YES YES YES!! Would I be a special education teacher if I did not truly believe this? Students like mine throughout history were put into the "non learning" category where they were stuck in a room basically to be out of the way. Thankfully times and attitudes have changed and they are now being included with the "learners" and results are showing that they too can learn. Every student has the capacity to learn, however as an educator, it is my job to figure out how it is that they learn best. Do they do better with hands on activities? Are they auditory learners? It all is individualized on the student, and this honestly is my favorite part of the job. I find it so rewarding to see that lightbulb go off when a student finally realizes and idea or concept.
What shapes this capacity?
This is the tricky part! There are so many factors that can stand between a child and their learning. Environmental factors seem to be the most difficult part of the learning process for most of my students. Did they have food to eat at their house over the weekend? Were their parents fighting? Did they forget to take their medicine? Although there are others factors that shape the capacity to which a student learns. What is their IQ score? Are they in a classroom that promotes their style of learning? So many factors play into how much the student retains or grasps through initial contact. As an educator it is extremely important to be in tune with how all of these factors may or may not affect our students in the classroom. I love the look my students give when they walk into my classroom. A teacher's assistant actually commented today that my classroom was like "home" for the kids. When in collaboration, I feel that my students can be very overwhelmed at times. They try to keep up with the mainstream population and in the process lose a sense of their self respect. When in my room I give them the opportunity to be themselves and I ask for their input and guidance in their education. I want to know what truly works for them!
However, I cannot control what happens when they leave school. It's not fun to worry about whether or not your student will be safe while at home or whether they will be fed. This is the part of the job I enjoy the least :(
How much influence do you have upon this capacity?
I can only control and improve what goes on in my classroom. I can be a support system for my students while at school but beyond this my hands are tied. However, I do feel that I can encourage and promote a higher level of thinking while they are in my room. I engage students and try my best to focus my lessons on learning outcomes that promote their specific style of learning. Am I saying that I only teach to their specific learning style? NO. But I do give my students strategies to help them if they do have difficulty with a certain style of teaching. I had a student that was having difficulty keeping up in U.S. History with the teacher's guided notes. She had trouble keeping up and finding the answers as the teacher lectured. I encouraged the student to speak to the teacher and with my help we were able to get those notes to her in advance so she could look at them and be familiar so that when she read the text she would know what she was looking for.
How do these assumptions about learning shape our instruction?
The population of students that I work with do have a great deal of difficulty following the rules, curriculum and overall social aspects of school. I feel that it is my duty while teaching in my classroom that things not be the same as they are in the gen. ed. classes. I am still following core content and modifying to meet their needs, however I try my best to engage and target my students learning. I want them to get excited about english! Ha Ha, I know that's a difficult beast to tackle, but in a perfect world they would be :) However, I still feel that there is learning to be done and they still need to get the information in several different ways. I feel that this better prepares them for life after high school. Once I get my students, I really only have three years at best to get them ready for life in the "real world". I want them to be actively engaged and I try my best to shape my instruction so that this happens on a daily basis.
I think you are right that those of you who work in special education are good at seeing the many different learning styles that comprise intelligence. Sometimes I think all students need an IEP- it is just that we are more aware of some! I think the kids in your class really can prove that intelligence can be more than an IQ score and that with the supportive "home" like environment that students can flourish. I like how your job is really to think outside the box and appeal to the many different types of intelligence that you see in your classroom- and still have the same goal --loving english!
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