Question for teachers!!!! I need your help.

[kang]

Hi,
I'm currently in the credential program at Cal State Fullerton and one of my assignments is to interview a teacher over the internet. There are two questions and they are...

1. How do you differentiate your curriculum for special needs students in social studies?

2. How do you integrate multicultural issues into the classroom?

If you can respond to these two questions, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for reading this post and taking your time to respond.

Annie

[Unregistered]

Hi Annie,

Glad to help:

1. First, ask for specific curriculum and grade level. Based on the subject matter, text, and school's approach, I would follow these steps: Fully review and understand child's IEP, knowing expectations and limitations. Search teacher's materials for remedial/accommodations that are already in place. Find out if he/she has one/on/one aide or tutor. Prepare additional lessons weekly for this child, and review with parent. Follow up with adjusted assessments, based on school's requirements. Revisit situation every quarter, and be prepared to document and discuss efforts for child's IEP meeting.

2. Much easier! Close your eyes, and think of a rainbow. Now, imagine each color is a child, a nation, a culture. Please don't only think of white, black, hispanic and asian! Pick a country that you can't pronounce and learn more about it with your children. Again, determine the specific grade level and schools expectations. Decorate your room with posters and artifacts from all over the world. Use your travels (or friends donations) to make your room come alive. Challenge your students to teach a new word to their classmates. Invite parents/grandparents to show and tell a special ethinic dance, food or song. Dig deeper into your own ancestory, and invite your children to do the same. Even if your class consists of one ethnic group, challenge them to look beyond typical racial groups. Instead of celebrating African-American or Mexican American History, look into other nations as well.

Good luck!

mzzmartin@yahoo.com

[Mike]

Hi.

This is a good book.

Differentiating Instruction for Students With Learning Disabilities

http://www.everythingaboutlearning.com/index.php?p=product&id=23546

There are tons of other books on that site about differentiation too.

Mike

[Chocolate_New_Orleans]

Hi,
I'm currently in the credential program at Cal State Fullerton and one of my assignments is to interview a teacher over the internet. There are two questions and they are...

1. How do you differentiate your curriculum for special needs students in social studies?

2. How do you integrate multicultural issues into the classroom?

If you can respond to these two questions, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for reading this post and taking your time to respond.

Annie

1. That is the team teacher's job or the caseload manager. They have light classloads for a reason, The average ESE teacher at my school has 40 kids a day, use that extra time they have that I do not (because of my 30 kid per class x 5 periods) to accomodate testing as needed. If they do not change my test, I assume it met all standards for the ESE kid to take it.

2. multi-culturalism is overrated. What does multicultualism have to do with Math, or science. I teach geography and the only thing I do as we get into those countries that you can't pronounce (like the above poster mentioned) is I make a list for the wall as we get to a new country, I list out the ethnic groups they name. Some have over 100 and they don't mention more than about 2 or 3 of the main ones, but all it does is show that there is more than the 10 or so that Americans recognize.

And for a joke, for Antarctica, I list "penguin" as the only ethnic group.