There are several methods of instruction used in my Special Day Class that would benefit mainstream children, especially English Language Learners. I would gladly collaborate with my general education colleagues to implement these practices. For example I use Writing With Symbols, Mayer Johnson's software that provides pictures for words as you type, for my students' spelling words. In addition I have numerous story picture books with companion musical CDs. The texts of these books are lyrics that are professionally performed. My class enjoys listening to the CD while they look at the pictures in the book. There are also musical CDs for which I have made corresponding and supporting pictures on five by eight cards. These visual supports highlight the lyrics and the language concepts taught in the songs. My students love helping with the five by eight cards by putting them in a standard pocket chart.
In the area of math, specifically teaching place value (one, tens, hundreds and thousands), I could help mainstream children by loaning their teacher our number column sliding board (NCSB). The NCSB is a large contraption, 21 by 45 inches, that has four number columns made from pine cap molding. Numbers on Masonite are slid down into the columns. Wooden plugs at the bottom of the columns stop the numbers. Students put numbers in the columns and then read the numbers. After all of the columns are filled and all of the numbers have been read, the plugs at the bottom are removed and the numbers fall into a basket. This aid adds an interesting mechanical aspect to the task of learning to read and understand four-digit numbers.
PowerPoint is especially powerful in teaching math. By using PPT animations mathematical concepts can be explained or taught wordlessly. Math is a language in and of itself. Thinking about mathematical concepts often requires no words. The concepts exist without language. Children having average cognition are perfectly capable of understanding and enjoying basic math concepts such as addition, subtraction and fractions. However when there are language delays, it is impossible for them to learn these concepts through teacher explanations, even when supported with hand drawn pictures on a white board or chalkboard. Children with autism simply cannot attend to such presentations. However, with clean, well thought out PPT slides, these types of concepts can be learned quickly and easily. My students even demonstrate great interest and satisfaction when learning math through PowerPoint slides.
2 comments:
Question: you post about what you could do to become an AT resource at your school, but my question is: What are you actually thinking of doing?
Glad to see you use ppt so effectively. It truly does quite a bit.
Sharon
What am I actually thinking of doing? Good question. My PowerPoint slides for math concepts could make a significant difference in the progress of general education students in the area of math. This is what I am most eager to share. The stumbling block is the method of presentation available in the general education classrooms. I have a MacMini that has PowerPoint connected to our television. I have talked to mainstream teachers about PowerPoint and most of them do not have it on a computer that is connected to their TV or a projector.
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