1. Teach Baby Steps. Children with mental retardation are certainly not babies. This term is intended to encourage teachers to break down their lessons into simple, easier to manage steps. This will keep frustration levels down and enable learning to take place. Wait until the student masters the baby step before moving onto the next one.
2. Concrete Learning Experiences. Introduce new ideas in a physical, hands-on approach. Use manipulatives when teaching math. Take field trips to the grocery store or post office for a meaningful experience. When students are able to make real connections to the world around them, or physically explore a concept, the knowledge will stick with them.
3. Immediate and Positive Feedback. Everyone appreciates a pat on the back. Positive feedback will encourage the student to keep on trying. If a student masters a concept or meets a goal it is important to reward or applaud the student immediately. Having a pizza party at the end of the month for a job well done three weeks earlier is not going to make a connection with the student.
4. Sing a Song. I have found that music is a wonderful motivator among all children and particularly ones with mental retardation. Keep in mind, each child is different but I have yet to find a student who was not positively influenced by music incorporated into lessons. Making a simple, catchy song to go along with a concept is a fun way to engage the student and help them remember information.
5. Patience. The most important tip I can give is to have patience. Students with mental retardation can often be unpredictable in what they can learn and what might set off a certain behavior. What might appear to be a temper tantrum is often the student’s way of telling you, “This is too hard. I am frustrated,” or “I am tired. I need a break.” Take the time to learn the individual child’s needs and who they are. If you are feeling overwhelmed and cannot relate to the student it is okay to stop the lesson and resume when both student and teacher can handle the lesson pace. It may take a while for students to make some progress, but if you are patient it will be priceless when they do.
Showing posts with label MR Strategies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MR Strategies. Show all posts
Teaching Strategies for Mental Retardation
Mental Retardation Teaching Strategies
Mentally retarded (MR) students need to have their tasks broken down into small steps and the steps need to be introduced one at a time to avoid overwhelming the student.
MR students learn better visually so teaching using charts, pictures and graphs is recommended.
Teachers should give MR students immediate feedback in order for the students to make connections between their answers, behaviors or questions and the teacher's responses. Delays in providing feedback may cause the student to lose the connection between cause and effect in the student's mind and the point will be lost.
MR students learn better by doing and completing hands-on tasks and appreciating their work.
MR students have a hard time comprehending lectures. An example would be a teacher teaching on gravity to MR students should most likely act out by dropping an item or having a student drop an item and telling the student the force making the item drop is what is known as gravity versus defining gravity through a lecture.
These strategies of learning were proven through a concept known as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). This approach is based on the learning theory and learning approaches which have been proven to work well.
Just like most other disabilities MR students should always be rewarded for responding positively to instruction. Immediate rewards are crucial in motivating MR students to do their work and behave. Rewards can be in the form of snacks, TV time or stickers.
Some harming behaviors should be followed by a consequence. Consequences can include time-outs, loss of preferred play items and activities, and the least intrusive physical restraints.
In summary to successfully apply mental retardation teaching strategies, always simplify the work, give rewards to students behaving well and consequences to the ones misbehaving, make instruction visual, provide activities that are hands on and most importantly be very patient and repeat as many times as is necessary.
Mentally retarded (MR) students need to have their tasks broken down into small steps and the steps need to be introduced one at a time to avoid overwhelming the student.
MR students learn better visually so teaching using charts, pictures and graphs is recommended.
Teachers should give MR students immediate feedback in order for the students to make connections between their answers, behaviors or questions and the teacher's responses. Delays in providing feedback may cause the student to lose the connection between cause and effect in the student's mind and the point will be lost.
MR students learn better by doing and completing hands-on tasks and appreciating their work.
MR students have a hard time comprehending lectures. An example would be a teacher teaching on gravity to MR students should most likely act out by dropping an item or having a student drop an item and telling the student the force making the item drop is what is known as gravity versus defining gravity through a lecture.
These strategies of learning were proven through a concept known as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). This approach is based on the learning theory and learning approaches which have been proven to work well.
Just like most other disabilities MR students should always be rewarded for responding positively to instruction. Immediate rewards are crucial in motivating MR students to do their work and behave. Rewards can be in the form of snacks, TV time or stickers.
Some harming behaviors should be followed by a consequence. Consequences can include time-outs, loss of preferred play items and activities, and the least intrusive physical restraints.
In summary to successfully apply mental retardation teaching strategies, always simplify the work, give rewards to students behaving well and consequences to the ones misbehaving, make instruction visual, provide activities that are hands on and most importantly be very patient and repeat as many times as is necessary.
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