Competency Two
This competency is about identification and remediation of disabilities.
Podcast: Identifying Students with Disabilities.
Reflection: I created this podcast for this portfolio. In the podcast below (access through the MP3 file or through the picosong link) I discuss the process of identifying students with disabilities. I talk about Child Find and the requirements under IDEA to identify students with disabilities. I discuss the legal obligation to identify and evaluate students who are suspected of having a learning disability. I also discuss how Response to Intervention can and should be used to identify students early. Finally, I talk about why early identification of disabilities is key to helping students not fall behind.
I have never done a podcast before. As I was trying to figure out what artifact I could find or create to explain identifying students with disabilities I found myself explaining what I was trying to find or create and realized that I was explaining everything I wanted to express in words. I think identifying students with disabilities is one of the most essential parts of my job as a teacher. I have noticed that students who are identified later fall much further behind than students who are identified early.
There are certainly positives and negatives to identifying students in terms of self-esteem, social interactions, and academic achievement. However, as a future educator I will always be looking for signs that a student may be struggling and start documenting that right away so that if they have a disability we can help them the best that we can.
Cartoon Strip: Remediation of Disabilities
Reflection: This is a cartoon strip I created for this portfolio to describe the different ways teachers can help students with disabilities gain the skills they need to learn. Remediation of disabilities is a complex idea that requires the teacher to understand the students strengths and weaknesses. I have learned that teachers can choose different methods to remediate disabilities. One option is to stick with the traditional classroom. To the extent that a student's IEP or 504 Plan requires accomodations or modifications this kind of instruction is unlikely to be an option.
Another option is Differentiated Instruction. In Differentiated Instruction teachers vary the levels of support groups of students in the classroom receive. The teacher may provide varying readability levels for informational reading, they may provide students with reading buddies, meet with small groups to reinforce an idea, varying the length of time a student gets on an assignment, or they may offer manipulatives and hands-on projects for some students. This is different than Universal Design for Learning because in Differentiated Instruction certain students receive accommodations and modifications but others do not.
Universal Design for Learning is focused on allowing students options in how they learn material, express their knowledge, and engage with the material. Instead of offering accommodations and modifications to some learners, like in Differentiated Instruction, Universal Design for Learning removes barriers to learning for all students, regardless of ability.
This comic strip is a physical representation of how I see the three methods, Traditional Instruction, Differentiated Instruction, and Universal Design for Learning. Although teachers may remediate disabilities in all formats my artifact argues that either Differentiated Instruction or Universal Design for Learning are better options because, in different ways, they help all students achieve the same opportunities for learning.
