Category: Special Needs

Increasing Success for ALL Students
By Categories: ADD/ADHD, Body and Brain, Differentiating Instruction, Educators, Learning, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs Leave a comment

Strategies for changing or maintaining the students’ level of alertness and attentiveness There will be times when your students are starting to drift off or glaze over but you need their attention for a few more minutes before the bell rings. Or they come in all wound up and you need them to settle down…

Your Personal Learning Preferences
By Categories: Differentiating Instruction, Educators, Learning, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs Leave a comment

A brief self-assessment As a part of many of my presentations (including nearly all full-day seminars and keynotes that address different ways people learn), I poll the audience to give participants a sense of differences that exist within the group. Even with small groups, the responses tend to be all over the map. Because I…

10 Myths About Autism
By Categories: Learning, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs Leave a comment

Sorting it all out 1. Autism is one disorder. Autism Spectrum Disorders include Asperger Syndrome, Rett Syndrome, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. 2. Children with Autism have a hidden or exceptional talent. Children with Autism have unique strengths and occasionally exhibit savant behaviors, though the latter are not typical in…

Myers-Briggs Scales and Categories
By Categories: Differentiating Instruction, Educators, General Interest, Learning, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs Leave a comment

Personality inventory scales and categories The Myers-Briggs assesses where we place on the following four scales: E<——————>I Extrovert<——————–>Introvert N<——————>S Intuiting<———————–>Sensing T<——————>F Thinking<———————–>Feeling J<——————>P Judging<———————->Perceiving (Finish Oriented)<———–>(Process Oriented) The four scales above allow for a possible 16 combinations with variations within any one category depending on the placement or strength in any one scale. David Kiersey’s…

Myers-Briggs Personality Types
By Categories: Body and Brain, Differentiating Instruction, Educators, Learning, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs Leave a comment

Descriptions of personality inventory categories Overview of David Kiersey’s four temperament groups, based on the 16 Myers-Briggs categories (which is only one of over 200 “quadrant models”). Note that people in each group share certain similarities in their reality and their approach to the world, and that the people in one group operate from a…

Multiple Intelligences
By Categories: Body and Brain, Differentiating Instruction, Educators, Learning, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs Leave a comment

Many ways to be smart Here is a very brief overview of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences, or different ways of being “smart.” Linguistic Skill with words; using language, expressing with words, either written or spoken, and understanding what is said or written. Related skills might include storytelling, memorizing, writing, discussing, debating, journaling, oration and reading….

Ways to Reach More Students
By Categories: Body and Brain, Differentiating Instruction, Educators, Emotionally safe schools, Homework, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs Leave a comment

Accommodating a variety of learners While these tips were originally developed with regard to classroom environments, they are also relevant to parents (think about how and where kids do homework), and apply to learners of all ages. • Build on student strengths; teach to a variety of intelligences and abilities • Respect different types of…

Working with Different Modality Strengths and Limitations
By Categories: ADD/ADHD, Body and Brain, Differentiating Instruction, Educators, Learning, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs, Teaching Leave a comment

Characteristics and strategies Individuals of all ages tend to learn better when presented with new information in a way that makes sense to their brain and nervous system. Here is some information to help learners of different abilities. Appreciating and accommodating these differences whenever possible can reduce a great deal of stress for everyone concerned— teachers,…

The “Ideal” Student
By Categories: ADD/ADHD, Body and Brain, Counselors, Educators, Learning, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs, Teaching, Teaching 1 Comment

The students we were taught to teach Traditional classrooms tend to favor students with the following characteristics or strengths: Strong in linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences Academically on grade level (not too far ahead or behind) Learning Preferences: Prefers working in a quiet environment Best time of day: Early morning, afternoon Social: Prefers working quietly alone…

The Animal School
By Categories: Counselors, Differentiating Instruction, Educators, Learning, Learning styles, Non-traditional learners, Parents, Special Needs 22 Comments

A Fable by George Reavis Once upon a time the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “new world” so they organized a school. They had adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took…