Revised Journal Paper

PART 1B.

Question 1

Accommodations are adjustments made on studying environments or the practices exercised to help disabled students beat the educational challenges posed by their disabilities.  Modifications are the alterations of study goals to accommodate students with disabilities. However, instructional strategies are the systematic steps or shortcuts taught to disabled students, to enable them to perform essential educational tasks (Strom & Erich. 2013). There are differences between accommodation, modification, and instructional strategies. Accommodation seeks to use a more inclusive approach in learning. Adjustment is always about change and how the learners respond to it.

Question 2

Presentation accommodations are the accommodations used to help students attain information through alternative ways instead of the standard auditory and visual means. For example, students with visual impairment could be allowed to listen to audio clips in the substitution of reading texts, to compensate for their lack of visual impairment.  Therefore, creating equity between them and other students who do not suffer the same disability by enabling them to access information that they cannot see, through listening.

Response accommodations equip students with substitute methods of performing assignments. For instance, students with visual impairment would be allowed to use braille systems, in this case, to complete tasks through touch instead of writing since they cannot see. This method would enable them to engage in class assignments equally with other students.

Setting accommodations change the physical environment in which disabled students study. For this type of accommodation, students with sight problems may be allowed to sit close to the teacher for better vision or verbal clarity. Here, the students’ environment would have to be in a position of prioritizing their strengths instead of their disabilities.

Timing and scheduling accommodations are the accommodations through which durational allowances are given to disabled students during performances of assignments, to cater for the shortcomings that may arise from their disabilities. In such a situation, the visually impaired student may have to be excused and provided with an extension to performing an assignment with students who do not need visual aid tools.

Question 3

Quinn’s braille note-taker helps him overcome disadvantages accrued from his disability.  It enables him to perform regular class and home learning tasks in a more relaxed way that facilitates adequate communication with the teacher and other students. For instance, the note-taker allows Quinn to perform learning tasks like class quizzes in the current time and also store assignments for a later performance. The note taker equips Quinn with alternative methods of acquiring and presenting class work through the device’s audio and braille support interchangeably. The braille note-taker also provides him with essential computer functions like internet access, which would enable him to perform researches together with other students. The device also allows Quinn to store hard copies of learning materials through its printing function. Quinn is also enabled to receive learning materials from anywhere through email, which is supported by the machine. The machine ensures Quinn gets as much information as he can through clarifying the information in the form of readable braille symbols.

Question 4

Question 4 (a)

Serenada might not be able to interpret Powerpoint symbols and terminology as a third-level student. She may also experience problems when decoding the teachings since she has poor fundamental point-identification techniques. Serenada is likely to experience difficulty in writing notes as it would take her more time to organize her ideas strategically as the teacher dictates throughout lessons. She will also have a problem with interpreting the pictures.

Question 4 (b)

From setting accommodations, Serenada’s sitting position may have to relocate to the center front. Here she would quickly ask for clarification whenever she does not identify critical points in a lesson. Setting accommodation would help her understand experiences better and improve her point identification skills. The teacher will also stay alert to ensure she understands everything. Through presentation accommodation, the teacher may email Serenada the PowerPoint files which she can read at her own pace, during her free time. Emailing her notes would provide Serenada with quick access to content whenever she needs to clarify a point. Timing and presentation accommodation can be applied by the teacher to focus on Serenada.

Question 4 (c)

Mrs. Watkins should follow-up to ensure Serenada asks questions whenever she does not understand teachings. She can do this by observing her body language and facial expressions. She should also employ random quick tests to ensure Serenada reads the notes after she emails her. The teacher should also ensure Serenada is in a learning condition after lessons before imposing the extra learning time. By making the above resolutions, Mrs. Watkins would facilitate for easy consumption of ideas and skill acquisition by the student.

Question 5

Question 5 (a)

Question 5 (b)

Question 5 (c)

Since the accommodation enables Sam to increase his performance by 2.1%, it is necessary to continue employing the accommodations to improve Sam’s attentiveness and remembrance further. This accommodation could help Sam catch up with the rest of the class.

PART 2

Question 1.

Question 2

Ms. Draper could use a compare and contrast graphic organizer, which would provide for coverage of both differences and similarities, thereby facilitating maximum understanding of how to differentiate the two. Despite elaborate teaching, this graphic organizer would also facilitate easy understanding and remembrance under minimal space usage.

Compare and contrast graphics organizers enables readers to develop superb thinking skills essential for the healthy development of a class. These graphic organizers achieve the purpose mentioned above by training the minds of students to focus on little bits of information at a time and to compare relating points in a piece of information. These graphics organizers improve students’ comprehension skills through the elimination of valueless words and reduce confusion between similar marks through side-by-side comparison. The compare and contrast method trains students to identify critical points and organize information strategically. Lastly, compare and contrast graphic organizers helps students grow their attentiveness through an easy-to-read presentation of educational information, subsequently increasing their focus duration.

Question 3

A Frayer model would be the best to apply since it caters to the systematic arrangement of complex information in an easily understandable way. Frayer models also help students to think critically and embrace new challenging termination, which would be an advantage to other education practices like fieldwork in geography. Unlike most models, Frayer models are equally usable by individuals or groups. During the filling of Frayer models, some of the information provided could be familiar to the students, therefore, facilitating quick learning through the connection of prior knowledge to new information about a subject. Frayer models have a visual attraction, which makes it a perfect solution to remembrance issues. Students have a natural tendency to remember visual impressions, more than auditory and texted information. A Frayer model would also simplify reading thanks to the simplification of essential points which it caters to. Frayer models would encourage the reading among the students through prolonging their concentration span, owing to their simplicity and size.

Question 4

Graphic organizers visually arrange ideas using diagrams and graphs to help the readers communicate effectively as well as classify ideas appropriately. The use of vivid shapes, connectors, and symbols enable graphic organizers to identify the existing relationship between different parts positively. Examples of graphic organizers include flow charts, Venn diagrams, and cause-and-effect diagrams used to; present sequence relations, identify differences and common points of items, and the cause and results of different events, respectively.  Furthermore, graphic organizers simplify ideas through visualization, making it easy for learners to understand and remember them.

In teaching History, much information has to be decoded, understood, and memorized by the brain. Graphic organizers arrange the information logically, making it easy for the learners to understand and memorize the information, especially if the classes are on for a considerable amount of time. The use of a timeline, for example, is beneficial in arranging historical events in a chronological sequence, making it very easy to remember these events. A storyboard is also another example of a graphic organizer used to categorize events following the time, place, and happenings, making it easy to engage students.

Graphic organizers assist in addressing complex and sophisticated content by reducing the processing demands of processing semantic information. The use of showcase facilitates understanding of subjects, especially if the students have learning disabilities since the information is showcased instead of being dictated.  The organizers also enable students to become strategic learners. The learners develop creative thinking, analytical, reading, writing, and communication skills applicable to all subject areas, not only History. Students improve their patterns of constructing, using, and analyzing the graphic organizers. One of the main advantages of using graphic organizers is the visual representation of the information backing up the auditory explanation availed on a specific topic. The combination of these two approaches results in learners who are more likely to record significant improvement in their understanding of the main ideas.

PART 3

Temple gives specific, clear examples during her speech to express her ideas. She chose models carefully to ensure they all catered for every listener’s learning weaknesses by making them concise and straight to the point. Temple presented her first point clearly by using easily understandable terminology. For example, instead of saying people needed to avoid prioritizing their social life for them to become great thinkers, a specific language like verbal and visual is used. It would spare her from having to explain her statement further. She seems honest since she was employing skills as she taught them. For example, she understood that her audience was not as talented as she was with visuals, and used actual images drawn from her thinking to elaborate her claims.

It is clear she accurately revealed knowledge of IT. Nevertheless, it was unknowingly acquired when she said healthy brains ignore details. I feel like that made a clear starting point for the speech, and introduced the audience to her thinking. Specifically, her use of regular day occurrences hardly noticed by the general populace was awe-inspiring. She, for example, revealed that cows do not go towards waving flags. I had not made that observation in life before.

Her speech connected the whole audience to her mind, thanks to her kin observation of the human learning environments. Her view of getting rid of hands-on jobs brought about a unique perspective to people, all thanks to her artistic simplification of ideas. Despite having learned the fact from endless prior learning activities, events, and educators, Temple’s ear-catching speech triggered new thoughts to focus on the realism in the observation. Her strengths were evident in her address and proved her claim of persuasive visual communication right. Temple inspires focus on personal communication to ensure the development of accurate observations. The observations developed from visualizing various teachings and taking the place of others in deciding exciting ways of inducing knowledge to an audience.

Her speech triggered my wish to understand how students would think in a given situation. Temple said that she discovered her thinking was different from other people’s when she interviewed different people after working on her movies. She also challenged me to think in the most rational ways and express ideas according to how they would exist in my mind, instead of forcing inherited teaching methods that exhaust learners’ accounts. She, for example, said that she imagined movies to get the perception of animals in various situations, which further enabled her to understand animals.

She motivated one to work on their inclusive teaching when she expressed her passion for knowledge by saying that her biggest concern was not upon the dead. Great thinkers like Tesla, but instead, she was most concerned about great young thinkers whose parents do not understand the science behind autism and nerds. She was worried much that she would not consider herself a good teacher if she did not help such children. She also advised on the use of motivation as a method to encourage learning. Despite employing her strategies to one’s students, it would also motivate one to develop a passion for their career, therefore, improving their inclusive teaching.

From observation, it is possible to conclude inclusive teaching should be prioritized by all teachers to ensure the implementation of education in the most exciting ways to the learners and the teachers. She proved this observation accurate from her childhood, where she engaged in various playing activities, which were her friends’ passion and, as a result, acquired skills that she would otherwise not be interested in learning.

She employed inclusive teaching, where she concluded by teaching other types of thinking. She explained that pattern thinkers are good at music and mathematics, while verbal thinkers are the poorest in art-drawing. Thanks to her speech, it is possible to differentiate various ways of thinking adopted by students and employ relevant strategies accordingly.

References

IRIS CENTER. (n.d.). Accommodations: Instructional and Testing Supports for Students with Disabilities. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/acc/#content

IRIS CENTER. (n.d.). Accommodations: Instructional and Testing Supports for Students with Disabilities. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/acc/cr_assess/#content

IRIS Center. (n.d.). Graphic Organizers. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu

Ted Talk. (2010). Temple Grandin: The. Retrieved from YouTube: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu