Leda Velychko-SimpsonTammy OrtynskiWinn Braun

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Equality and Diversity for All:A Resource for Educators

Needless Suffering

“Children who experience too much failure too early in life are

exquisitely vulnerable to a wide range of complications”

Mel Levine, Educational Care, 2001

Unrecognized and untreated problems can be prone to…..

Behavioural problems

&

Emotional difficulties

Frustrated

Overwhelmed

Wondering what to do

Asking Why/How

Running to the resource teacher for

suggestions

Solution...

Who is this?

Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School in Chapel Hill

Pediatrician, Researcher & Learning Disability Expert

Work has been a foundation in teacher training programs for decades

co-founder of the non-profit organization All Kinds of Minds promotes research in practice in teaching children with learning disorders through information and professional development programs

He is an author – some of his published works include; A Mind at a Time, The Myth of Laziness and Ready or Not, Here Life Comes

based on clinical, educational and research experience

Favors informed observation and description over labeling

Takes into account the great heterogeneity of children with disappointing school performance

Strong emphasis on identifying and using the innate strengths of children

Recognizes both that children’s brains change over time & that the school changes over time in terms of the level and complexity of demands placed on children

Academic Skills

Academic Subskills

Neurodevelopmental Functions

Reading

Writing

Math

Enables a student to possess the needed academic skill

word decoding and comprehension are subskills of the academic skill of reading letter formation, spelling, mechanics, use of language on paper, generation of thoughts during writing, organization of ideas are all subskills of writing never ending inflow of new subskills in math

• Basic brain process needed for effective performance

• help a student spell accurately

• an aspect of motor function required for legible letter formation

Which subskills are weak and not doing their share?

Which of the neurodevelopment functions needed for those Subskills are deficient?

Manifestation of one or more neurodevelopmental dysfunctions (gaps, delays, variations in the way a child’s brain is developing)

There are many causes for the above including chemical/metabolic Abnormalities, uneven brain growth, lack of appropriately dense nerve

connections in specific regions of the brain, unusual patterns in the bloodcirculation in the brain.

Simply, there is no exact cause that can be defined. What can be said for sure is that we are certain that the dysfunctions themselves have the potential to interfere with learning, productive work output

and with behaviour in school.

To help teachers help their students be successful we decided to research

Dr. Mel Levine’s framework further in order to create a working document where

we wanted to emphasize to teachers to accurately recognize and understand

the problems of the child in front of them and to supply them with different ways

to manage the child within the classroom.

What is the framework?

Neuromotor

Function

Spatial Ordering

Social Cognition

Memory

Higher Order

Cognition

SequentialOrdering

Language

AttentionControls

TheNeurodevelopmen

talConstructs

Handbook Sections

All created with the same headings within each section

Offers teachers an easy to follow method for looking up needed information

Includes individual support for teachers within each of Mel Levine’s 8 framework parts

Definition –Gives an explanation of the section topic

Outlines the subsections or sub skills within the

topic

What is __________?

What to watch for–Outlines and lists “red flags” or concerns for

teachers to watch for

Each subsection will have their own varying lists of

concerns

Acts as a guideline for teachers when observing

their students

Recommended teaching strategies

Strategies for teachers to apply within their classroom to help with student concerns

Range of ideas that are practical and can be easily implemented

Additional areas for others to add ideas as it is meant to be an ongoing

collaborative document

Case Study

Grade 5 boy – Chase Smith

reads slowly and with limited comprehension

letter formation is weak making printing laborious

is disorganized / forgetful – often loses homework, forgets to turn in hot lunch money, field trip notices, etc.

Human beings differ with their gifts and talents.

To teach them, you have to start where they are.

Yuezheng in 4th century B.C.

What to watch for–

Memorizes, but can’t generalize learning

Difficulty making connections

Decodes, but doesn’t comprehendCan’t “read between the lines” – unable

to make inferences

Weak problem solving skills

Higher Order Cognition

What to watch for–

Approaches tasks in illogical order (e.g. glues before cuts)

has difficulty “keeping track of belongings” Unable to follow multi-step directions Poor time management Stories do not follow a logical sequence Has difficulty with sequential mathematics – e.g.

counting, understanding more and less, etc. Words are spelled with correct letters, but

incorrect order

Temporal and Sequential Ordering

What to watch for–

lazy, unmotivated and / or oppositional often does not complete writing task or it takes

considerably longer than other students frequently engages in avoidance behaviours –

frequent washroom breaks, often asks to go to the bathroom, needs to sharpen pencil , needs a Kleenex from backpack

sits and stares Even disrupts the class

Graphomotor

Recommended teaching strategies / activities –

model strategies, ask student to reflect on how effective the strategies he used wereguided reading

use Handwriting Without Tears / Co-Writer

encourage the parents and student to designate a specific place at home for backpack, homework, etc.

. . . students must understand whether they understand. So they should cultivate the habit of comprehension monitoring – (Do I really get this? If not, where is my breakdown in understanding occurring?).

Mel Levine Educational Leadership (2007)

“Appreciating learning differences is the first step.

Celebrating the differences is the goal.”

Levine (1999)

“I always tell people that from the moment a kid gets up in the morning until he goes to sleep at night, the central mission of the day is to avoid humiliation at all costs.”

- Dr. Mel Levine