As a special education teacher you come across so many situations that sometimes you can not solve.
The book states that neuroscience research confirms the important role that experience plays in building the structure of the mind by modifying the structures of the brain. Mainly practice increases learning.
I do agree with the research but how about in regards to students with disabilities such as mental retardation. I had a couple of students with mental retardation and other students with disabilities. Every day I would do my lesson, off course modified to there specific needs. I noticed that when I reviewed their knowledge of specific lesson they would not remember it.
I decided to some research and see if there is an answer to my questions. I came a cross a study by C.T. Ramey and S.L Ramey (1996) Prevention of intellectual disabilities: Early interventions to improve cognitive development. They found that providing an enriched learning environment through an intensive, high quality program for young children who were at risk for developmental delay resulted in significant increases in IQ scores.
So, basically the research stated that practice makes perfect. Even though I needed to repeat each experience numerous times, it was worth it because my students remember the lesson and were able to repeat the lesson on their own. I am still doing research on the specific area of mental retardation because I have two students with sever mental retardation and they also have seizure problems. When I would teach them something in a previous lesson they would forget it when they have a seizure.
(This website is a good chart to put up in your classroom)
1 comment:
Devi,
I absolutely agree with you. Repetition strengthens and improves understanding and thereby, successful learning. Repetition is simply habit forming.
However, I do believe that we have to make certain that the information or skill we are trying to process many times over should be the correct one to start with. There were a lot of instances that we heard stories about mis-education, mis-direction, and miscommunication.
I have opportunity to share to kids the skill to play piano, drums, guitar, and ukulele. It is an indispensable rule to teach them the right the first time on the correct body posture, hand form and many other subtle and important procedures. They only learn all these through constant repetitition or practice.
So then, practice, practice, practice... but remember practice the correct ones please.
More power to your work! We need many more teachers like you.
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