Classroom Adaptations

Hi There,
I know it's been quite awhile since my last blog entry, I apologize! You will notice that the last few of my entries are all posted today, and this is due to the fact that I have been blogging on a word document from home, where I am still blessed with lovely dial up internet, so posting a blog would be an all day event! So I am taking the time now to transfer everything over to my Inclusive Education Blog, finally!

So, to start off I am going to discuss the incorporation of classroom adaptations, which is something that we have briefly touched on in the past, but today I will have the opportunity to go into a little more detail. This time however, these adaptations are focused on the level of the total class, rather than just the individuals. The two main principles behind adaptions at the level of the total class is to maximize student engagement, hence freeing up time for us teachers. If students are engaged in class, then clearly you're not only being a successful teacher by providing them with exciting lessons, which allow them to feel successful, but you also have more time to continue planning engaging lessons for your students. Personally I feel that this is most definitely a "win win" situation! One area that I feel is important to discuss is adaptive questioning, because as a teacher you're constantly questioning your students, so you should do it in a positive way. An example that Robert Lavoie presents in his videos is to have a secret code essentially with your students so that they know when you are about to question them, and they can be successful in answering the questions, and it is also a way to "show off" to their peers. The teacher might tell the student that he will never call upon him in class unless he is standing right in front of his desk, this way the student knows when the teachers is standing in front of his or her desk, that a question is about to be asked, and it is time to prepare a response. I agree with this method, and think it is a very good way to do it. Another way to prepare students is to say for example "Adam, I am going to just go put this on my desk and then I am going to ask you to summarize the steps of photosynthesis", this way the student can prepare his answer before actually being asked. I like that idea of adaptive questioning is all in regards to making the student feel successful and I think this is important in any classroom. Moving onto cooperative learning, which is an area that I'm quite passionate about. It is important that students are grouped in heterogenous groups so that their skills, interests, and communication skills vary. By doing this, it allows students to develop their personality more and become more confident. It is amazing how well students do when it comes time to "peer tutoring" and how much they enjoy teaching others what they know. So as a teacher, use this to your benefit! There are 5 components to cooperative learning, they are: positive interdependence, positive face to face interactions, interpersonall and small group interactions, individual accountability and finally critical reflection. Positive interdependence relates to the idea of an individual's success being dependent on the effort of the whole group together. The cooperative group is a single unit and all students in it need to see that they have something mutually invested in the project. Next, positive face to face interactions is important because it creates a sense of community within the classroom, and it reinforces the motivation to learn. Essentially, the students should enjoy working together and experience a sense of pride when working with others. Interpersonal and small group interactions is simply just having small groups of students working together to complete a common task. Individual accountability is based on the idea that each student needs to be responsible for a certain aspect of the group project, and should be able to see how their effort alone directly benefited the project. Finally, critical reflection is important because it allows students to reflect upon their learning and realize the "Good, Bad, and the Uglies" of working in a cooperative group, and how they can improve the situation in the future, if it felt unsuccessful. I feel that if all of these components of cooperative learning are met then, the students will enjoying this type of group work more, and experience more success in your classroom. I don't know about you, but I know this is my goal as a future teacher... I want all my students to be successful, no matter where their skill level or knowledge base is. I need to incorporate Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (or ZPD as the cool kids say) and scaffolding to ensure that my students needs are constantly met.

Thank you, there is more to come!