Actively managing LD:Collaborative Planning

in the Secondary setting

Combined Associations’ ConferenceSPELD, RSTAQ, LDA

Hilton Hotel, BrisbaneSeptember 10th, 2005

Dr Ruth Burnett

Keeping the End in Mindwith the Student in Mind

One size fits all curriculum

Differentiating curriculum

Collaborative Planning

Unpacking the Outcome by Backtracking

Actively Managing LDContexts of Collaboration

Science Department and Learning Support

Heads of Department Meeting Whole of school

InfoEd- Managing and sharing relevant student information

Keeping the Student in Mind

To Actively Manage LD

Realities for secondary teachers in the mainstream classroom

The adolescent learner

The diverse learning needs of students

To Actively Manage LD

Realities for the learning support teacher in a secondary setting

Sharing information regarding students

Sharing strategies that ‘enable’ all students

Within the student

62%

Within the family background or culture

14%

Within the peer group

3%Within the curriculum

8%

Within the teaching approach

2%

Within the student /teacher relationship

4%

Within the school/classroom environment

6%

Other

1%

Westwood, 1995. A study of 300 Australian teachers

Year 8 Science Setting the Scene

How did this opportunity come about?

Who was involved? Why was it successful?

Teacher concernsTopic: Separating mixtures

In the past, a poorly done outcome task, how can we (the teachers) improve?

Students have difficulty writing the report

Students don’t ‘think through’ the separation processes even though we ‘teach’ each one

Students don’t seem to ‘get it’ when given the Outcome Task

A diversity of learners

mixed abilities a range of learning difficulties/disabilities central auditory processing hearing impairment, Ascertainment Level 4 ADD, ADHD Poor fine motor skills Poor writing skills and spelling

CollaborationBringing bodies of expert

knowledge together

Science and learning support Removing some of the barriers in the path of

students experiencing learning difficulties enhancing teachers’ repertoire of teaching

strategies ‘knowing’ your students

One in Eleven students has a language learning disability (Brent, Gough, Robinson, 2001)

Raising teacher awareness

Curriculum specific language is critical for learning

1 in 11 students has a language learning disability

The increasing demands of the secondary curriculum for all adolescent learners

Common misconceptions

Students should have basic literacy skills in place

These students should be the responsibility of the Learning Support teacher

Students should be responsible for their own organisation

The English Department is primarily responsible for teaching writing skills

How would you separate the powdered clay that clings to the peas?

Continue your flow chart of cards on the A3 sheet.

Why were the learning outcomes positive for this class of students?

Included socially and academically in their groups

Group arrangement provided natural scaffolding so that students with difficulties were able to do the task

Peers could give immediate help when needed Relaxed relationship between students and

teacher Activity required students to be involved in

doing and verbalising, telling the story, using the language

Students had time to clarify the question, think through the problem and respond

Teacher did not suggest solution, but asked questions that led students to the next step

Teacher gave clear, explicit instructions, students knew what they were expected to do

Games approach

Heads of Department Meeting

Sharing literacy results Sharing teaching strategies that

worked Using other ‘experts’

Speech and Language Pathologist Inviting, creating discussion

Teaching strategies

Modelling

Oral Visual

Physical

A structure to follow Gives entry into an

activity Clarifies for students

what they should learn

Scaffolding

Teachers need to know when to add or dismantle scaffolding

Graphic organisers Models Meets the need of

visual learners Walks students

through the activity

As students make progress, scaffolding is removed or replaced.

The aim is to make students aware of the ways in which strategies can help them learn more effectively.

Direct and Explicit teaching

Students know what is expected of them

Short, carefully sequenced steps

Identifies what is important

Explicit scaffolding Teaches strategies Can be whole

class, small group or individual

Provides a structure that can be added to or removed

Groups

Focus on the students reaching their own understanding

Need to be actively constructed, requirements of activity

Allow students to ‘feed off’ one another’s ideas

Teachers have more opportunities to assess learning

Gives students time they need for processing instructions

Reduces pressure on students

Encourages all students to respond

Opportunity for peer tutoring

A whole school commitment

Individual teachers make a difference

Innovative practices Whole school commitment makes

the greatest impact

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