Strategies for Helping Conditional and/or Learning Disabled Students

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RECEPTIVE LEARNING STYLES

· VISUAL

· AUDITORY

· TACTILE/KINESTHETIC

· MULTIMODAL

MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR

INTRO—Please take out a sheet of paper and follow my directions. Put the sheet on top of your head. Take your pen and draw a house. Be sure to include windows, a front door, and a chimney. Next add a tree and some flowers…Now you may look at your papers. What do you think we can learn from this activity? (“You can’t work off the top of your head!”)—So begins my class on goal setting! As you are aware, college is very different from high school and these students need to know that study methods they used in the past probably won’t work well in college.

Not all of the Student Success Workshop is fun and games—(as you can see from the course Objectives and the Course Outline). The SSW is designed to give conditional students the learning strategies and college reading skills they need to do well. It is a required non-credit, three hour pass/fail class which meets TR mornings in the Hundley Center conference room. There are two sections with eighteen students in each this semester.

The required textbook is Opening Doors: Understanding College Reading, 4^th ed. by Cortina and Elder.

On the first day of class, I challenged my students to rearrange the course outline to meet their needs. Then my students voted on the order of major topics. What resulted was what I call a “quick start” to the semester:

1) I) College Success—Goal Setting, Learning Style, Time Management;

2) IV) Note-taking Skills;

3) V) Test Prep and Test-taking Skills

4) followed by college reading skills during the second half of the semester.

Goal Setting—cover characteristics of SMART goals (specific, measurable, action steps, realistic, time-framed); students write out a personal short-term/semester goal with plans to achieve it. We’ll revisit these in a few weeks to make sure they stay on track.

Time Management—learn how to make and use three types of schedules: semester (used all course syllabi to map out assignments/exams in academic planner to get the “big picture”); master weekly study schedule; daily schedule/to do list.

Note-taking—learn various methods including Cornell Method (2-column) and Mapping.

Experiment: Awareness of Differences Between People by C.B. Red Bright (JSCC):

I am going to ask you to do one action and then FREEZE. Are you ready? Do what I tell you and then freeze! LOOK AT YOUR FINGERNAILS!! Leave your hands “frozen” and look up at me. Now use one of your hands to raise your hand to respond to one of these questions. HOW MANY OF YOU HELD OUT YOUR HANDS, PALM DOWN, FINGERS POINTED AWAY, LOOKING AT YOUR NAILS & BACK OF HAND? (Draw on board a rough figure of hand, fingers extended, draw in nails.) RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU DID THIS! (Demonstrate; count and write # on board.) THANK YOU!

NOW HOW MANY CURLED YOUR FINGERS BACK OVER YOUR PALM AND LOOKED AT YOUR NAILS? (Draw) RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU DID THIS! (Demonstrate; count and write # on board.) THANK YOU!

FINALLY, HOW MANY OF YOU JUST LOOKED AT YOUR FINGERNAILS WITHOUT MOVING YOUR HANDS AT ALL? (Count; write # on board.) UNFREEZE! I ASKED ALL OF YOU TO DO A SIMPLE TASK AND I GOT DIFFERENT RESPONSES. Why do you think this happened?

I use this demonstration to point out differences between people and lead into a session on LEARNING STYLES. We all have different LEARNING STYLES (preferences in behavior that are characteristic of the way you acquire knowledge). Very simply, learning styles are the way you learn best.

I teach my students about RECEPTIVE LEARNING STYLES (visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic and multimodal) as well as LEARNING STYLES THAT RELATE TO PERSONALITY using a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator with eight factors. I also teach them study strategies that correspond to their particular learning style. For example:

VISUAL LEARNER—color-coded mappings, comparison charts, chapter review cards

AUDITORY—recite out loud and in their own words; read confusing information using exaggerated expression

TACTILE/KINESTHETIC—create manipulatives like note cards that can be spread out, sorted or stacked as a way to categorize information; copy charts or diagrams and cut them apart, then try to reassemble them in their correct order

Students usually are more comfortable in a class where the professor’s teaching style matches their learning style. Also, group work and discussions are much more dynamic when there are a variety of learning styles represented.

If you are interested in finding out more about learning styles, a good on-line resource is www.vark-learn.com. It includes a FREE QUESTIONNAIRE to help you or your students discover your learning style.

One of the best ways you could help conditional students (and any students) is to BE PROACTIVE IN CREATING AN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: use a variety of teaching methods to accommodate a broad range of learning styles. Some suggestions are:

Use a combination of verbal, written and pictorial instruction
Include visual, aural and tactile demonstrations
Provide advanced organizers on the board and/or a clear, concise and well-organized lecture outline
Explain visual materials
Hand out detailed written instructions for projects and papers and discuss them
Highlight key points throughout the class and write key phrases on the board, a transparency or using PowerPoint
Be sure to repeat discussion questions and paraphrase the answers
If you teach in a lab setting, demonstrate and role-model procedures and allow ample time for practice
Allow use of laptop computers in class for note-taking
Encourage students to e-mail any questions
Meet one-on-one with your conditional students. They often have a good understanding of their needs.