Leda Velychko-Simpson Tammy Ortynski Winn Braun Saturday, November 20, 2010 Equality and Diversity for All: A Resource for Educators
Dec 26, 2015
Leda Velychko-SimpsonTammy OrtynskiWinn Braun
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Equality and Diversity for All:A Resource for Educators
Needless Suffering
“Children who experience too much failure too early in life are
exquisitely vulnerable to a wide range of complications”
Mel Levine, Educational Care, 2001
Unrecognized and untreated problems can be prone to…..
Behavioural problems
&
Emotional difficulties
Frustrated
Overwhelmed
Wondering what to do
Asking Why/How
Running to the resource teacher for
suggestions
Solution...
Who is this?
Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School in Chapel Hill
Pediatrician, Researcher & Learning Disability Expert
Work has been a foundation in teacher training programs for decades
co-founder of the non-profit organization All Kinds of Minds promotes research in practice in teaching children with learning disorders through information and professional development programs
He is an author – some of his published works include; A Mind at a Time, The Myth of Laziness and Ready or Not, Here Life Comes
based on clinical, educational and research experience
Favors informed observation and description over labeling
Takes into account the great heterogeneity of children with disappointing school performance
Strong emphasis on identifying and using the innate strengths of children
Recognizes both that children’s brains change over time & that the school changes over time in terms of the level and complexity of demands placed on children
Academic Skills
Academic Subskills
Neurodevelopmental Functions
Reading
Writing
Math
Enables a student to possess the needed academic skill
word decoding and comprehension are subskills of the academic skill of reading letter formation, spelling, mechanics, use of language on paper, generation of thoughts during writing, organization of ideas are all subskills of writing never ending inflow of new subskills in math
• Basic brain process needed for effective performance
• help a student spell accurately
• an aspect of motor function required for legible letter formation
Which subskills are weak and not doing their share?
Which of the neurodevelopment functions needed for those Subskills are deficient?
Manifestation of one or more neurodevelopmental dysfunctions (gaps, delays, variations in the way a child’s brain is developing)
There are many causes for the above including chemical/metabolic Abnormalities, uneven brain growth, lack of appropriately dense nerve
connections in specific regions of the brain, unusual patterns in the bloodcirculation in the brain.
Simply, there is no exact cause that can be defined. What can be said for sure is that we are certain that the dysfunctions themselves have the potential to interfere with learning, productive work output
and with behaviour in school.
To help teachers help their students be successful we decided to research
Dr. Mel Levine’s framework further in order to create a working document where
we wanted to emphasize to teachers to accurately recognize and understand
the problems of the child in front of them and to supply them with different ways
to manage the child within the classroom.
What is the framework?
Neuromotor
Function
Spatial Ordering
Social Cognition
Memory
Higher Order
Cognition
SequentialOrdering
Language
AttentionControls
TheNeurodevelopmen
talConstructs
Handbook Sections
All created with the same headings within each section
Offers teachers an easy to follow method for looking up needed information
Includes individual support for teachers within each of Mel Levine’s 8 framework parts
Definition –Gives an explanation of the section topic
Outlines the subsections or sub skills within the
topic
What is __________?
What to watch for–Outlines and lists “red flags” or concerns for
teachers to watch for
Each subsection will have their own varying lists of
concerns
Acts as a guideline for teachers when observing
their students
Recommended teaching strategies
Strategies for teachers to apply within their classroom to help with student concerns
Range of ideas that are practical and can be easily implemented
Additional areas for others to add ideas as it is meant to be an ongoing
collaborative document
Case Study
Grade 5 boy – Chase Smith
reads slowly and with limited comprehension
letter formation is weak making printing laborious
is disorganized / forgetful – often loses homework, forgets to turn in hot lunch money, field trip notices, etc.
Human beings differ with their gifts and talents.
To teach them, you have to start where they are.
Yuezheng in 4th century B.C.
What to watch for–
Memorizes, but can’t generalize learning
Difficulty making connections
Decodes, but doesn’t comprehendCan’t “read between the lines” – unable
to make inferences
Weak problem solving skills
Higher Order Cognition
What to watch for–
Approaches tasks in illogical order (e.g. glues before cuts)
has difficulty “keeping track of belongings” Unable to follow multi-step directions Poor time management Stories do not follow a logical sequence Has difficulty with sequential mathematics – e.g.
counting, understanding more and less, etc. Words are spelled with correct letters, but
incorrect order
Temporal and Sequential Ordering
What to watch for–
lazy, unmotivated and / or oppositional often does not complete writing task or it takes
considerably longer than other students frequently engages in avoidance behaviours –
frequent washroom breaks, often asks to go to the bathroom, needs to sharpen pencil , needs a Kleenex from backpack
sits and stares Even disrupts the class
Graphomotor
Recommended teaching strategies / activities –
model strategies, ask student to reflect on how effective the strategies he used wereguided reading
use Handwriting Without Tears / Co-Writer
encourage the parents and student to designate a specific place at home for backpack, homework, etc.
. . . students must understand whether they understand. So they should cultivate the habit of comprehension monitoring – (Do I really get this? If not, where is my breakdown in understanding occurring?).
Mel Levine Educational Leadership (2007)
“Appreciating learning differences is the first step.
Celebrating the differences is the goal.”
Levine (1999)
“I always tell people that from the moment a kid gets up in the morning until he goes to sleep at night, the central mission of the day is to avoid humiliation at all costs.”
- Dr. Mel Levine