Special Needs - 1- Applying Strategies and Best Practices
Hopper has an IEP with accommodations for Dysgraphia.
Your class requires written reports in each unit on various topics.
Hopper expresses concern over his grade in your class because of the
written reports. You know Hopper is putting forth effort, but he still
is not passing your class. He asks what he can do to improve his grade.
How do you respond?
One difficulty that Hopper may experience in an online course is writing the Discussion posts and writing the Essays. Any kind of written communication would be hard.
Hopper's in ability to keep up and follow the class time line can lead to stress and self-depreciation which must be over come. Depending hon how old Hopper is and what kind of self - advocation he has learned, Hopper could fall further and further behind. It is important to address this as soon as possible.
My immediate response is to find and teach Hopper how to use a text to speech piece of software. But, before doing that I need to sit with Hopper and his parents to discuss what can be done and how he can redo or makeup the work. We will start by letting Hopper know that there are other ways to to his writing assignments. We can then identify the assignments that he can work on and come up with a schedule. Finding and testing a piece of software that can take his speech and turn it into text. Once we test the software and Hopper is comfortable with it, he can try the first assignment and see how that goes. Then we look at the assignment, make any adjustments necessary. At this point Hopper can write his report.
Another option would be to work with a Adult assigned to him to type the words as he says them for his reports. This may be a secondary option as it is important to allow Hopper to be as independent as possible in his work.
Still another option is to have Synchronous sessions with Hopper in which the teacher can discuss with him his thoughts on the written assignments. This would be a good option if the written work, done by the software, is not clear or if the teacher wants to assure Mastery of the concepts.
Dustin has an IEP with accommodations for a hearing impairment; he is completely deaf. He is not currently doing well in your class and you are unsure why. He has not asked for help or attended live sessions since the class began. When you leave assignment feedback for him, he does not respond, even if you specifically ask him to respond.
What will you do to address this?
Dustin may have trouble understanding the first steps in starting an online class. Being able to log in, navigate and start the work is hard when you cannot hear the instructions. If resources are hard to find on the website, it is easy to give up.
Dustin may have a hard time self - advocating. One of the most valuable skills is to learn to ask for help when needed.
For a deaf student all audio files must have a transcript. This is not hard to do as YouTube and other video services will make transcripts available. If possible pop-up bubbles and visual queues can be put into the videos at key places in the learning. Making sure to make the transcript available for Dustin in an obvious place, so he does not have to go looking for these things. Transcripts may be valuable to other students as well to putting them in a consistent place on the website is key.
Encourage Dustin to self-advocate by, at first asking how is he doing. Write out a 1,2,3... list of how to log in, doing the first assignment, passing in work. Make suggestions and a time table for making up work. At first it will be important to teach the self-advocacy skills by checking in often. Once Dustin realizes that his success is supported and he can ask questions and get answers this will get better. If in a face-to-face school, working with his Teacher's aid of facilitator will be key. If home schooled his home school teacher or parent will be key. Building up the self confidence to let people know when he does not understand concepts of procedure is important for Dustin to learn.
How do you respond?
One difficulty that Hopper may experience in an online course is writing the Discussion posts and writing the Essays. Any kind of written communication would be hard.
Hopper's in ability to keep up and follow the class time line can lead to stress and self-depreciation which must be over come. Depending hon how old Hopper is and what kind of self - advocation he has learned, Hopper could fall further and further behind. It is important to address this as soon as possible.
My immediate response is to find and teach Hopper how to use a text to speech piece of software. But, before doing that I need to sit with Hopper and his parents to discuss what can be done and how he can redo or makeup the work. We will start by letting Hopper know that there are other ways to to his writing assignments. We can then identify the assignments that he can work on and come up with a schedule. Finding and testing a piece of software that can take his speech and turn it into text. Once we test the software and Hopper is comfortable with it, he can try the first assignment and see how that goes. Then we look at the assignment, make any adjustments necessary. At this point Hopper can write his report.
Another option would be to work with a Adult assigned to him to type the words as he says them for his reports. This may be a secondary option as it is important to allow Hopper to be as independent as possible in his work.
Still another option is to have Synchronous sessions with Hopper in which the teacher can discuss with him his thoughts on the written assignments. This would be a good option if the written work, done by the software, is not clear or if the teacher wants to assure Mastery of the concepts.
Dustin has an IEP with accommodations for a hearing impairment; he is completely deaf. He is not currently doing well in your class and you are unsure why. He has not asked for help or attended live sessions since the class began. When you leave assignment feedback for him, he does not respond, even if you specifically ask him to respond.
What will you do to address this?
Dustin may have trouble understanding the first steps in starting an online class. Being able to log in, navigate and start the work is hard when you cannot hear the instructions. If resources are hard to find on the website, it is easy to give up.
Dustin may have a hard time self - advocating. One of the most valuable skills is to learn to ask for help when needed.
For a deaf student all audio files must have a transcript. This is not hard to do as YouTube and other video services will make transcripts available. If possible pop-up bubbles and visual queues can be put into the videos at key places in the learning. Making sure to make the transcript available for Dustin in an obvious place, so he does not have to go looking for these things. Transcripts may be valuable to other students as well to putting them in a consistent place on the website is key.
Encourage Dustin to self-advocate by, at first asking how is he doing. Write out a 1,2,3... list of how to log in, doing the first assignment, passing in work. Make suggestions and a time table for making up work. At first it will be important to teach the self-advocacy skills by checking in often. Once Dustin realizes that his success is supported and he can ask questions and get answers this will get better. If in a face-to-face school, working with his Teacher's aid of facilitator will be key. If home schooled his home school teacher or parent will be key. Building up the self confidence to let people know when he does not understand concepts of procedure is important for Dustin to learn.
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