Volume 11 Science for
All
"How do you accommodate students
with exceptional needs, such as the gifted and talented, hearing
impaired, visually impaired, mentally retarded, students with
learning disabilities, students with behavioral disorders, or
potential dropouts? What have you found to be effective working with
these students?"
John Ricciardi. On the high school level, I believe the present system of public education is critically limited in its ability to provide effective and meaningful instruction for its "high risk" population of potential drop-outs and students with behavioral abnormalities. This is a frightening problem in America's schools today. Rather than trying to understand and identify the specific educational needs and learning styles within this population group, too many schools are resorting to solutions which essentially segregate, isolate, and intimidate the individual. It's de-humanizing and psychologically counter-productive.
My basic astronomy course (section offered in our high school, 4 of which I teach) attract a fair number of "behavioral disordered" students and potential drop-outs. I don't treat these kids any differently other than yielding more to their "scatter braininess." I have virtually no discipline problems in my classes, because, I believe, I first show a sense of trust and respect for the individual's integrity and self worth. When you allow yourself to do this, when you honor the individual, you just keep moving...facilitating, and soon you watch your instructional objectives flow into place.
Ginny Almeder. I have worked primarily with physically handicapped, learning disabled, and behaviorally disordered students. For the physically handicapped students, I have made appropriate room arrangements to accommodate at least one wheel chair. I integrate the student into a regular lab group and make arrangements for one member of the group to make a carbon copy of notes and lab data. On occasion in the past, the Special Education Department has provided an aide for additional assistance during lab activities.
With the learning disabled students, I identify their learning problem with the assistance of the resource teacher and then work with them in developing skills. This approach involves a combination of individual attention and peer support from their group. I have found that increasing their participation in class discussions enhances successful learning.
The behaviorally disordered students are the most challenging. Typically, I work with them individually in developing appropriate classroom behavior. A firm but friendly approach usually works. I have found that most students will respond if they believe that I am concerned about their success.
Jerry Pelletier. At the present time I am working mainly with gifted and talented students. I have found that these students need to be challenged with high quality thinking materials and strategies. Besides accumulating knowledge and comprehending it, these students must learn to analyze and evaluate this knowledge. In order to meet these special needs I use many different types of materials besides the text in our basic science program. These students are asked to do special science projects, research papers and read literature that is associated with various fields of science. It is my feeling that this will enrich their backgrounds and challenge their analytic thinking. It is not my purpose to demand more of these students in the sense of quantity but to demand more in the sense of quality.
Bob Miller. We have been somewhat successful with student involvement in raising animals for classroom use. Students seem to take pride in raising the animal and telling other students about their experience. The approach seems to fit a variety of students with varying disabilities, physical or emotional.
Mary Wilde. I would first like to focus on how to work with the gifted child in the classroom. I am very much opposed to pulling that gifted child out of the classroom for instruction, particularly at the middle school level. Isolating those students only creates attitude problems, social problems, and morale problems among teachers who do not have those "sparks" in the classroom. I gear my instruction to those students by providing greater course content and problem solving activities. I then do a lot of small group work so that these students apply what they have learned by helping others learn the same information. Therefore, more students have benefited by an "enrichment" program. It is really neat to see the interaction among gifted students and those who want to learn but need a little more time and a little more instruction. I do use the advanced child to set my instructional goals, however, I allow for learning rate differences among individual students.
The behavioral problem students always create a most difficult situation in the classroom. When a teacher has these students, the reaction is to pull back the reins, take away all freedom, and develop a very structured classroom so that the students have less opportunities to cause havoc. However, this treatment usually makes me miserable, and the learning that takes place in the classroom is minimal. It is very difficult, but I find I have better success when I provide more hands-on activities and a less structured classroom setting. I must spend more time organizing and planning, for it is important that all directions and expectations are very clear. However, the real key to working with the discipline problem student is that you show real interest in that person. You go out of your way to know everything about that child, so that you can comment and ask that child questions that communicate a caring concern for that person. This helps create positive attitudes and respect towards the teacher, thus diminishing disrespectful behavior in the classroom. There are times when you don't think your effort is successful, but with a little patience, the rewards will come.
Dale Rosene. I have discovered that open ended learning assignments allow gifted as well as learning disabled students to work to their abilities. Some activities that I have found very successful and are characterized by their open endedness include:
• Design a package to protect a raw egg from a three story fall.• Design a space station, providing modules for all needs.
• Design an invention---something that is really needed---and try to sell it to the class.
I have also found that using the format of cooperative learning is very powerful in working with students with different needs and abilities.