Showing posts with label Teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teaching. Show all posts

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Tips for Teaching Autistic Children Reading Skills

Tips for Teaching Autistic Children Reading Skills-Teaching

Teaching autistic children reading skills can be a daunting task. Some children will never read, but many higher functioning children can learn to some extent and can end up being excellent readers.

Teaching

Teaching autistic children to read has a very unique set of challenges that requires a parent or teacher to have a lot of patience. It can be like teaching children without autism but with the problems magnified.

Sometimes they can be very cooperative, but for the most part, autistic children have huge problems with attention span, lack any type of motivations to learn to read, and they have problems with figuring out the rules of reading and grammar when compared to children who do not have autism.

Learning to read should be fun for any child, but when it comes to autistic children, you have to reach them on their level, so make sure you chose a method that meets their needs.

For some children sounds are important and using music as a tool to teach musically inclined autistic children to read is a very good move. There are some programs out there on the market that will use music and singing to help a child with autism learn many things. Some also employ the use of games. These interactive methods usually help with attention span and interest, two of the biggest obstacles in this endeavor.

One important thing to remember when teaching an autistic child to read is that most reading requires creative thinking and this is something that many children with autism struggle with. This means that when learning, it is best to focus on materials that are based in reality. Stories about children like them going through their day might be a good place to start. Steer clear of stories that are full of fantasy people like princesses and talking animals.

Continue reading for tips on teaching visual thinkers and sign up for the free Autism newsletter below.

Anyone teaching an autistic child to read should remember that many think visually. This means they are more likely to learn about words and letters through visual stimulation. Almost every child has a special interest, and autistic children are no exception. If they like trains, you may want to use them as a visual guide to learning how to read. If they are interested in the subject matter they are more likely to pay attention for longer periods of time, and are more willing to learn because they will find it interesting.

Each child is different and will learn at a different pace and in a different manner. Don't be afraid to make use of the reading programs on the market designed with autistic children in mind. These have generally developed either through experience or with strong science behind them. They may be the best way to go about teaching autistic children reading when it seems they have no interest in doing so.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

extra education Teaching Job Interview - What to Expect

Because a special education teacher's job requires far more than just teaching, administrators will seek candidates who are true specialists in the field. If you're hoping to be hired as a special ed teacher, you need to be an scholar at the art of adapting lessons, an active advocate for learner needs, a pro Iep writer, a wealth of facts on learner disabilities, and a dedicated individual who is 100% committed to doing anything it takes to help all students reach their fullest potential.

As with any teaching interview, I suggest you tip off yourself with potential questions beforehand. This will make the interview questions seem familiar so you'll be more comfortable answering them. You will be asked a series of general teaching questions as well as questions that specifically impart to special ed.

Below are a few thoughts on ways to be get ready for the special education questions that will be asked.

  1. Be ready to perceive and acknowledge to all of the jargon, acronyms, and special requirements of special education. You should know exactly how an Iep and/or Cse meeting is conducted. You need to speak and act as though you are very familiar with Iep meetings, Cse meetings, child study meetings and any other special education committees the school may have. Understand how least restrictive environment works. Know what services and support the school district does and does not offer.
  2. Be sure you understand and are able to talk about a wide range of disabilities. Familiarize yourself with Asperger's/autism, Adhd, emotional disorders, processing delays, speech disorders, corporeal handicaps, and every other base disability children may be classified with in the district.
  3. Emphasize your ability to work cooperatively with colleagues. Special education teachers are commonly required to work closely with and/or team teach with regular education teachers. They'll also be communicating commonly with special education administration, group workers or counselors, Pt/Ot teachers, and reserved supply teachers. There's a lot of specialized teamwork complicated in educating children with special needs. You need to understand your role in acting as an advocate for each of your students and in meeting their group and academic needs.
  4. Know how to utilize support staff. Oftentimes special education students will have teachers' aides or assistants. Be sure you know how to use the support staff in a pro way the benefits the student. You don't want the child to become dependent on a teacher's aide for doing uncomplicated tasks that he/she can accomplish himself. On the other hand, you want to be sure the learner is receiving the full support he/she needs.
  5. Be sure you're an scholar in differentiation. While all teachers should differentiate their lessons based on their students' needs, special education teachers need to be especially positive in their ability to adapt lessons to meet the very unique needs of their students. You naturally can't teach a idea and expect every child to be doing the same work, the same way. You need to individualize education so that it is presented in a way that all of your students can learn. You will not be able to look at the school's curriculum or instructional materials and use them as-is. You'll need to show that you can adapt your resources to meet the studying needs of your students.

Final thoughts: To corollary in a special education interview, you need to be able to talk-the-talk, understand how to be an advocate for special needs students, fully understand responsibilities connected with the job, and be willing to go above and beyond to meet the unique instructional needs of classified students.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Grammar Teaching: Implicit or Explicit?

Based on my 15 years of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching experience, the statement "grammar teaching should be implicit, not explicit" could be argued both for and against. Whether to teach grammar as an extracted focus of ELT (English Language Teaching) or more passively as an inductive, integral topic has been the theme of countless debates on the part of institutions, professors, grammarians and language researchers for decades. Grammar is the branch of linguistics dealing with the form and structure of words or morphology, and their interrelation in sentences, called syntax. The study of grammar reveals how language works, an important aspect in both English acquisition and learning.

In the early 20th century grammarians like the German-American anthropologist Franz Boas and the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen began to describe languages and Boas' work formed the basis of various types of American descriptive grammar study. Jespersen's work was the fore-runner of such current approaches to linguistic theory such as Noam Chomsky's Transformational Generative Grammar.

Chomsky, who studied structural linguistics, sought to analyze the syntax of English in a structural grammar. This led him to view grammar as a theory of language structure rather than a description of actual sentences. His idea of grammar is that it is a device for producing the structure, not of a particular language, but of the ability to produce and understand sentences in any and all languages. Since grammar is the means by which we can understand how a language "works", a definitive study of language grammar is essential to language study.

Strictly explicit grammar study however, and even grammar-focused lessons are often not communicatively based. They can therefore be boring, cumbersome and difficult for students to assimilate. The strict teaching of grammar / structure, except with students of the Logical - Mathematical or Verbal - Linguistic multiple intelligences, can be frustrating and highly ineffective.

Grammar teaching should be implicit

In the early 20th century, Jespersen, like Boas, thought grammar should be studied by examining living speech rather than by analyzing written documents. By providing grammar in context, in an implicit manner, we can expose students to substantial doses of grammar study without alienating them to the learning of English or other foreign language. I also agree with this implicit approach of teaching grammar. The principal manner in which I accomplish this is by teaching short grammar-based sessions immediately followed by additional function-based lessons in which the new grammar / structure is applied in context.

The hypothesis is that adult language students have two distinct ways of developing skills and knowledge in a second language, acquisition and learning. Acquiring a language is "picking it up", i.e., developing ability in a language by using it in natural, communicative situations. Learning language differs in that it is "knowing the rules" and having a conscious knowledge of grammar / structure. Adults acquire language, although usually not as easily or as well as children. Acquisition, however, is the most important means for gaining linguistic skills. A person's first language (L1) is primarily learned in this way. This manner of developing language skills typically employs implicit grammar teaching and learning.

Grammar teaching should be explicit

This does not exclude explicit grammar-teaching entirely, however. Some basic features of English language grammar structure are illogical or dissimilar to speakers of other languages and do not readily lend themselves to being well understood, even in context. In cases where features of English grammar are diametrically opposed or in some other way radically different from the manner of expression in the student's L1, explicit teaching may be required.

Aspects of English language grammar that may offer exceptional challenge to EFL students include use of word order, determiners (this, that, these, those, a, an, the), prepositions (in, on, at, by, for, from, of), auxiliaries (do, be, have), conjunctions (but, so, however, therefore, though, although), interrogatives, intensifiers (some, any, few, more, too) and distinctions between modal verbs (can, could, would, should, may, might, must). Phrasal verbs also present considerable difficulty to Spanish speakers learning communicative English.

Some students also are logical or linguistically-biased thinkers who respond well to structured presentation of new material. Logical-Mathematical and Verbal-Linguistic intelligence learners are prime examples of those that would respond well to explicit grammar teaching in many cases.

Based on my English language teaching and on my second and third foreign language learning (L2, L3) experience, an exclusive approach using either implicit or explicit methodologies is not as effective as utilizing one or the other of these approaches as required. Although it is essential to teach elements of language and develop communicative abilities in our students, there is no one best way to introduce and provide practice in them. Young learners have more natural facility in acquisition, while adults may benefit substantially from more "formal" language learning. Learning styles and intelligence strengths are also a significant factor.

There are many generally accepted ways of introducing the sounds, structure and vocabulary of English, including colloquial forms of conversation and the four basic communication skills. Grammar provides for "communicative economy". Grammar teaching should be implicit, or explicit, as teaching / learning conditions may dictate helping to minimize the student response teachers fear most, "Teacher, I don't understand."

Note: Academic references for this article are available on request.

Related language learning and teaching articles in this series available online include:

"Learning a Language: 6 Effective Ways to Use the Internet"
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=76453

"Six Quick Tricks for Learning a Language"
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=72718

"What's the Strangest Thing you've Ever Eaten?"
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=81349

"What Makes a Person Intelligent?"
http://EzineArticles.com/?id=81350

Teach English in Colombia: Grappling with Grammar, Gold, Guns, and Guayaba
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=85995

Try This for Perfecting Past Tense Pronunciation Practice
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=86780

7 Steps to Better Business English: Choosing a Business English Training Program
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=81697

English Only in the EFL Classroom: Worth the Hassle?
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=89180

Monday, January 16, 2012

Teaching over The Curriculum Involves All Subjects

Teaching across the curriculum is an increasingly favorite way of instructing students because it covers a variety of subjects in one part - which is why it is especially foremost in the career planning field as well. Let's say you have a high school learner who isn't quite sure what he or she wants to do for a career. Teaching across the curriculum involves all subjects in one main part topic and can genuinely help with that high school learner when he or she is planning a career for the future.

When an teacher teaches across the curriculum, he or she is incorporating all subjects into a part plan. That means that one part includes schooling in art, science, reading, math, English, and collective studies. Teaching across the curriculum allows a learner to be introduced to discrete ways to integrate learning into life and that includes career planning as he or she gets older.

Career planning cannot start early enough although we think that elementary students should genuinely be concentrating on something more along the lines of the next kick ball game on the playground while recess. However, in high school, career planning should genuinely begin in earnest, and when the policy includes teaching across the curriculum, that learner will be introduced to ways that all distinct subject areas in school can apply to a career choice.

More and more teachers have been learning how to teach across the curriculum. It is an perfect way to show students how distinct subjects apply to all aspects of life. In career planning decisions, knowing this facts is marvelous for making ready the learner for a jump into college and then the career world. That's why it's foremost for a teacher to teach across the curriculum - to help the learner in his or her career planning aspirations.

At the career planning center, you may find classes and seminars that implement teaching across the curriculum. That's because they know the value of introducing habitancy and students to the discrete ways that all subjects in schooling can be advantageous in roughly any career. After all, even art can be implemented into an accounting career. imagine the charm of a spreadsheet that is created in a publishing agenda that looks inviting to the eye. Right there, you have math incorporated with art!

Teaching across the curriculum in schools should and probably will continue. When it comes to career planning, teaching across the curriculum is a great way to help students pick a career they will love and will be able to consequent at.