In my PDS, I have learned many things about the relationship with my students and their learning. I am in an 11th and 12th grade Special Education classroom. I have learned that at times during a lesson it is difficult to keep the students focused and engaged in the lesson. These students are easily distracted by the slightest interruption. To help keep these students engaged, my mentor teacher often makes the learning activity into a game or has the students out of their seats interacting with the lesson. She does this by having them work through problems on the board or have the student enter their answers on the computer as they figure them out. When working one-on-one with these students, I have found that positive reinforcement and positive feedback during each step in instruction is a key element for their learning and success for that particular lesson. One student I worked with would get discouraged at his slightest mistake when trying to work out a math problem. He demonstrated learned helplessness where his actions would ultimately lead to failure. I countered his discouragement with positive feedback. The student wanted to learn and put forth effort but needed lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement.
Most of the students in my classroom had difficulty learning the concepts or facts on the first lesson. These students seemed to learn best by visualizing the information and then hearing my mentor teacher repeat the material. My mentor teacher was very good at reviewing with her students. Her reviews were not just for a couple of days like in most classrooms, but weeks, even months through the semester.
I have found that students in the Special Education classroom are more relaxed, confident, and interactive with this type of setting. In the collaborative setting the students seemed to be less confident, reserved, and quite with the fear of perhaps being made fun. The Special Education classroom allows the students to interact with only Special Education peers creating a more comfortable environment which allows them to want to be more out-going and interactive with the classroom activities.
Jessica, have you had any students that were unmotivated to learn? How did you get these students motivated? What were the most effective learning techniques your students displayed?
