Each of the characters within the book Somebody Else’s Kids features a unique set of needs and
accommodations that are necessary for them to best succeed. As with any student,
they each also bring their own special skills which help to make them who they
are. For the purpose of this blog, the character of Lori will be looked at.
Lori suffers from brain damage which was suffered at a younger age, lasting
effects make it harder for her language interpretation skills and ability to
read. While many may look at her case
right away and wonder what is possible for her to accomplish, she proves over
and over that she still possesses an ability to making learning gains and also
has the will to do so.
A number of obvious accommodations jump out when dealing
with Lori. Her main issue is her reading ability and specifically determining
letters and recreating them. Due to this issue, a constant accommodation for
her would be to provide a number of directions and opportunities for her to
display information through either audible or oral forms. When giving
directions for any assignment, not only should Lori be working to follow along
written ones to help further try to tackle the reading issue, but they should
also be given to her orally or through a clear audible tape recording. Doing so
will guarantee that she fully understands the assignment and can begin to
brainstorm ways to solve whatever it may be. Providing these directions in
large print may also potentially help to work on her interpretation of letters,
so this could be worked in as well. Whenever Lori is asked to provide an answer
to either a question or some form of assessment, she should be allowed to do so
orally as well. Since her formation of letters is not the strongest, requiring
her to write down answers may not allow her to fully convey her knowledge,
which in return could be misleading. When giving verbal responses, the time
allotted to do so may have to be changed. Giving Lori adequate time will allow
her to relax and not be overwhelmed when discussing whatever it is she may be
trying to prove about her material she has learned.
Another accommodation which may prove worthy for Lori is the
setting in which she is working and completing assessments especially. Lori has
a unique trait in wanting to lend a helping hand to fellow peers. Because of
this, she can sometimes be distracted from her work in an attempt to see what
is going on around her. When taking an assessment, placing Lori in a designated
area with no outside distraction could allow her to fully focus on what it is
we are testing. Eliminating other students will also allow her to not feel
uneasy in taking risks and possibly being wrong. Removing other students will
get rid of any potential negative comments that could cause Lori to shut down
if ridiculed. Since feelings of being overwhelmed can still occur, Lori should
be given the opportunity to pause an assessment and come back to it at another
time or later on. Doing so will allow her to regroup and deplete any feelings
of anxiety or uneasiness.
When discussing all these accommodations, it is important to
weigh the pros and cons to see if any have potential drawbacks. In Lori’s case,
some of those drawbacks may take hold. As great as it is to see Lori social and
wanting to work with others, it is important to keep her on task at times which
may call for her isolation. Pulling her away from potential groupwork most
certainly has its pros and cons. While she will be able to focus more, it also
eliminates a time when students are not only working with material but also
bouncing ideas off each other and learning other needed skills. Due to her unique
reading needs, she will miss out on some of the social pros that come with the
classroom and working with other students.
When looking at her needs for oral instructions and verbal
reasoning, it reduces her time with independent work. In Lori’s case, she
almost always will need a lending hand to help her formulate ideas as well as
communicate them. This will produce the fact that she will not always have
quiet time to herself to address problems and think about them critically. The
skill of completing independent work is not only one that proves worthy in other
subject areas, but later on in school and life as well. If not properly
implemented, she could come to lean on and rely on whoever is working with her
to help think critically through the use of leading questions. While this may
seem necessary at first, we should look to use a scaffolding technique so that
Lori does not develop the inability to approach a problem on her own, which she
very well will have to do at some point in her lifetime.
As many of the accommodations for Lori showcase themselves as
helping, she will also need some modifications. While the accommodations will
certainly help her with material in the curriculum some adjustments to what is
actually required of her will arise with the trouble in reading. It is obvious
that extended time is needed in working with Lori, both for her and in teacher
preparation, that added time will most often take away from material that was
to be later found in the curriculum. Due to this simple equation, it may prove
more worth in cutting down her material in which she is to be tested on. The
curriculum should be adjusted to focus on main ideas and possibly cutting out
some of the more minor facts and lessons. In the case of the biology/science
classroom for example, we could focus our attention on core concepts and not
defining examples. An example that comes to mind is learning to classify
organisms. We could spend our time focusing on the categories and learning the
system of kingdom, domain, class, order, family, genus, and species. Whereas,
other students may not only learn that order but also specific examples within
those subcategories and determining where to place organisms in that spectrum.
Minor adjustments such as those may prove beneficial throughout the class and
will allow Lori to not become too overwhelmed at any point, however she loses
out on some of the information.
The key with Lori will be working to find what best accommodates
her and the goals set forth for her. No method will come without the pros and
cons as discussed and at any point a potential roadblock could arise. A major
part of science and biology is being able to read the research and pull key
details from the text. This fact addresses the need for Lori to focus on her
reading skills in order to be successful in the science classroom. When taking
part in reading specific exercises, we could look to have her work with
content-specific vocabulary. Not only will she be getting her help with the
basic skills, but she may also develop a familiarity with words that will be
used in the class. Unique vocabulary terms arise in just about all lessons, so
this could present itself as additional help in doing so. We should also allow allotted
time for Lori to work within groups as she showcases her ability to care for
others and help them throughout the book, often the case with Boo. This unique
character trait should be utilized with her attempt to master the subject. For
subjects she has a greater understanding of, an ability grouping technique with
other members of the class will allow her to help others in fully understanding
the material. As some so often say, teaching the material allows you to fully
understand and comprehend it. Times where this is the case helps her get
adjusted to group work as well which becomes an important skill.
One of the definite positives to work in the science
classroom is hands-on activities, so often seen with laboratory exercises for
example. These types of activities could prove vital for Lori with her reading
skills that may not be up to par. Rather than focus on extracting information
from textbooks and articles, she can experience it to create lasting knowledge
without worry of comprehension and interpretation skills. An example that comes
to mind for a simple experiment is working with and observing animal behaviors.
Rather than read this information, we can complete an activity where students
observe different classroom pets or even animals in the outside world. After
picking a behavior to view they can share this orally, and we can discuss the
why, as well as the cause/effect of such actions. These types of observations
can lead in to discussion of ecological interactions and the idea that all
organisms work in conjunction in nature. To further add to that, these types of
activities seem to make students enjoy their class work more as well. At the
end of the day if students are not enjoying it they will not retain the
information, the same is true for Lori. When placed in an environment where she
can consistently prove to herself she is learning she will create a growth
mindset and feel good about herself. This could have a snowball effect into her
other additional needs such as her reading comprehension. As stated earlier,
the key with Lori is slowly scaffolding her in any technique to make sure she
is making progress and pushing her boundaries at the same time.
