FAQ's
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Accomodations
How can I provide academic assistance for students who are struggling?”It can be challenging to have students who seem to be at lower levels than other students in your classroom. There are different ways to provide some academic assistance to students with disabilities. One such way is to create accommodations. Accommodations are reasonable modifications (alterations, changes, etc.) that can be made to an environment, service, course, curriculum, or teaching method. They are made to help students with disabilities access the environment, instruction, curriculum, or assessment.
Some common accommodations include:
- providing additional time
- shortening assignments/assessments
- allowing the use of a calculator
- allowing oral answers
- allowing assignments/assessments to be read to the student
- allowing notes or books to be used on assessments
- allowing a student to take an assessment in a different environment
- reproducing homework so the student can write on it
- allowing the use of a calculator
- providing textbooks on tape
- allowing peers to read textbooks to others
- making text larger
- bolding or highlighting key information
- providing verbal and visual instructions simultaneously
- using study guides or other organizers
- providing students a copy of the notes or outline
- using manipulatives
- providing preferential seating in the classroom and other school areas
- providing an extra set of books for home
Besides creating accommodations for children who may be struggling in your classroom, you can also work to make your classroom accessible. Accessible refers to how easy it is for people to get to, use, and understand things, such as curriculum and instruction. Creating an accessible environment means that you work to make sure that the greatest number of students have access to the curriculum and instructional strategies, thus reducing your need to accommodate for individuals.
There are many strategies to help make the classroom and educational content more accessible, such as:
- using manipulatives
- changing context to make it more relevant to students
- using multiple representations
- using templates or organizers
- preparing hints or questions
- allowing students to work with partners or in groups
- providing a checklist
- check-in frequently with students
- adjust level of difficulty
Beyond using accommodations for individual students who may benefit and creating accessible classrooms, one can use assistive technology to help students who may be struggling academically. Assistive technology refers to any device, equipment, system, instruction or strategy that can maintain or improve a student’s functional capabilities. Assistive technology can range from “low tech” options (e.g. pencil grips, paper stabilizers, seat cushions) to more “high tech” options (e.g. computers, Braille readers). Assistive technology can include instructional equipment or systems, such as particular software (i.e. Inspiration) or developed programs that help students with disabilities succeed in the general or special education classroom.
Assistive technology for the classroom can include:
- text-to-speech functions on computers (i.e. screen readers)
- speech-to-text options
- enlargement of text size
- talking calculators
- switches and buttons
- word prediction software
- adapted keyboards, and adapted mice
While this gave a broad stroke to ways to assist students who struggle in your classroom, it is meant to provide some ideas of what you can do. You can work to make your classroom more accessible to the natural diversity that exists, you can make accommodations for individual students, and you can implement pieces of assistive technology.
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How do I include students with special needs in class discussions?
Here are a couple of simple methods you can use to better include a student with special needs in class discussions. Remember, the key is to try and provide the support students need to feel comfortable enough to participate and to feel successful and appreciated while participating.
Give that student extra time to develop an answer by telling the student ahead of time what will occur during the class discussion. For example, you are going to be doing a brainstorming activity and you want to include a student with special needs. Tell the student 15-20 minutes before group time begins by quietly saying, “Today in science we will be talking about ears. I want you to think of something to say about what you already know about the ears and I will call on you first.” This gives the student time to formulate and answer.
Another idea is, say the student’s name before you ask the question so they attend more fully to the question. Or, call on them when you see they are paying attention. Don’t call on the student only to punish him or her for not paying attention..
Give students with special needs plenty of wait time. This will help ALL students, but is especially important for a student with disabilities. If the student cannot answer after a reasonable amount of time, tell him you will call on one more person and then come back to him.
If a class discussion is not going well and no one is talking, try whispering the answer in a student’s ear. This is a but non threatening way to stimulate the discussion and let the students know what you are expecting as answers.
Try to have class discussion the involves the student’s interest.
Let the student be the monitor and call on who goes next.
I have a student who is amazing with puzzles. How can I use this in his writing and other learning?
Hopefully because he is good at puzzles, the student also likes to do puzzles. Try to capitalize on what the student likes to do to encourage the development of skills in other areas. For example: