10 Top Tips on how to support students with Additional Educational Needs in your classroom...
Thinking about how a teacher can best support our students with Additional Educational Needs (AEN) can sometimes feel like a mammoth task. I can see how much a teacher has to do and their workload only ever seems to increase.
However, there are some simple things that you can do to help alleviate the struggles these students face in the classroom.
The First Step
Think about your time at school. Did you have a positive experience? Or was it negative? You may have some fond memories, or you may not. Either way there are many students out there who struggle just to come into school. After all, who wants to go to lesson after lesson where they feel all they do is struggle. As teachers, we often thrived as learners. But, some students feel they are only drowning. We can often forget this simple truth. If we are able to make the experience in the classroom just that little bit better, then that extra effort can make all the difference to their lives. So, how can this be done?
Here are my Ten Top Tips:
No.1 Smile and be kind
I know it sounds simple, but... too often we are busy with something else, or we've had a bad day. Sounds all too familiar, right? It's amazing how far a smile and kind word can go for a child who is having a tricky day, too. Often they can be the child that teachers see as 'extra workload' or a 'drain on the lesson pace' and they can tell when you feel they are a burden or nuisance. Think about how you can be that child's champion - knowing you are the teacher who is excited to teach them can be so rewarding for you and for them.
No.2 Don’t hold a grudge...
...against a child because of their behaviour. Treat them how you would want to be treated and be mindful about singling them out. If there is a recurring behaviour that you are not sure about, and you’ve tried the strategies in your school's AEN documentation, such as a 'Pupil Portrait' then please liaise with your AEN department. It is likely we have seen how this student behaves in a range of subjects and will be able to advise on which subjects we see that child demonstrating good learning behaviour. We could even observe your lessons and then discuss other strategies that might help.
No.3 Think about where you stand in the classroom
If you are expecting students to copy from the board and refer to something at the front just make sure you are not in their line of sight. If they cannot see it, they won’t do the work and then often start to do something else, which you may see as them misbehaving. Basically, don't put any literal obstacles to learning in the way. Alongside this, think about the size of writing on the board and the formatting. In particular, dyslexic students can struggle when the page is just a body of text.
No.4 Check out your school's AEN documents
Make sure you have read and familiarised yourself with documents, such as your AEN policy, any AEN training provided and most importantly the 'Pupil Portraits' that are created for AEN students. (In my school, these are normally one page and detail the student's strengths, likes, needs, and lists strategies you can try as teachers). In particular, look at the student's strengths and likes. This information will give you ideas on which skills they already have that could be transferable to your subject. E.G., they could be a keen gamer and therefore may enjoy working as a team. You could also use this information as a way to explain a certain process in your subject. Knowing their likes will help you to build a rapport as they can be used as good conversation starters.
*I know there is plenty of research out there that shows students respond well to knowing their teacher is interested in them as a person. Knowing they are liked makes them more likely to work harder in your class because they feel you believe in them. I’ve had many student tells me they like a subject because of the teacher and that they don’t (or won’t!) do a subject because they believe the teacher doesn't like them.
No.5 Try a little 'small talk'
This follows on from Tip Number 4... and I guess the key point here is to just do your best to find out a little thing about each student and try and remember it. For example, does that student enjoy Formula One Racing? If so, maybe ask them how the Grand Prix went at the weekend. This works particularly well with AEN students because sometimes they just need a bit of “winning over”. This could be for all manner of reasons, such as they may not trust teachers because a bad prior experience; they may have low self-esteem, or their learning needs mean they need a certain type of teaching style. We’ll move onto that last one now...
No.6 Know your learning styles
We all have them. I prefer reading and then writing notes (I can’t go anywhere at work without my trusty post-its and a pen!) However not everyone learns in the same way and that has to be in your mind when you are teaching and planning your lessons. There’s the traditional reading and writing methods, but if you think about students with Dyslexia or a fine motor skill issue, they are most likely not going to enjoy traditional reading and writing for lengthy periods of time. They may well prefer to just listen, watch, or to do something practical instead. Consider audio books, or the film version with subtitles. How about acting out a key scene? Think about ensuring that the information you are giving to students is a mixture of visual (videos, images, pictures, diagrams), Aural (listening to you speak or a pre recorded clip), reading and writing (reading part of a text book or handout and making bullet point notes) and doing something practical (getting up from their seats, doing an experiment, going outside, playing a character or role play). Mix up your activity choices and see which ones they respond well to.
...I recently saw a brilliant talk by Robin Launder (Behaviour Buddy) called “Making Learning Sticky” and some of the things he said really confirmed my own views of what helps children to not only learn, but to stay engaged. The key points (to do with learning styles) were that there are two main ways in to a student's mind - auditory and visual.
No.7 Staying focused is harder than it looks
On average, we can only really concentrate for 10-15 minutes at one time on one task. So if you are talking for longer than this you can’t expect any students to still be focussing, let alone children that might have ADHD, for example. Use different ways of delivering the content to your own advantage and the students will be able to more easily engage with its content. And you will also be better catering to students with different needs too. Try "chunking" your lesson information into a few short and manageable portions. This will help all students lesson the load on their working memory, which means they can actually think about what you are saying rather than trying to remember the instructions. It’s a win/win situation!
No.8 Learn your Additional Needs acronyms
(I’m aware there are a lot of acronyms!), but please don’t feel embarrassed about, firstly, admitting this and, secondly, coming to chat about it. If you don't feel comfortable about asking face-to-face, try sending someone in your AEN team an email. There is no such thing as a stupid question because not only will you learn from the answer, but I would expect that at least a few others were unsure of the same thing. Your AEN team will always be happy to help you and will be pleased that you’ve taken the time to ask.
No.9 Invest time in your Learning Support Assistants (LSA’s)
Sometimes also known as 'Teaching Assistants' (for whole class support) or 'Individual Needs Assistants' (if they are working with a specific student), they are employed to help the learning of certain students and it's their business to know these students and their needs really well. However, they also need to have a good relationship with you, too. Invest time in your Teaching Assistants: get to know them, their style, their advice. Equally, allow them to get to know you and your teaching style. You'll achieve more as a team than individual people with separate jobs to do.
*Remember TAs are not there to judge you or your teaching and will be happy to help around the class, too. Sometimes they may have limitations because of the student they are supporting (for example, they might have to position themselves in a way that means the student they are supporting can make eye contact or make a signal to them), so if they are in your way, or you need something to be done differently, then don't be worried to have a quiet chat and come up with a solution.
No.10 Sanctions should be a last resort
What's that old adage? 'You get more flies with honey than vinegar'. Maybe it's a bad saying to apply to children, but it's a truism I stand by. Positive praise and encouragement is often so much stronger (and works better!) than sanctions. This can be as little as a thumbs up, a nod in their direction, a “well done, that’s a great effort” or a merit. Think about your use of language - does it fall into a natural cycle of 'telling them off' or is it encouraging good behaviour? For example, instead of saying “don’t do that” say “please do this”. Aim to keep your language positive, clear and concise, and to encourage strong learning behaviour try to "win them over" with the tips above, rather than relying on punishment methods. Yes, sanctions are still needed, but sometimes the short term gain causes long term damage.
To conclude
I could go on, but I know if you try the 10 Top Tips above, you will see a positive difference when teaching students with Additional Learning Needs.
So there you have it, 10 great ways to help the learning journey of students with Additional Learning Needs. For more useful ideas, check out our range of blogs.
If you have found Melanie's posts or any of our posts helpful, please subscribe and give us here at Inspire My Teaching a big thumbs up!
We love feedback so please get in touch at contact@inspiremyteaching.com
Comentários