Educational pendulums are forever  swinging.  During the past several years and to the present, the  swinging  seems to have been and currently is in the direction of student needs - with energy focused on individualized instruction, self-pacing, mainstreaming, pull-out programs, talented and gifted opportunities, and learning disabilities awareness

Kelly, Suzanne

English

University of Northern Iowa

Iowa Science Teachers Journal Volume 22 Number 2 Article 5 1985 Teaching Disabilities Suzanne Kelly Meeker Elementary School Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj  Part of the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Recommended Citation Kelly, Suzanne (1985) "Teaching Disabilities," Iowa Science Teachers Journal: Vol. 22 : No. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/istj/vol22/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Iowa Science Teachers Journal by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. TEACHING DISABILITIES Suzanne Kelly Sixth Grade Teacher Meeker Elementary School Ames, Iowa 50010 TEACHING DISABILITIES Educational pendulums are forever "swinging." During the past several years and to the present, the "swinging" seems to have been and currently is in the direction of student needs - with energy focused on individualized instruction, self-pacing, mainstreaming, pull-out programs, talented and gifted opportunities, and learning disabilities awareness. Only recently have the pendulums started swinging in the direction of teacher concerns. Momentum is gaining on the awareness of stress management Teacher bum-out is a common topic. · Whether we swing in the direction of student needs or teacher needs, the pendulum of education is the same. What happens to the student is not an experience isolated from the teacher. It is an involved experience resulting because of, or in spite of, the teacher. Children can experience science both in and out of the classroom. However, a science curriculum, with an organized, sequential approach to content and process learning, must involve a teachet Excellence in science education demands awareness of both how teachers teach and how students learn. Students with learning disabilities have been the object of studying, testing and writing. These students may have problems in collecting, sorting, storing and expressing information. Thus, learning disabilities are a concern receiving much attention from research grants, community involvement, government programs, and regular classroom teacher time and effort. 14 Iowa Science Teachers Journal/Autumn 1985 Yet, factors that inhibit the excellence in teaching have had, by comparison, little attention. Classroom teachers are aware of them, but administrators, researchers, and other educational experts haven't even invented the term "teaching disabilities." This topic has had little studying, scant efforts for improvement, and ceft/linly, unfocused concern. "Teaching disabilities" refers to problems which teachers have in collecting, sorting, storing, and expressing information. Hints are given to classroom teachers on how to deal with children who have learning disabilities. Wouldn't it be meaningful if we science teachers could have as much attention spent on our concerns with disabilities in teaching? These teaching disabilities are the distrac-tions that impede the focusing of a teaching task. These are problems which inhibit the teaching part of the learning experience, so that it cannot as effectively be received by the learner. You know those disabilities of teaching - collecting money, passing out notices, making announcements, settling squabbles, ac-counting for absences for other programs, dealing with last minute changes in schedules, shuffling an overloaded curriculum, struggling with lack of planning time, attending inefficiently run meetings, surviving with inappropriate place-ment of students in classes, managing hall duty - the list, at times, seems endless. If you are a science teacher and you have planned a super lesson for a student, it can be quite frustrating to have the student gone on a trip or absent for a pull-out program, to be interrupted by an unscheduled meeting, or to have the student dealing with requested work from a different teacher during your scheduled class time. It is discouraging not to be able to solve all the concerns of education. It is most discouraging to know solutions and not have the time to apply them. The educational experts might recommend enrichment, reinforce-ment and review. A major teaching disability is not having the student or not having the time to do it. If you are a classroom teacher and you're not certain if you have teaching disabilities, take the following survey. The symptoms are similar to those of learning disabilities. You simply analyze whether the identified symptoms apply to your teaching. If they do, you have teaching disabilities. Examples have been given for further clarification. IDENTIFICATION OF TEACHING DISABILITIES Symptoms Distractibility -Impulsiveness -Examples "Just a minute. Before we start class, these announcements have just come from the of-fice .. . " "Class, our science lesson for today was obser-vation and classification of leaves. However, Joanie brought a snake to school, so let's ob-serve the snake! What do you mean, 'Johnny fainted?'" Iowa Science Teachers Journal/Autumn 1985 15 Poor Attention Span -Poor Memory Span -Poor Coordination -Spatial Relationships -Hyperactivity -Poor Self-Image -Upset by Changes in Routine -Significant Articulation Problems -16 "Are there any questions on how to make a graph? Joanie, keep your hands to yo Remember to have each square of the paper equal the number of grams. Yes, Jason, know someone is at the door. " "Class how could we tell if a smoother s reduces friction? What? Lunch count? I thou I did that this morning. " "I'll come to your work areas if you have qu tions about the lab procedures. Whoop Jeremiah, your notebook was NOT under y chair ... " "Class, I know we didn't have enough time for your oral research reports today, but we D discuss the proper handling and benefits snakes, we DID have a fire drill and discuss emergency procedures, we DID visit with Jo ny's parents about their recent trip to China, DID share the morning news about the medi transplant and its related ethical issues, and DID take lunch count. " "Group Six, I know Joanie was in your lab gr yesterday, but she's at a lesson right now Jerry you organize your group's tasks. ~ John, I know you missed the first part of because you were with another teacher, please join this group now. No, I am not wring-ing my hands because they are cold and I am NOT stamping my foot because it is asleep!• "People, I know Mr. Lockwood did lots singing with you last year, as he played his gui for your unit on sound energy ... No, I don have a guitar. . . No, and I don't know how to play one either." "Where is the rest of the class? What field trip? You mean they will be gone for a WEEK? ... And I'm to take that teacher 's hall duty? I wish I could speak Spanish!" "Please raise your hands for crunch lount. . . I mean, lunch count. Joanie, I know Juanita doesn't speak English, so she didn't raise het hand, but she does eat, so I'll add one to the total for cru . . lunch crount! Wait! Don't pass yet I still have five announcements . .. " Unpredictable Behavior and/or Temper Outburst -Confused in . . Following Drrect:Ions -Destructive -Easily Frustrated -"What do you mean we have another meeting after school? I told students they could come in to make up labs. No, I am not screaming. I SAID, I AM NOT SCREAMING! " "Homeroom, there are two announcements. The first is on this heavy full sheet of paper which says, 'Due to budget cuts, teachers should conserve all paper. Put all written work on chalkboards. ' The second announcement is about student council. You mean student council is to meet in here after school tonight and not tomorrow night? But the first notice said . .. What second notice? Oh! On THAT full-sized sheet of paper!" "Yes, class, I AM tearing up a lunch count slip. " "Joanie, please take the snake AND this an-nouncement to the office. I don't care what happens to them. I'm going to China to learn to play the guitar." Actually, teachers do care what happens to snakes and announcements. They care very much what happens to students. They also care very much what happens to teachers. Just as learning disabilities damage a child's ability to learn, teaching disabilities damage a person's ability to teach. Let us work to eliminate the teaching disorders that help contribute to stress and burn-out. Let us turn teaching disabilities into teaching advantages. Bibliography Heyman, R. D. 1983. Clarifying meaning through classroom talk. Curriculum Inquiry 13:23-42. Lavine, J. L. 1982. Teacher and student: communication partners. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin 48:31-5. Mottle, C. 0 . 1982. Teachers' influence in the elementary classroom. Education 103: 152-7. Paradise, L. V. and Block, C. 1984. The relationship of teacher-student cognitive style to academic achievement. Journal of Researrh and Development in Education 17:57-61. Schere, M. 1983. Happy, healthy teaching. Instructor and Teacher 92:44-6 +. Iowa Science Teachers journal/Autumn 1985 17 

Teaching Disabilities

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