Best Tip to Easily Accommodate any Learner

As someone who has been in the education system since 2010, I have observed so many different kinds of learners and I can say confidently that everyone has the ability to learn when they are given the proper accommodations and appropriate expectations (which is probably higher than what you think).

I know how time consuming accommodating/modifying work before students show up to class can be, so let's stop doing that and instead focus on how we can train educators and staff to support learners on the fly. Before explaining the tip, I want to go over the mindset you need when working with students with disabilities and figuring out ways for them to access the curriculum.

I call it the educational Venn Diagram.

Educational Venn Diagram

When students with disabilities are in the general education classroom, we should have the expectation that they will be doing the same work as everyone else to their ability.

That doesn't mean it will be perfect or that they will even be able to complete it. But there is a way for them to learn something from said activity or worksheet.

Use this Venn Diagram. First, what is the goal of the activity. Is it a writing activity? Reading? Comprehension? A science lesson? And then ask yourself, what is the goal for the student. Hopefully, you have a basic understanding of what the student's IEP goals are and what they are capable of doing and then come up with where these goals align.

Is the class about to do a spelling test but your student is working on writing 5 letters (i.e. M, L, O, T, S)? When the teacher says the first spelling word, "coy," write down C_Y. Then have the student write the letter O. Not only are they getting access to the grade level spelling words and participating with the spelling test, but they are also working on their personalized goals!

And as much as I love a simple accommodation like that, sometimes we need more tools. My favorite technique is to have a bag (backpack, bin, fannypack-whatever) that travels with the student with the accommodations they are used to using.

Ideas of what to put in the bag

• pencils/markers/highlighters

• pencil grips

• erasers

• token board/visuals

• aac device

• black paper

All of these are items that can be easily used to accommodate on the fly for our students.

*P.S. Their AAC device should ALWAYS be with them.

Having these tools always near normalized accommodations and eventually you can teach your student that they can advocate or choose the accommodations they need to succeed (that takes time-but just throwing it out there).

Plus, another brightside- this can help other students in the classroom too!! Do you notice a student near is struggling keeping their hand on the pencil, lend them the grip. Is a student near you getting overwhelmed with the amount of reading on the page? Show them how they can put a black piece of paper to read just a couple of sentences at a time.

Even better, form small groups of peers to support each other. So many simple changes we can make in the classroom to be inclusive to learn together!!

Final example, here I used markers to match the comprehension questions to the sentence that had the answer. This was for students who are labeled as "low academically" (which I absolutely despise anyone being described like that) but again this can still give every student access to the assignment.

If you have any specific students or activities that you don't know how to accommodate on the spot, drop it below! Or contact me here.

Inclusion starts with you and I just want to help!

Kayla Co.

@inclusionstartsnow