Seminar II IST Intern Chapter 9 Teaching Diverse Learners

Teaching Diverse Learners  Analyze personal learning styles and intelligences.  Identify methods schools can use to help gifted and talented learners and students with special needs reach their potential.  Develop classroom strategies for ensuring an atmosphere of respect for all students.  Identify the difficulties English language learners face and how classroom teachers can help them. Objectives:

Varied learning experiences encourages success among diverse learners.

Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences  There is a continual desire and push to improve education.  One of the biggest concerns today is how to help all students learn effectively, not just most.  When teachers better understand the differences in how students learn, they can more effectively teach in ways that maximize learning for more students.

Learning Styles

Visual Learners  Characteristics of Visual Learners:  Prefers written and visual materials  Remembers details of how things look  Takes detailed notes  Often distracted by movement  Doodles  Prefers written directions Learning Strategies:  Reading  Photos, diagrams, charts  Powerpoint presentations  Films, television  Flashcards

Auditory Learners  Lecturing is considered the least effective teaching method, auditory learns get the most from lectures. Characteristics:  Prefers to listen to information  Sounds and songs stimulate memory  Takes incomplete notes  Often distracted by sounds or talking  Prefers oral directions Learning Strategies:  Lectures, explanations  Discussions  Listening to recording  Films, television  Reading aloud  Repeating information

Kinesthetic-Tactile Learners  Kinesthetic refers to using bodily movement. Tactile refers to touch.  Characteristics:  Prefers to learn by doing  Remembers how things were done  May not take notes  Often distracted by movement  Finds it difficult to sit still  Prefers directions with examples Learning Strategies: Demonstrations Hands-on activities dramatizing Modelslabs, experiments Projectssinging, clapping Field tripsgames

Gardener’s theory of multiple intelligences  Howard Gardner of Harvard University published multiple intelligences-each person possesses all types of intelligences, but to a different degree.  His theory has affected education by prompting many schools and teachers to take a broader view of intelligence.

Tapping individual learning strengths  Understanding student potential  Using varied teaching techniques  Allowing more student choices  Helping individual learners  Helping all learners

Two groups of exceptional learners  Gifted and talented  Learners with special needs  Exceptional learners- students who are gifted, talented, or have special needs, such as a disability, and need, or can benefit from, programs matched to their abilities and potential.

Gifted and talented learners  Students who have abilities that are significantly greater than those of others their age and have exceptional potential.  Gifted-most often refers to those who excel academically.  Talented-is more often used for those who have outstanding skills in other areas, such as music, art, theater, dance, or leadership.

Supporting gifted and talented learners  Providing in-class enrichment  Using self-paced learning  Self-paced learning-allows students to spend the amount of time they personally need to master concepts.  Skipping a grade  Attending special schools  Magnet schools-organized to emphasize a particular subject.  (conti)

G/T conti  Providing pull-down programs  Pull-out programs-students leave regualer classes to participate in educational sessions geared toward specific needs.  Participating in extracurricular programs.  Taking advanced classes (community colleges, etc)

Learners with special needs  The term special needs-includes a broad range of physical, mental, social, and behavioral challenges that impact learning.  After the Education of All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 public schools are required to provide students with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment possible.

Individual Education Program (IEP)  Individual Education Program (IEP)- developed by a team that includes:  Child’s parent or guardian  One or more regular classroom teachers  A special education teacher  School counselor  Psychologist  Administrator It is a written plan for providing a student with the most appropriate opportunity for learning.

Meeting the needs of students with disabilities  Mainstreaming- Students are placed in one or more regular classes based on their excepted ability to keep up with the standard curriculum.  Inclusion- the only requirement is that the student will benefit from the class. (to gain social interaction skills, etc)  Special Education- provides adapted programs, extra staff, and specialized equipment or learning environments or material to help students with special needs to learn.

Cultural Diversity  Part of this nations strength comes from the fact that people with different backgrounds, languages, races, and religions have come together to form one society.  Ethnicity-refers to a particular racial, national, or cultural group including that group’s customs, beliefs, values, and often language and religion.

Diversity to enrich learning  Those who embrace diversity, it can offer a competitive edge.  School administrators set the overall tone for a school regarding diversity.  Teachers who model acceptance, develop policies of tolerance, and incorporate interest in culture into learning create a positive atmosphere for learning.  Stereotype-preconcieved generalizations about certain groups of people-and prejudice have no place in schools or workplaces.

Language Diversity  There are programs to help English language learners:  Limited English Proficiency (LEP): students who are not proficient in English  English language learners (ELL):students whose native language is not English and who are not yet proficient in the English language.

Helping English Language Learners  Teachers must be innovative  Younger children pick up the oral skills quicker than older students  Speak clearly  Print assignments on the board  Summarize  demonstrate

The challenge of teaching diverse learners  Teachers can help their students by the philosophy of teaching called differentiated instruction to maximize learning for all students.  Differentiated instruction-a teacher often provides options for learning a topic or skill.