Accommodations

                During my experience co-teaching I found a variety of ways to accommodate student’s diverse learning needs.  I used graphic organizers often to assist students in organizing concepts and ideas.  In one case for instance, I developed a graphic organizer on which the class mapped out the different European alliances that had formed prior to the outbreak of World War I.  I found this organizer quite successfully conveyed the complexities of the alliance system to students. 

                I made another accommodation for my students while co-teaching that I have found useful for all students and freshmen in particular.  I have found that many freshmen have little experience taking notes.  To assist them in differentiating between important main ideas and details I started underlining the most pertinent information on my PowerPoint slides.  I encouraged students to focus on taking notes on what was underlined.  After my students were used to this, I began introducing notes without underlining and asking students to volunteer what they believed the main ideas were.  This got students to think about historical significance and in some cases even sparked constructive debate over what is important to know about history and what is extraneous. 

                For the most part, I would rather teach students to develop their reasoning skills and master concepts rather than have them be able to recite specific dates in history.  On assessments I may ask students to put events in chronological order, but I would never ask a student to remember that the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary was signed on September 3, 1783.  I don’t teach my students to simply memorize, dates, figures, and events in history.  I prefer to focus on the development of higher-order skills, by having them evaluate causes and effects, compare, contrast, and reflect on the significance of historical events. 

                But I digress; back to accommodations.  Clearly, I offer accommodations to students based upon their IEPs, however I am also careful about how I do this.  I had some students who needed notes printed off for them.  I made sure to provide these notes to students by putting them in a folder for the students to take themselves rather than passing them out to the students directs.  I felt this appropriate for two reasons.  First, I was sure not to single out the students and cause them embarrassment in front of others, and second, this practice made the students responsible for taking it upon themselves to go and get the notes they needed. 

               

                While it is clearly essential to offer students all of the accommodations specified within their IEPs, I also think that teaching students to be responsible for asking for their accommodations is appropriate in some cases.  For instance, when a student should be offered additional time to complete assignments, I ask students to consult with me to discuss extensions.  This helps me make sure no students are getting too far behind on assignments and allows me to offer extra assistance outside of class on assignments they may be struggling with.