Rich Parker

                                                                                                SLM 521

 

 

 

Instructional Modifications for Internet Activities

 

 

 

                        As a classroom teacher in a Montgomery County High School, I’ve chosen to tackle this elective activity simply because this is the kind of flexibility which we are increasingly being asked to consider and the kind of accommodations we are consistently being asked to develop for those of our students with Individualized Educational Plans or 504’s. 

 

 

Students with ADD

The most frequent notation on a student’s IEP or 504 is the evaluation of Attention Deficit Disorder.  This seems, then, the most logical place to begin developing accommodations.

 

1.      Students with ADD benefit, when doing any kind of research, by having a “road map”.  Often the idea of research is just too open-ended, too free-form.  Worksheets that lead students to specific sources and ask them to record their “visits” and the information found is always helpful.  My first strategy is to offer this student just the kind of annotated bibliography developed as a part of our bibliography link assignment.  This should be developed into a packet in which the student can easily record important information found at each site. 

 

2.      Although sometimes the joy of research is just finding what can be found, the ADD student often needs more guidance.  A set of specific questions tied to specific web sites is a good idea.  This would give the student a measure of his or her own success.  This would be not much different than students on a field trip (and, after all, isn’t Internet searching a kind of field trip) to a museum being given specific questions to answer in each of the exhibits or galleries which they visit.

 

3.      I have watched students work in large class groups in the media center.  No surprise, the larger the class group and more closely members of the class are asked to work together, the less actual work may get done.  In our media center at Quince Orchard High School, the students sit so close together at their computer monitors that they can actually rub elbows.  This is not always the best environment for an ADD student.  We do have a few computers in the media center that stand at stations of their own; second best are several pillars in the media center around which are stationed four computers that are separated at a greater distance than those in the official “computer lab”.  A seat at one of these computers is certainly be conducive to students with attentional issues.  There are enough other computers close enough that such a special seating arrangement is not perceived as any kind of punitive measure – an important issue.

 

4.      I think of the research projects which are assigned to my students.  We generally spend four days in the media center on a given project.  These four days need to be broken down for ADD students.  The long term goal of walking out of the media center with “all the information you need” won’t particularly work for the student with Attention Deficit Disorder.  It’s important that this student have a daily goal.  The teacher should set a definitive goal for the period (Visit these two web sites today; find the answers to these three questions.)  This, again, allows the student to gauge his or her own success after 50 minutes of research.  The feedback is daily, and goals can be set for the next day’s class.

 

5.      Time is always an issue for ADD students.  The A.D.D Center @ www.addcentre.co.uk lists “set time limits for specific task completion” as a good modification for the ADD student.  The request we most frequently receive as classroom teachers is granting this particular student more time, not less, on any individual task.  I see the merit in both of these accommodations.  ADD students should be told that they are expected to complete a particular task (again: visit these web sites; answer these questions) within a specific time period (say 45 minutes of a 50 minute period) because such goals are concrete and the completion of the goal provides its own feedback.  There are times, however, when ADD students do need the additional time to complete a task.  That additional time, at Quince Orchard, can be accommodated by asking students to come into the classroom during our “open lunch” period of the day.  In my classroom, the students can use my computer to access all of the media center search and research facilities. 

 

6.      Our media center charges students ten cents a page to print out anything they are researching on the computers.  I’m in favor of waiving that fee for students with IEPs and 504s that list “Hook this student up with a note-taking buddy” or “Provide this student with written copies of any lecture notes”.  It is very time consuming for these particular students to take notes from the screen.  The ADD student often has poor and cramped penmanship.  In addition, processing problems often lead this student to copy information incorrectly.  Spelling is a particular demon even when copying verbatim.  Every student should be encouraged to bring a disk to the media center and download any information that seems valuable.  Every student should be taught how to send information to their own home via email.  But this is particularly valuable to students who processing works at a slower pace.  Students who can not afford a disk (those who may be a part of the FARM/Free and Reduced Meal program) should be supplied with a disk; they’re cheap enough.

 

 

 

 

 

7.      Another recommendation by The A.D.D. Center is that teachers “provide clear, concise . . . and concrete examples for . . . assignments.  This, of course, would be helpful in any situation, certainly when the student is doing online research.  A teacher should supply every student with examples of the end product that is expected and a “rubric” by which that end product will be graded.  This is doubly important for the ADD student who may, at times, be unclear of the expectations on a given assignment.  In terms of  web-based instruction, the student should be supplied with a solid, student-generated model of what a day’s completed task might look like and/or the project’s completed form.  I’m careful that models and examples – while formatted as the expectations of the assignment require – are not specific to the individual topic the student is researching.  The temptation for plagiarism is too great.  When my students, for example, research and write about Mary Shelley’s literary style in Frankenstein, my daily research models and final product model are based on Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain.  On topic; yet, off topic.

 

 

  1. Constant feedback is important to the ADD student, as is (often) the repetition of instructions in a face-to-face verbal exchange with the instructor.  Time should be afforded at the beginning and end of each online session for the both the student and teacher to reinforce verbally the expectations of that day’s online instruction and, as a double-check, evaluate the effectiveness of that day’s web-based learning.  This would certainly help meet The A.D.D. Center’s recommendation that students “schedule frequent, short conferences . . . to check on comprehension.”

 

  1. The A.D.D. Center recommends a well-organized students notebook.  This, of course, makes a lot of sense in any learning environment.  It might be a very good idea to set up a small, separate notebook or folder – a log, if you will – in which the student can record web-based activities and, very important, save all work generated on a particular day.  A.D.D. students often have organizational problems, problems keeping their hands on the work that they have produced.  Over the course of (again, my example) four days in the media center doing web-based research, a folder which the student carries with him, a folder left in the media center, a folder in the teacher’s care  would help insure that all the information is there at the end of the long haul ready to be used by the student.  It might be a very good idea for a student to (#6) print out multiple copies of important information to be kept at home and in the classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1.  At the end of the entire process of web-based instruction (again, useful for every student . . . certainly for the student with special needs) is an “Exit Checklist”.  Sitting down with the ADD student, laying out all that has been accomplished and comparing the results with a checklist of what should have been accomplished provides the student with instant feedback.  Kudos are expressed for all that has been completed, and the student has a record of what remains to be done.  Realizing that this particular accommodation may not be limited to online, web-based instruction, such a checklist would be particularly valuable after online, web-based research which can be rather more free-form and individualized than completely teacher-based instruction.

 

 

 

 

 

Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD)

Understanding that ADD is one sub-category under the broad umbrella of SLD, the following recommendations are made after a review of the article “Methods for teaching SLD” @ www.suite101.com/topic_page.cfm/6332/1328.

 

 

  1. The creation of a graphic organizer for a student with SLD is recommended at this web site.  It would be helpful to supply a student, as web-based instruction began, with just such a graphic organizer in the form of a flow chart.  Each station on the graphic organizer would give the student a “first this/now this” visual schematic of what is expected from the online experience.  This step-by-step visual presentation is often helpful to those students whose learning style is more strongly visual.

 

  1. The recommendation that each child have a writing folder is also valuable for all students, but such a folder becomes an additional organizational tool for students with SLD.  Not necessarily a “writing” folder in this case, the folder can be used to safely store information gathered on a daily basis during the web-based learning process.  Like ADD students, the student in the general SLD population may find it difficult to take notes and organize his thoughts in the usually limited time frame available to students on a daily basis while doing online research.  A folder in which the student can keep downloaded material allows for a more leisurely and careful study of the material under less rushed circumstances.

 

  1. The teacher and the SLD student need to sit down prior to any web-based learning experience and develop a checklist of the main goals of the experience.  Before going into the media center, for example, to do research on the concentration camps (a part of the sophomore Knowledge Unit revolving around the reading of Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust memoir Night), I would sit with a student and develop an outline and guide questions for the research.  Awash with information, the SLD student can sometimes be overwhelmed.  The complaint used to be “I can’t find any information on this!”  Now, the most commonly heard complaint is “I’m finding too much information!  What do you I really need to know?”  A pre-research outline and checklist is very helpful particularly in the environment of online or web-based research during which time the student is often “on their own”.

 

  1. Angela LaVelle (“Methods for teaching SLD) suggests that, during the writing process, SLD students might benefit by “writing as a group when writing an essay for the first time”.  This can be adapted to web-based learning.  Learning partner pairs, a SLD student and a compatible classmate, can benefit both the SLD student who is likely to pick up some valuable learning strategies and the more able student who may very well develop some new learning strategies out of the necessity of finding alternate approaches when questions or difficulties arise.

 

  1. Web-based learning (and I’m speaking now specifically of the kind of research that high school students do) can be frustrating.  We do run smack up against dead ends, links that ultimately go nowhere, or at least nowhere useful.  We do often see students getting on the “highway” and riding forever without reaching a useful destination.  Not a pretty picture when you’ve been allotted fifty minutes in the media center and the bell is about to ring.  SLD students are particularly prone to frustration.  SLD students may actually need their own “down time” in the online experience.  Again, this may not be an accommodation specific to web-based learning, but I’ve seen the frustration kick in more often during online sessions.  The SLD student may need to step away from the machine for short periods.  This would be an opportune time for the teacher and the student (if he or she is not too frazzled) to quietly re-evaluate the prescribed course of research and (if necessary) alter the organization strategy.

 

  1. The strategic use of instructional assistants  can be of tremendous help to SLD students.  This, of course, would depend on the individual school/teacher’s situation.  At Quince Orchard High School, we have three instructional assistants/para-educators in our English department.  Although they are not always available, we enlist their help in the media center or the writing lab when we can.  These para-educators work closely one-on-one with students or, in classes where the need is greater, in small groups.  Students working with assistants can be stationed around a core of computers so that the assistants can more easily work with the small group.  “Ideas for Instructional Modifications, Accommodations and Classroom Supports (www.ourspecialkids.org/tgi-ideasclass.html) recommends “Instructional aids) for students with SLD.  There is not a more valuable instructional aid than a qualified instructional assistant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. “Ideas for Instructional Modifications” advises that the SLD student may need a reduced assignment.  What this may mean in terms of online research in the high school setting is a minimum number of online sources that may fall short of the requirement for other students.  While more able students may be able to synthesize information from five web sites, the SLD student may be swamped by the information gathered from three.  This means that the teacher needs to help the student develop a bibliography of three of the most valuable web sites, sites that would present all of the pertinent information without overwhelming.  This does not, necessarily, mean that the scope of the research need be limited.

 

  1. SLD students may need to have longer assignments broken down into short instructions of one or two steps (“Ideas for Instructional Modifications).  An evaluation of the student’s progress with one or two steps per day (via a personal and informal conference with the teacher) can be used to monitor a students completion of a days’ tasks and afford an opportunity to set the goals for the next session.  Again, not specific to web-based learning, this technique is of value in that online environment.  Did the student visit a particular site today; what specific questions was he able to answer from the site?  What questions should he try to answer tomorrow?  Did the student visit a particular web site today; what web site would be the most valuable follow up during tomorrow’s research?

 

  1. It is noted that SLD students often benefit from an “opportunity to write instructions” (“Ideas for Instructional Modifications”).  Web-based, online research seems a perfect time to put such an accommodation into practice.  If the student writes his or her own research plan, develops his or her own roadmap (and many students are very “web savvy”) for research, there is often an understanding of the process that may be clearer than if the process comes from an outside source such as the teacher.  Of course, this kind of student generated research plan (actually sounds like a college seminar course) needs careful and cooperative planning between the student and the teacher.

 

  1. It may actually be helpful (if the environment permits) for an SLD student to be equipped with a small tape recording device into which he or she may dictate material from the online screen.  The visual/auditory connection can augment short/long term memory function in the research process.  The student would need co-operative computer neighbors or a station at a computer distant from the rest of the class to accommodate this, but the results could be very beneficial.