Somebody Else's Kids Paper
One of the major themes of our MAT program thus far has been accommodating the needs of various learners. It is clear that in any given classroom we will have students that differ in terms of socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, ability, skills, interests, and learning styles, among many other factors. To help these students reach their fullest potential, there are teaching and curriculum adjustments we can make that are supported by research and professionals. Arguably the most important first step to meeting the unique needs of each of our students is getting to know them as learners. Powell and Kusuma-Powell (2011) recommend that teachers develop learning profiles in order to help them succeed in learning about their students. These profiles are gradually developed and include information regarding biological traits, cultural and societal factors, emotional and social influences, academic performance, and learning preferences. Disabilities possessed by our students are included under biological traits. While many student differences can be accommodated by incorporating variety into our instruction, teaching students with disabilities requires extra preparation and involvement.
Torey Hayden’s novel Somebody Else’s Kids (pictured below) describes her experiences working with students in a special education resource room. As a future educator who has never worked with students with disabilities, reading about her experiences was a fascinating way to learn how an expert might deal with the challenges encountered in the classroom. These skills are important to develop because principles of inclusion and education in the least restrictive environment mean that general education teachers such as myself will certainly have students with disabilities in their classrooms. Therefore, a useful way to prepare for educating exceptional learners may be generating lesson plans and strategies that detail the accommodations,
drawbacks, and potential issues that may arise from educating an exceptional learner. The student in Hayden’s novel that I was most interested in was Lori Sjokheim.
Lori was a seven year old first grade student who spent part of every school day in Torey’s class. When she was quite young, Lori was physically abused by her biological father. One particularly violent beating left her with a fractured skull and brain lesions that drastically affected her ability to learn. Consequently, Lori was a bit hyperactive and struggled to learn across the board due to a processing disorder, but her major academic struggle came with literacy. Lori could neither read nor write, and even struggled to learn the meaning of symbols, such as the symbols that allow one to read a clock. Despite this, Lori was still able to learn math and science, as long as information was presented orally or with manipulatives. She possessed incredible emotional intelligence, and only withdrew from her normal education classroom when she was shamed for not being able to read.
If Lori was a student in one of my classes, there are a number of accommodations I could make to allow her to be educated amongst her peers and succeed academically. The obvious accommodation would be to present course material in an alternate form that does not require reading. In science classes, lots of the information students are expected to learn comes from written text. Whether they are reading an article, textbook, or PowerPoint presentation, students use literacy as the primary method of receiving information. To work around this challenge, I could present instructions and information orally instead. This is a strategy Torey uses in Somebody Else’s Kids. When she held off on teaching Lori to read and instead focused on her strengths, Torey designated Lori’s classmate, Tomaso, as her designated reader; he read all her instructions and information out loud to her. This practice could be done for many short readings in my hypothetical classroom. Additionally, PowerPoint presentations are usually accompanied by lectures and textbooks sometimes have audiobook versions that would allow Lori to learn the content without necessarily reading it. Instructions on assignments would also be presented orally, but a written copy could be given to Lori as well so her parents or sister could read them to her at home. If a recording device is available for Lori to use, she could record and store audio files of all her notes and assignments to be referenced later.
Similarly, information can be presented to Lori using videos from a source such as YouTube. This method is recommended by the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) for students who read below expected levels (LDA, 2017). As much as I love reading to learn information, sometimes it can be easier to learn from a video that uses visuals to add additional meaning. As a student, many classes I’ve taken have used both written text and videos to appeal to learners that have different learning style preferences. Lori would perhaps be more reliant on videos and audio than most of her classmates, but supplementing traditional texts with videos could potentially be beneficial for both Lori and her classmates.
The last accommodation of process that Lori would likely benefit from is a hands-on approach involving discovery learning and experiments. These activities are crucial in every science classroom, but would undoubtedly be more important to use with Lori. Hayden notes in Somebody Else’s Kids that after she abandoned reading in her classroom, Lori’s fascination with science allowed her to continue learning through experiments and science projects. When the point of an experiment was explained to Lori, she was able to conduct the process with minimal help. She also used an instruction book that relied less on text and more on illustrations to show her how to set up certain experiments. Coupled with group work, these experiments and projects would allow Lori to construct her own understanding of science despite lacking literacy skills. If the students in my class were conducting an experiment, for instance, I would ensure that all instructions are given both with written text and images, allowing Lori to follow the procedure using the visuals (see example image below). For those instructions that cannot be depicted visually, having her work with her classmates allows them to read aloud to her and assist her in whatever way necessary. Utilizing grouping strategies would also provide me as the teacher with extra time to assist Lori and other struggling learners while their peers continue working independently.
Accommodating assessments for Lori, in my opinion, would be much easier than accommodating the way information is presented. For written examinations and short answer questions on worksheets, Lori could give her responses orally and/or be provided with a designated writer to record her responses. Lori possesses the intelligence to answer science related questions, she simply cannot show that understanding if she is asked to write her answers. Furthermore, alternative assessments could be used to provide Lori with different ways of expressing her understanding. Alternative assessments such as projects, speeches, videos, or skits are great to incorporate into class anyways, because they contribute to skill development and appeal to various learning styles. For Lori, these assessments would allow her to demonstrate what she’s learned in a way that is authentic to her. For example, I spent a lot of time looking online for alternative assessments that could be used after students learn about cellular respiration, photosynthesis, and how they are related through the carbon cycle. I found a great resource (https://west.madison.k12.wi.us/files/west/carboncycleproject.pdf) that provides students with choices according to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. While some students might want to write a story about the travels of a carbon atom, Lori could perform a skit, invent a game, or record a video that covers the same information without reading or writing. As long as the assignment rubric is general enough to be used consistently across each mode, the choices provided will help Lori assimilate nicely.
A final accommodation that may be necessary for Lori is additional time on certain assignments and assessments. Even if we can avoid reading and writing all together in the classroom, Lori still possesses a processing disorder that slows down her thinking compared to her peers. For assessments, this can be accommodated by allotting extra time for Lori to complete tests or work on projects. Giving Lori extra time may prove trickier for other areas of her coursework, but careful planning can be used to guarantee that Lori won’t fall behind her peers. For example, Lori could spend her free period once per week working with me on her studies. These recommended accommodations, including providing audio tapes, appointing a designated reader, presenting instructions and allowing for responses orally, and extending times for assessments are recommended by the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLB, 2006).
The curriculum accommodations identified above would ideally improve Lori’s ability to learn with her peers in a normal education classroom; however, these strategies aren’t without potential drawbacks and issues for both the students and the teacher. First, presenting information orally or through video may work in the short term, but it may make it difficult for Lori to study. When students take notes or are given a text to read, they can always look back at the text to answer questions and study for assessments. Lori will be unable to do so unless she has a classmate, teacher, or aide reread the material aloud to her. That puts a lot of pressure on Lori’s designated reader(s), and would challenge Lori immensely. A potential solution I hinted at previously could involve Lori using a recording device to capture audio that can be replayed to her through headphones. Almost all smartphones and laptops have microphones that allow audio to be recorded and stored. This could allow Lori to relisten to certain lectures or instructions as many times as necessary to learn the information. It would definitely be difficult to organize and store all of the audio files, but with a little effort, I think Lori and I could overcome that challenge.
A drawback for me as the teacher involves using consistent rubrics for Lori’s assessments. It wouldn’t be completely fair to Lori or her classmates is she was given the same assignment as her peers but was graded on a different scale due to her disability. That would technically make the adjustments to the curriculum modifications rather than accommodations, which changes the assumptions that can be made about Lori’s understanding. On the other hand, writing rubrics that are general enough to be used for many different alternative assessments would be a huge challenge, and these rubrics could border on being vague, which could be frustrating for Lori’s classmates. Regardless, careful planning on my part is needed to make assignments appropriate for Lori, and I am comfortable in my ability to use alternative assessments with sound rubrics. The carbon cycle assessment mentioned above, for example, provides a great example of a rubric that is flexible enough to be used for many different types of projects.
For written tests, Lori will need a designated reader/writer. Her receiving instructions and giving answers orally might be a distraction to her peers, so she will likely have to be moved to another room to complete her work alone. If that accommodation is possible, however, it will definitely prove helpful. Lastly, Lori will need extra time on tests, which would potentially cut into other class time. If Lori has a free period during the day, perhaps she could use some of that extra time to work on written tests and other assignments. All factors considered, however, using her free period as time for extra help is a relatively minor drawback for Lori and me.
The biggest issue for Lori herself aside from the ones I mentioned previously would be how reliant she is on others for her learning. Students should become more successful independent learners as they grow, but Lori would be completely dependent on her classmates or her peers to read her information and material, record her responses, and organize her work. Consequently, the class might become too reliant on group work, and Lori might have trouble with homework and independent projects. Furthermore, Lori also has difficulty processing information, and will need more time for assignments in general. That puts an extra stress on group work. What happens if Lori doesn’t keep up and falls behind her group? What about if Lori falls behind the class as a whole? Lori’s education plan would fail if she is unable to integrate into a classroom of her peers. That puts pressure on both her and her teacher to make things work. Based on what I’ve read about Lori, however, I think she would be able to manage with the accommodations I outlined above. She was a bright student who displayed willingness to work hard and use creative means to access material. With her positive attitude, and the careful planning of an IEP team, Lori would succeed in my classroom. An introductory science class tends to focus on concepts and trends anyways, so Lori’s extra reliance on videos, alternative assessments, and experiments shouldn’t detract from her education.
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