Learning as a Way of Teaching

Thanks to Audacity and a few iPods, our students took final exams 21st century style.  Instead of leaving the classroom to have tests read to them by another teacher, students stayed in the classroom and listened to their test on iPods.  They had the power to listen at their own discretion without having to be singled out.  Of course, they did look different since they had iPods and the others didn’t.

Their teacher made this comment:  “Instead of hanging their heads, they were actually excited about getting the help.”

The hardest part of the whole process was creating the audio files, and that process is not hard at all.

Now if I can just get the school to buy 10 more……

A common problem of junior high students involves note taking.  So much of instruction involves lecture it is imperative that students learn how to take effective notes.

How many times have you said the following (or something similar):

•  ”It was on the board.  You should have written it down.”
• “Where are your notes?”
• “Why are you not taking notes?”

LD students struggle with note taking as much and in most cases more than their non-disabled peers.  Some of the struggle comes from disorganization, inattention, and unmotivation.  Even if those hurdles are cleared, there is still a skill that is unlearned in taking good notes.

Joseph R. Boyle, assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University researches note-taking, cognitive strategies, and early reading techniques.  He suggests that for students, notes serve two purposes:

1. They aid student understanding of lecture information, and
2. They serve as reference material for later study.

Students who struggle with note taking do so for various reasons.  It is important to diagnose the reason so that a plan can be executed.  Whether it is an attention deficit, mechanics of writing, vision, hearing, assimilation, motivation or comprehension; pinpointing the issue is key in developing an accommodation or modification.