A colleague of mine asked me for some activities that I once used in my presentations to help participants understand about learning disabilities. Her request caused me to dig into materials that I had used long ago and had set aside. Consequently, I realized that as we evolve in our ‘instruction’ we sometimes cast aside some good material.

 I’m including a couple activities that address how it ‘feels’ to have a learning disability here with this post. I did not create these activities so I will not take credit for them. I also found a link to a website that that provides analogies to help address this issue.

The Numbers Game Activity Instruction

The Numbers Game Handout

A Handout Developed by a Person with Dyslexia

 This website page has several analogies to help people understand what it’s like to be dyslexic: http://www.understandingdyslexia.co.uk/guide.asp.

Enjoy!

Well, I’ve been in Texas for the past eight days and picked up some great tips from teachers in my audience. I’d like to share…

Today, I was in Dallas and had a delightful audience of motivating teachers. One participant, Grace Beckham, gave me a song that she uses to teach her students the 7 continents:

 To learn the 7 continents:

Think of the letter A

And when you’re down to only one

Then E will save the day!

There’s Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Asia, too.

The oceans run between them with

Their waters deep and blue

There’s Also 2 Americans

North and South you see

And now we’re coming to the end

And Europe starts with E!

Thanks Grace from Dallas ISD!

Another teacher told me about “The Writing Academy” @ www.TWA.net. It’s a system for writing that uses color and all the wonderful brain research. She raved about how well it worked with her students.

 Jay Yost told me that he cuts his individual white boards in the shape of a paddle. He says the kids like them and find them easier to hold when they raise them up! What a great idea!

http://www.hahntech.com/ has a great PowerPoint Timer (Big Time) that you can download for free. For other options, go to my website at www.aimhieducational.com/inclusion.aspx and click on Presentation Resources and Timers for two other freebie timers. Why use timers? Because using VISUAL timers in the classroom:

1. Helps kids to learn to manage their time by “seeing” time.

2. Gets kids used to being timed so they don’t tense and freeze on a “timed” test.

3. Can be used as a motivator. Give students 1-3 minutes to accomplish a task and have them beat the clock.

4. Helps the teacher manage time. So often we give the class X minutes to do something and the next thing we know it, X++ time has gone by. Assign a student to watch the time and tell you if you miss seeing it when the time is up. This way you’ll stay on track and the student will feel good about having such an important job!

Dinah Joest and Geri Stopper have a unique way of alleviating test anxiety: To make content mastery more welcoming and ease anxiety on Fridays (test day) they sing to the students (Old songs, pop songs, silly songs) The 9th graders enjoy their “letting their hair down” and often ask their teachers to sing on other days. They are American Idol Bound!

Well, I’m off to work with a school district in North Carolina. I’ve been working with the district for well over a year and it’s exciting to see how they are making inclusion work!

I was doing some research today on ‘online resources” for ready-made mnemonic devices for my March newsletter. I found more than 12 and my artcles tend to be “Twelve ways to…” articles. So, I’m going to post the ‘extra’ links here in hopes that you will find them useful. Enjoy!

http://studynow.com/mnemonics/

http://itc.gsu.edu/academymodules/a304/support/xpages/a304b0_20600.html

http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/Mnemonics.asp

http://www.learningassistance.com/2006/january/mnemonics.html

http://www.fun-with-words.com/mnem_example.html

http://www.audiblox2000.com/learning_disabilities/arconyms.htm

http://www.audiblox2000.com/learning_disabilities/arcostics.htm

http://www.audiblox2000.com/learning_disabilities/spelling-mnemonics.htm

http://ahsmail.uwaterloo.ca/kin356/mnemonic/Examples%20of%20Mnemonic%20Devices.htm

http://712educators.about.com/od/creativethinking/tp/mnemonics.htm

http://www.mnemonic-device.eu/mnemonics/

http://www.mindtools.com/memory.html