On-Demand
Session
Empowering educators to joyfully fulfill their God-given calling
Creating a Classroom that Supports All Learners (Including Students with Disabilities)
with Kathleen VanTol of Dordt University
Making a classroom an encouraging place where any student can thrive, even a student with a disability, is no small task. Kathleen VanTol has some practical and simple tips for helping us make our classroom the best place for every learner. She shares helpful ideas for helping us accommodate different students' needs and make our classroom a great place for any student to be a successful learner.
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About Kathleen VanTol
Dr. Kathleen VanTol joined the Dordt Education Department in 2009. Her specialty areas are special education and teaching English as a second language. She holds a B.S. from Calvin College in biology. She completed her M.A. at Calvin College in special education and has also completed a graduate program in TESOL at Grand Valley State University and holds a doctorate from Western Michigan University in special education with a focus on TESOL.
Dr. VanTol has completed post graduate studies in Applied Behavior Analysis at Florida Institute of Technology and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She has over 35 years of experience working in the field of education and is a Board Certified Advocate in Special Education. She has developed special education programs and procedures and has worked with schools to provide training and consultation. She has served on the Iowa Special Education Advisory Panel and currently serves on the task force for Iowa’s Special Education Guidance System.
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Dordt University
Dordt University is a Christian university located in Iowa that seeks to equip students to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all areas of life. Dordt offers a Master of Education, Master of Special Education, and Master of Arts in Teaching—all taught 100 percent online and from a Christian perspective. Dordt is known for its affordable and engaging online master’s programs and excellent faculty. Dordt is also home to 1,500 undergraduate students with more than 88 percent living on campus. Students can choose from over 40 programs of study, and education is one of the largest majors.
Dordt University also runs the Center for the Advancement of Christian Education (CACE) which serves as a Christian education resource for schools, churches, families, and professionals.
Free Resource from Dordt
This vibrant, quick-reference guide highlights the six pillars of the Science of Reading and provides practical tips to support effective learning in each area. Keep it by your desk or with your lesson plans to help students thrive and become confident, capable readers.
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Share your biggest takeaway below!
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*Comments may be used as testimonials.
With behaviour need to dig into the root issue as a team and speak to those who have success with the child. Also, keep everything as similar as possible for everyone in the class and aim to develop independence for children struggling academically and opportunities to work with their peers.
I appreciated the explanation of accommodation vs. modification. I do not have a sped background, but have encountered sped students in my classroom and have struggled with how much to do for them and how much to expect from them. This gave me some clarification on the subject. I also appreciate your allowing us to read the textbook to gain more knowledge in this area. Thank you!
We are all affectionally designed differently by a father who loves us all. With a cousin who had special needs, I found it a blessing growing up. He is no longer with us but I know he loved the Lord. We were the same age and he helped me see the world a different way. Also, I personally have ADHD and some learning disabilities with spelling and reading. I understand the concepts of learning differently. This session was such a great reminder and encouraging that the tools/teaching techniques I am using are helping not only that one student but everyone else as well.
I found it very helpful to understand the importance of direct instruction and the fact that we should not teach more than 2 minutes before allowing practice. This was a very interesting and helpful session!
God created every one equal yet different. Studying a young person to understadn their unique needs is very important.
I loved this lecture, I found it so helpful. I am a pre-service teacher in my first year of contract teaching, and I feel that catering for all the learners in my class is something I didn’t do well. I did try and get them to all do the same work, but with different expectations of what their work might look like. But I did not manage associated behaviour issues well.
I hadn’t considered breaking up the direct lesson time into 2 minute chunks and then getting them to work on things. And, I also don’t think I did the check-ins well, as I felt I spent so much time dealing with behaviour that some students did end up doing the work incorrectly.
At our school we really emphasis that all behavior is communication. We as educators need to “listen” and respond to what is being “said.” It was great to hear that reiterated.
Love the team support and allowing to see from other perspective. Thanks for giving both academic and behavior tips and utilizing them with all students not just IEP students
Biggest takeaways:
* Our jobs are to teach; we need to prepare students to work independently, not expect parents to do it
* Teach better ways to solve the problem
* Teach time & place for behaviors that aren’t inherently wrong
* For attention-seeking behavior, keep drilling down into WHY
Thank you for sharing strategies and idea.
How does a paraprofessional look? Consider how much the child may need the assistance of a paraprofessional.
How do we make it where the child isn’t so different from other students?
– this affects students social connections with peers
– paraprofessionals often try to be a part of the group with child and that can also affect connections.
Also, understanding the difference between accommodations and modifications. And how to implement both in the classroom appropriately. Can also be a plus for all students and not just those who have known disabilities. We must look at what the expected learning outcome will be to decide to use an accommodation or modification. And to decide how either should look for the student.
Also, labels for students with disabilities gives us a place to start, but they don’t tell us everything we need to know to help the child. Getting to know the child helps with that.
Focus on places where the students is doing well.
Only teach for 2 minutes before having students interact with what’s being taught.
Don’t isolate with the paraprofessional.
The points that really stood out to me where:
1. Do not teach for more than 2 mins. without having students do something with it.
2. Modification (changing what is expected as the outcome for a student) vs. Accommodation (same expectation but different level per the student’s level).
3. A student’s behavior is his/her communication to you that they have a problem of some sort.
5. Ask why and then why again until you get to a cause/reason.
Thank you for your comments. These are great takeaways.
* I love the idea that making a modification for one student may actually be better for the whole class!
* Great reminders to always ask WHY. Why this behavior? Why in this class? Why today? etc….
* Also, I appreciate that talking to the ‘specials’ teachers (I teach computers) was mentioned because we often have very different behaviors in our classrooms and would LOVE to have the chance to compare notes!
Thank you for your comments. I am glad you found the information valuable.