Brady- Activity 2.1

In Learning Disabilities and Related Mild Disabilities, I read a story entitled “ I have a kid who…” This story talks about a group of seventh grade students who are both in a general education and resource classroom. The children like their new social studies teacher, Mr. Keene and are motivated to do well on his social studies test. In order to prepare for this test, they ask their resource teacher, Ms Weiss to help them study. Consequently, the students do extremely well. Other classmates feel this is not fair because they had help to study.

If I were the principal at the school, I would explain that this was indeed fair. These specific students took the correct steps a learner needs in preparing for a test. Seeking an educator’s advice on how to get ready for a test is an excellent strategy and this is what they did. These children struggle in learning skills; however, they use Ms. Weiss’s teaching and strategies to be more effective in the classroom. Assertive and proactive, these seventh graders were playing fair and being active participants in their learning.

Motivation played a huge role in this situation. The students wanted positive feedback and attention from the new social studies teacher, Mr. Keene. This attention would be immediate and tangible if they did well on the test. Having a concrete goal of thriving on a social studies test and getting praise from Mr. Keene caused these students to want to prepare for this test and succeed.

Ms. Weiss used numerous strategies in her teaching. Ms. Weiss used developmental psychology to understand the learning level of her students. Rather than quizzing them on vocabulary words, she understood their individual learning levels and started at the basics. She had these students grasp individual subskills prior to moving on to more abstract skills and straight memorization. For example, she had the students learn the vocabulary words by analyzing the root words, prefixes and suffixes. In order to improve their memory for the test, she also used cognitive psychology, which stresses the use of organizing information. Specifically, she used graphic organizers through the use of an outline to break up the chapter. She consequently, made studying more effective and easier.