Emma's Blog #2: How do you embed learning opportunities for children with disabilities in the typical activities of your K-3 classrooms?

I believe that it is very important to embed as many learning opportunities as you can for children with disabilities in the typical activities in K-3 classrooms. In my classroom, I do not have any children with severe disabilities. I do have a couple of students who are on IEPs and have a diagnosis of ADHD. For these students, I try very hard to give them learning opportunities in typical activities during the day. I work one-on-one with a student who has ADHD. We use a behavior checklist throughout individual activities to help him focus and stay on task. This has seemed to improve his motivation quite a bit. 

After giving him a few assessments to find out what he really struggles with, I thought of strategies to embed those learning opportunities throughout the day. His three biggest struggles are focus, writing conventions, and memorizing multiplication facts. In the morning when he comes in, I ask him about his night before we begin to start his day positively. I continue to talk to him throughout the day asking him questions to engage him.

 During transitions during the full day, I embed several multiplication facts as we walk to and from specials and lunch. During reading time, instead of telling him to turn to a specific page number, I will tell him to turn to the page that is the product of 9x3. This helps him stay focused and gives him the opportunity to practice those facts. To give him the opportunity to work on writing conventions, I incorporate several writing practices into the day. On some days, his morning work will involve writing and editing. Usually it is writing about something that interests him, so that he is more motivated to write. All of these strategies gives this student learning opportunities that will benefit him and help him grow. 

Student Guest Blogger: Embedded Learning Opportunities by Casey

First of all, I find that the best way for a teacher to embed learning opportunities for children with disabilities during the typical activities in the classroom is by knowing and understanding the student’s specific needs and putting the most effective strategies into place. Children with disabilities have the right to participate in the typical activities as the rest of the class, and it is the teacher’s job to make sure that the child is receiving any necessary modifications and adaptations during the activity in order to promote successful learning.  

Planning is also an important part of a teacher’s day, and this can help the teacher to know ahead of time how to incorporate learning opportunities for children with disabilities into a typical activity. The teacher can think about what the typical school day looks like, and then from there, come up with different ways to embed learning opportunities throughout the day by thinking about how even a small occurrence during the day can offer the student an opportunity to learn. For instance, a student who is struggling to grasp the concept of time and the understanding of how to read a clock, can be asked different questions throughout the school day relating to time. The teacher may say something like, 

“Okay class, it’s time to line up for a restroom break. Before each one of you walks out the door, I will give you a time, and you will move the minute and hour hands on the clock I am holding to show what that time looks like on a clock.” 

This is an example of a teacher embedding a learning opportunity, not only for children with disabilities, but for the other students in the class as well. I am sure that as I continue my journey to become a teacher, as well as when I actually am a teacher, I will find new and different ways in which to embed learning opportunities for children with disabilities during a typical activity in the classroom.