Special+Needs+and+Modifications

**Students with special needs - **




 * This scenario plays out in one of my mathematics classes: **

One student, female, likes to sit by herself working alone, wears earbuds, but, with nothing noticeable playing. She also writes everything down meticulously when doing work or taking notes, sometimes highlighting in different colors. Also, she does her work faster, and of higher quality, than most of her peers. From those observations I would place her as a **Visual ** learner (from the Abiator’s LSI Tests) and possibly Gifted and Talented (from “How to Create Online Learning Environments for Gifted and Talented Learners). She certainly benefits from modification of the general assignments because she finishes those early…I generally differentiate her assignment by extending the length, and varying the depth and quality. For example, one day I assigned her to demonstrate a math concept on linearity through a science link in which she was asked make a table of elements and compare atomic number and weight. I advised her to use graph paper, and, I had colored markers and pencils available for her to use in the representation. Aside from some short one-on-one prompting, she completed the assignment by herself using the graph paper to organize her thoughts and the colored markers to emphasize the comparisons. Another student, male, won’t come to class unless he can build something. He needs to take frequent breaks to walk around outside the class. He never has earbuds, mp3 player, or phone, and likes to position himself away from others in the class…usually in a corner where he can fidget or tap his feet. From the Abiator’s LSI Tests, I would place him as a **Tactile-Kinesthetic **learner. In order to complete the same assignment I advise him to close his eyes and write the concepts down with his finger in the air so he can associate the concepts with movement. He also likes the color blue, so when he does write, I give him a blue pen which helps him focus “ground” with the subject. This is similar to the student above with the exception that the use of //one // color helps this young man to focus on the task at hand. Also, I differentiated this young man’s understanding of linearity by having him model various equations using and manipulating pennies and nickels: 15 pennies and 2 nickels equals 25 cents. And 10 pennies and 3 nickels equals 25 cents. This gave him a tactile sense in comprehending the concept. According to Christine F. Mulrine in “How To Create Online Learning Environments For Gifted And Talented Students”, both students could benefit from an online enrichment experience such as a webquest or wikispace which outlines hyperlinks, voicethreads, video, and graphics to respond to in various ways. Ideally, these experiences would be developed to differentiate options for response relative to the students mentioned above. While our female student might be asked to develop a digital series of graphs for comparison, our male student might be prompted to gather resources in the real world and relate his experience through word processing and/or other graphics in the digital realm. Knowing from face-to-face teaching that we serve students with these varied needs, it is important when developing online lessons that we differentiate our instruction and offer options for response. In the digital realm it may sometimes be more difficult to understand these differences simply because we //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">do not // have the face-to-face contact. I agree with Judith A. Hughes when she states in “Supporting The Online Learner” that we must follow through with counseling and program advising when considering the appropriateness and readiness of students for online experiences. We must consider that just because a student’s circumstances might lead us to believe that an online unit might be appropriate (such as a medical leave), the student should be supported in order to maximize the potential for their success.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So If I were doing a unit on Jazz History I could differentiate the material this way: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For my female student I would present - <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I. Swing, The Early 1930's <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Use these vocabulary words and names to build a narrative of Jazz in the 1930's: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Swing <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Big band <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Duke Ellington <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Benny Goodman <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Charlie Christian <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lionel Hampton <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rhythm Section <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Improvistion <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here are some links to help you: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #810081; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #810081; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">[]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #810081; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: auto;">media type="custom" key="9558642"

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">For my male student I would do this:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">I. Swing, The Early 1930's <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Go to the library and research these vocabulary words and find recordings of these people. Write a narrative of what you found. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Swing <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Big band <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Duke Ellington <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Benny Goodman <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Charlie Christian <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Lionel Hampton <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Rhythm Section <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Improvistion

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Next, videotape yourself dancing to this video:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">media type="custom" key="9558662"