, cooperative learning. • Positive energy outlets. Inclusive Teaching Strategies For Students With ADHD Behaviors

39. Journey Inside the Classroom The Class Community Deals With A Fight At Recess • At lunch 2 students were hitting one another and calling each other names • The teacher called a classroom meeting • Students told their understanding of what happened • One student felt left out and rejected • They developed ideas so everyone could play • They became friends again. The teacher fostered listening and learning responsibility

40. Serious Emotional Disturbance Definition A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance: • Tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems • A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression • An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors • An inability to build or maintaining satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers’ • Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances IDEA

41. Types of Emotional Disorders • EXTERNALIZING DISORDERS • Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) • Oppositional defiance disorder (ODD) • Conduct disorder • Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) • INTERNALIZING DISORDERS • Substance abuse • Feeding and eating disorders • Anxiety and social withdrawal • Depression • Schizophrenia and psychosis

42. The Demographics Of Emotional Disturbance Disproportionately • Male • African American • Economically disadvantaged • In secondary school • Living with one parent, in foster care, or other alternative arrangement

43. What Causes Emotional Disturbance and Behavioral Problems? poverty divorce homelessness Sexualabuse malnutrition Inconsistent child rearing practices Family conflict Child abuse Associated Factors

44. Inclusive Strategies for Students with Emotional Disturbance • School-wide Planning – culture of child-centered orientation • Problem Solving – work to keep all students engaged, “zero reject” • Clear expectations and Proactive School-wide Discipline Plan – simple understandable expectations in positive terms • Social Support Structures and Options – support teams for staff, students, and families • Trust and Safety – positive behavioral supports, respect, and relationship building

45. Inclusive Strategies for Students with Emotional Disturbance • Positive Learning Opportunities – active, student-centered, engaging instruction • Academic and Social Skills – purposefully address both academic and social skill development • Professional Support – traditional professional services are available • Collaboration with and Support for Families – wraparound services, partnerships, wide range of support • Supporting Ourselves – behavioral consultation, support team, in-class collaboration

46. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Typical Characteristics • Engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements • Resistance to change • Unusual responses to sensory experiences • Lack of language development • Self-stimulation • Self-injurious • Preoccupation with certain objects • Lack of social/communicative gestures and utterances

47. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Treatment Approaches TEACCH • Based On A Child’s Skills, Interests, And Needs • Seeks To Foster Independence • Clear Expectations, Organized Environment, Visual Materials Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) • Controversial • Expensive • Three Year Program • 40 Hours Per Week

48. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Inclusive Teaching Strategies • Social stories • Pictures Exchange System (PECS) • Redirect – • Hurt Feelings • Eye Contact • Smiling and Laughing • Vocalizing • Lunch Bunch • Class Jobs • Calming Down Time

49. Students with Behavioral and Emotional Challenges Common Inclusive Teaching Strategies • Commit to students with behavior challenges - support, guide, teach • Creative and engaging teaching • Options and choices for individual needs and learning styles • Positive outlets for student energy • Help students organize materials • Predictable class routines; help students anticipate and understand changes • Build community to provide emotional support • Integral social learning into all academic lessons • Use positive behavior support affirming student needs • Help students understand their own needs and ways to get them met • Work with an interdisciplinary team

50. Students With Sensory And Physical Disabilities • Speech disorders • Blindness and visual impairment • Deafness and hearing impairment • Health impairments • Orthopedic disabilities