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YL, ELT and SEN (special education needs)
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Thu, 03/12/2009 - 13:06
Hi again .... Helen you mentioned in another posting that you're working on SEN on a Comenius project ... can you tell us a bit more about this pls? I've very interested cos i believe there are many techniques we can use for SEN that work for ELT ... in a way second language learners have many of the same difficulties that slow learners/special needs learners have got ...
what do you think?
bfn, W:)
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 15:19
#2
Hi Wendy and everybody
thanks for your interest in this subject. I've been teaching SEN pupils in my school for the past 8 years (In France SEN pupils have severe learning difficulties and their classes are integrated into mainstream schools - other disabilites such as autism or down's syndrome are taught in more specialised schools).
The group of 18 SEN pupils - ages from 13-14 : what a lovely age ;) have been with me for 2 years and are just beginnng to relax. Very poor self-image, no confidence, difficult family backgrounds and learning difficulties .......
We are involved in a Comenius project ( funded by the European Union) with German and UK SEN pupils . The project involves pupils learning about each others' environments and preparing the various visits that will take place during the two years. It is a great opportunity for these pupils to travel and meet people from different cultures.
In France we are working on a video guide to our school, an audio phrasebook "survival guide" and the ultimate tourist guide to Nice (phew !!!) I will put links to our blogs and wikis as we go online and would be very pleased to have your comments and advice.
This is just my personal experience ( in France language teachers have no special training for SEN pupils). Teaching these pupils means having no pre-conceived ideas about what will "work" in class. All instructions for activities and the activities themselves have to be chewed over 50 times before using.
The "best" classes we have, are when all forms of intelligence are used (MI) - listening, speaking, watching, moving, drawing etc. Activities are varied, but the pupils know where we are "heading" ! Lessons where IT is integrated are big hits - last week during lessons on "likes/dislikes" we had great fun putting speech bubbles on photos and making slideshows (flickr toys). Using IT and being"creative" engages pupils so much more.
In fact my SEN pupils enjoy exactly the same things that my mainstream pupils do - I just have to think a lot harder about how to implement it successfully.
There is so much more to say - but I'd better be quiet ( I can "rattle on" if allowed !!)
It would be great to hear from other teachers working in different contexts and a great opportunity to share our problems, questions , best practice etc
Looking forward to hearing from you
regards
Helen
Tue, 03/17/2009 - 19:29
#3
Hi Helen,
I found it really interesting to read about the projects you run with your SEN students. Knowing how much effort it costs to have effective lessons with regular students I can imagine how hard you have to work to 'implement' your ideas with them successfully.
Great ideas about these online projects! Do you mind if I 'borrow' them from you for my school perhaps? I'd love to have the chance to see the blogs and wikis you've created with your students.
How long does it take you to work on such a project with your groups?
Anna
Wed, 03/18/2009 - 15:48
#4
Hi Anna
I'm only a recent blogger and it has made me reflect on our role as educators encouraging responsable behaviour on the net.
Overcoming my technical difficulties was the initial problem !
E-safety for YL is an on-going concern ( I've noticed that Nik is doing some research on this subject ?? ...) But my major "big think" on blogging is - What is the "added value" for my pupils ?
Whether my pupils are SEN learners or mainstream pupils doesn't really make much difference here (only in the difficulty of the media used ).
I think it was mentionned earlier on another forum, that kids know so much more than we do about IT. As mum of 4 geeks I would agree to a certain extent ! - but I feel most YL are "passive" consumers of the web.
As educators, if we can get them to become "creators" using some of the new free tools available - then maybe, we are on the right track ?
What are other colleagues thoughts on YL and IT ? Is e-safety a big concern in your work context ?
How do parents react ?
Thu, 03/19/2009 - 12:33
#5
Good morning all
Anna it sounds like you are doing some amazing projects with your SEN learners and I really look forward to having the links to your blogs.
As for your question regarding e-safety with YLs it is indeed a huge concern in the contexts I work in. The first context is writing materials for British Council language assistants to use with their primary learners. The internet is obviously a major resources for them and I'm very careful to select on-line resources that have sound educational value and choose sites that the assistant can use without getting in hot water!
At the British Council in Paris we are very aware of the dangers of using the internet with young learners and search engines for example are blocked. I think we all know that children are very quickly able to navigate and can easily come across unsuitable material. I think it's just a case of doing enough research beforehand, carefully pre-selecting which sites to use and ensuring that the navigation on the computers the YLs have access to are secure.
I find your description of YLs as 'passive consumers' of the web pretty accurate and would be interested to hear how people try to help them become more active and creative. Does anyone have any particular sites they have used that they would like to recommend?
Jo
Thu, 03/19/2009 - 14:25
#6
Hi Jo
I would agree on all your comments here - Personnally I found and still find the wonderful "webheads " group really useful. Sharing ideas and hands on help happens here !!
I often use Nik's blogs (Nik Peachey) as there are always new ideas and helpful suggestions on how to use them with learners.There is still a lot to learn and online communities seem the way to go for me.
Of course I'm lucky in my present school, as we are quite well equipped. I'm sure that in other learning contexts this is not an option - what are the points of view from other colleagues ?
Tue, 03/24/2009 - 21:35
#7
Hi there ... Helen it intrigued me that the YL with autism are educated at specialist schools as these were the ones I found so hard to cope with in Hong Kong ... mind you the autism spectrum is very long and ADD (attention deficit disorder) ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder), Asperger's are included ... are YL with these SEN included in mainstream?
Going to your question about using techy ways to share Helen e.g. webheads etc. I hve to say I've still not got quite into them, but I did enjoy the last Eluminate session that Dennis organised on YLT SIG ... W:
Thu, 04/02/2009 - 12:22
#8
Hello, everyone,
In Bulgaria I have had several students with disabilities in my grade 6 classes. Three of them had a hearing and speaking disability and two were pretty severaly handicapped after suffering from poliomielitis as very young children. In Bulgaria teachers do not receive formal instructions on how to deal with disabled children. I have been interested in working with such children for while now and I have been doing some research on my own. My personal observations after working with disabled children integrated in mainstream classes are that they did fairly well. I was impressed by how the other students treated them. All of them were really a part of the class. On one hand they were not singled out and on the other, they were very much supported by their classmates.
best, Iskra
Thu, 04/02/2009 - 12:08
#9
Hi, Jo and everybody,
The sites I have used with my very young learners are:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-stories-little-kids.htm This site is great. It has many intercative on line activities, but the best part is that you can actually download most stuff and take it to the classroom and play it on the IWB. Usually the clips are accompanied by PDF files with extra activities and you can easily add some more of your own if you like.
http://www.barryfunenglish.com/enter/enterVocab.html I have used this site both for printing flashcards and for playing games on line.
http://esl.about.com/lr/esl_songs/63447/1/ This site is great if you are interested in using songs in the classroom or you want to prepare an English show, a Christmas show, etc.
http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ I use this site to find stories for my students. Here in China, however, I definetly have to edit them, because my students' English is very, very limited. Chinese schools hold Oral English Story-telling Competitions and I, as the oral English teacher , usually prepare my students for them. We have also dramatised several of the stories and performed them in front of the whole school as well as some guests from schools all over the city.
There are so many sites out there.
best, iskra
Fri, 04/03/2009 - 11:21
#10
Iskra,
Thanks so much for your detailed answer.
Dennis
Fri, 04/03/2009 - 19:32
#11
Hi, Dennis and all,
I would like to ask about this Eluminate site. I heard about it on the YLT Open Forum and now here it is mentioned again. Could you , please, tell me more about it.
best,Iskra
Fri, 04/03/2009 - 20:57
#12
Iskra,
Elluminate is an online program which can be used to present live talks.
Dennis
Tue, 11/24/2009 - 11:55
#13
Hello,
I'm Director of Studies of a large English Langugae School in London. I have been approached by Indonesia's Department of Education about running a Special educational needs in ELT course for a group of teachers. They are particularly interested in teaching studnets with Autism.
Could anybody suggest a contact who might be able to teach such a course?
Thanks
Kate
Good to see you here, Wendy, and I deduce you found Cardiff Online's URL! Welcome.