Teach English in TiAnjin Lulu Gang Wuliu ZhuAngbei Chanyeyuan - Tianjin

Learning difficultiesI have chosen to produce a short paper, giving a brief outline of some of the most common Learning Difficulties teachers may encounter in their pupils. As stated in Unit 20 Task 2, I will seek opportunities to promote Professional Development with my colleagues and this paper will be utilized in some form. When we talk about Learning Difficulties we usually refer to those individuals who do not learn at the same pace as their peers. The DfEE (Department for Education and Employment 1997b 1:2) refers to ? ?a disability that hinders them from accessing the same facilities for learning as their peers.? I prefer to think of these individuals as ?differently able!? Teachers have a key role to play in their learning by differentiating all tasks to suit their learning styles. There are four main areas of Special Educational Needs: ? Cognition and Learning ? Behaviour, Emotional and Social Development ? Communication and Interaction ? Sensory and /or / Physical Impairment For the purposes of this paper I will focus on the first area of SEN Cognition and Learning Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD or Dyslexia) is neurologically based and causes problems with managing verbal codes in memory. This hinders the learning of literacy skills and can affect other symbolic systems such as musical notation, other language symbols and mathematics (Dyscalculia). The typical signs that individuals may show: ? Poor reading skills ? Poor letter/word recognition ? Poor memory/ recall ? Difficulty in copying script ? Confusion over left and right ? Poor organizational skills ? Difficulty sequencing ? Lack of concentration ? Easily frustrated with tasks ? Be untidy ? Show better oral than written skills ? Reverse letters/words ? Find spelling difficult ? Find handwriting effortful There are strategies to help: ? Break down the tasks ? Use symbols, pictures, colour codes as aids ? Repeat instructions ? ?check in? regularly throughout tasks ? Praise all achievements ? Give extra time for practical activities ? Provide breaks, do Brain gym ? Use support materials e.g. writing frames-trawl the internet for resources ? Use grids, mind maps, brainstorms, model answers, scaffold responses ? Use visual aids ? Play memory games ? Provide scribes, readers, IT, video to help in examinations The lists are not exhaustive and teachers learn to be creative when employing them. The second area of SEN within Cognition and Learning is a difficulty with numbers. This is often referred to as Dyscalculia. The pupil may: ? Not recognize mathematical signs and symbols ? Confuse left and right ? Need apparatus to understand abstract concepts ? Have difficulty learning tables ? Reverse and transpose numbers ? Find sequencing difficult ? Experience confusion with money ? Have difficulty telling time ? Not know the names of shapes ? Have difficulty setting out calculations ? Be unable to self start problem solving What can we do to help? ? Give signs and symbol cards ? Learn tables as songs ? Provide support materials ? Use number squares, counters, tables, number lines, calculators ? Break work into short achievable tasks ? Allow pupils to use their own ?how to? methods ? Encourage talking about solving problems Since the early 1990?s a number of Educational White and Green papers have been issued by various Education bodies in the UK. Following the introduction of ?The Code of Practice? (DfEE 1994) by far the best has been, ?Excellence for All Children? (DfEE 1997) and this has had a marked influence on the work done in schools by SEN teachers. Clear guidelines regarding the observation, identification and assessment of SEN pupils have been instrumental in schools formulating SEN policies and Practices to support pupils with Learning Difficulties.