Supporting a student with individualised accommodations based on their needs, personal learning styles and interests can foster well-being and build confidence and concentration, reduce pressure on the student and may result in less disruptive behaviours.
Bridging social gaps
- Assign students to groups rather than allowing students to select groupings.
- Create instructional and social experiences for small groups to allow for more peer interaction.
- Arrange seats so that the student is adjacent to friendlier, outgoing classmates.
Group activities where students have specific roles
For example, have each student in a group study a different paragraph, and then in groups have the students “teach” their classmates about their paragraph.
Give the student a specific role
Having a role which encourages social interaction and will make them feel important, such as “messenger”, erasing the blackboard or passing out papers.
Avoid repetitive tasks
For students who are easily distracted or lose focus, use a range of activities, either general-purpose activities that apply to various subject areas or styles of teaching, or specific content-oriented activities that support students to learn by having them think about a topic in different ways.
Use interest inventories
This is a way to determine interests of students. Follow up by using some of their interests during conversations or learning activities.
Ask the student for their preferences
Ask about their preferences in class participation situations and provide opportunities for the student to participate in ways that they are comfortable, for example, allowing the student to watch in order to warm up to a new situation.
Present and reinforce information with different formats
Consider providing information in audio format as well as text, verbally explaining key points as they are written on the whiteboard, or providing the key points or pictures printed out to be glued into student workbooks.
Allow for assignment presentation options
Use different modalities such as taping a presentation rather than presenting in class. Do not force the student to perform in front of their classmates, but encourage them to do so.
Increase demonstration of key concepts and skills
Have the teacher, teacher’s aide or a peer explicitly model a concept or skill, use visual supports to explain or provide written instructions.
Make adjustments to the amount of lesson content or time allocated to complete work
If a student struggles to complete work on time aim for mastery of core or critical content first.
Provide opportunities for success
Arrange experiences so that the student can be successful and recognised for that success. Promote confidence by praising and displaying the student’s work for others to see.
If the behaviour persists despite trying a number of interventions, discuss the student’s situation with a supervisor or member of the learning and wellbeing support staff at your school.
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