I think instead we should be teaching future teachers how to do differentiated instruction. Teachers need to stray away from the lecture model and get involved with the students and give each student more one on one time.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Autism and Education
Today I read the article "Autism and Education". It was written by a mother who has two children. Her son has autism and her daughter is gifted. She discusses her inner struggle on deciding who to help. She finds it frustrating that her son gets one on one attention and is pushed to excell while her daughter is sitting in class bored out of her mind. Lindsley, the mom, thinks that they should put more money towards the gifted programs. She believes that we are stunting their educational growth. She believes that with more one on one instruction her daughter could do great things, such as prevent the next worldwide flu, invent a new form of transportating or even discover a cure for Autism. Although, this is very true that many kids will not reach their full potential because teachers are aiming to teach the middle level students, I do not know how much additional funding will help. Lindsley wants her daughter to recieve more one on one instruction, however, if the special kids and the gifted kids are getting individual helpers, why not the average students. They should not be penelized for being right where they are suppose to be. Eventually, if this was to happen everyone would just have their own private tudor, however, there are only so many teachers in the world. This would leave more and more students being uneducated. So despite the nice thought, I do not think this is would be the best option.
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Granted teachers need to be more one-on-one with their students, but teachers can only be stretched so thin. Special education teachers are greatly needed, but it seems most don't realize how important it is. But you also make a good point in that teachers aim at the middle group. That is where adaptation in the classroom comes in. The teacher does need to know what their students need, but again, they need to know their personal limits. It's all a balancing act: knowing what your students need versus what the teacher can manage. How many students do slip through the cracks because the teachers/parents don't motivate themselves to help those who excel or need extra help?
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