Awakening joy

Awakening joyHow to get your students excited about learning O&MMaya Delgado Greenberg, MA, COMS

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My storyTaught kids with extreme behavioral challenges

Inspired by Lilli Neilsen, philosophy of Active Learning

Image source: http://littleladybughugs.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/dsc_0385.jpgAll children can learnSet up a learning environmentTeacher observesWorked atCalifornia School for the BlindSan Francisco State UniversityHow can a new teacher learn to individualize lessons?More than knowing the skill to be taughtWhat makes the student tick?How do seasoned teachers individualize lessons?What is their thought process?

Skills can be taught in so many ways, what is right for the student?Drill and practice?Writing and reading about the skill?Learning through music or rhyme?Playing a game?Teaching others?Role-play?And much more

I try to keep this in mind with my student teachers

Source: http://www.shiningvincistar.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/teach-man-to-fish1-450x224.jpgBut because I am an educator

Source: http://www.freelearningtools.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/teach-a-man-to-fish.pngYou are not just teaching O&MYou are teaching people

Activity: Your moment of inspirationHave you ever had a sudden flash of insight on how to customize a lesson in a new, creative way for a hard to motivate student?Share your story with the person next to youWhat did you learn or realize about your student that helped you come up this idea?Switch roles5 minutesThe Brainstorming MatrixStep 1) Gather information about the studentStep 2) Apply that information towards the skill being taughtStep 3) Generate creative lesson ideasThe idea behind the matrix is to encourage you to reflect as a teacher in all the ways you can truly customize your lessons. So many times over my career I have been stuck with a student, then a colleague has made a great suggestion because they have a fresh perspective. Hopefully this checklist can encourage you to think outside the box or try some new adaptations that you hadnt thought of before.11The Brainstorming MatrixPreferencesLearning StyleMotivationSensory Learning ModalityPreferred LocationsHumor/DelightSocialLearning Readiness

There is a lot of cross over, but the areas get at different angles and sometimes provide additional information and insights12Example: PreferencesStep 1 Information about the student:What does the student like? (e.g. activities, objects, places, and people)

What do family members and friends report that the student likes? (e.g. activities, objects, places, and people)

What kinds of hobbies/games does the student enjoy?

For children, what are his/her favorite games, books, and cartoons? A favorite character?

Does the student seem especially motivated by music? What kind of music? What are some favorite songs?

Example: PreferencesStep 2 The skill being taughtHow does this skill relate to the students interests?

For kids, how can this skill be turned into a game incorporating favorite activities?

For kids, how can this skill be adapted to include a favorite character or song?

How can the skill taught in the form of a song or chant ?

Example: PreferencesStep 3 Make a plan. Review and combine multiple elements from step 2 to generate as many creative lesson ideas as possible. Pick your top favorite lesson idea and try it! Repeat as needed as you get to know the student better or as new skills need to be taught.

Learning Style Step 1 What activities does the student struggle with? Describe how the student responds when confronting a difficult activity.

Step 2 Does learning this skill require doing things that are traditionally challenging or difficult for this student? If so, how can this be minimized?

Motivation Step 1 Think of times that the student has worked hard without prompting. What activity was it? What was motivating about that activity?Step 2 How can you link the skill to be taught to motivating activities where the student already works hard without prompting?

Sensory Learning ModalityStep 1 What is the students primary sensory learning modality? Secondary? Step 2 How does this skill relate to the students sensory learning modalities? How can lessons be adapted to include more of the students primary sensory modalities?

How many people have done an assessment of learning media?18Sensory Learning ModalityNot sure how to evaluate this? See assessment of learning media: Vision, hearing, touch, kinesthetic/proprioceptive, smell, or tasteTo download an assessment of learning media, go tohttp://www.csb-cde.ca.gov/csb_assessmentlearmningmedia.html

Sensory Learning Modality

Preferred Locations Step 1 What are the students favorite places? How does the student get there?Step 2 How can this skill be used in or en route to a preferred location?

Humor/DelightStep 1 What makes the students face light up with joy?Step 2 How can teaching this skill be adapted to include things to make the student laugh and feel excited? Can you imagine a scenario where applying the skill will make the students face light up with delight?

Social Step 1 Does the student prefer solitary activities, or social ones? Does the student prefer peers or adults? Does the student have a best friend and/or favorite person?Step 2 How can teaching this skill be adapted to include preferred peers or family? How does the skill help the student to better access preferred peers or family?

Learning Readiness (step 1)Step 1 Think of times when the student has seemed calm and attentive, focused and ready to learn. What time of day was it? What activities was she doing shortly before?

Step 2 How can you adapt the skill to teach at times of day when the student is ready to learn? How can you include activities before/during your lesson that help the student to be calm, focused, and ready to learn?

Case Study: AndreaStep 1, Gathering infoShy student, 7 years old, totally blindLoves music, perfect pitchAuditory and tactile learnerLearning Braille Poor proprioception, limited flexibilityCognitive delaysLoves stories and rhymesMotivated to learn about the world, nature, and the community

Case Study: AndreaStep 2 Skills to be taughtConstant contact and two point touch cane techniques, instepProtective TechniquesStranger Safety/Community Awareness

Solutions for AndreaUsed cane songs to move the cane in a rhythmoffset proprioceptive weakness with her auditory strength and musical interest

Solutions for AndreaVisited community locations and did supported writing of stories about the experience to improve her comprehension, retention, and literacy skills

Visited farms to apply cane and protective techniques and to learn about nature, plants, and rural O&M. Hands-on multisensory learning helped her to retain the skills.

Using songs and role play to teach upper protective technique

ActivityBreak into small groupsInterview one of your group members about a close friend, family member, or a studentImagine this is going to be your new O&M student, gather as much info as possible about your assigned area20/200 stable vision, no other disabling conditionsSkills are either cane technique or neighborhood/route familiarizationComplete Steps 1, 2, and 310 minutes to complete and then report back to the groupWhat is the benefit?Builds rapportRespects the whole personHelps customize instruction

Customizing instructionDiscover strengths, learning style, and interestsMake lessons fun and meaningfulHelp them to enjoy the learning process

Change how your students respond to lessons

Imagine lessons like this!

Resources:Nielsen, L. Early Learning Step by StepFazzi, D. and Petersmeyer, B. Imagining the Possibilities: Creative Approaches to Orientation and Mobility Instruction for Persons Who Are Visually ImpairedBlooms TaxonomyAssessment of Learning Media/Primary Learning modality. http://www.csb-cde.ca.gov/csb_assessmentlearmningmedia.htmlPowerpoint and draft of brainstorming matrix can be downloaded at https://goo.gl/ADtGSS

What do you do to get to know your students?Any tricks of the trade for making customized lessons?Resources we should know about?Blooms Taxonomy

Books featuring children with visual impairmentshttp://www.iowa-braille.k12.ia.us/bibliography_of_blind.htmlThe Sound of Colors: A Journey of the Imagination by Jimmy Liao. In this breathtaking, evocative book, a young blind girl travels from one subway station to another while her imagination takes her to impossibly wonderful places. She swims with the dolphins and sunbathes on a whales back; flies through the air with the birds and travels to the station at the end of the world.

Night Search Chamberlain, Kate. Hollidaysburg, PA: Jason and Nordic, 1997. 32 p. Heather, who is blind, resists using her white cane until one night while camping her puppy wanders off. Heather tries to find the puppy. She finds a stick which helps, but she realizes that her white cane is a very valuable helper.

Mandy Sue Day Karim, Roberta. New York: Clarion, 1994. Unpaged. Using her senses of taste, hearing, touch, and smell, a blind girl enjoys a special day on the farm. Using rhythmic language, the author conveys the exuberance and excitement of Mandys day with her horse, Ben.

Listen for the Bus: Davids Story McMahon, Patricia. Honesdale, PA: Caroline House, 1995. Unpaged. A real life look at David, who is blind and hearing impaired, as he begins kindergarten. Photos show all parts of his day and also explain the signs he uses because of his deafness.

Sarah's Sleepover. Rodriguez, Bobbie. New York: Viking, 2000. Unpaged. When the lights go out while her cousins are spending the night, a young blind girl shows them what to do in the dark.

Family of Owen M.: Off We Go to Learn Everyday Things About Orientation and Mobility Flaherty, Erin. Philadelphia, PA: Hill, 1997. Unpaged. "Learn everyday things about orientation and mobility" is the theme of this lighthearted, illustrated book about a blind boy named Owen M. and his family. A perfect tool to teach classmates, parents, and friends of blind children how O&M helps Owen travel around his house, in stores, and outside.

Travel Tales: A Mobility Storybook by Julia Halpern-Gold, Robin W. Adler, and Shelly Faust-Jones (Paperback - Nov 1988) This large print, paperback book, is geared for pre-school and early elementary students with visual impairments. Designed to reinforce different environmental concepts in which a child would travel, it features a boy named Elliot, who is blind. Elliot provides a positive role model for blind children as he travels through the supermarket, in the subway, around the block, all around the town.