Tips for Classroom
A quide to the classroom
• Divide the lesson up, setting shorter tasks + so separating information from instructions.
• Have key works / vocabulary / phrases on paper or written on the board ready for the class and explain their meaning. ALL students will benefit from this.
• Allow students to make bullet points rather than write in sentences. Also to use spidergrams and mindmaps. Easier to revise from also.
• Decide upon the MAIN POINTS that you want to get across. Then plan work for students which addresses these points only. Use larger font for worksheets and photocopy onto pastel paper. They will get much greater satisfaction from completing a piece of work rather than only getting the first 2 questions of a worksheet finished.
• Write clearly on the board or, if possible use an OHP.
• Photo-copy part of / all of the work so that some students can stick this in and concentrate on other aspects of the work: diagrams, graphs…. They often have a greater visual memory and so will remember visual clues better than writing anyway.
• Get students to do work as a ‘cloze’ exercise: Leave gaps in the prepared, printed text for the student/s to fill in with the correct words.
• Ask student/s to repeat back to you the task set.
• Give task in small steps.
• Give subject / sentence starts for student/s to finish.
• Consider seating plan for those easily distracted. Front of class…
• Offer rewards, such as – choice of seating/work for a / or part of a lesson. Sweets! Why not? Now and again keeps them on their toes!
• Worksheets to use straightforward language for basic work you want to be done. Necessary for those with S & L difficulties and those with limited reading.
• Set homework EARLY in the lesson, writing it clearly on the board. Be realistic about the task set for SEN students.
• Tests MUST be differentiated.
e.g. – Limit the questions asked to the CORE requirements
- Less writing, more diagrammatic
- Use of simple language. Wander around class to help with more complex and necessary technical words as they come upon them. You CANNOT assume that these words will be readable or understood. Marking work for an entire test is not an option. Apart from English tests, you are NOT testing their English ability. Therefore, do not penalise students whose reading is poor.
Some students benefit from more discreet support. They may feel embarrassed if support is too obvious.
TALK to the students – on their own – and ask THEM how they feel you can best help them and the methods of working that they manage most effectively. Work with the students; most of them to not deliberately try to be obstructive.
FINALLY – I KNOW MANY OF YOU ALREADY USE GREAT STRATEGIES IN THE CLASSROOM, SO SHARE THEM! YOUR DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY NEEDS YOU!
HOMEWORK DIFFERENTIATION
When setting homework consideration needs to be taken for:
Students with short term memory problems
Students with spelling and reading difficulties
Hearing impaired students who may have missed parts of lesson
Students with epilepsy who may have gaps due to momentary seizures
SEN students who experience great anxiety about keeping up.
How can homework be a more positive experience?
Set homework at beginning or halfway through lessons
Always write homework details on board to be copied into diaries allowing enough time for checking. Students with very specific difficulties will need an adult to record this.
If homework involves drawing a table or graph axis, spend 5 minutes in lesson to ensure the outline is already correctly in the book. It is often the initial organisation of data which causes most difficulty.
SEN students are usually very conscious of their short comings especially with dyslexic students. A spelling homework can take an hour and they will still under perform. To encourage evidence of effort rather than outcome, ask all students to draw 3 columns and use look, cover, write, check method to practice spellings set in every subject.
NB Having to call out marks of a spelling test in front of the class causes huge anxiety. The SEN Link Group agreed that this practice for recording marks should NOT happen.
Allow for those with writing difficulties by setting individual targets for amount of writing. Suggest alternative ways of recording which are not so demanding on volume of writing but show evidence of understanding. e.g. Spidergrams, Concept Webs, Mind Mapping – this can include colours, small pictures, key words.
When the task involves writing without the guidance of a worksheet, give out 10 -15 key words to include. This will jog students’ memories about the desired content and help those with spelling difficulties to feel more confident.
If you want students to practise techniques for learning for a test – start by giving them 10 questions that you will test them on. This will give a definite focus to their revision and give them more confidence in their ability. They are also more likely to retain the information in the longer term.
A reading homework could be backed up by writing down 5 words that they were unsure of the meaning. Class work could then include skills of using a dictionary to look up these words.
To practice key works in a topic, students can match words and meanings in a head/tail exercise.
‘Call my Bluff’ homework can also encourage understanding of words.
TIPS FOR TEACHING VOCABULARY
1) Use a check-list which is based on normal vocabulary development.
2) Devise an individual check-list for that particular child or group of children according words he needs to know and how many words he doesn’t know.
3) Select a number of words to be learnt each week, using the words in a variety of contexts and to which relating to words he already knows. Where possible, use visual clues and practical experience.
4) Select a target topic and learn all the words associated with that topic.
5) Base vocabulary on curriculum needs.
6) Teach specific words that are needed for a particular lesson.
7) Link words together e.g. opposites.
8) Learn works within a given category.
9) Build up networks of connected words, e.g. in a spider diagram.
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