Guest Discussion - Teaching Strategies: Easing the Pathway for All Adult Learners to Develop Competence in the Classroom and Beyond

Hi group members,

I am very excited in anticipation of our upcoming guest discussion with Laura Digalbo. On Feb. 13 and 14, the topic of Teaching Strategies: Easing the Pathway for All Adult Learners to Develop Competence in the Classroom and Beyond will be presented.  Here is some information to prepare you for the discussion:

Purpose of the Activity:  To provide an opportunity for correctional educators and adult educators and literacy practitioners in general to learn about strategies to use when teaching adults with disabilities.

Topics included in the discussion:  

  •   Effective Utilization of Assessment to Craft Instruction,
  •   Reading a Collaboration of Your Eyes Ears and Brain,
  •   Slow Processing…Delayed Learning How We Can Help,
  •   Feedback Strategies, Instructor and Student Behavior as Mediators for Learning,
  •   Positive Behavior Support in the Classroom
  •   Creating Social and Emotional Comfort to Expedite Learning
  •   Universal Design in Adult Ed, Substance or Hype

 

The guest speaker is recommending some of the resources from the LINCS Resource Collection related to the topic for you to read.  They are as follows:

 

I have included Laura Digalbo's resume under the "Attachments" tab.  She is very experienced and well known in our field.
 

Lastly, our speaker will be happy to accept questions about the topic in advance of the discussion.  If you have any specific questions or related topics you are interested in, please respond under the new discussion strand, Questions for the Guest Speaker, Laura Digalbo.

I look forward to your participation during this guest discussion.

 

Thank you,

Rochelle Kenyon, Subject Matter Expert

 

     

 

Comments

Hello Ted and Sue P.,

The guest discussion will be held within our group.  As a registered group member, you do not need to register for any events that take place within our Disabilities in Adult Education group.  The discussion by Laura Digalbo will happen within this discussion strand.  Just watch this thread. When you click on the "Discussions" tab, if you see the word "NEW" in red by this topic, you will know there are new messages ready for you to read.

I encourage you to participate by posting questions and comments.

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

Thanks so much, Rochelle, for posting this notice.  In corrections classrooms there are a large number of learners with (largely undiagnosed) disabilities.  I'd like to ask the group how these learners are generally classified and whether there are any accomodations available to them.  Many incarcerated students shy away from a learning disability classification, but may respond well to some of the more covert teaching strategies.  I haven't had much experience with other disabilities in a corrections classroom -- has anyone else?

-- Heather Erwin

Hi Heather: Thanks for your question. I have decided to respond the day before I begin the two day discussion stream as that very question is at the heart of thediscussion protocol.

 Your students in Corrections reflect the population in Adult Ed as a whole. Arguably the majority hae significant learning issues. While some of those problems may be disability related we often will never know as they are undiagnosed and the diagnostic process is so costly that it is not an option. Even if the the possiblity of diagnostics were readily available many of them, as you indicate, do not want to be labelled. SO...our goal is to develop a knowledge base of the informal markers of learning style, the strategies for teaching in light of the learning preferences and functional difficulties our students may have.

                    We can identify the functional problems our adult ed students have learning and we can develop strategies for teaching them to compensate for those deficits. It has been my experience that adult educators are especailly good at this investigation and implementation! using the  Universal Design for Learning template we will discuss those subtle but effective strategies you mention as well as how assessment, feedback, instructor interaction and the learning environment can improve learning outcomes for all our students!

                  Hope you can be there to continue this line of thinking with all participants. Lauri

                

            

Good morning everyone-

      As a Special Education Program Manager for Adult Corrections here in Idaho, my team and I have found that Laura's comment "students in corrections do not want to be labeled" to be spot on.  Many students arrive already having education challenges as they progressed through the regular or public school settings.  As the students now find themselves in a correctional setting, they are more hesitant to ask for more help and be singled out.  We have found that students will initially be willing to coming to education classes for a few weeks, but then see them sporatically as some of the old thinking and past education experiences begins to come back.  Our challenge is to let them know education staff is willing and ready to assist anyway they can, but at times it is difficult when the student does not make it to classes.  That said, when students do make the commitment to school, the entire education staff does a nice job of making the necessary adjustments to not only students who have a disability, but also do a tremendous job working with students who have not been diagnosed, but still require additional support where necessary academically, functionally, and behaviorally. 

      I will be interested in getting a better understanding today about the Universal Design for Learning template and strategies to improve learning outcomes.  Have other correctional institutions incorporated Universal Design for Learning?  Has it been an effective tool?  

Thanks,

Ted

Hi Ted,

I wanted to share a free webinar I came across in Education Week's Digital Directions newsletter.  It includes the Universal Design for Learning that is so exciting and so applicable in a corrections classroom.  I am planning to attend and will look forward to discussing impressions in the Community.

 

FREE WEBINAR - Wednesday, Mar. 5, 2 p.m. ET

Helping At-Risk Students Develop Literacy Skills

Join two experts in literacy instruction for a discussion of instructional methods for struggling readers, including universal design for learning, assistive technology, and differentiated instruction. Click to attend this event.

-- Heather Erwin

Hi members,

Here is an enhanced agenda for Day 1 of Laura Digalbo's guest discussion on Teaching  Strategies: Easing the Pathway for  Adult Learners with Disabilities to Develop Competence in the Classroom and Beyond.

I hope that you join us on Thursday, Feb. 13 and 14, 2014.

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

 

Session 1: Effective Utilization of Assessment to Craft Instruction

  • Engaging the Student
  • Common Core Standards and Learning Strategies
  • Identifying Learning Preferences in Low Level Learners
  • 4 Foundational Instructional Strategies that Work in all Learning Environments

Session 2:  Reading; A Collaboration of Your Eyes, Ears and Brain

  • Myth Busting
  • Neuroscience of Reading
  • Explicit Instruction
  • Fundamentals of Being a Good Reader
  • Comprehension; both Product and Process of Understanding

Session 3: Slow Processing, Delayed Learning ….We Can Help

  • Thinking Efficiently
  • Processing and Opportunity
  • Three Steps to Processing
  • Why Some Students are Slow Processors
  • Executive Functioning and Slow processing
  • Strategies to Help

Session 4:  Feedback Strategies; Instructor and Student Behavior as Mediators for Learning

  • Emotional Factors which Effect Learning
  • Mitigation of These Factors
  • Feedback Processes
  • Instructor Behavior as Factor in Learning
  • Hopefulness

 

Hi Ted,

I didn't see this message earlier since the guest speaker started a new discussion thread today to begin this discussion.  It began about 9:30 a;m. in the new thread dated today, Feb. 13, 2014.  As of now, it is at the top of the "Discussions" page.  All responses should be posted within that thread - NOT within this thread.

Thanks,

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

Good Morning all,

The guest discussion with Laura Digalbo will begin this morning.  Please participate by asking questions and posting comments.

The entire discussion should remain within this discussion thread.  

By clicking on 'reply' below each message, you can post your own responses.

 

Happy reading!!

 

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

 

I am considering alternative means/formats of instructing my ABE students with high ACRES scores.  My experience has been that students with high ACRES scores can often be disruptive to the classroom environment (when mixed with lower ACRES students) and therefore interrupt the progressive flow of instruction.  I am considering setting up an Individualized Instruction Lab whereby these students can get more one-on-one instruction.  Other options that I have considered are a distance learning format, Reading Lab, etc.  I am also concerned that those in this class may be stigmatized by other inmates because they are being separated and would like to avoid this as much as possible.

What type of learning environment/course would you offer your institution for these students? Or, in general, what is your opinion of mixing high ACRES students with lower ACRES students?

Doc Plaisance

Hi all - I am currently a reading specialist at Bristol Community College in Fall River.  I am on sabbatical researching model programs for support for students on the autism spectrum.  I spent 35 years in ABE, so am very interested in the number of students on the autism spectrum who are now enrolling in ABE  programs.  I know that many students on the spectrum graduate from HS through special education support, and are guaranteed support until age 21.  Certainly, students at the higher end, the Aspergers Syndrome students, are often academically very successful and able to transition into college.  At BCC, we also are enrolling some at the lower end, with greater academic difficulties.

I hope to hear from some/many of you about incidence of autism in your programs.   I am giving a presentation on autism at the COABE conference in Pittsburgh in March, and hope to see many of you there.

Hi Sally: COABE wil benefit greatly from your presentation. I suspect most programs, like those in CT, are seeing more and more students on The Specrtrum. As you might imagine the issues these students have are not so much learnig the content of the class but rather  understanding the requirements of the environment, the social expectations and of course those executive functioning or soft skills so necessary for success in our complex world!

              Many of these students and their parents are befuddled by the differnce in supports etc avaialble in at he adult ed world [ADA] and the k-12 world [IDEA]. I am the Disability Consultant for Adult Ed in CT and as a result am getting requests for consultations to adult ed programs for strategies, to help students on the Spectrum, increase remarkably. Lauri DiGalbo

Hello Ted and others who have responded about the Teaching Strategies guest discussion in the Disabilities group ~

I cross posted my original announcement about today's guest discussion within the Technology & Learning group.  All your responses have continued to be posted within this group rather than in the Disabilities group.  I have asked Quotient, Inc., how to correct the problem of messages being posted here.

Please......... go directly to the Disabilities in Adult Education group and post your responses and questions there.  There is a new discussion strand for this guest discussion at the very top of the Discussions page. All messages should be posted within that discussion strand.

Feel free to email me from the link under my picture if you have any questions.

Thanks so much.

Rochelle Kenyon, SME

Disabilities in Adult Education Group

Hi

 

Yesterday I gave an orientation to my combination ABE/GED classroom. One student self identified as ADHD. He was concerned about being able to "focus" in a classroom since he could not focus in high school. I tried to emphasize at least in my classroom much of the instruction is self paced with a lot of support. What else would you say to this student who has high academic skills, but not quite ready for the new GED.

 

Also the process of accomodations on the new GED seem a little confusing. How can we as teachers help them understand this process?

 

Thank you

Hi Debra: I think you have had a number of helpful responses to the GED part of your question.

               I wanted to take a minute to respond to your question regardin gthe specifi cstudent you mentioned. First your response about self paced classwas perfect in that it will reduce his anxiety. And one thing we know is that being anxious never helps attention!

              Some other strategies that may work for him are to present content in multi modal format [speak it ,write it ,demonstrate it], extended time does not work well with ADDDstudents, but broken time does [work for a shorttime and take a bit of a break , do it again etc.]. This strategy does not gvie him more time overall to actually be working but does gvie hm an expected amount of time to really try to focus and then a break to relax. It seems to work well with these students. Finally the less noisy or visually stimulating the classroom the better and do have him face you whenever you are teaching. Hope some of these suggestions help. Lauri DiGalbo

Thanks for the great suggestions; some of which I seem to be doing each day. We set small specific goals for each lesson. If it is an individualized lesson, the student and I evaluate that lesson together. If it is a class lesson, we do a "wrap up" where we review what was discussed. I try and get input from the students as much as possible rather than myself constantly talking during a class lesson.

 

Hi Debra: Great job...your post processing after completing an assignment really helps students to clarify "where to file the info" in their heads by reinforcing the content you hoped they would learn! The more we listen to our students during that time the more we can evaluate where they are on the right track and where they might miss the boat. Lauri

I have a small confession; my undergraduate and graduate degrees were in special education. So some of what I do with my "special needs" students comes from my years of experience with LD/ADD/ADHD students.  But I do feel strongly that adults like to be part of their education and see that they have choices.  Again thanks for positive feedback!

Debra

You bet they do! In fact ,as you probably know, we are finding that the older the learner the more important it is to make them collaborators in the learning porcess. From a brain perspective we believe this is becasue as we age our best pathway for learning morphs from visually mediated to kniestitcially mediated. Interesting huh? Lauri