Maximizing Success In The Academically Diverse Classroom For Children With Low Vision Essay.

Do they respond to diverse needs?

Are children with low vision adapted to the visual environment in classrooms of mainstream schools?

Why Use Multiple Representations in the Mathematics Classroom?

How Do You Intentionally Design to Maximize Success in the Academically Diverse Classroom?

Becky’s needs include but not limited to the following:

Becky has a vision impairment. She is legally blind and has moderate learning challenges. Her vision is stable and is measured as 10/200 in each eye. Her visual deficits were caused by accidental hypoxia (reduction of oxygen in body tissues below physiologic levels) due to smoke inhalation from a fire in the home. She is a friendly and motivated student. She receives Orientation & Mobility services from a consultant who works within the building and the nearby community. She is currently using a closed circuit TV to read print. All information must be enlarged for her to use. She also uses talking books. A focusable telescope was offered but she is not interested in using it. In a recent assessment, her IQ was assessed at 83. Becky’s teacher is wondering which of the curriculum outcomes will be appropriate for her and which will need to be modified.

• Developing skills for reading
• Seating in a strategic position so that she can see the teacher, or the whiteboards.
• Wearing glasses, using magnifiers, or even using additional lighting for classwork
• Need large printouts or audio materials for reading
• Voice stimulated laptops or other technology for assisting
• Additional time finish assigned assignments
• Sometimes miss classes to see the consultant to receive orientation and mobility

In order to meet Becky’s needs and develop her reading skills and all other aforementioned challenges, I will use approaches which are based on class settings as well as the quality coaching in addition to worldwide design for learning contexts. These contexts emphasis the classroom setting, plain coaching and various management, and expression representation (Ganesh and Narendran, K., 2018, p. 5). The teacher should also include teaching using tangible and uniting experiences as well as learning through doing. There exists various tools which can help Becky together with other pupils with visual problems to achieve the learning objectives. Expertise can drastically modify the ability of learning among pupils particularly those with visual problems in order to overcome the challenges they face on a daily basis. (Ibrahim et al., 2016, p. 10). In all the frameworks applied here, technology and appropriate policies which will be able to give room and adjust the teaching methods so as to meet the pupils’ learning needs.

Interacting with models does not equal the interaction on can have with a real article or thing, especially if the pupils have not had a direct contact with the item. This remains quite true amongst all pupils especially those who have visual problems. For instance, frolicking using a plastic doll means nothing for blind pupil before they touch, smell, has the doll and has had an opportunity to interact with it. It’s quite essential to provide contact with real items initially and then resolve if the pupil can connect the knowledge to the models they have already interacted with (Simon et al., 2010, p. 565). The teacher should never assume that the pupil is familiar with even common items and things. A good illustration is where the pupil’s family possess a car, however the pupil might not have interacted with any vehicles. In such a scenario, it is best to converse with the pupil concerning the similarities and disparities through actual contacts with an assortment of cars (Alice, 2017)

Tangible Experiences

Pupils who have visual deficiencies should directly participate in every aspect the duties and chores on a daily basis so that they can better apprehend the domain. This will help understand where things are stored, the procedure involved in food preparation, completing errands in addition to other everyday schedules. Participation in these recurring sequences will stimulate independence and reduce the pupil's reliance on other people (Simon et al., 2010, p. 565).

Good meaning persons in order to show compassion and kindness, sometimes may generate learning vulnerability in pupils with visual impairment. For instance, coats mysteriously get hanged up, food miraculously is put on the table and the utensils cleared once they finish eating, while playing dolls dropped or thrown away mystically resurface (Avornyo, 2017, p. 58). That is “A Noble Pixey Syndrome” which should be replaced by the need of being part and parcel of the activity in order to be autonomous. Here the teacher should prevent the learning vulnerability for Becky through giving her some duties and responsibilities.

The teacher can grow this level of independence by encouraging Becky to carry out tasks on their own where possible. The teacher ought to allow Becky to walk around her accustomed classroom and get information or materials as well as to be liable for her personal items. If the teacher is instructing the class on a procedure involving a number of steps, the teacher should ensure that all pupils including Becky take part in every step from the start till the finish of the procedure. Here, if Becky only finishes just some steps, she will definitely be uninformed concerning the other procedures other students have finished. The soonest possible, the teacher should let Becky go through the task individually so that she does not become highly reliant on other pupil in doing other related tasks (Habulezi et al., 2016, p. 8).

In case Becky is not able to take part fully on her own, the teacher should explore other ways in which Becky can be aided through the task, in order to allow her finish the phases that she is able to do on her own. Progressively the teacher should dwindle aid until Becky becomes sovereign. The teacher should gently take Becky through the action so that she understands what is projected from the activity. These recurring natural experiences and opportunities will aid Becky make relations. Autonomy and responsibility are significant aspects to help Becky attain her topmost potential (DiDonato, 2012, p. 30).

Study through undertaking the activities

The other indispensable skill Becky ought to learn is problem resolving. In case Becky requires various sorts of assistance, the teacher should show her alternative methods of handling circumstance, instead of automatically offering the aid. The teacher needs to challenge Becky to come up with other options and reinforce her when she gives a resolve. It is quite important to never do a task for Becky which she can comfortably do on her own (Newman, 2012, p. 21).

Considered, pertinent and decisive lesson preparation is vital for all pupils. The teacher should purposely incorporate concept expansion into all lessons strategies. Majority of the concepts ought to be directly imparted through teaching without any assumptions that Becky can learn the skills on her won or by passively listening to the teacher. The teacher should strategize the lessons in such a way that Becky gets challenged and can participate at the levels they are comfortable (Haakma et al., 2017, p. 262). The teacher should develop learning events in a way that accommodates the variations in interest and ability of the pupils. They should also integrate assignment analysis, regressive chaining, motoring, modeling, illustrations, applying schedules and reinforcement. So as to remember what every pupil is handling, the teacher should make diagrams that show articles from every pupil’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP). These should be displayed on classroom walls and the facilitator should identify each pupil not by name but rather by use of a shape, colour or other unique codes (Haakma et al., p. 317).

The teacher should employ efficient teaching methods to transmit knowledge to the pupils because teaching is an intricate contact between the instructor and the pupil. Thus, a paradigm modification is needed from traditional, non-participatory training to modern training which encompasses a contact between a tutor and a pupil, where diverse requirements of learners are taken into consideration. Nevertheless, conducting lessons in classes for instance where Becky and other pupils who are differently abled is quite hard, because this type of teaching requires to be further personalized in comparison to standard classrooms, (Peters, 2003).

Additionally, it is quite clear that, the level of visual capacities differs amongst the pupils which leads to disparities in learning requirements and learning approaches for pupils, for instance, in the case of Becky, she has stable vision in both eyes and has a value of 10/200 in both eyes (Salisbury, 2008, p. 38). The level of severity of the impairment determines the degree of comprehension on how the globe is structured, and how one can act upon it. Consequently, pupils with eye problems like Becky need distinctive techniques to address their learning complications (Haakma et al., 2016, p. 318).

Uniting experiences

Thus, it is indispensable that trainers appreciate this need in order to prearrange teaching methods to apply for operational training (Salisbury, 2008, p. 26). The teacher should provide support to Becky through using various sensory incentives, for instance smells, sounds, shapes and textures, in order to assist Becky build an image of the globe. Various studies demonstrate that, outstanding tutors are able to include pupils with varied education requirements. Subsequently, inclusive learning calls on adaptive training, an outstanding tutor is the person to make consideration for these adjustments for Becky’s learning (Haakma et al., 2018, p. 71). These adaptations and modifications of training and learning settings, training approaches together with other valuable practices employed to normal sighted learners may also be employed to pupils with eye problems such as Becky (Spungin, 2002, ).

The main objective of UDL is to apply various methods of coaching to eliminate any obstacles to education and offer every pupil an equal chance to progress well in learning. It concerns construction of plasticity which may be attuned for needs and strengths of all pupils (Black et al., 2015, p. 15). UDL remains as a context for developing lesson assessments and plans based on some principles as illustrated below:

• Involvement: UDL will inspire the instructor to seek various ways of motivating pupils including the visually impaired like Becky. The teacher should let the pupils decide on their choices as well as give them tasks which are applicable in their day to day lives. This will help the teacher to keep students interested in learning. The teacher should also bring in the aspect of skill building for instance games and allow the pupils to about in the classroom (Black et al., 2015, p. 15).
• Activities for expression: UDL proposes giving pupils multiple ways of interacting with learning objects in order to demonstrate the things they have learnt. For instance, pupils may be given the opportunity to decide if they wish to do individual tests, group projects or oral presentation.
• Representation: UDL endorses providing the learning materials using various formats. For instance, books and texts are chiefly visual. In order to cater for Becky, the teacher may also provide videos, audio materials in addition to hands-on education. This will give every pupil an opportunity to get the learning materials in ways appropriate and suitable their educational strengths (Dreher, et al., 2016, p. 368).

Various ways of representation emphasize on presentation of learning materials using different methods. This includes audio, written, visual, physical etc. Demonstrating the content in various methods is significant since it considers each pupil’s discrete inclinations and variations (Dreher, et al., 2016, p. 372). When displaying information for Becky, although she is using a closed circuit TV to read, she will give the best performance by talking materials. During the development of Becky’s material for learning it would be very good to incorporate materials of talking and listening (D’Andrea and Siu, 2015, p. 120). This is chosen since it will work to her strong points and may be achieved via talking toys. This will help Becky to develop her literacy abilities because she can improve them through the hearing sense. The teaching modification may be applied for all pupils through adjusting the manner in which the information is presented in order to meet the various needs of the pupils. The teacher will achieve this modification by technology in coaching.

Manifold ways of expression emphasize on the methods of acquiring information. It is quite indispensable for pupils to be able to express the knowledge they have gained at their own individual levels. For instance, requiring pupils to demonstrate their knowledge of management of solid waste through writing an essay will be a hindrance to pupils like Becky since she has visual impairment (Kisanga and Richards, 2018, p. 914). By use of technology such as dictation and transcription software, they can record the pupils’ voices and type everything the pupils speak out and therefore, Becky and other pupils who are abled differently are not disadvantaged. If the teacher analyses critically how pupils demonstrate their understanding and open the outlook to various approaches, it will allow all pupils prosper academically since they will able to focus on their strengths as they improve on their weaknesses (Chandler et al., 2017, p. 155). Providing the pupils with various means to express themselves will give them diverse choices govern their learning which improves their self-governance (Ormrod, 2016, p. ). This enable the pupils who have some problems of conflict resolution to improve on that area. The teacher can achieve the expression for the pupil through giving the pupils a range of assignments from which the pupils are allowed to choose from. Every week the tasks given should be different which will greatly enable the pupils to improve their expression.

Adaptive Instructing Methods

Various methods of engagement emphasize on the reasons for learning. Engaging pupils in education may be achieved by employing pertinent learning goals which directly relate to the pupil’s life as well as generating a supportive learning background by use of appropriate technology. This allows the pupils to link what they have been taught to their daily lives in different contexts as well as in their future lives (Chandler et al., 2017 p. 153). Emphasis on the explanations on the topics being taught makes all the pupils to appreciate the course supporting the rationality instead of the rules being passed on them and therefore, the pupils can readily put the knowledge gained in applications in different situations. This becomes the objective towards all the pupils especially those who are abled differently particularly Becky. Applying the UDL context, accommodation, teaching modification as well as education for all pupils are approaches based in a classroom which will effectively meet the requirements of all pupils. This is achievable since UDL context underscores on individual choices and considers all pupils and their preferences in manner of education.

Conclusion

This article has concentrated more on various modifications and technology in teaching the pupils who are abled differently. These aspects if applied appropriately in the classroom will allow Becky’s and other pupils’ needs to be met adequately. Using tangible experiences, studying through actual undertaking of the activities, use of uniting experiences as well as the application of universal design for learning structures have emphasized the significance of the modification and accommodation the teacher will make when teaching and the ways in which they able to stimulate an inclusive class. All these aspects should be integrated in all the lessons. This will guarantee that Becky together with other pupils who are abled differently are not left out during the lessons.

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