Noteblog GLCEs

Since I decided to become a teacher, I have been thinking about and considering the ways in which to include students of all ability levels into one lesson so that all students benefit and walk away with new knowledge. The Grade Level Content Expectations are put into place to give teachers a guideline of what the students should know by a certain point in the year and to also standardize curriculum from school to school. This way, students will be on the same page when it comes to standardized testing (like the MEAP), students who change schools in the middle of the year will be able to pick up right where he or she left off at the last school, and it allows for a way to assess whether or not students are achieving at an "average" level or if they are behind or gifted. However, the GLCEs are not always the way to go about teaching all students. Many students need special attention or accommodated work, especially if the student is behind or gifted. The Breitfelder article discussed different ways to accommodate students with learning disabilities like ADHD, autism, or development disorders. Breitfelder claims that "one of the most effective ways to get students to process language is through the use of visual supports." I really liked how she gave examples of visual supports and explained how to make them and use them in the classroom. The examples seem like they will be very useful in a classroom when I am a teacher. The visual supports give a way to accommodate lower ability students into the school day and lessons. They also allow for the teacher to continue following the GLCEs but by adding the visual supports, more is being done to help the students. I have noticed that at my class at Post Oak, there are not very many visual supports used. I would like like to see more done in my classroom to accommodate visual learners. I will also consider ways to use visual supports in my lessons that I will teach.