Individual Differences Among Learners

Regan, K.S., (2009). Improving the way we think about students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders. Teaching Exceptional Children, 60-65.

The author discusses four concepts teachers should take into consideration when dealing with emotional or behavioral disorders. The interesting thing to me is that these strategies are not new ideas or concepts. These are strategies and roles teachers should take into their classroom every single day, no matter the content or age they teach. The author suggests that positive learning comes from a positive relationship with the teacher. I find this to be true through experience.  There have been times when I have not had a positive relationship with a student and due to BOTH of our negative attitudes education lacked. It seems quite selfish and childish of me now; I've learned a lot over my years. There are many days in the classroom I wish I could take back.

The four strategies the author suggests for positive learning include: 1.) the teacher being a reflective teacher; 2.) the teacher should develop a relationship with every student; 3.) the teacher should define roles for the classroom; 4.) the teacher should provide creative resources for learning.

It is important that teachers remember that engagement is essential to the learning and how they are engaged as well as how their student is engaged determines the learning. Teachers need to ask higher-order thinking questions and provide the correct type of praise in order for students to increase their on task behavior.

Friedlander, D. (2009). Sam comes to school: Including students with autism in your classroom. The Clearing House, 141-144.

Autism is a part of a group of disorders engulfed in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Most of these children have problems in social areas, especially picking up social cues and forming typical relationships. These students struggle in the first years of school due to the overwhelming atmosphere and change. Below are some strategies that will not only help you, as the classroom teacher, to find peace and patience with your autistic student, but more importantly, will allow your student to ease and transition into the new atmosphere easily.

1.       Get to know your autistic student as much as possible before they enter the classroom. Talk so parents during the summer. Find out their individual needs, preferences, and strengths. Plan a meeting with the parents and student before the school year; allow the child to get comfortable with you and the classroom.

2.       Have routines in the classroom. This will allow the student to feel familiar with what is happening and they will then have less uncertainty.

3.       Brainstorm with parents on what types of strategies most benefit the student at home. Incorporating those strategies at school will also be beneficial.

4.       Create a buddy system for the student. Allow them to have a “go to” person for questions and concerns. On this same note, have a schedule printed each day of what comes next to allow the student to be conscious of the time and what they will complete each day in class. This gives direction (and actually is beneficial for ALL students).

5.       Create a behavioral plan that all students will abide by. Allow students with autism to relate that plan to you, so they truly understand the concepts.

Overall, leading classroom with interactive opportunities allows all students to succeed. It allows students without behavioral challenges to practice compassion and empathy for others. While at the same time it allows the student with the challenge the time necessary to practice their skills.

Flores, M.M., (2008). Universal design in elementary and middle school. Childhood Education.

Basically, this article went into detail the importance of teaching with various strategies in the classroom to meet the needs of all learners. Students with an IEP may need extra support and legally, the teacher needs to comply with that support. The general education classroom teacher is the most important person to implement these strategies because the student is in their room the entire time. This is harder for middle school teachers (speaking from experience) because teachers tend to forget which student has which accommodations or interventions.  I found, the best thing to do was teach in a way that would reach all needs and assign projects based on the needs of the class as a whole. This way, students could vary their assignments depending on their needs. For example, if I gave a project, they were all expected to complete the same expectations, but I gave options of how to complete. Another example is that if I offered extra credit, I offered it to the entire class. This included making test corrections. If students with IEP’s needed to make corrections on their tests for higher grades, why couldn’t general education students?  The way I looked at it, is that if they were going to change something to make it right, they would learn and the re-teaching at that point was from themselves and probably more meaningful.

Christopher, M.M., and Shewmaker, J. (2010). The relationship of perfectionism to affective variables in gifted and highly able children. Gifted Child Today, 20-30.

What is interesting here is that perfectionism can possibly have three outcomes, all of which are completely different. For example, research supports three conclusions: 1.) perfectionism MAY result in pathological problems; 2.) Perfectionism MAY result in high academic achievement; 3.) There is a large span of perfectionism characteristics (Christopher & Shewmaker, 2010). It almost seems as if the ideas are contradictory and maybe that means there needs to be more research or maybe it just means humans are not robots and we all experience and react to things differently. The research even concludes that perfectionism does not always cause depression and that it does not always cause anxiety. Students have so many variables they are dealing with in life and this one issue could be part of the reason students face anxiety and depression, but not a cause. As long as gifted students are given realistic expectations, especially in the early grade levels, they will succeed and find their niche. I have found that with perfectionists/gifted learners, it is important to give them positive feedback and reinforcement. However, it is just as important to give them the opportunity to find what they can improve on in a specific assignment and not always seek for what YOU are looking for in their work.

Moule, J. (2009). Understanding unconscious bias and unintentional racism. Phi Delta Kappan, 321-326.

This article focuses greatly on the idea that many people perform unintentional racism through their actions. The actions may, to one, be a safety precaution, but to the other, a form a racism. I found this article interesting because this idea does not take on the form of racist attitudes or beliefs (always) and people might not even think about how they are being perceived. One example was of a woman who held her purse closer to her when a black man walked by. I found it interesting that the black man found that offensive, while the woman was just trying to be cautious. I think I found it interesting because I would have done the same thing…and I don’t consider myself racist!  Again, it’s in perception.  I think the author makes a good point, however, in that we need to teach tolerance in our classrooms. As students receive instruction by our nonverbal cues, just as much as our verbal ones, it makes a difference how we treat each individual.  It also comes down to being aware of our surroundings and taking into consideration who and what is around us at all times.

Bonomo, V. (2010). Gender matters in elementary education. Educational Horizons, 247-264.

We have known since the beginning of time that men and women are different. They think differently and perceive VERY differently; this is what makes them compatible in many ways. In the classroom, research is starting to point out the differences and how it affects learning. For example, in regards to the five senses, girls have eyes that are drawn to warmer colors as well as faces. This possibly makes it easier for girls to concentrate in the classroom since they are continually looking at a person teaching and not moving objects (which are what boys are drawn to). In addition, girls tend to be more sensitive to hearing. When a speaker raises their volume, girls tend to feel they are angry, causing them to tune out from the speaker. In regards to smell, girls tend to have a higher sensitivity to smell an can cause differences in the classroom due to interests and success.

They key idea here is that teachers should be educated on the differences between the genders and then using those differences in their teaching design and strategies. This will allow both boys and girls to be equally engaged in the learning process. Try to keep your lessons mini-lessons and then adapt the practice as necessary for each group. One idea is when using white boards and markers, allow the girls to use varied colors and to work with a small group of girls. Allow the boys to play a game in order to accomplish the same task, but with a goal in mind with competitiveness.